very serious sleep deprivation

[sosurreal09]

i have always been a problem sleeper and always took OTC natural sleep meds and "self medicated" with marijuana...well i havent done that at all in nearly 2 years now. while i was pregnant i was sleeping great! then when DD was first born i wasnt sleeping b/c i was taking care of her and everything but i would crash when i could.

now my sleep issues are alot worse, i will be so tired and go to sleep at say 10pm then im awake at 1 until 4am then up at 6am with DD (her choice) so im very sleep deprived. i have an appointment with a specialist but its not until aug 20th! i dont know how much i can handle this i havent really slept in a long time. then i will have these crash periods where its so hard to stay awake all day for like a week and i sleep good at night...then it goes back to weeks of not sleeping.

anyone have any tips for me? its really effecting my life alot, im exhaisted all the time and i have horrible headaches and im sooo moody and have little patience and im a single mom so its rough. DD is very low sleep needs and only has 1 nap a day and i never know how long it will be and i can never sleep during it. i also keep going blind for a few seconds and then my vision comes back and i see spots sometimes. i went to the neurologist and he said im fine. i went to the endocrinologist and he said im in immaculate health besides im a little overweight still. my blood pressure is LOW 80/50 is normal for me. idk if that is for a reason? i need help! btw DD is 9 m/o and BFing she only wakes 2x at night to nurse and otherwise STTN.

[Amberenergy]

I have a friend who did acupuncture and it worked within four sessions. She was dangerously sleep dep and had two older ones.

[nataliachick7]

Have you tried melatonin, 5-Htp, magnesium? I use all of those, as well as xanax or trazodone if i have to.

[mbravebird]

Do you have any lights, even tiny ones from clocks, etc, in your room?? The light, even in small amounts, messes with your melatonin.

[Mom2M]

I totally sympathize! I have major sleep issues that have come back now that my DD is 7 months old!
I'm usually up till 3 or 4 and then back up at 6-6:30 with DD...Exhausted during parts of the day and then wake up when it is time for bed!

Quick background:

Before I got pregnant, I had a sleep study done and I had a lot of "awake" brain waves showing up throughout my sleeping time and almost no deep sleep, even though it felt like I slept well during the test.
During the day, I would fall asleep for a few seconds at a time sometimes because I was so tired, but I couldn't lie down and take a nap, I would wake right up.
I finally saw a dr for it and eventually decided to try ritalin to see if it would help, because I had read a study on stimulants possibly helping consolidate sleep times and wake times, getting your sleep back to normal.
It worked great! I had to stop it while I was pregnant/breastfeeding and only a couple weeks ago has it started to get really bad again.

I tried everything I could think of before the trying ritalin. From herbal remedies, sleep techniques like meditation, etc... and even many different sleeping pills and psych drugs because I was so desperate for sleep.
Absolutely nothing worked until the ritalin.
I felt better doing the mediation and aromatherapy and stuff like that but I still wasn't sleeping.

Anyway, I don't know if this will help you but it sounds like there are some similarities here.
I am considering going back on ritalin on a trial basis to see if it would affect DD (breastfeeding). Hopefully it won't because it's getting ridiculous.

[sosurreal09]

i never thought ritalin lol whatever i can do has to not effect my breastfeeding thats for sure and i want to breastfeed for years so i need to figure out something! is acupuncture very expensive? how do you know they use clean needles? i live in a city where there is alot of heroine use and what not and certainly dont want to get HIV or anything!!

is melatonin and 5-HTP safe with BFing? i do take magnesium and find it not very helpful. is 5-HTP an abbreviation or is that what its called?

[Mom2M]

I know, my older DD nursed till she was 4, lol. Who knows how long this baby will!
I looked it up on DR.Hale's site and it doesn't look like it has much effect but I hate to take meds while breastfeeding, especially because I have to be on another one.

I'm definitely watching this thread to see if there are any alternatives mentioned that I haven't tried!

[JaneS]

http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Hypog...the_full_story

[sosurreal09]

the endocrinologist said im not hypolycemic though. my blood sugar was 54 which he said was fine

[SandyMom]

How are your adrenals?
Poor sleep and low blood pressure are both associated w/ flagging adrenals.

[sosurreal09]

hmmm i will have to ask i know they did a whole hormonal workup on me and what not

[laohaire]

The workup might not show any adrenal problems. What they look for would show something like total adrenal failure but not adrenal stress.

Theanine (over the counter in supplement section) really works well for me to keep me asleep if I'm having a problem with it. Take before bedtime. I really like it because it helps me sleep but I don't feel drugged at all. I'm very sensitive to drugs. Even better, there is no dependency. What will happen is, I might find my sleep getting poor for a while. Then I'll start taking theanine. Maybe 2 nights, 3 at most. Then I don't bother any more. I might go a month or two without having to take it again.

