Difficulty sleeping

twiggy · 04-21-2005, 02:38 PM

I have recently been diagnosed. I am on no meds as of yet, but I will begin Met within the next couple of weeks. My testosterone is 116 ng/dL.

My endo explained to me that 70% of your hormones are manufactured at night while sleeping and only 30% are made during the day. For the last several years, I have been having an extremely difficult time sleeping. I fall asleep and then 1.5 to 2 hours later I wake up and am awake for several hours. I do this almost every night.

I am wondering -- since I produce so much testosterone...is it effecting me like a steroid at night and waking me up? If I get it under control, will I start sleeping better? Has anyone had any experience like this?

notcrazy · 04-21-2005, 05:52 PM

Don't know about all that but I have found I finally sleep great with a combination of Chromium and Green tea taken in the morning and the late afternoon. Slept like a baby and actually woke up refreshed. I'm out of my green tea and since haven't been sleeping well at all. Hopefully when my order comes in I'll go back to sleeping well. Husband who is also taking the chromium and green tea was also sleeping great with it and is having trouble since we've been out.

DrewM · 04-21-2005, 07:24 PM

I'm not sure about the effect of testosterone, but I've always been a "light" sleeper and would suffer from insomnia quite often. I have to cut out all caffeine starting around 3:00 p.m. or I can't fall asleep.

BUT, I was diagnosed as hypothyroid in November and have been on meds since, and lately I'm sleeping like a BABY! Before I would wake up every time DF rolled over, or I would get up to use the bathroom every few hours. And once I'm up, I'm UP for hours. Now, I'm actually sleeping THROUGH the night for the first time in as long as I can remember. It makes such a difference in how I feel during the day.

My testosterone is also slowly decreasing since I've been on met for over a year, so it IS possible that lowered testosterone could also have something to do with it. So I don't really know the answer to your question, but getting your hormones under control will probably make a huge difference in everything about you, including your sleep patterns. Good luck!!

bonbononthegogo · 04-26-2005, 02:36 PM

Twiggy, I don't sleep well either, its gotten worse as I've gotten older and I was just diagnosed with PCOS last month, I wondered if it is linked with the PCOS, and I'm highly suspicious that it is.

I'm going on Met (as soon as I jump through all the hoops you have to go through to get it prescribed - in the UK your primary physician isn't authorized to prescribe Met unless you are diabetic) and I'm curious to see whether that will help (as my insulin levels and weight goes down, I'd suspect that I will sleep better).

Notcrazy, I'm curious as to why the chromium and green tea would help, especially since green tea actually has caffeine in it. Are you taking them both in pill form? Can you tell me how many mg dosage is in each? I might have to try this. I'm always so tired and if this helps me sleep well that would be such a help. I sometimes take Tylenol PM as a last resort in helping me sleep but that has been making me very very tired in the mornings.

lj2blessed · 04-26-2005, 03:04 PM

Hmmm...I never wondered if my trouble sleeping would have anything to do with my dx...but it's a thought. I'll ask my doc the next time I visit him.

Yes, I am having difficulty sleeping. This has NEVER been a problem for me until recently...so it's a really big deal. What I found helped a great deal was the juice from the mangosteen plant, Xango. It worked like a dream! Not only would I fall asleep quickly, I'd wake up feeling ultra refreshed, it was great. I ran out of juice and quickly need to get some more, but it definitely worked for me.

My sleep issues are difficulty falling asleep (takes a long while), then when I wake up (husbands alarm, phone, etc) it is extremely difficult to fall back asleep. Also, even when I do get 8 or more hours...I wake up feeling like it was a 20 minute nap. Gotta get some more Xango!

DrewM · 04-26-2005, 04:04 PM

Quote:

I sometimes take Tylenol PM as a last resort in helping me sleep but that has been making me very very tired in the mornings.

I do this too. Are you taking the full dose (two pills)? I usually only take one. It's enough to knock me out, and I don't wake up groggy since it wears off during the night.

But if you have trouble STAYING asleep that might not help...

crystalkenobi · 04-27-2005, 10:25 AM

I too have this problem of sleeping good or even not sleeping. I will go to bed at say 11 for example and wake up at 3. If i were to go to bed at 8 pm I woulld wake up at 11pm. I did read some where that those with PCOS sometimes do have trouble sleeping and even insomia. Now if I could only remember in which of the many books I've read that was in. I know that fatigue is part of pcos also. I have tried somex (i think thats how its spelled) its a sleeping pill it helped some and I did feel less tired when I woke up for the last time. I didn't wake up as many times I should say. I am going to my gyn tommorrow and this is one of the many things I plann on discussing with her. Depression can make you not sleep well also. I haven't tried any of the teas yet. I don't like to drink alot before going to bed. I also read that your envirmonment can have an affect on your sleeping such as stress, worries even subconconuious ones you don't even know about. I know that for me if someone is in the living room which is next to my bedroom, when I'm trying to sleep forget it that bothers my sleeping. environmental issues such as certain smells such as a candle could keep you awake. Candles have different smells such ones to relax you ones to give you energy (supposely) that kind of thing. Even the smell from the clothes detergent and/or fabric softner could affect your sleeping. I have removed all my candles from my room and changed fabric softners and that has help some for me. Plus i change my sheets more often then I used I used to do it once a week and now I do it twice a week. It seems the fresh sheets helps some also. I don't know if any of this is helpful, but when it comes to sleep I will try anything such as just changing the sheets more often (its also cheaper than the sleeping pills)

