Your human drugs are insufficient.

[shadesong]

So. We have learned that 5mg Ambien has zero effect on me.

Also, I realized last night that I have not slept without chemical aid in at least 6 years.

Rewind.

Yes! I went to the doctor. He's somewhat baffled, but testing liver, pancreas, and H. pylorii and, yes, I got the pregnancy test just to be safe. Switched to Ambien - which my insurance company will only cover 10 pills of per month. And doesn't work. I'll be calling my doctor when his office opens to see if I should double the Ambien tonight or just go back to Lunesta. Also I had an EKG, which was normal; intermittent heart palpitations are a stone bitch.

(What concerns me here is that essentially my sleep drug and my heart drug have both suddenly become far less effective, and my body is also mishandling alcohol. Metabolic? I don't know enough about metabolic. But that's two out of my three big meds, and I can't know if my epilepsy drug is likewise less effective until I have seizures, which I haven't yet, but I'm sleep-deprived and cruising into a stressy weekend. Stress and sleep-dep being my most consistent seizure triggers. SO FUN.)

And then I exchanged ill-fitting gifts at Anthropologie and got this in three colors because that is what I do when an article of clothing actually fits. But I did not have time to go to Gather Here for ribbon and buttons, because I failed to plan for an hour at the doctor's office (it's usually ~15 minutes) and I had to go to Peer Supe.

Judah is still asleep. When he gets up, we'll make waffles, and then I'll try to go back to sleep. Well. I don't know if you can call it back. I might have slept an hour last night. Cumulative, not consecutive. For now I will curl up with a book.

Comments

[gunshotbeauty.livejournal.com]

ugh sleeping problems are the worst and people take for granted how restful/refreshing/stable/etc their sleep is

[lightcastle.livejournal.com]

This

[creentmerveille.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've had it tested lately, but for whatever it's worth, the mishandling of alcohol (uberdrunk on just a drop- at least it makes one a cheap date! ;) ) , heart palpitations, and sleep weirdness sound like an out of whack thyroid to me. At least those are all three symptoms I experience when my thyroid is wonky... YMMV.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I haven't had it tested in a few years... I'll ask about that!

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Thyroids do weird things. Most of my heart palpitations came from my body's reaction to a *slightly* slow Thyroid. Now that that is under control, no worries (but then you have a scarier kind than mine. Mine are just occasional skips and the once in a while panic-pounding [80 bpm, though, so that month as a cyborg with the monitor did not worry the cardiologist).

Sleep is a stone bitch when you cannot get it. Good luck.

[amberite.livejournal.com]

I just want to second that I read this post and thought, "...Thyroid?" And I don't even have a wonky thyroid.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I feel you. I can sleep, but at unpredictable hours and for unpredictable duration; I'll doze off after dinner, haul myself upstairs to my bed, and lie awake for hours. My brain would prefer to be writing between 10PM and 3AM. This is not especially useful when I have diurnal obligations.

*sympathy*

[stormyheart]

I too got very little sleep last night. I'd like to blame it on the full moon, but really it was the after-effects of a drug keeping me up. Really, my body has lost its goddamn mind.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Really, my body has lost its goddamn mind.

I know the feeling!

[grntserendipity.livejournal.com]

Hopefully they find something to help!

*sends sleep waves*

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

H. pylori is nasty, but it is, at least, curable by suitable application of mega-antibiotics. Other metabolic stuff, not so much.

Metabolic? I don't know enough about metabolic.

Sadly, neither does anyone else. But I'm glad he's started testing with the pancreas, etc.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Yep - I think ulcers are the thing to hope for!

[ron_newman]

Sorry to hear all of this! I hope you and your doctor can get to the bottom of it soon and find an appropriate treatment regimen. If you have to cancel any appearances at Arisia I'll certainly understand why.

[miss-lisa-ma.livejournal.com]

Dear universe:

Too many of my friends are in poor health, the kind that defies fixin'. They're delightful people whose grooviness really belongs out in the world, not curled up in various stages of Teh Sick. Would you be so kind as to see to fixin' this sorry state of affairs? Much obliged.

miss lisa

Ugh.

