Prednisolone not working out for me & Insomnia Issues X__x

[Shadowlord900]

I have coeliac disease, and while Prednisolone is unnecessary for managing coeliac disease (unless if you're unlucky enough to have refractory coeliac disease), I usually wondered if the insomnia issues I've been having over the past year were due to my autoimmune system playing up. So I wanted to give Prednisolone a try (while still sticking to a gluten-free diet) because doctors seem unwilling to do anything about my insomnia issues.

I've taken 10mg (not a high dose, some people take as high as 60mg for worse conditions) early in the morning for the past 3 days now. Not only has my sleeping not gotten any better, my body feels slightly worse (random faint stinging sensations across most of my body, the back of my neck slightly ached last night as well as a slight stomach ache) and last night when I woke up after 3 hours I couldn't even get back to sleep and had to resort to 5mg of Zopiclone in hopes of calming my body down. It's possible the Prednisolone could have made the sleeping worse, because while I took them as early in the morning as I could, I've read they can also cause sleeping issues.

I don't think Prednisolone is doing me any good. I know 3 days isn't much but I think I best drop it now. I don't want to risk trying a larger dose if it made my body feel worse, and It is possible to get withdrawal symptoms when going cold turkey after taking a steroid for too long, I'm hoping that won't be an issue for me dropping them after 3 days since I only took a low dose of them.

I'm hoping those unpleasant sensations are just a case of side effects of Prednisolone and not some infection I've caught, coz Prednisolone inhibits the autoimmune system. I'll probably have a better idea after a week's time.

Sadly because I don't think doctors would be bothered to even help me get a self-paid referral to a sleep clinic, I dunno how else I can treat my insomnia. I've tried a whole bunch of sleeping/calming tablets. I've tried Chamomile tablets, Nytol, Kalms one a Night, Melatonin up to 6g and none of those help anymore. Benzos and non-benzos seem to be the only things that help me sleep throughout the night, and I'm definitely aware of the warnings with using them long term. :(

 

[dumpstermagic]

it's booze for me. i cant imagine doing med roulette to try and correct my sleep.

 

[Shadowlord900]

I've also tried mixing booze with the sleeping meds that aren't benzos or non-benzos, that didn't help for me either. (Admittedly it was only a couple of units though. I used to be a heavy drinker ~18 months ago, took a year's break off of alcohol, now I find the taste of too much alcohol off-putting.)

 

[LaVieEnRose]

I'm so sorry. Sleep issues are so debilitating. People tend to take good natural sleep for granted.

 

[FuneralCry]

That sounds really awful what you have to go through, it's very unfortunate how it can potentially be very difficult to get some sleep.

 

[Darkover]

olanzapine 10mg knocks me out for 18 hours within 1 hour of taking it

 

[Shadowlord900]

olanzapine 10mg knocks me out for 18 hours within 1 hour of taking it

Thank you for sharing that with me. Someone else has been discussing about their SN regimen with me involving olanzapine and it definitely be worth me talking with them about what you said.

 

[WaitingToGo]

I feel for you. Insomnia is a bastard. I can't stop waking up after 3 hours. Then spend the next couple of hours watching YouTube videos, then I'm tired all day. I don't usually take any sleeping pills except at the weekend due to having to get up for work and so tonight I'll be taking 20mg of Oxazepam plus 2 sleeping pills. I did this last weekend and slept a little better. It does wreck the next day though, but I don't care.

 

[Sunset Limited]

Have you tried polysomnography?

 

[Shadowlord900]

Have you tried polysomnography?

I've tried setting up my own at home but couldn't figure out how to do it. I imagine that this is what a sleep clinic would go through with you. But sadly I have no idea how to get access to a sleep clinic, and I doubt the GPs can be bothered to refer me to one even if I was willing to pay. Admittedly I haven't tried making an appointment just for my insomnia, maybe if I did, they won't be so preoccupied with my other health problems?

 

[Sunset Limited]

I've tried setting up my own at home but couldn't figure out how to do it. I imagine that this is what a sleep clinic would go through with you. But sadly I have no idea how to get access to a sleep clinic, and I doubt the GPs can be bothered to refer me to one even if I was willing to pay. Admittedly I haven't tried making an appointment just for my insomnia, maybe if I did, they won't be so preoccupied with my other health problems?

This is the best solution for insomnia diagnosis my friend. I didn't try too. I don't know why :) You will be monitored with ECG, EEG and for
SPO2. This is complicated to do at home. If possible, try it. I wish the best for you.

 

[SenseOfLoss]

I am so sorry for you and I feel for you!
Insomnia is hell and I don't really know what to recommend to you because I haven't found a solution yet either.
However, I can tell you something about prednisolone:
Discontinue it immediately!!! Prednisolone is the reason I don't want to live anymore. I was treated with prednisolone (very high doses) over a year ago due to a false indication and since then my life has been destroyed.

 

[exhaustedanonymous]

You definitely wouldn't be prescribed Quetiapine unless you lied about a few things with a doctor, but it used to knock me out like a light with very low doses. Unfortunately it doesn't work so well now, either I got a tolerance or my life falling apart made sleeping even harder (lol)

 

[Sparx]

I'm a pharmacist. Prednisolone is well known to cause sleep issues particularly waking early.

