Blue Crab
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  • Also has anyone used the built in background sounds from iOS to sleep to? Listening to "night" def gives me some inhibition so when I wake up my t is quieter
    Past my 1 year tinnitus birthday with no big changes to it. I'm still on Zolpidem and clonazepam but working with my doctor to get off them. Hope I can still sleep cold Turkey
    Seeing a new PCP today, we'll see what he allows me to take. I'm convinced nothing will really help me sleep more than about 4-5 hours
    My tinnitus-caused insomnia continues. Last night I got about 4 hours of sleep. Still taking Zolpidem 12.5 and clonzapem 1 mg nightly.
    RunningMan
    I'm taking Quviviq 50 mg about half hour before bedtime, wake after 4 or so hours of broken sleep, then take about 1.5 mg of Zolpidem to sleep another hour or so, typically broken again. Still not enough, and I'm limiting Lorazepam to only certain days.
    I said forget about that and scheduled 2 appts with 2 new docs, hopefully one of them gives me what I need to keep holding on
    RunningMan
    A friend of mine ran into that with Xanax. So she has to keep going to a doctor further away to get her prescription refills. Some doctors don't want to keep prescribing zolpidem, either.
    Blue Crab
    It's all about finding the right doctor. In my old town I found one immediately. Others are too scared to give patients the medication they need and just want to cover their asses out of unfounded fear
    Since then I've moved and no longer have access to the same dr but he left me enough of a script to try to find a new dr
    I've been taking clonazepam 1mg with 12.5 mg zolpidem since April 5. I get decent sleep - 6 hrs last night.
    4 hrs 10 mins of sleep last night, while taking Ambien cr and clonazepam, which I still take nightly. Good exercise and ate hours b4 sleep
    RunningMan
    I'm getting about 5 to 5 1/2 hours broken sleep with a combo of Quviviq before bedtime and 1 to 3 mg of Ambien later overnight.
    Ouch 4 hrs 40 mins last night and I spent the entire day moving furniture and driving around. I'm exhausted before even going to work
    Moved out of my apt with train near it and I'm in a better room now. stress level is lower. I got 6.5 hrs sleep last night with usual meds
    RunningMan
    My house is 1/2 mile from train. Sometimes the rumbling is pretty loud, but that doesn't seem to be what's waking me up. I might have gotten 6.5 hr last night on the DORA insomnia med, but it was pretty broken and awake over 2 hours. Actually skipped zolpidem for once, though.
    Blue Crab
    Had to look up DORA, looks to be very new series of drugs? I'm still rocking the zolpidem and clonzapem. I'd like to get off but I feel like I need their stability for now.
    RunningMan
    Yeah, it's Quviviq that I had mentioned in my response to one of your previous profile posts. It's been out about 2 years. I just increased dose to 50 mg and didn't feel as good today - might have been related, plus not much of a change with sleep. I'll stick with it for now to see if things improve.
    No exercise and lots of carbs yesterday lead to 4 hrs 31 mins sleep. Felt so tired I had to leave work early. I'm beginning to see a pattern
    RunningMan
    I had a bad night - so broken up and just lying there so much. Maybe slept 2 to 3 hours - Fitbit can't track it. And that's even with zolpidem around 4:30. The new DORA class med didn't help - seemed to make me sleep worse.
    Blue Crab
    All we can do is stay strong. I laid there from 2:20 AM or so until my alarm rang at 6:00
    Last night I took Zolpidem CR, 0.5 clonzapem, good workout. Ate 3+ hours before bed and no screentime 1 hr before. I got 5 hr 28 min sleep.
    RunningMan
    I feel your pain. I can get around that much with zolpidem taken overnight, but it takes me about 2+ hours of awake time overnight along with it to get there - never solid. Last night was much worse, though.
    Rather poor sleep last night, only getting 4 hrs 22 mins. I rather strongly think I'll take 1 mg clon. could also be this area, loud trains
    RunningMan
    I'm trying a newer sleep med (DORA class) called Quviviq. I woke before 1 AM and couldn't sleep, then had the strangest sensation from several times over a half hour or so. It really freaked me out the first time like I was having an OBE. I could even coax it into happening by imagining I was slipping into sleep. But I never did fall asleep again until I took another sleep med at 3:30.
    Blue Crab
    Running your sleep brokenness is interesting. Me and you and seem to have opposite problems. My problem is I cannot sleep after waking. I hope you can find a med that works for you. Find a PCP that will work with you. I was lucky the 1st PCP I went to was open to me trying things.
    RunningMan
    That's my problem, too. I usually fall asleep initially ok, and I might wake and get back to sleep once or twice, but by 3AM, I am less likely to get back to sleep without zolpidem. Last night was worse cause woke by 1 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. And even if I sleep again, I wake too early closer to daylight and can't sleep again. Will try it again.
    I've been taking clonazepam since 5 April. At the .5 mg level before bed and at when I wake. At peak, I'd say it gives a 50% sound reduct.
    RunningMan
    50% equates to about a 6 dB drop in volume. It's definitely better than nothing. I have an irregular cycle of my T levels varying, so I'm still not sure how much I can attribute to Ativan taken occasionally. I thought it was helping, only to rebound to a new higher level baseline afterwards. Today, it doesn't seem to be reducing T, but it may be delayed.
    Blue Crab
    Basically I'd say that clonaezpam takes the edge off. I notice it less in the office and when I'm sitting in the car at a turn signal, as an example. It's still perfectly noticeable in my bed room or if I'm sitting in my car in a parking lot with the engine off and no other ambient noise.
    Just another update, the clonazepam has continued to make a huge difference both in tinnitus sound and sleep received at night.
