Posted by Larry Hoover on September 19, 2003, at 9:54:37
In reply to Re: update (insomnia) » Larry Hoover, posted by tealady on September 19, 2003, at 8:03:25
> Hi Lar,
> I posted this earlier,and thought I had lost it..then found it again on the wrong board.(phew)
> So I've copied it here.
> Hope this is Ok, DrBob?
>
>
>
> Hi Lar,
> Reviewing some of the boxes of my old meds to try to see if any pattern developed re pdrugs (I sometimes scrawl comments on the boxes), I came across some temezepam and wondered why I had been prescribed it back in 99.
>
> I thought it was for insomnia. Until this week I thought "insomnia" meant you couldn't get to sleep, and I was sleeping too much...although noise prevents any restful sleep.> As I've improved the "sleep" quality has changed from something like fighting falling into an unconsiousness to approaching normal sleep, time asleep has lessened also. I think there was a noticeable improvement on adding in tyrosine (and probably magnesium/zinc too in larger doses for a couple of weeks). I'm off them now, but I'm staying awake still :)
> I still need a snooze for about 3 hrs in the day..but getting there.
>
> I have just this week found out on the net that waking during sleep (which I have always done)is ALSO considered insomnia!(type 2)
>
> During the night I also am waking up after only 2 to 4 hrs sleep, although lately I've noticed I no longer feel so wiped out when I do wake up. .. which is good. However, I never seem to get to that REM sleep stage though which is needed for growth hormone etc
>
> I was wondering about temezepam. Do you remember if it gave you a "normal" deeper sleep, and was it prescribed for waking up during sleep a lot..or because you couldn't get to sleep?Both, actually. I wake feeling more restored, and I had been having trouble both with initiating and maintaining sleep. I was having what I called "skipping stone" sleep, brief periods of sleep punctuated by wakefulness.
Temazepam, when used by "normal" people, reduces REM sleep. When used by insomnics, I think it does quite the opposite, but that's an opinion I've formed from anecdotal information (myself and others). I have a friend who was hypersomnic, but totally tired all the time. When she went on temazepam, she began to sleep a more normal 8 hours (rather than her usual 16), and she was rested and clear-headed. I don't think that's unusual, that sort of response.
> I also suspect after the reading this week, that lack of oxygen is a problem as I've got the room closed up due to smoke from fires in winter etc. I often wake up and need fresh air.
There is not going to be an oxygen shortage from being in a closed room, unless it's literally hermetically sealed.
> I read
> "sleep apnea or breath holding can happen when you don't get enough sleep"
> ..a lack of oxygen can reduce growth hormone (and estrogen in women, testosterone in men) "The Goddess Diet" p151..and this changes your energy balance and insulin sensitivity creating a change in your brain's response to serotonin"Funny, I've always attributed the sleep deficit to the apnea, not the other way around. The link to sex hormones is sound, however. Again, I don't think it arises from oxygen starvation, but instead, from changes in brain wave activity associated with wakefulness. The brain just doesn't get to the right stages in the process, because it is constantly interrupted.
> references: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12952360&dopt=Abstract
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7550526&dopt=Abstract
> Hugs, Jan
>
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:261577
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20030903/msgs/261596.html