WHAT?!: Insomnia for a year! Tried 5 meds... - Cure Parkinson's

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WHAT?!

TheLordsWeapon profile image
13 Replies

Insomnia for a year!

Tried 5 meds to battle it over the last 6 months, they did crap, could still not get more than 2-5 hours broken sleep.

Friend recommended Tylenol PM, I took half of recommended dosage, 1 pill.

Went to be at 12mid and just woke up, logged 7.5hrs sleep straight, no wake ups and feel great, with no side effects listed for this wonder OTC drug.

NOW whats should I do, become a Tylenol addict!!!

Ohhh the Humanity!!!

GOD SPEED!

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TheLordsWeapon
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pvw2 profile image
pvw2

If you start taking Tylenol on a regular basis, it's a good idea to take NAC to prevent liver damage from long term use.

Acetaminophen Poisoning (Tylenol)

emedicinehealth.com/acetami...

aspergerian profile image
aspergerian in reply to pvw2

pvw2,

Important point.

TheLordsWeapon profile image
TheLordsWeapon in reply to pvw2

Good point pvw,

ive been reading up on the drug this morning, dont know what im going to do, ive read many peoples testimonies today from random forums all over the net, most saying do not take it every day, some say they have taken it for years with no problems, its all a crap shoot...

TheLordsWeapon profile image
TheLordsWeapon in reply to pvw2

Got this off drugs.com, I'm only planning on taking 500mg and it knocked me out, and ill never get to 4000mg max a day....

------------------

Usual Adult Dose for Insomnia

Acetaminophen 1000 mg/diphenhydramine 50 mg orally at bedtime

Maximum dose: 1 dose in 24-hours

Comments:

-The maximum total daily dose of acetaminophen should not exceed 4000 mg; when calculating daily dose, must account for all formulations of acetaminophen.

pvw2 profile image
pvw2 in reply to TheLordsWeapon

It's a good idea to take NAC when you're taking any pain killer that can damage your liver from taking it for an extended period of time. Many take it just to improve their PD. It's a building block for making Glutathione when you exercise.

in reply to pvw2

I agree with you. The body recognizes drugs as toxins not as nutrients.

TheLordsWeapon profile image
TheLordsWeapon in reply to pvw2

Think ill just go with Benadryl for the diphenhydramine, that will eliminate any worries over liver problems.

thanks for all your input

GODSPEED!

Parkie- profile image
Parkie- in reply to TheLordsWeapon

Maybe just a word of caution regarding Benadryl. It should not be used on a regular basis either...:

"Researchers offer compelling evidence of a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia"

health.harvard.edu/blog/com...

rescuema profile image
rescuema

I know - it seems all pharmaceutical drugs come with terrible side effects, but this unfortunately tends to be true.

For natural route, look into the following to help with sleep -

Magnesium L-threonate

L-theanine

5-HTP

Glycine

B-6 - if taking p-meds, beware of potential deficiency, which will disrupt melatonin production and cause insomnia.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/238...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/823...

psychologytoday.com/us/blog...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/269...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/194...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/271...

link.springer.com/article/1...

link.springer.com/article/1...

pinnaclife.com/medical-cond...

MarionP profile image
MarionP

If you were taking Tylenol PM, the "PM" part guaranteed was an anti-histamine which is high on the drowsiness index; often diphenhydramine, with Benadryl the Brand that has the most and cleanest formula of any of them. Focus in on that and run it to ground, it's what gave you your sleep.

TheLordsWeapon profile image
TheLordsWeapon in reply to MarionP

Just started with Benadryl myself, two tabs, 30 min before bed, was getting 2-3hrs before, now getting about 3-4 hrs! Praise thew Lord, its better than nothing

MarionP profile image
MarionP in reply to TheLordsWeapon

Usually that much knocks me out. It is pretty benign substance. You can go a tad higher if you need, especially if you are using a generic.

I might try 50 or75 for a whilen and then switch to 10 mg melatonin for a few weeks, you can go higher to 15 too, and you can even find the ones that are extended release or continuous release, so they deposit a bit into your system after a while so that the level doesn't drop too soon.

Then after a couple weeks doing that, switch over to clonazepam for a week. Then back to the Benadryl.

The idea is to keep rotating among the three, each going for a week or two. Makes it harder for your brain to adapt to one, adaptation can often lessen the substance's drowsiness effect.

In the alternative that it occurs to you to maybe try two of the kinds at once, if you do so carefully, it might be effective where one does not. I can't speak for it because I haven't done it, and I would want to check with my doc in case you have some other medications or conditions which would make it problematic to do so.

One more substance that can impose some drowsiness is dextromathorphan, the liquid antihistamine that is primarily used to address coughing. Again, approach with some prudence, I just noticed that when I use it for coughing, I seem to sleep harder. It also drops my voice from tenor to near base, temporarily, because it can slow down phlegm flow by its drying (anticholingergic) action.

As far as what someone else here says about only 1 mg of melatonin and more makes no difference, that is patently untrue and because of that I would question any more that comes from such an uninformed source. Implying something bad might happen if you take it for whatever time period, that is all pretty much nonsense and probably some amateur spouting something irresponsible. You can do your own homework easily enough to get at much more sound information.

TLW, If you have been taking AMANTADINE or any combination of L-DOPA/CARBIDOPA, including SINEMET, NIGHTMARES and DIFFICULT FALLING ASLEEP OR STAYING ASLEEP are among the barrage of side effects induced by these drugs; very probably by competing for melatonin receptors in the brain and creating as a result a severe deficiency in this sleep-inducer hormone. One way to 'manipulating' the production of this wonder hormone is by placing on your window any thing that helps to completely darken the room and taking 1 mg of melatonin 40 minutes before going to sleep. You don't need higher doses of melatonin in that low doses have the same effect. Let's remember that melatonin is not to be taken over long periods of time.

You may also research for nocturnal foods and those foods that cause insomnia.

One thing that very much contributes to insomnia as well is spending long hours before TVs, computers and cellulars at night; the bright light emitted by these devices automatically desactivate the production of melatonin.

Yes, you're right when you say Ohhh the Humanity!!!

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