INSOMNIA

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11-04-11  Sleeping still sucks, but since I have switched Neuros I feel more confidant and he gave me another prescription that does seem to help, Trazodone. Along with the Xanax does seem to help me sleep better.  I guess only time tell but I will take it. As far as I am concerned insomnia is the worst symptom of all. I feel so stupid most of the time when I can't think of simple words, however I guess that is because my brain has shrunk more. yippee! Just the nature of this disease and I was told because I have had it for so long and it starting at such a young age. I am hoping to get my MRI images sent to me via email so I can look at them. They are fascinating to look at. The likely hood of my showing up at the Turkey Bowl is pretty remote but I sure hope that by next year I will be doing much better, between diet, and HBOT. I'll never give up but sometimes just feel so tired I don't care. Now that Jim is back in my life I do care so I will keep trying. Thanks again to all you Turkey Bowlers, none of this would be possible without you I can never thank you enough!!! I love you all! That HBOT treatment I had gave me so much energy and it is also supposed to help with insomnia over several treatments.

Knock on wood, and thanks again!!!  Love ~ Lisa

07-30-11   Of course still a huge problem but I am looking into a possible new treatment with HBOT. You may have noticed than new links above about HBOT, I am looking into possibly getting one from Healing Dives where I can d the treatment at home. I will need help from the Turkey Bowl for that or a very kind person who has much more money than I and has nothing better to do with it. (yeah in this economy) I'm not holding out for PCH either ha-ha. I did recently have an MRI done, I would like top see for myself if that ids ht correct test see if I have lesions to the pons area of my brain which controls sleep. I know I have a lot of lesions to my cerebellum that has been there since '84. Just curious, and more curious if any of those lesions fade after HBOT treatments. I figure there is only one way to find out. Tired of being tired. I will never give up! ~ Lisa

05-03-11   Holy crap it has been so long since I have updated here! Gee I wonder if it is because I can't freaking sleep! I just read something that struck a chord as to why my short term memory is so horrible, embarrassingly!!! I read this, it explains a lot! My short term memory completely sucks, and has for decades this certainly explains why, I have never looked this up! duh! I guess better late than never. I am so hoping this new mixture of juices will help clear the veins that may be clogged. I will only be guessing because I cannot afford to have the tests that will prove these veins are actually clogged. I do have a family history of varicose veins, so I'm again just guessing but will pay attention over time to see if I begin to sleep better...God I hope so, that is by far my worst symptom! I took Xanax last night and slept great, I will probably take it again tonight but then it does not work so well and I'm back to sleep deprivation...yahoo! BS! This link is for the elderly which I actually feel like http://insomnia.ygoy.com/2010/10/08/does-chronic-insomnia-cause-memory-loss-in-the-elderly/  I was also given a link today for a supplement that is supposed to do the same thing for the veins, I will also be adding this. What the heck! Have a great day! ~ Lisa http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SWU310/ItemDetail?n=0

How Does Memory Work?

Memory consists of a sort of filing system in the brain, made up of nerve cells called neurons. Neurons store all the information that the brain gathers. Neurons are stimulated in a way that leaves a certain kind of impression on them to form the memory.

How is Insomnia Related to Memory?

Insomnia is known to cause problems with memory. This is because sleep is the time our brains process all the information that it has gathered during the day and stores it as memories. If you do not get adequate sleep, it is likely that the processes of your memory become affected. This means that it will become more difficult for you to remember.

