Insomnia wwyd

[boltfam]

I'm about 11 weeks along and been having HORRIBLE insomnia. I have been drinking hot tea at night, not sleeping during the day, and trying to follow all the other advice on falling asleep. I am taking Unisom to help with it but it does not seem to be doing the trick.

My doctor offered to but was hesitant to prescribe Ambien. I just got over the stomach flu, and I feel like my immune system is shot because of the lack of sleep. So in desperation, I decided to call my OB's office to have them prescribe the Ambien, and of course, they're unexpectedly closed today. Would it be inappropriate to page my doctor to ask for a prescription? I don't want to deal with three more nights of not sleeping...I feel like I have put up with this long enough.

[mikala]

Is your tea caffeine free? You might try warm milk with honey or a flavored syrup instead.

Do you do any exercise during the day? With PG insomnia I seem to sleep better if I do some sort of cardiovascular exercise or yoga during the day. Ear plugs and white noise also help me get to sleep and reduce disruptions once I'm there.

Are you feeling stressed about anything in particular? It also helps me to write out my to-do list and anything that is worrying me so I can kind of put my thoughts to bed too.

Re: meds, I haven't done any research on Ambien so I don't have any BTDT for you. If it were me I think I'd try to lay low over the weekend and see if that helps at all and then call the Dr on Monday if you're still not sleeping.

Good luck! Hope you can at least get a nap or two over the weekend if you aren't sleeping at night!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

no advice, just that i'm so sorry, i know how insomnia sucks so bad. for me it was really bad when i was pregnant i think i even posted a thread about it here, when i was pregnant with my DD.

i never tried ambien, but i did try Tylenol PM and i know that did help usually (though i hated feeling so groggy in the morning!). usually just taking it once at night helped bc for me, if i get one night of rotten sleep then the next few nights tend to be bad too.

anyways, other things that help me is kicking DH out to the guest room with the baby monitors (he snores, and sometimes when i have insomnia, his mere presence aggravates me). i take Nighty Night by Traditional Medicinals, and let it steep for a while (not sure if it's ok to take when preggo though). I think that one is stronger than others that are just chamomile...

eta: i know lots of people here take melatonin to help fall/stay asleep, and it helps them. i tried it once a few weeks ago and while it did help me fall asleep, within 3 hours i woke up and was rushing to the bathroom...that stuff was like instant -colon cleanse or something..it was HORRIBLE. too bad bc i've heard the melatonin really helps with the insomnia.

[amldaley]

No advice here. I am one of those people who will do just about anything to avoid taking meds when I am pregnant, especially in the first trimester, whether they are "safe" or not, unless medically necessary.

However, I did want to pass a congratulations on to you! Could not remember if we had seen an announcement in the Lounge or not (pregnancy brain!) but just saw your roster addition, etc.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

[ray7694]

I take Ambien but am not pregnant. I take half a pill and it knocks me completely out. If I don't get 8 hours of sleep I fell tired when I wake. I also notice it takes me a couple hours to feel normal in the am.

[carolinamama]

You may want to try Unisom (NOT the diphenhydramine one though) just regular Unisom. My OB had me try it in the 1st trimester for awful nausea. Half a tablet would knock me out for the night and I wasn't groggy in the morning. It did help with the nausea too!

[brittone2]

would you consider a progressive relaxation type of CD?

I have had insomnia off and on through the years including while pg. I used Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies as labor prep, and I was always amazed at how well I slept after using it! It really is just like one of those progressive relaxation type CDs and teaches you how to use nice, calm breathing techniques. There have been several other moms here who used hypnosis as childbirth prep and many of them have said the same thing about improved sleep/less insomnia in other posts.

It might be worth a try. No meds, and you really end up teaching yourself a skill.

I was known to dig out my cds/tracks when I was *not* pg just to help with the insomnia at times!

[KLD313]

The hypnobabies CD is a great idea. I never slept better than when I was using those tracks. They have the relax me track that you can download for free off of their website so you can see if you like it.

Why didn't I think to pull out my CD's for my early pregnancy insomnia I'm having?

[hellokitty]

You may want to try Unisom (NOT the diphenhydramine one though) just regular Unisom. My OB had me try it in the 1st trimester for awful nausea. Half a tablet would knock me out for the night and I wasn't groggy in the morning. It did help with the nausea too!

:yeahthat: I used this for nausea, with the added effect of drowsiness. It did help me to get more sleep when I was taking it. It is safe for pregnancy. I took it for two of my pregnancies.

[Cam&Clay]

I had debilitating insomnia when I was pregnant with DS2. They gave me Ambien but made me wait until I was in the second trimester. It is fine to use when you are pregnant.

In the first trimester, I used regular Unisom, which did help some. It's the doxycycline succinate one, not the diphenhydramine (which is just Benadryl).

[boltfam]

No advice here. I am one of those people who will do just about anything to avoid taking meds when I am pregnant, especially in the first trimester, whether they are "safe" or not, unless medically necessary.