Have you tried mirtazapine? I found it great for insomnia in a low dose (3.75-7.5mg).

 

[Shadowlord900]

I am so sorry for you and I feel for you!
Insomnia is hell and I don't really know what to recommend to you because I haven't found a solution yet either.
However, I can tell you something about prednisolone:
Discontinue it immediately!!! Prednisolone is the reason I don't want to live anymore. I was treated with prednisolone (very high doses) over a year ago due to a false indication and since then my life has been destroyed.

Oh dear, thank you for the warning. I'm gonna bin mine right after this message.

I hope other pills/treatment have been able to give you any relief and that you still aren't in agony.

I'm a pharmacist. Prednisolone is well known to cause sleep issues particularly waking early.

Have you tried mirtazapine? I found it great for insomnia in a low dose (3.75-7.5mg).

Sorry I'm overly cautious of using antidepressents. I been on two before, mirtazapine and fluoxetine. I can't remember which of the two gave me erectile dysfunction, both gave me headaches, but I think my dad may have stupidly tried giving me them in the day instead of during at night.

 

[Sparx]

Oh dear, thank you for the warning. I'm gonna bin mine right after this message.

I hope other pills/treatment have been able to give you any relief and that you still aren't in agony.



Sorry I'm overly cautious of using antidepressents. I been on two before, mirtazapine and fluoxetine. I can't remember which of the two gave me erectile dysfunction, both gave me headaches, but I think my dad may have stupidly tried giving me them in the day instead of during at night.

Almost certainly the fluoxetine, ED has been reported. I've had no problems with mirt, I take it an hour before bedtime.

 

[Shadowlord900]

Almost certainly the fluoxetine, ED has been reported. I've had no problems with mirt, I take it an hour before bedtime.

While GPs seem reluctant to give any type of medication for my insomnia issues, since I've been prescribed with mirt before, I'll see if can convince into prescribing me them again while also asking for a referal to a sleep clinic next time I can get in touch with them.

 

[SenseOfLoss]

Oh dear, thank you for the warning. I'm gonna bin mine right after this message.

I hope other pills/treatment have been able to give you any relief and that you still aren't in agony.



Sorry I'm overly cautious of using antidepressents. I been on two before, mirtazapine and fluoxetine. I can't remember which of the two gave me erectile dysfunction, both gave me headaches, but I think my dad may have stupidly tried giving me them in the day instead of during at night.

Thank you for your kind words! Most of the side effects disappeared 4 months after taking it. Unfortunately, however, I suffered permanent damage...my face is ruined and so is my mental health. A good idea that you immediately threw away this devil stuff !
Because of my severe depression and insomnia, I've tried quite a few things too. As you report - ADs are terrible! Still trying Agomelatine (Valdoxan) at the moment - no positive effect at all, just Restless Legs and severe constipation.... Ok, better than hair loss, weight gain, migraines, etc....

 

[Sparx]

While GPs seem reluctant to give any type of medication for my insomnia issues, since I've been prescribed with mirt before, I'll see if can convince into prescribing me them again while also asking for a referal to a sleep clinic next time I can get in touch with them.

They'll probably give you a 15mg dose, that's what I'm prescribed but it works better for sleep if you half them like I do (7.5mg). Some people say just a quarter (3.75mg) knocks them out.

 

[Sunset Limited]

I'm a pharmacist. Prednisolone is well known to cause sleep issues particularly waking early.

Have you tried mirtazapine? I found it great for insomnia in a low dose (3.75-7.5mg).

Hi. Same here :) I tried too many drugs and finally mirtazapine is working now. I am taking 3.5 - 7.5 mg. One night 7.5 and next night 3.5 If I take 2 nights 7.5 mg restless legs syndrome begins. It is also good antidepressant. Sometimes adding 10 mg hydroxyzine. What do you think about propranolol? Maybe I can add 40 mg.

 

[Sparx]

I was on 80mg propranolol for anxiety. It helped but made my insomnia worse.

 

[Sunset Limited]

I was on 80mg propranolol for anxiety. It helped but made my insomnia worse.

I tried it before but I couldn't feel anything different. Last 10 days I have extrasystoles so maybe it can help.

 

[Shadowlord900]

A bit of a pointless update/self-blogging. After a week of coming off of them, fortunately almost all symptoms from taking the Prednisolone went away apart from the occasional faint inflammation in my lower abdomen. But those symptoms have become less frequent by week 2. Not only that, I seem to gaining weight easier too. I hope that's a good sign of my absorption issues going away... Although I don't want to gain too much because the less I weigh, the less drugs I'll need to CTB. XD

Insomnia issues have improved but are still bad. Sadly not only do I think the Mirtazapine isn't helping much (admittedly I've only been on them for a week so I'll take them for a week longer), I think my benzo tolerance is starting up build up too. 2mg of Alprazolam used to keep me asleep for at least a full 8 hours, it doesn't anymore now. :(

Will be interesting to see what 3mg of Alprazolam does for me tonight. XD

 

[WaitingToGo]

