I have chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea...(and before we start, yes, I'm about 30 lbs. overweight, but had it before I gained weight) I take Ambien or Lunesta for about a week at a time, before I start building a tolerance, and have to wean myself off of one, while taking the other (to avoid rebound insomnia) I only sleep as long as the medication keeps me asleep...I take medication every night at 9:00 and get in bed and read until medication kicks in. I sleep, usually, till about 1:30 or 2:00 when the medication gas reached it's "half-life" then I take another dose to carry me through till 5:00 or 5:30...I'm leery of CBD, because I'm a clean poly drug addict (clean 20 years) , I can't take melatonin (even though it works real well) because it exacerbates Restless Leg Syndrome...but with a CPAP and a full face mask, I manage to bring 15 apneas per hour down to 0.8 per hour. Average person has 1.1 per hour. They don't know why... but trauma is a common denominator in close to 2/3 of apnea sufferers...I'm sure insomnia is much higher. (click on both links...they work...one about trauma and insomnia...the other apnea and trauma)
.https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/connection-between-ptsd-and-sleep-apnea
https://www.brainline.org/article/ptsd-and-sleep-problems-double-whammy#:~:text=PTSD%20seems%20to%20disrupt%20sleep,staying%20asleep%E2%80%94and%20daytime%20fatigue.
I have apnea, I had no idea it could be trauma related, I knew my insomnia was but also hadn't realised that the reason I can have had no insomnia and still wake up exhausted could be the apnea.
Interesting links, thank you.
HI Barney - I have chronic insomnia and sleep apnea too so use a CPAP which ironically makes it more difficult to fall asleep. I also have RLS so take 10 mg Gabapentin which helps with that but not always with getting to sleep.
It makes sense to me that trauma survivors would have sleep issues, seems a 'no brainer' but of course need the data to demonstrate this is a problem for us especially. I hope researchers/ clinicians can come up with some effective treatments - we need our sleep!
Tks for the links :) :thumbup:
Kizzie...welcome... Gabapentin for RLS...??? I've got RLS, too...I've tried both of these to no avail... ropinirole (Requip)
pramipexole (Mirapex)
I didn't tell my G about the RLS for years as I didn't know it had a name and thought it was "just me" - crazy how CPTSD makes us think many things are "just us".
I'm so sorry you haven't had any relief, I know how much it affects sleep :yes:
Thanks Kizzie...update on a different thread between you and I...I found someone "local" that takes my insurance...and was trained by Dr. Pat Ogden...should be just who I need...I hope...