[Mom2M]

Originally Posted by laohaire

The workup might not show any adrenal problems. What they look for would show something like total adrenal failure but not adrenal stress.

Theanine (over the counter in supplement section) really works well for me to keep me asleep if I'm having a problem with it. Take before bedtime. I really like it because it helps me sleep but I don't feel drugged at all. I'm very sensitive to drugs. Even better, there is no dependency. What will happen is, I might find my sleep getting poor for a while. Then I'll start taking theanine. Maybe 2 nights, 3 at most. Then I don't bother any more. I might go a month or two without having to take it again.

What dose of theanine do you take and do you know if it is ok for breastfeeding? You can get it at the drugstore? I really want to try something like that before taking a medication.

[laohaire]

I think I got mine at WalMart.

My bottle says L-Theanine "Suntheanine" (I think that's the trademark name) but Swanson. 100mg dose. Drugs affect me a lot so 1 capsule usually does me but I've taken 2 before.

I don't have Hales so I can't tell you about breastfeeding safety but I did take it while breastfeeding, and I believe it's just an amino acid. As in just a part of a protein, like you would eat. (Just concentrated, obviously).

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by anielasmommy09

the endocrinologist said im not hypolycemic though. my blood sugar was 54 which he said was fine

huh?

That is very hypoglycemic.

[sosurreal09]

he told me 60 was normal so 54 is just below that and its like that b/c im fat (im 164 right now) so if i go on a diet i will "grow out of it" he told me to eat 6 sm meals a day but i really do not have time for that with a 9 m/o!

[laohaire]

I'm not familiar with the numbers but I tend toward hypoglycemia myself.

This is hotly debated so I'll just throw out my comment and let you decide for yourself. Doctors used to always tell me to keep a candy bar around or something in case of a sugar crash. I now think that's the worst advice ever. I think eating sugar causes hypoglycemia. In fact I think it's about as obvious as gravity. When I avoid simple sugar and eat a good mix of protein, fat and complex carbs (veggies), I feel stable all day. I never get that sweaty, faint feeling. If I eat sugar, I get a spike and a crash. That's how sugar works. Eating sugar after a crash does help temporarily, but it perpetuates the cycle. Just like having a hit of crack after you've crashed "helps" too. Anyway, just something to think about.

BTW to say you're not hypoglycemic and then say it's because you're fat is : If your extra weight is the cause of your hypoglycemia, it doesn't make you not hypoglycemic.

I don't think you need 6 meals a day by a long shot. Either vastly reduce the simple sugar intake or go cold turkey, depending on what you feel most comfortable with (reducing is just about impossible for me, so I quit it entirely... though I do fall off the bandwagon I'm sorry to say). Without all those sugar spikes and crashes you will make it to the next meal just fine. It's only when you crash after sugar that you "need" more food.

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by JaneS

huh?

That is very hypoglycemic.

Agreed. Hubby is T1 diabetic. What doctors consider "normal" varies based on a number of studies, beliefs, etc., but I've never heard anyone say 60 was normal.

[sosurreal09]

really? wow maybe i need a new Dr.! he said im fat so thats why i feel gross all the time but that my blood sugar was fine. he said maybe i had a little insulin problem from being fat similar to when people get gastric bypass...but i never got that and im not hugely obese i just gained alot during pregnancy! i thought he was full of it really

i dont eat sugar...well except like whats in an apple. im on elimination diet for DD only eat fruits and veggies chicken pork and turkey brown rice and potatoes...when i told him that he was like look i dont need to know what you're eating you obviously have some food issues and are probably consuming alot of carbs..i was like no i dont and he essentially ignored me...

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by anielasmommy09

really? wow maybe i need a new Dr.! he said im fat so thats why i feel gross all the time but that my blood sugar was fine. he said maybe i had a little insulin problem from being fat similar to when people get gastric bypass...but i never got that and im not hugely obese i just gained alot during pregnancy! i thought he was full of it really

i dont eat sugar...well except like whats in an apple. im on elimination diet for DD only eat fruits and veggies chicken pork and turkey brown rice and potatoes...when i told him that he was like look i dont need to know what you're eating you obviously have some food issues and are probably consuming alot of carbs..i was like no i dont and he essentially ignored me...

What an asshole. Don't go back to him. Fire him. Forget how rude he was to you, the fact that he didn't care to know what you eat is just horribly bad medicine. Obviously what you eat has a huge effect on your health, and it's critical information to know.

Sorry I assumed you ate sugar, almost all of us Americans do. It sounds like you eat very well. There is something going on with you, though, and don't let anyone tell you it's because you're lazy and undisciplined. How is your thyroid? Are you on antidepressants? Trying to think of other things...