    RunningMan
    That's good you have gotten relief, but I'm always concerned about frequent use of benzos due to building tolerance quickly. Are you still taking 1 mg per day, or did you scale back?
    Blue Crab
    Honestly, the last two days I took what my doctor recommended, that is 1mg clon at bed time and .5 mg in morning. Inexplicably I only got 4 hours sleep last night :(
    I took clonazepam and I'm having a noticeable level of reduction in my noise. I don't want to put a % on it, I'll just say its significant.
    Blue Crab
    Also - the sleep was very good last night. I *might* have broken 6 hrs. Although Im not positive
    RunningMan
    I actually slept 4 1/2 hours solid wit no meds last night before waking up and taking Zolpidem about 1.3mg. I rarely make it that long without waking. Near morning was more broken, though, maybe 6 hours total. Skipping Lorazepam today.
    L along the way
    Same here.. my sleeping was terrible for such a long time.. i also started taking sleeping meds, but don't wanna use it every night.. sometimes i take supplements, sometimes a drink.. sometimes nothing.. and trying to cultivate mindfulness.. struggling with t.. i sometimes tell myself.. okay patience.. patience.. but to be able to sleep and rest well.. that's so important and good
    3.5 hours of sleep. Not feeling great, but I have a PCP appt today. Plan on asking if there's something else I can take besides Amb
    Blue Crab
    Thanks - I can give those a try next if my new thing doesn't work. Doc gave me clonazepam 1mg at night and .5 in the morning. This will be with the Zolpidem CR.
    RunningMan
    1 mg Clonazepam is pretty potent in itself, even more so alongside Ambien. It should work in the short term, but taking those benzos regularly always is a concern. I have Lorazepam 0.5 mg prescription for anxiety and don't take every day. It's about half potency of Clonazepam per mg.
    Blue Crab
    Thanks Running. I'll take it all together 1 time to see what happens. Maybe reduce tomorrow. I agree its a lot of stuff to take at once
    Two good nights of sleep! (5 hours+) Rode my bike 10 miles a day on those days and today. Took my Ambien CR, Tylenol PM, and melatonin.
    RunningMan
    Oh, turning it off wouldn't work for me, so that's still no good in my case. I always wake up multile times through the night, sometimes for quite a while - it's pretty broken. I woke up the first time within an hour after going to bed last night, which isn't unusual, so getting back to sleep multiple times is important. Ambien is sometimes needed.
    Blue Crab
    Ah okay, the Apple Watch lets you enter "sleep mode." It starts counting sleep about 15-20 minutes after you enable it. It will disable at a specific time, sleep schedule, that you can preprogram or you can do it manually. In our cases, the manual mode is more useful to get a more accurate read. With your sleep broken up, I do agree that it will be very hard to to measure though
    RunningMan
    That manual mode sounds like my Fitbit. I enable sleep when I get in bed and disable it when I'm certain I'm done sleeping. So last night, my Fitbit was set to sleep mode for over 8 hours, says I slept about 7, but I estimate about 6 actual hours of broken sleep. About 2 years ago, when I didn't sleep at all, it still reported a few hours of sleep.
    I don't think I've slept for the last 2 nights.for sure is that Ambien/zolpidem doesn't seem to do its job. I should probably taper off
    RunningMan
    I think tolerance builds fairly quickly when you up the dose, so I always try to keep it low as possible. When I first started, I took 5mg at bedtime and would sleep 2 to 3 hours. My current method on lower doses works better. I remember back to back nights when I didn't sleep at all 2 years ago.
    Blue Crab
    Good feedback on the tolerance. I shifted to Lunesta/Eszopiclone (3mg) last night and got a solid 5. I was on 12.5 mg Ambien CR just the night before. However, your comment makes me think I should split my Lunesta into 1.5 mg halves or ask the doctor for a lower prescription. I think my doc defaults to the highest dosage.
    RunningMan
    I would just split it first to see if it's sufficient to be helpful. Lunesta has about double the half life of my Ambien, so the middle-of-the-night dosage may not be as useful if you're taking it at bedtime. I didn't take Ambien until almost 4:30 AM this morning, none at bedtime.
    4 hours of sleep last night, has me stressed.
    BrOKeN_1
    That'll do it. Try to remind yourself 4 hours is better then 0. And hopefully you'll catch up tonight.
    L along the way
    I had sleep difficulties for months.. and really.. sleep is such a basic need. Recently i've been able to sleep more/better. My advise would be to really check out all options, which promote a good night's rest, it's so important
    So I've been using the Perytong Sleepband while sleeping to listen to white noises. I have the volume at 65 decibels. Should be safe right?
    Thanks everyone for the welcome. last night got 4 hours sleep taking Benadryl and Ambien. Today got a massage and trying new sleep head band
    RunningMan
    I've been taking Ambien for 2 years. I don't use it to initially get to sleep, but I usually take it overnight to get back to sleep. 1 mg last night. Those OTC and other antihistamines don't seem to do much for me.
    Blue Crab
    Wow that's a super low dosage of Ambien. I've used 5, 10, and 12.5 mg, the last one being CR. I'd like to get off it but I wasn't getting sleep as reliable with other options. Agreed on the OTCs
    RunningMan
    Sometimes I need a second dose. I normally split my 10mg pill into 8 pieces. I took 2 pieces overnight last night plus a Lorazepam about 5 AM, which allowed me to get about 7 hours of broken sleep. Usually I get more like 5 to 5 1/2 hours.
    Blue Crab I like the name it's kind of lit as the kids these days say lol.
    Blue Crab
    Thanks! I lived in Maryland, so it fits me. Hope to move back soon
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