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, Hon. I too have been having problems with the meds I use for sleep and I have been forced to try going without them for a while to see if I can reset my body. I've been having predictably broken sleep nights as a result-no fun.

I have upped the vitamin and fluid intake in the face of Arisia this weekend and would suggest if you haven't already do the same. Hopefully your doctor will come up with something.

[unico-love.livejournal.com]

I need 20mg of Ambien to sleep, which was hard to get the pharmacy to improve since usually 10mg is what's prescribed. I'm sorry your insurance will only cover 10 a month!:(

[dragonsflame71.livejournal.com]

I feel ya! I can only get 10 a month too. Luckily it helps my insomnia amazingly so I use sparingly when I really need to sleep.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

If you do have a seizure this weekend -

A) Do you need folks around you to do anything? The rule with my little brother is call 911 if it lasts more than 5 minutes. Is that (or something similar) the case for you?
and
B) If so, what should we be keeping our eyes open for? What does a 'song seizure look like?

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

That is indeed the case for me, and I'll be reposting the info I posted before last Arisia. Also, I'll have Adam's and Judah's phone numbers on the back of my badge; please call them even if the seizure's brief!

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Will do! (But hopefully none of this info will be needed.)

[photographoe (from livejournal.com)]

Oh man. Take care. :(

[random-girl.livejournal.com]

Psychiatrist had me do a two day test body fluids that tracked levels of chemicals that work on my brain. From that, she was able to derive which were low and which were too high, and then prescribe some supplements specifically for those conditions.

I thought, at first, it was all snake oil--the people that make the supplements also make the test; but I tried it. And WOW. The product that has made my insomnia a thing of (mostly) the past is called Kavinace. Two pills in the morning, one at night, and I actually get TIRED before bed time.

This might not be the best thing for you, of course (every metabolism is different, and you have other things going on), but you might explore testing various brain chemical levels to see if supplementing them and taking medication might help. My psychiatrist expects in the next six months I may be able to reduce my prescription medication because the supplements are doing a relatively nice job evening me out.

I wish you luck.

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

Meh!

I hope sleep happens soon for you.

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

I also take 20 mg ambien for sleep. I use the generic. I don't know if that would make a diff with your insurance.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Nope - it's a controlled-substance issue, not a cost issue.

They're having me bump up to 10mg tonight, but I'm worried that that won't be enough either.

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

If it works for you the way it does for me, then you'll get maybe 3-4 solid hours with 10mg. I'm lighting a candle for you...

[ivy]

Best of luck sorting out all the health crap. My sympathies.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

And the same to you!

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Also, I realized last night that I have not slept without chemical aid in at least 6 years.

Am wearing that same t-shirt, it's been more years.

At the risk of being hlepy: Can you take generic Ambien (zolpidem)? If so, will your insurance cover 30 instead of 10? (The zolpidem is what I'm taking, and I still have a night or two of not sleeping a week. Diagnosis, in... '99?... was "CFS-related non-refreshing sleep", it's now called "alpha-delta sleep disruption", means that I wake up fully, every 15 to 30 minutes, unless I'm medicated. No deep sleep at all = crazy.)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

They filled the scrip with generic zolpidem... still only 10. :( It's a controlled-substance thing rather than a cost thing, I think.

I have an appointment with a sleep doc next week - hopefully we'll get started on figuring out why I don't sleep!

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Ah hell. I was restricted to 10 a month until it went generic. Am sorry that's not the case for you. Bloody damned nanny state regulations on necessary medications. [suppressed rant goes here, at some point I'll post what's been going on with me in that realm for the past several months. Not fun.]

Good luck with the sleep doc appointment! (And please, all ghods and ghoddesses, don't ever make me go through a sleep study again. Severe anxiety at being not at home or in a friend's house or other safe space does not equal ability to even pretend to sleep. *wry*)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I just do not understand how they can get useful data from a sleep study. How can they extrapolate what your normal sleep is like?

[sarahwilder.livejournal.com]

I normally try not to comment on medical shit but did your doc talk about when you're taking your meds? Since a lot of medications process in the same liver pathway, taking more than one at a single time can sometimes cause off-loading.

Good luck with the sleep stuff. I'm lucky enough that 5 mg works for me.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

We didn't, and I do take all three at once; I'll ask him about that!