The midnight club

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Yup

Loopy Lou said:
well, took my pills last night at 8pm, felt drowsy at half ten, went to sleep annd then woke up at 3am. That was over an hour ago and i'm now wondering whether to give up for the night and just get up. Hmmm...
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Sounds like me, Lou! I'd put an "lol" after that, but it isn't funny.

:paperbag:
 
Good morning, I am not having any luck with sleep last few days... Fall sleep with kids wake up at 11:30pm to 12am. Up till about 12:pm than sleep till 4pm by the time I get my self ready for work I am totally exhausted again. I end up calling to work than falling asleep with kids. Right now I feel totally useless, I am a normal night shifter (work wise but I drive 75 miles to work everyday one way and I really need to be awake. This happen to you all....?
 
Hi, TWC, I used to have a long commute, and worked swing shift (not night shift). Even though it was swing it screwed up my biological clock. And just when I adjusted, they switched me back to days. My commute was about 45min each way. I ended up joining a vanpool so I could nap on the way and back to work.

Now it's just that darned lamictal. Tonight... Fell asleep around midnight, now it's 1:22am. That's an hour and a half of sleep. I'm hoping I can fall asleep again later. Hasn't happened in nights past but I have hope.

I know what you mean about feeling useless. I feel like a walking zombie at night, and during the day.

Refresh my memory - what medication are you on? Some of the others can alter sleep, too.
 
Hey, separate unrelated subject.

Why, when I get out of bed does my dog settle into the exact spot I was in? It can't be for the warmth. His own spot was plenty warm already. It can't be territory/dominance, because he had 2/3 of the bed already. By the time I go back to bed he has fallen asleep all snuggly with his head on my pillow. And I hate to disturb him. So he pretty much gets the entire bed plus my favorite pillow while I get this little slice of the edge to sleep on. I have to use another pillow or risk waking the critter up.

Dogs are bigger bed hogs than spouses are. Why? And why on earth do I care so much about the comfort and sleep of a dog? After all, he's only a dog. Well, no matter. I only spend about 3 hours a night in there anyway.
 
Endless said:
Hi, TWC, I used to have a long commute, and worked swing shift (not night shift). Even though it was swing it screwed up my biological clock. And just when I adjusted, they switched me back to days. My commute was about 45min each way. I ended up joining a vanpool so I could nap on the way and back to work.

Now it's just that darned lamictal. Tonight... Fell asleep around midnight, now it's 1:22am. That's an hour and a half of sleep. I'm hoping I can fall asleep again later. Hasn't happened in nights past but I have hope.

I know what you mean about feeling useless. I feel like a walking zombie at night, and during the day.

Refresh my memory - what medication are you on? Some of the others can alter sleep, too.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Depakote ER 500 x2 daily.....
Tom
 
Depakote can cause insomnia in about 1-3% of people. Sleepiness is a more common response.

Here's a website with more info. Though it just talks about sleep hygeine as a remedy. Most of us are doing this stuff already! http://epilepsy.emedtv.com/depakote-er/depakote-er-and-insomnia.html

Be sure to tell your doc that you aren't sleeping. He can prescribe sleeping pills, if needed. Not that those worked for me. Because here I am at 2:00 in the morning typing away.
 
well Col, they're not working on me. Feeling thoroughly fed up and depressed. It's 5am and i have to be up earlyish to meet my friend at the gym. Oooh it's so going to kill me :( i managed to get about 3 hours.
 
Hi "LL" - Do you sprinkle Lavender oil on your pillow @ night? It works for me. Also, my Consultant recently prescribed Pregabalin for my E, telling me it also has a sedative effect on some folk.
It's too early for me to tell but I'll tell you of any such experiences. Maybe you should run it past your medics? Nothing ventured and all that!

Col.
 
Well, i've been prescribed Vimpat since october, i've just never been to pick it up. Going to see my doc about it on friday. One extra new drug for now is enough lol.

I thought i had a spare bottle of lavender oil so i took it in for someone at work, and then realised that that was my only bottle lol. Going shopping tomorrow so might get some more. Went to the gym this morning, hopefully i'll finally be exhausted enough to sleep before my brain decides to "force" a crash and reboot lol.
 
Hey, Lou. That's what I thought. I said to my epi, "my theory is that sooner or later my body will give in and sleep, 'cause my body can't go on like this forever, right?" He gave me this look that said I was wrong, and then prescribed something that was supposed to make me sleep. (It didn't)

Last night I got 4 hours. Yahoo!
 
I actually found myself thinking last night that if i did have a tonic clonic seizure (which is what i'm scared of because tiredness and stress are my two big triggers), at least i'd sleep for a day or two lol!
 
Well, the last couple of nights I got 5 hours of sleep. Hooray! But it was because I had bronchitis and my body just gave out. Last night I only got 2 hours again. Went to bed at 11:30, up again at 1:30. Darn. Well, at least I know the secret to getting some sleep - get sick. :(

In another string there's talk about epilepsy and driving. Today I won't drive - not because I have epilepsy (I've been approved to drive now), but because I'm so sleep deprived that my head is stuffed with cotton and I think my reflexes and attention to my surroundings is pretty poor. I don't think I'm alert enough to be behind the wheel when I only have 2 hours of sleep.

Lol... my poor dog is really tired of me (no pun intended). He's my service animal. He follows me around - always. It's his job. So when I get up at night, so does he. He's just as sleep deprived as I am. Sad, but interesting to see the effects on him. He sways a little when he walks, like a drunk dog. He tries to keep his eyes open during the day but they just start closing. Commands that he used to obey instantly he now stands there for about a minute and thinks about it, and then he may or may not do it. His internal clock is way off - he isn't reminding me about my meds on time. He's like a different dog.

Makes me wonder what's going on with me, and what my changes are without sleep.
 
Have you been giving a reason for your sleeplessness, or do you think it's because of your meds?

My Keppra makes me dopey and sleepy, which is awful cause i can't GET to sleep because of anxiety problems.

The Zopiclone has helped a bit, in that it helps me get to sleep. The problem is then staying asleep lol. Got a whole 7-8 hours the other night though (day i went to the gym), and about 4-5 every other night, so i'm doing a little better :D

Been prescribed different ones again now as the Zopiclone was only supposed to be a short term thing. Going to pick them up tomorrow along with my new supply of vimpat and this months supply of Keppra. I could be in the Pharmacist's for a while lol.
 
It's definitely the Lamictal. The other AEDs made me sleepy all the time. This is the only one that has me buzzing. The doc has tried me on 3 different sleeping pills. None really helped. A couple left my head stuffed with cotton without even providing the sleep. And now we're about to up the dosage again. That can't possibly lead to NO sleep. A body just can't do that.
 
I had all sorts of problems on Lamictal, but i got the opposite of no-sleep. It made me very tired, dizzy, unsteady and increased frequency of all my seizures lol.

12.50am here, heading to bed now.

Nighty night!
 
I like vimpat too.

I have the same issues with Lamictal. Frustrating to take medication with side-effects that are directly correlated to seizure breakthroughs. Sleep deprivation is miserable. Oh the irony.
 
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