04-17-10  Finally I have a medicine that truly helps me to sleep! Temazepam 30mg! I hate having to take drugs to sleep, but I don't feel human not being able to sleep, not even a nap. Thank goodness for Dr. Ayre, the Neuro I was going to briefly only gave me meds that did not work at all! I'm finally feeling rested. I have huge dark circles under my eyes, I'm 48 and have been feeling 98. No oomph, I still do not have a great deal of oomph but slowly I guess I'll see what happens. In my gut I believe as far as treatments go, the blood test I had done that showed all the foods I have an intolerance has helped to some degree. I feel my MS could have taken a different route had this blood test been around when I was 13. For myself I remember being so young and wanting more proof about the Swank diet, being a teenager I did not want to give up fast foods! Even looking at my blood test results, some of the allowed Swank foods, my blood test showed no. I have only been using the Temazepam for about 10 days, but am thrilled to actually be able to sleep! I do personally also believe that the only treatment that can help repair the lesions in my brain is cord blood, but that is a lot of money so that will be a few years away. I'll wait, but I'll stick to my dietary changes since that seems to be helping keep my symptoms at bay. Summer is just around the corner, so steroids may need to become part of the picture again. We shall see! ~ Lisa

11-22-09  Sleeping has been iffy again, I'm not sure what to make of it. Last night I kept finding myself waking up to go to the bathroom as I always do but I would find myself actually sleeping for 2 - 3 hour stretches, not the norm at all. 1am, 3am, 5am, 8 am & 10:30am! I feel so rested today, I hope there is a repeat of that tonight. The odd thing is I ate a lot of foods I should not have because I was so hungry and it is so difficult to stand up and cook food, I just did not care. My awesome son turned 22 and he got a whipped cream cake, I ate one piece but I had a burger with fries, I have not had fries for a very long time, white potatoes are a food allergen for me as well as cow's milk, wheat, and dairy. I did not eat cheese on the burger, but the bread is definitely a food allergen for me. Very strange, but I was quite filled up which was a nice change of pace. I am still taking Baclofen but did not really seem to be as effective anymore, so I started taking 750mg DHEA twice a day. I wish there was an easy answer but I'll just hope to sleep the same as last night. Though I slept really well, my legs are quite wiped out, I don't know if that is because of the foods I ate.?? Maybe my sleep was better because of taking he DHEA ?? Maybe I will never know for sure but will hope I have a night like I did last night. I'm excited to see how I sleep tonight and if my legs feel stronger, but will not continue eating the foods my blood tested positive to for food allergens. At least that is a fact about the foods I tested positive to. I pray for another great night's sleep tonight. Cya~ Lisa

10-31-09  I have been sleeping!!! Ever since Dr. Ayre called in the prescription for Baclofen, this is amazing! Knock on wood this will continue, it is so foreign to me to be able to sleep but will gladly get used to it! I have had such problems with sleep for years, nearly 9-10 though it has gotten worse since my '05 exacerbation that affected the left side of my body for the first time ever. I will never know for certain when these eyelid spasms began and in the end I guess it does not matter, at least I know now what the problem was and I have a prescription that is helping with that.  Have a Happy Halloween! ~ Lisa

10-24-09  New info! Little by little things appear to be coming together. I did find out taking the Xanax the sporadic way I was taking it was wrong, wrong,wrong! I also remembered years ago having facial spasms to the right side of my face, the right side of my body was the side that was always affected in the beginning. Now I am having facial spasms to the left side of my face and something I am finding out is called Dystonia it sounds like what my eyes are doing, and interesting how it mentions"Stress or fatigue may bring on the symptoms or cause them to worsen.", that sounds familiar! I am already taking Xanax, and now correctly 1-2mg on a nightly basis along with 1½ 10mg pills of Baclofen for the Dystonia. It does seem to be working, it has only been 2 nights but I am sleeping very well. It feels so good to sleep! Knock on wood this will continue! Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

10-17-09  I love my 2 Xanax days in a row, at least I have more energy and sometimes my brain actually works...sometimes. I've figured out for now, it works fairly well taking it 2 days in a row but then 2 days off I might get 2 hours of broken up sleep, I can't remember things and my heart feels as if it is going jump out of my chest, very creepy. Hopefully I can get my site running properly, since I'm self taught and don't really have proper training and a brain that does not work so great I try to remember how I got things running properly then I realize I do not! :(   Oh well, some day I really believe things will come together I just need to remain incredibly patient, or find a Jeannie in a bottle...a guy Jeannie :)  Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

