Sleeping 8 hours with sjogrens?

[happylife]

i have seen many articles of good set of practices to sleep better. But haven't seen any medication for sleep used by sjogren patients?

i have dry eyes, dry mouth at night and insomnia. no other major symptom. im struggling to sleep. last two months my average sleep is 2 hours.

can u pls tell

1. do many sjogren patients have insomnia?
2. why sleeping pill details are not found for sjogren patients?

pls advise some tablets that will give me sleep.

[Joe S.]

I meditate when I can not sleep 2 hours of good meditation can be like 8 hours of sleep.

other options: a drop of lavender and a drop of eucalyptus on a wash cloth when you dry your pillow cases and sheets will help.

I have used Valarian root and Passion flower tea also.

When none of these work, I opt for quietly watching and old movie.

[Sharon]

Sometimes there's no alternative to a good sleeping pill,
but other meds can sometimes do the trick as well:
antihistamines, anti-depressants, cannabis oil, anti-pain meds....
There are also hypnosis tapes for insomnia which are helpful.

[AnneNeville]

I find meditating before sleeping can help. There is a meditation for deep rest (https://insighttimer.com/meditationoasis/guided-meditations/deep-rest) that I found really useful some years ago, when I had terrible insomnia. I put it on my ipod and listened to it every night laying in bed.

Exercise earlier in the day helps.

I sometimes take a melatonin to help me sleep when insomnia threatens.

[Kathy57]

HappyLife,

I believe there is a real connection between Sjogren's Syndrome and poor sleep.  I once went three days without any real quality sleep!  It can make you very anxious!

My Rheumatologist took pity on me and prescribed Ambien.  It helps a lot.  My medical Dr is very much against this but she does not understand what I'm going through.  She thinks sleep hygiene can fix everything.

What she fails to realize is how uncomfortable the night can be for us.  Dry eyes,  mouth, sinuses, skin, pain in varying degrees.  My Ambien is very important to me because it enables me to get a fighting chance for much needed sleep. 

Am I dependent on it???  I NEED it so I guess I am.  I'm much healthier with it then without it.  I no longer obsess about sleep.  Don't know what I'll do when my Rheumatologist retires.  This has been a REAL quality of life issue.

I've tried Melatonin, Trazadone, Benadryl, and other antidepressants before I hit on Ambien.  I get the generic Ambien, and it is the cheapest drug I buy, but I get a huge bang for my buck, as far as I'm concerned.  Just wish I could make my medical Dr. understand, but then she is old enough to be my daughter.  Not much real life experience yet.

Happy sleep to you!  😴

Kathy

[helloz]

I used to sleep long hours...around a year ago I started waking up early before getting enough sleep.  Joint pains are also a problem while sleeping, so just the last couple of nights I started taking Tylenol PM and sleep has been much better, 8 hours or more.

Good luck!

[Lotus1]

I use lorazepam 2.5 mg x 2 tabs every night after trying everything under the sun for 13 yrs.
Insomnia nearly sent me to the grave after being used to 9 hrs all my life.
Only my diagnosing gp will prescribe so hope she doesn't retire til I do!
Hope you find relief.
Lotus1

[irish]

I haven't slept all that well for years and I have had autoimmune diseases since around age 21 or so and not diagnosed til I was 60. My symptoms started escalating in 1990 and was more or less continual instead of giving me a reprieve now and then. In 1990 I started having more trouble sleeping and in 2000 I was sleeping 2-3 hours a night and still working. It darned near killed me.

Insomnia is part of the autoimmune symptoms list. It took me years to piece some of it together. Years ago I would have times when I couldn't sleep for days on end and it finally dawned on me that it was when my symptoms escalated. I don't think it had to do with the symptoms, but more or less the increase of antibodies in my system. My take on this is that when the antibodies are increased and attacking my body it makes a person feel like they have a nonproductive energy surge. I imagine the stress of the increased antibodies could kick up the adrenal glands also. One just can't relax very well during this time. Good luck. Irish

[araminta]

I'm sure it's true that insomnia can be part of the autoimmune scenario.   However I just wanted to say from my own experience that it improves when stresses are removed from one's life.   Obviously you can't always control those, but I noticed recently for instance that I had a lot of insomnia while my elderly mother was in hospital and there was great uncertainty about whether she could go home afterwards, how she would cope etc.   At present things are calmer as she is in a nursing home - and I am sleeping much better.

[irish]

Stress of any kind can cause insomnia and that is some of the reason the whole world is sleep deprived. There is really a whole lot of stress going on. Actually, when we are under more stress from external events our autoimmune diseases will also kick up more. If anyone finds a solution let us all know. Good luck. Irish

[Pete0211]

When I was first hit with symptoms (severe dry mouth/throat, sinuses), I didn't sleep for just about 10 days. An intravenous injection of steroids jump started my sleep and that night I think I was able to get 90 minutes of uninterrupted sleep. Over the next few months I was able to slowly sleep longer, and by the end of the second month, and with pilocarpine, some dry mouth gel, and  humidifiers I was getting two sleep sessions of about 2-3 hours each. At this point, I was at least getting enough sleep/rest to start exercising on a regular basis (walks of 25-30 minutes at a decent pace, every other day), which I think helped me sleep(and I slowly increased speed to eventual jogging, then running over the next several months). A switch to cevimeline led to single sleep sessions of 5-7 hours, then 6-7.5 hours, then pretty much 7-7.5 hours by the next month. During this time I also stayed away from caffeine, drank only water, and kept to a strict bedtime and pre-sleep routine (no harsh lighting after dark, no tv/gadget screens after 8pm, reading a half hour before bed, and relaxing sounds while I tried to get to sleep).

[WhatYouSjo]

I find a good night's sleep to be one of the most significant correlations to my health. If I can get 7+ hours of sleep regularly, I tend to feel reasonably well. However, a night or two of less than 6 hours usually sends my health downhill, and less than 5 likely triggers a flare.

I find stress reduction to be very important; I do my best to work out any potentially stressful issues in my head before I head to bed. I'm sensitive to outside stimuli, so a face mask and earplugs help a lot. I have a humidifier by my bad. I also find that CBD oil in the evening leads to much deeper and longer sleep. I have (fortunately) never needed any prescription sleep aids.

I strongly recommend using a sleep tracking app on your phone, ideally with a wristband or smartwatch that can monitor your movement and heart rate. The app I use lets me add little notes each night to track what treatments I'm on and any unusual occurrences. I've been using it for years, and it has helped me better understand what treatments are helping me to sleep and what triggers give me a poor night's sleep.