A bit of a pointless update/self-blogging. After a week of coming off of them, fortunately almost all symptoms from taking the Prednisolone went away apart from the occasional faint inflammation in my lower abdomen. But those symptoms have become less frequent by week 2. Not only that, I seem to gaining weight easier too. I hope that's a good sign of my absorption issues going away... Although I don't want to gain too much because the less I weigh, the less drugs I'll need to CTB. XD

Insomnia issues have improved but are still bad. Sadly not only do I think the Mirtazapine isn't helping much (admittedly I've only been on them for a week so I'll take them for a week longer), I think my benzo tolerance is starting up build up too. 2mg of Alprazolam used to keep me asleep for at least a full 8 hours, it doesn't anymore now. :(

Will be interesting to see what 3mg of Alprazolam does for me tonight. XD

Try and get some Olanzapine. Low dose is working for me. I'm taking 2.5mg no serious side effects except an increase in my appetite. i take 1 tablet an hour and a half before bedtime. They won't give me this long term and eventually I'll be back on antidepressants but not the ssri type. I think I'll eventually end up back on either zolpidem or dormidina.

 

[Shadowlord900]

Try and get some Olanzapine. Low dose is working for me. I'm taking 2.5mg no serious side effects except an increase in my appetite. i take 1 tablet an hour and a half before bedtime. They won't give me this long term and eventually I'll be back on antidepressants but not the ssri type. I think I'll eventually end up back on either zolpidem or dormidina.

Olanzapine's a thienobenzodiazepine, so I think it already has cross tolerance with benzodiazepines? Also Zolpidem's a nonbenzodiazepine, but those also still have cross tolerance with benzodiazepines. But thanks for the advice anyways. Olanzapine's a great drug in general, some even used it as an antiemetic.

 

[Shadowlord900]

:/ Welp, 3mg of Alprazolam failed to stop me from waking up at 4.30am in the morning. I think I can no longer rely on benzos to help me sleep. I know Alprazolam aren't supposed to have hypnotic properties, but most other ones have that do have far too short of a duration for me that are more for treating actually making you fall asleep, not keeping you asleep.

I have managed to find a couple that might fit the bill better, but sadly the dark web owner selling them won't do tracking. And the last UK vendor I ordered from without tracking I reckon is trying to rip me off, almost a full month with no delivery and atm I'm in dispute with him.

I won't go cold turky on the Alprazolam straight away, I'll just slowly tapper down on them, while increasing my dosage of Mirtazapine to 15mg, Melatonin to 6mg, continue taking Kalms Night tablets and start taking Chamomile tablets again and see if that helps.

 

[WaitingToGo]

Sadly Olanzapine doesn't work all the time. I had a really bad night on Friday after taking O plus Dormidina and I put that down to mixing meds, so last night I just stuck with O and I reckon I had around 3 hours sleep all together, kept waking up every hour or so. I might ask for Alprazolam as it did help you @Shadowlord900 for a while.

 

[Shadowlord900]

Sadly Olanzapine doesn't work all the time. I had a really bad night on Friday after taking O plus Dormidina and I put that down to mixing meds, so last night I just stuck with O and I reckon I had around 3 hours sleep all together, kept waking up every hour or so. I might ask for Alprazolam as it did help you @Shadowlord900 for a while.

I must warn you it'll really only work for a week (up to 2mg) then it stops being effective even at 3mg. I've read somewhere about the max daily dosage being 10mg but I don't want to risk going that far and effing up my brain even more.

I might try tampering down on Alprazolam through other means such as taking 1.5mg of Alprazolam, 10mg of Diazepam (that's like the equivalent of 0.5mg Alprazolam) and 5-10mg of Zopiclone. And I'm gonna try taking them much later in the evening as well (The Alparazolam I was taking between 8.30-9pm) like 11pm and see how that works out. Zopiclone is supposed to be pretty good for helping you sleep and should last between 3.5-6 hours. But unfortunately for me it only seems to last at the lower end of 3.5 hours from previous experience.

I've also heard Diazepam at low dosage is pretty good in general for avoiding benzo withdrawal symptoms.

 

[WaitingToGo]

I must warn you it'll really only work for a week (up to 2mg) then it stops being effective even at 3mg. I've read somewhere about the max daily dosage being 10mg but I don't want to risk going that far and effing up my brain even more.

I might try tampering down on Alprazolam through other means such as taking 1.5mg of Alprazolam, 10mg of Diazepam (that's like the equivalent of 0.5mg Alprazolam) and 5-10mg of Zopiclone. And I'm gonna try taking them much later in the evening as well (The Alparazolam I was taking between 8.30-9pm) like 11pm and see how that works out. Zopiclone is supposed to be pretty good for helping you sleep and should last between 3.5-6 hours. But unfortunately for me it only seems to last at the lower end of 3.5 hours from previous experience.

I've also heard Diazepam at low dosage is pretty good in general for avoiding benzo withdrawal symptoms.

Oh that's not good to hear, so basically we insomniacs are screwed for any medication we can take to help us. They already told me because of my suicidal ideation they won't prescribe any "Pam's". Might just as well stick with zolpidem and my Spanish Dormidina