Mental Health Tired of being tired

[DarlaDee]

I just found out that I have Mono for the second time! Also, I have fell down my daughters stairs and cracked my tailbone. OUCH! My problem is that I have been fighting insomnia and fatigue forever and I cannot find a doctor that will write anything stronger than Neurontin. I dont know if I am not asking the right questions or even speaking english. I also have ADD and EBV. I just want my life back! I want to be able to sleep at night and be awake during the day.

 

[SleepingBeauty68]

Neurontin takes months to work. I have extensive nerve damage and my Dr prescribed that along with diluadid for my pain. Wtf, what kind of Dr would give you that for sleep? I'm no Dr myself but pretty savvy when it comes to pain Drs cuz ive been seeing them for a better half of a decade.

Look for a pain clinic and have a sleep study done, be very descriptive of your pain and if one Dr doesn't help you, find another one. It's a sacred relationship between Dr and patient. The chemistry and understanding isn't always going to be there. You wouldn't marry a random woman just because she's a woman right? Same principal. keep looking until you feel it's the right fit and they are meeting your needs.

 

[pasha]

We don't permit people to use Bluelight in order to solicit information on how to find doctors and obtain medications. I kindly ask that any discussion will remain on your issues and how to resolve them.

Homeless -> Mental Health

 

[paranoid android]

Well if you want something to help you sleep, give you actual restorative sleep and also help your pain i would suggest a tricyclic anti-depressant such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline, doxepin, imipramine, desipramine, etc. I was on amitriptyline for trigeminal neuralgia and also to treat major depression (which i latter learned was actually bipolar disorder) and i can honestly say it was the best medication i have ever taken for insomnia. Not only did the sedating effects only wear off after years of being on it and maxing out the maximum recommended outpatient dose of 150mg's a day but it improved my sleep quite abit. Alot of drugs especially some benzos can help you sleep but you feel like you didn't get any real sleep when you wake up. But with amitriptyline it will knock you out for a good 8 hours and improve sleep quality. So even though amitriptyline is very sedating due to it's strong anti-cholinergic and anti-histaminic effects it actually made me feel more alert during the day as it helped me sleep better at night and probably also because it is a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor so the increased levels of norepinephrine probably play a part in that as well. Tricyclics that are strong norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are used off label for treating ADHD actually. It also worked great for neuropathic pain for me (alot better then gabapentin or pregabalin) so it's definitely worth a shot if you are experience much of that type of pain.

As for maybe taking something like methylphenidate, dextroamphetamine or adderall to help you stay awake that might be a even worse idea if you have mono then it normally would be as stimulants due take a toal on your body. If you stick to say low doses of dextroamphetamine it won't hurt you but tolerance to the stimulating effects of amphetamines grow rather rapidly not to mention that it is really easy to get addicted to stimulants when using them for this purpose. After all why feel tired and just plain lousy most of the time when you can just pop more Dexies? Amphetamines in particular (not so much with methylphenidate due to it's side effects) are sneaky drugs to get addicted to as functioning at a higher then normal is addictive in and of itself never mind the very addictive nature of stimulants altogether.

Thank fuck i have never had mono but i do know people that have and it sounds brutal. A friend of mine barely got out of bed for half a year or more because of it. Good luck to you on getting better

 

[ad lib]

I had mononucleosis and god that SUCKED. All I did for 5 months straight was sleep, and I lost a ton of weight. I don't even remember those 5 months. I ended up being hospitalized for dehydration during that period too and almost had to have a splenectomy.

Paranoid Android is spot on about tricyclics- Amitriptyline knocked me on my ass for hours when I was taking it for nerve pain & migraines.

I don't recommend taking stimulants though. With mono you need to rest.

 

[DarlaDee]

Thank you for all of the info. I really appreciate any help and advice I can get.