10-10-09  The insomnia got so bad, I did not have any Xanax left (thankfully I do now!) I did not sleep for 4 days, with maybe an hour of sleep. My son asked me if I knew where the spatula was, I knew the word spatula but for a few moments I could not picture what it was then "that flipper thing" came to my Swiss cheese brain. Scary! I really do not want the dementia to continue. I think my ability to update my website is helpful to a degree, but I am still a bit tired in the brain and spent a couple hours updating and forgot to save my info...I will try to get everything up and running ASAP. I probably need a few more days of some sort of decent sleep. So frustrating!

Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

10-02-09  I have been sleeping so badly lately, though nothing that new but I can't seem to escape that damned vertigo! I'm up to 60 mg prednisone, it does slow the spinning and sometimes end it. Very frustrating, I completely believe my chronic insomnia has everything to do with the vertigo, they seem to go hand in hand for. Insomnia, stress, spinning! I have never been a big believer n chiropractic care, but that is because I used to be a PT aid at a local hospital and the PT's would often blame chiropractors for messing up some of their patients, but I am going to give this a try. I will find out for certain what this treatment is, but I found a link that I believe is pretty much what I will have done on Monday. My last MRI was in '00 but it did show a lot of lesions in my cerebellum, no wonder why my balance is shot. I found a local medical lab that gave me a price of $775 to have an MRI of my brain with and without contrast, hopefully the Turkey Bowl game my brother Brian & friends play in my honor will be able to raise that. It is a great price! I really would like to see how my old brain is doing up there after I had a new and really bad exacerbation (in '05) that affected my left side I could not use my left leg and arm. My mom ended up renting me a motorized wheelchair because I could not get around the house very well and I kept falling down. Luckily for me prednisone has always worked for me. I started at 80 mg and weaned off over 3 months. I hate the prednisone bloat, but it did help. I know how fortunate I am, I know so many patients that prednisone does nothing for. The steroids may help with physical recovery to a certain degree but certainly do not help the insomnia, in fact it makes it even worse. So I am really hopeful this new treatment will actually get my brain to go to sleep! Here is a link to a picture of the areas I believe are scarred up in my brain, I know for a fact the cerebellum is, I've seen that on my '98 & '00 MRI's. It will be interesting to find out for a fact what new damage is up there now! Here is a link, MIDBRAIN. Stay tuned! ~ Lisa

02-20-09  I still have a slight case of vertigo, I notice it after  have been laying down or tilting my head and then I sit or stand up straight and the room begins to move. It does stop after a short while, but the prednisone bloat will be with me for awhile more I guess :(  At least it does stop the spinning. I notice now that I can take naps during the day, I have not been able to do that for many years so I believe having those amalgams replaced has really helped in that area. But as far as energy goes that is still not good enough. I miss the vaccine when it comes to that because I had a lot of energy while I was using it....oh well. I'm sure that will change too once I have the blood test done that can tell me what if any foods I truly have an intolerance to. I plan on having that done soon. I know exercise can help with energy, but when I have vertigo my exercising is then isometrics since I do not have to stand up for that. I'm sure in time everything will come together, I just must continue to wait. It is annoying but what else is there to do? Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

02-18-09  I am amalgam free since the 12th!!! I am definitely sleeping better with the 1 Xanax & melatonin, I'm still a bit paranoid to stop taking those 2 things even though I know that the 1 Xanax could not be helping me sleep because of my experience where I would need to take more and more in order for it to work. So I will need to bite the bullet one day and just not take anything. I think I have slowly been overdoing it since I went to see my Grandma who passed on Valentines Day, so today I have a slight case of vertigo for my birthday!! The prednisone does really help me with that, I know how lucky I am.  Never give up! ~ Lisa

01-23-09  Now I only have 2 very small fillings left to go!!! I'm still sleeping rather well, with only 1 Xanax and 1 melatonin. I often find myself falling asleep on the couch with my pooch at my feet. I am not expecting miracles, but so far so good. I am also at the peri-menopausal time of my life which can also affect sleep, yahoo! It does feel great to just be able to lay down and take a brief nap, I haven't even been able to nap for years! Nothing happens overnight so I'll just stick with my various regimens, remain patient and see what happens. Last night was not the greatest sleep...but I slept! It has been so long since I have slept "normally" I imagine this will take patience as well.

Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

01-16-09  I still have 5 fillings to go. My son AJ will take me to the next appointment this upcoming Tuesday, I will have the 3 bottom left amalgam molars replaced with a non-toxic filling. It will be interesting to see if I have further insomnia relief, I am very hopeful. Who knows maybe it will even help my crappy balance, I won't hold my breath on that one. It's nice actually sleeping I even remember having wacky dreams! I still don't have the energy my mom has, but one day I hope to have at least more than I have now. Though I slept great last night I feel pretty perky! I have been walking quite a bit inside the house today, I will do my ab work a little later and add weight training for my arms. I hope I sleep as well tonight! Have a great weekend! ~ Lisa

01-09-09  5 fillings to go now! My insomnia seems better since I had the last 2 big fillings replaced on my bottom left side. I was supposed to have the 2 upper smaller fillings replaced but I was eating almonds and ended up breaking half of the front lower molar off so they decided it was more important to have those lower teeth filled, I agreed. It could be all in my head, but I have been able to sleep better at night with less medicine and sometimes with over the counter sleep meds which never helped me in the past. My brain fog is lifting too! I forgot to mention that on the my symptoms page. I can even fall asleep during the day with no help, I don't remember when I has last able to take a nap for  few hours. I have been doing that too for the past 2 days and probably will be able to do that today as well. My energy level is slowly getting better but I still don't have as much energy as my 76 year old mom, I have a ways to go. I now really believe those damned fillings have a lot to do with the insomnia! It will be nice to be rid of then all which will be complete on January 27th! Never give up! ~ Lisa

12-19-08  2 fillings down, 7 to go. I sure hope this helps this crappy chronic insomnia, it is also supposed to get rid of that brain fog! Only time will tell, I've waited this log I'll gladly wait a little longer. On Lord I hope this helps! My friend Connie has just started a new stem cell treatment called StemEnhance®. I am debating trying these too but not until all of my amalgam fillings have been replaced. When I was looking into having r. Morales give me stem cell treatment he told me he would not until all of my amalgam fillings had been replaced because the stem cells would go directly to my teeth and not to the other places in my body that need the stem cells. So I am simply presuming the same thing would happen if I took them while I still have amalgams, so if I do choose to try this it will not be until after January 6th when all of my fillings will have been replaced. It looks interesting, it could also be crap. Only one way to find out.

Have a safe & Happy Holiday! ~Lisa

12-12-08  That time is finally here, my 9 amalgam fillings replacement will begin this upcoming Tuesday the 16th. Next  the 2 on my upper left molars the following Tuesday the 23rd, then the bottom 3 teeth on the lower right on the 30th, and the last 2 on my bottom left side on December 6th!!! I pray this will get rid of this chronic insomnia, I am hopeful but also must remain patient. Stay tuned. ~Lisa

10-31-08  For now I am hoping that by having my 9 amalgam fillings replaced the chronic insomnia will be relieved. Only time will tell. I am hoping to have them replaced in the next couple months, it will be exciting to see what happens. I have decided to continue to use Xanax daily just adjusting the amount. I just cannot stand the feeling I have when I have not been able to sleep for days or weeks at time. My heart races, which is creepy it sometimes makes me feel like I cannot breathe. That happened back in I believe 2002 or '03 I actually called 911, that ended up being a real waste of money because at that time I had no insurance as I still do not. There was nothing wrong, my heart was strong I just had not experienced that before, now I guess it's old hat just something I have to live with. Only time will tell of course. Never give up! ~ Lisa

10-24-08  After doing further research into brain stem lesions and chronic insomnia, I really believe this is my problem. I unfortunately do not have insurance so this cannot be proven it will simply remain my hypothesis. I think it is a very good one. The only thing that helps is Xanax, which I cannot take every day because my body gets used to it and I need to increase the amount. I've been doing a lot of research on that subject, this is part of one of the articles I've found.