Also I used to wake up even after 8 hours feeling like I didn't even close my eyes and my general doctor said it could be apna and would need to go to a sleep clinic. I didn't go because if I can't sleep in my own house how am I going to sleep with people and machines watching me. We tried a machine that I could take home, but I couldn't sleep with it on my finger because I felt the throb of my pulse all night since its attached to a finger and I felt as if i was on a leash and since I can't sleep in one position, it didn't get any accurate results.

notcrazy · 04-27-2005, 11:30 AM

Not sure why the chromium and green tea work since they both are stimulants. Not sure on the dosage, will have to look. The only thing I can think as to why it works is that it keeps me up and active during the day so when I hit the bed I'm dead tired and actually sleep all night.

janMN · 04-27-2005, 05:18 PM

i also have issues with sleep. For a few weeks, I cannot sleep at night. Toss and Turn; toss and turn. (My DH actually sleeps on the couch alot of these night, because I keep him up.) Then for the following couple weeks, all I do is sleep. I will be so tired by evening, I go to bed early and sleep 10+ hours straight. When my alarm goes off, I am still so soundly asleep, I often don't hear it.
Not that I'm glad that you guys are also dealing with it; but it is reassuring that other women with PCOS are dealing with it to.
On the nights I can't sleep; I take 1/2 of one tyl. PM. I seem to be very sensitive to it. I can usually make it through those few weeks that I can't sleep, but it's not pretty........ Since I have started taking Met. I am in a verysleepy mode. It has only been a month and a half, so I don't know if it's the Met. or just a longer cycle.
Best of luck....

crystalkenobi · 04-27-2005, 05:44 PM

I forgot to mention this but take a look at the sideeffects of your medicines. I went and looked up mine and found out that the prom... one has a side effect of fatigue and the others can and also cause drowsnliess also.

bonbononthegogo · 04-28-2005, 08:13 AM

"Yes, I am having difficulty sleeping. This has NEVER been a problem for me until recently...so it's a really big deal. What I found helped a great deal was the juice from the mangosteen plant, Xango. It worked like a dream! Not only would I fall asleep quickly, I'd wake up feeling ultra refreshed, it was great. I ran out of juice and quickly need to get some more, but it definitely worked for me."

I love Mangosteen! That would be a happy solution, where in the world are you getting Xango? I've never even heard of mangosteen juice.

dee2002 · 04-28-2005, 10:13 AM

i also have a problem with sleeping i go to bed feeling very sleepy but just cant get off
i end up just lieing there its not untill 4am untill i do get off

CocoRumGirl · 04-28-2005, 10:26 AM

I also have trouble sleeping, but I don't believe mine is testosterone. My trouble stems from my depression and anxiety. My mind races when I try to fall asleep. I take Cymbalta for depression, but I sometimes have to take a prescription sleeping pill to get a good night sleep. Sometimes I even have to take one in the morning when I get off work so I can get enough sleep to go back that night. I'll usually take it around 8 when I get home if I'm overstimulated and I'll fall asleep between 9 and 9:30 and sleep till around 5 or 5:30. I don't know what I'd do without my Restoril sometimes.

By the way, I'm not sure if y'all know, but the over the counter sleep aids like sominex, simply sleep, and even tylenol pm are the same active ingredient as Benedryl.
Here's to a good night (Or day in my case) sleep.

bexshines · 04-28-2005, 02:24 PM

I have had problems with sleeping since I was a child. Its been much worse as I have become older. During my early teens I had a problem the other way for a short time. But now its quite bad for me. I have trouble even getting off to sleep. Then throughout the night I wake up constantly. And its not just stirring, my eyes open and I can't shut them. Its awful.

For years I've tried lots of ways to try and make me sleep better. Its getting so bad that I have been seeking advice from my GP this last couple of years. But I really hate taking anything, and I do not want to depend on anything to make me sleep. Also for years I have suffered with headaches and migraines. I have had lots of medications for them. Recently the Dr has given me 'Amitriptyline' for the headaches. It is an 'anti-depressant. However it is not the anti-depressant dose. Well it also works to help you sleep better. And it is helping both my headaches and my insomnia. Sometimes you have to take the medication route. I couldn't take any more of not sleeping. I've been taking them for about 4 weeks with no side effects.

Take care

Bex
xxx

notcrazy · 04-28-2005, 03:15 PM

Be careful with ametriptalyne, I was given it after my hurt my back for pain. I didn't know at the time it was an antidepressant and got to the point I had no moods at all. couldn't be happy, couldn't be sad. Realized there was a problem when watching something hilarious on tv and couldn't laugh at it. I knew it was funny but just didn't feel it. (like when Bart sold his soul to Milhouse) Realized I didn't feel anything at all. When I stopped taking it, I was pretty psycho for a while, major mood swings.

Don't know the dose it was...want to say 300mg 2x day or something like that. Not 100% sure he didn't lie to me and actually gave it as an anitdeppressant since he kept bringing up being depressed. Gee, hurt my back, in constant pain, can barely walk, and have given up my complete lifestyles with docs who kept telling me it was in my head...I might be a little pissy/upset/sad about it...morons