However, I did want to pass a congratulations on to you! Could not remember if we had seen an announcement in the Lounge or not (pregnancy brain!) but just saw your roster addition, etc.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Thanks! :) No, there was no announcement in the lounge...just the roster addition and my low-key plead for help. ;)

[boltfam]

A little update:
I took Bendadryl the night I posted this, because even though I have been taking a whole unisom (the succinate one), it didn't seem to be helping. The Benadryl seemed to help, and the next night I went back to Unisom, because I missed the anti-nausea affect, and still slept well. Maybe I'm turning a corner?




i never tried ambien, but i did try Tylenol PM and i know that did help usually (though i hated feeling so groggy in the morning!). usually just taking it once at night helped bc for me, if i get one night of rotten sleep then the next few nights tend to be bad too.

anyways, other things that help me is kicking DH out to the guest room with the baby monitors (he snores, and sometimes when i have insomnia, his mere presence aggravates me). i take Nighty Night by Traditional Medicinals, and let it steep for a while (not sure if it's ok to take when preggo though). I think that one is stronger than others that are just chamomile...

eta: i know lots of people here take melatonin to help fall/stay asleep, and it helps them. i tried it once a few weeks ago and while it did help me fall asleep, within 3 hours i woke up and was rushing to the bathroom...that stuff was like instant -colon cleanse or something..it was HORRIBLE. too bad bc i've heard the melatonin really helps with the insomnia.

Well, that makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who kicks their DH out of bed. He breathes so loud, and it is SO annoying when you're trying to fall asleep. ;)

I'll ask my dr. about the Tylenol PM, and thanks for the heads up on the melatonin- will avoid that.


would you consider a progressive relaxation type of CD?

I have had insomnia off and on through the years including while pg. I used Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies as labor prep, and I was always amazed at how well I slept after using it! It really is just like one of those progressive relaxation type CDs and teaches you how to use nice, calm breathing techniques. There have been several other moms here who used hypnosis as childbirth prep and many of them have said the same thing about improved sleep/less insomnia in other posts.

It might be worth a try. No meds, and you really end up teaching yourself a skill.

I was known to dig out my cds/tracks when I was *not* pg just to help with the insomnia at times!

Hmmm...sounds interesting. I would def. be open to something like this b/c I tend to go too fast in labor for epidurals and end up doing it all natural, so it would help with my breathing in labor, too. Where would be a good place to buy them or check into them?

[amldaley]

Anything working for you? Have you been able to get some sleep yet?

(I type this as I am laying wide awake at 0145 in the morning!!!!!!)

[brittone2]

A little update:
I took Bendadryl the night I posted this, because even though I have been taking a whole unisom (the succinate one), it didn't seem to be helping. The Benadryl seemed to help, and the next night I went back to Unisom, because I missed the anti-nausea affect, and still slept well. Maybe I'm turning a corner?



Well, that makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who kicks their DH out of bed. He breathes so loud, and it is SO annoying when you're trying to fall asleep. ;)

I'll ask my dr. about the Tylenol PM, and thanks for the heads up on the melatonin- will avoid that.



Hmmm...sounds interesting. I would def. be open to something like this b/c I tend to go too fast in labor for epidurals and end up doing it all natural, so it would help with my breathing in labor, too. Where would be a good place to buy them or check into them?

There are some great old threads if you want more info. I used Hypnobirthing (Mongan) with DS1's labor (took an in person class). I wasn't sure it would be for me, but my mw steered me away from the hospital class because it was very intervention focused and assumed most women would have an epidural. This wasn't a particularly crunchy or holistic mw either. She recommended a local woman who taught in person classes. Her more traditional class didn't work for my time frame, but she told me about hypnobirthing. I wasn't sure it would be for me, but decided after reading up on it that it was worth a try. Hypnobirthing has fewer tracks than Hypnobabies, so a lot of people don't like it for that reason (if you don't connect with those tracks you are kind of out of luck). My instructor made us an additional CD on her own, so in some ways it was kind of like Hypnobabies. I had a good experience with it.

WIth DD and DS2 I used that and a Hypnobabies home study course meant as a supplement for those who had already done the Mongan Hypnobirthing class. I've never technically done the full hypnobabies program. If I had to pick one, I'd go with Hypnobabies though based off of reviews from others (and I think I had a really good experience w/ Hypnobirthing because my instructor was awesome and made us the extra CD to boot).

I have seen the Mongan Hypnobirthing materials at B&N. There is a Hypnobabies website that has info and you can probably download directly from them these days digitally.

I honestly didn't think it was going to work because I never felt "hypnotized" just deeply relaxed. My instructor kept kind of saying that yeah, that's normal. It really worked well for me all 3 times though when it came down to it. And like I said, the help w/ insomnia was an awesome side benefit!

It doesn't feel like you are out of it or not aware or anything at all like that. It is truly just a really deep relaxation that feels great. No weirdness or anything like that IME.

[boltfam]

Thanks for the info., Beth! DH doesn't want to do another childbirthing class, so if I could do hypnobirthing/babies at home, it sounds like a great alternative and what I'm looking for to help with pain management during childbirth.

[brittone2]

Thanks for the info., Beth! DH doesn't want to do another childbirthing class, so if I could do hypnobirthing/babies at home, it sounds like a great alternative and what I'm looking for to help with pain management during childbirth.
Yep, you can do it as a self study! Best of luck and let me know if you have any questions about it. I've used it 3x and found it worked really well for me. (eta: when I took the Mongan Hypnobirthing class, they sometimes had the spouse read you additional scripts (that weren't on the CD) out of the book. I found that was not my thing. DH knows I do best with him there for me to get me drinks, snacks, ice, whatever, but I really prefer to be in my own mental space during labor. So listening to my headphones and tuning out almost everything else works best for me. That goes along well with self-study I think.