Morning everyone,

My main battles recently with peri is insomnia and ear ringing. For the insomnia I normally drink a cup of Sleepy Time Extra tea and pop a Melatonin. Usually gets me anywhere between 4-6 hrs sleep. I wake up in between but go right back to sleep. Then it seemed that that wasn't working so well and I was waking up every hour.

Well I got home last night from work; ate dinner and then sat in recliner to relax and watch some tv. Just before my fiance went to bed; I experienced a little louder normal ring in the left ear (usually the right) and it lasted few seconds and then went down a little bit in volume; didn't go away like usual. Hmph

So now I want to go to bed and I took two Benadryl. Back in the day i used to take two of those bad boys and was guaranteed to oversleep for work the next day. I watched tv in the bedroom and within 1/2 hr i fell asleep. An hour later I jolted awake, the ringing in my ears more intense. I tried to lay back down and calm myself to bring the ringing down. Next thing i know i get this weird sensation, like a drain in my body. I got up and paced the house a few. I even took my temperature, why, i don't know. It was normal. I laid back down and eventually drifted off back to sleep and proceeded to wake up every hour.

It seems as though everytime i take something to help relax me and sleep, my body, or more so my brain is fighting it. I miss my sleep! I've never had problems with sleeping and this is really frustrating for me along with the ringing.

Anyone experience this? Also, anyone taking sleep aids? I spoke with a girl yesterday who, for other reasons, took Ambien. She actually drove to the local convenience store in her sleep. Don't think I want to take that stuff.

Dear'Ladyn Red

So sorry you are having such a hard time.Insomnia is extremely draining and can lead to anxiety and mild depression.It sounds you are doing all the right things to aid sleep but it is still evading you

I am assuming you have cut down on caffiene,sugar and alcohol.All notorious for keeping one awake.I understand your ambivalence to sleeping aids but what about Valerian Root.A natural herb which many ladies have found works great.Try not to eat after 7p.m ,just sip a cup of warm milk with a little honey.Very soothing

I have taken Xanax'as needed in the past and it seemed to calm down my anxiety and the fear of sleeping and then continuously waking up.I hardly ever need it now but it was useful in breaking that viscious cycle.Also Yoga twice a week seems to be very grounding and brisk walking,if for only an half an hour quite effective.

I do wish you well and hope you get some quality sleep soon.The ringing in your ears can be due to blocked sinuses so perhaps you want to check that our with your Doctor

Best Wishes
Elizabeth

Good morning,
Insomnia *****. I hadn't slept through the night for a few years until recently. I got onto BHRT and it really helped. Melatonin gave me a hangover when I tried using that. Benadryl is funny stuff. I took it for allergies and it would really knock me out. But, as I got older if I took it I had the opposite reaction. It actually stimulated me. I found that it would do the same with my kids sometimes. I'm not sure why that happens but Benadryl would be the last thing I would take to put me to sleep. That's just the way it works for me now.
I also find that taking my cal/mag before bed makes me sleepy.
I hope you find something that works for you. No doubt, being sleep deprived makes everything you're feeling 10 times worse.

That's the reaction i had last night w/the Benadryl; instead of drowsy it stimulated me. go figure. i have been taking cal/mag but i take it right after dinner. I guess I should wait until bed?? Please keep your suggestions coming. Alway open for different options. I will try valerian root and see if that helps.

Try some valerian. You can even get it at WM. Give it a few nights to get into your system. I need to take my Valerian nightly but I fall asleep great. I wake up around 4ish. I am so tired at bedtime that I feel that I dont need it???? I need to take it anyway.

Oh yea, valerian stinks

Have you tried Magnesium? that works the best for me. I have the Magnesium oil, and if I spray myself on the chest and back, and rub it in - I sleep soundly. It seems the more I spray on the deeper I sleep. It guarantees me at least 6 hours undisturbed.

i have never heard of that; will have to try it. I do take a calcium supplement after dinner each night that has magnesium in it; and i just recently started taking magnesium supplement at lunch for the ringing in my ears; i read somewhere that mag helps with that. maybe that's why i slept better last night than i had in a month! LOL. I only woke up @ 2am for like 2 seconds and went right back to sleep. it was beautiful!

Hi Ladies,

I'm coming up on my 10th year (I just turned 49) in Perimenopauseland!!!

Insomnia is my main bugaboo, although I've experienced the ear ringing, sweats, shakes, you name it.

Am on Femhrt, but it doesn't seem to do the trick anymore...

Anyway, back to insomnia...have been on Lunesta (stopped working) and have taken virtually every conceivable natural remedy...with varying amounts and durations of success. Took my first Ambien CR last night and had the WORST night's sleep in years, and that's saying something.

Just read something encouraging about inositol and pantothenic acid...will keep you posted.


Until then...sweet dreams!

Ambien scares me to death. My cousin used it and had seizures from it. My neighbor uses it and often wakes up walking around in her backyard in her nightie at 3am. I wouldn't touch the stuff.

Don't want to scare anyone, but Ambien made me do weird stuff in my sleep too. I was sleep eating. And not a little either...I polished off a whole box of Wheat Thins, about 30 slices of individually wrapped American cheese, and one night I was wandering around the house is some strange twilight-sleep state, looking for a necklacce made out of my own teeth (I don't own such a thing, but it's what I told my husband I was looking for when he foudn me.)

My husband tried it and got up and started opening all the windows...in his sleep.

This is just my own little speculation here, but I think Ambien will eventually be taken off the market. Someone is going to do something strange and harmful to themselves and it will disappear from drugstores.

Have you tried Restoril? It's a prescription sleeping pill...very mild and with a smaller potential for addiction than other benzo's. I take 2 at bedtime, and most nights, manage to get at least some sleep...

A co-worker who was taking Ambien told me once she drove to the local convenience store in her sleep. Now that's scary! And she was also sleep eating as well. No Ambien for me!

Hi Ladies,

Your replies, stuff I've read on my own, and being kept awake all night the other night has convinced me to chuck the Ambien. I bought some Sleep M.D. and Lydia Pinkam's liquid and (and took a Lunesta) and slept for roughly six hours straight. Of course, the fact that I was exhausted from the night before may have had something to do with it.


Living One Night at Time,

Janet