"Another finding in the early years of this century was that injury to the base of the brain, at a region called the preoptic area, could produce long-lasting insomnia. Recent studies have identified nerve cells in this area of the brain that are specifically active during sleep. In other words, not only is waking an active state, but sleep also requires activity of special nerve cells to maintain a state of sleep.

In our laboratory we set out to learn precisely how this activity serves sleep, by examining the connections of sleep-active nerve cells in the preoptic area. We found that these cells send their axons to the monamine and acetycholine neurons in the brainstem and the nerve terminals wrap around and encrust the nerve cells in the arousal system. Significantly, the sleep-active nerve cells in the preoptic area contain GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter which turns down, or dampens, the firing of other cells. When the sleep-active neurons are firing, we believe that they profoundly inhibit the arousal systems of the brain, and "turn off the lights."

I am also going to be having my 9 amalgam fillings replaced in the next month or so, I'm hoping that will make a difference. Only time will tell. I will also be using Chelorex to help remove these toxins from my body. Stay tuned! - Lisa

09-26-08  Dr. Shane has been such a helpful man! When I first received my package of CD's and such, the earplugs were accidentally excluded so he sent me a pair. I also have to have the shower head in my bedroom replaced it's impossible to sleep through drip, drip, drip! So I have been turning on the box fan in my room to at least mask the noise, so I have not bee able to properly try out this sleep system. Hopefully that will get done this weekend! Cya ~ Lisa

09-19-08  I really enjoyed the Sleep Easily method Dr. Shane was really nice to communicate  with.  It helped a bit,  However I think it will work better for people who do not have scars all over their brain. I have not had an MRI since 2000 so I'm sure I have many more lesions in my brain. I read something that made me start putting the possible pieces together as to why I cannot just close my eyes and simply fall asleep, I used to be able to do that! I read one article about how brain stem lesions can cause chronic insomnia, that's me! Then I continued to read further and found that these brain stem lesions can also cause hallucinations....holy crap! A few years back when I went the insomnia was really doing a number on me, I could not sleep for nearly 30 hours. During that time,  I'm sure I was very unpleasant to be around and for the first and thank God the last time I had a hallucination! Scared the crap out of me because I knew it was not real but there it was. It was kind of funny now that I look back. My hallucination was of a young blond boy 8/10 or so wearing his baseball uniform with bat in hand. Who knows maybe in my wacky subconscious I was hoping he would hit me in the head so I could go to sleep! That next morning I called my GP to see if he would prescribe some Xanax so I could go to sleep. He did and that made a big difference. Unfortunately insomnia is still my biggest problem. I will continue to use the Xanax and then stop when I need to take more and more for it to work. I'll have to run that theory by my Neurolgist when I see him. In the mean time I have also added some visualizations. It sure can't hurt. Visualization page.  Have a great weekend! ~Lisa

08-16-08  Looking back I cannot believe I left this symptom out! This is what I have the most problems with. I'm certain if I could just sleep more my brain would be more clear. I have tried everything, but I just found a new treatment that I will give a try when it arrives. This one is a CD, but not music or meditation. Here is the link.www.sleepeasily.com

Dr. Shane's Sleep Easily Method is different from anything you have ever tried. It is not a drug or supplement, nor general relaxation, deep breathing, visualization, sleep restriction, hypnosis, subliminal messages, nor a device. And it goes far beyond just sleep hygiene.

Sleep Easily is simple, logical steps that give you a way to release your sleep switch to actually cross over the threshold into sleep and…

I will update this with my experience when I receive & test it. ~ Lisa