Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

I can't help much with the pain but sleep I can...somewhat. I take melatonin for relaxation and sleep. I like herbal, aroma, music and meditation therapies as well. I still have a hard time sleeping but it's alot better now.

My liver was not working right. I changed how and what I eat and now my liver works great. Herbs made a big difference. My liver problems arn't from medication. If it is your liver you need to find out if it's from medication or not.

I use flurazepam. I hesitate to mention it because it's a narcotic, and there are some on DS who clearly disapprove, but I've had chronic pain, restless legs and other sleep issues for years, and this has been a wonder drug for me. I take it once or twice a week, and coast on the carry-over effect. I've tried just about everything, natural or pharmaceutical, and this is the only thing that works for me.

Good luck with this. Your body needs some amount of deep sleep (stage 4, Delta, whatever you call it) to produce growth hormone and repair itself. I had such a profound improvement when I got my sleep issues under control.

Pain and sleep is a rough combo to deal with. Painkillers such as tramadol (aka ultram for mild to moderate pain) or narcotic painkillers (for more severe pain), would probably serve you best. If those could be taken for a short periods of time (less than a month) that would be better for your body. However MDs around here would rather see their patients commit suicide from agony verses EVER allowing a prescription for a painkiller! So you might have trouble getting your hand on those---if not, lucky you!

Sleep aids: I hear some of the herbals like melatonin can be effective for people. After nearly strangling my doctor I managed to get a prescription for Ambien CR, in hopes I could get some unbroken sleep. However my pain is so bad it just continues to wake me up despite the sleeping pill, so I'm in the nasty cycle of "pain-->no sleep-->more pain," just like you. If you can find a doctor sympathetic to this particular kind of hell, hang onto them!

Thanks, guys. My liver problems (if it is in fact my liver)would be from medication. I actually have both Vicodin and Tramadol, but was wondering if Ambien might be a better fit. I also don't like taking them, but I like not sleeping due to pain even less, so....

Hi,

Early on in my disease process, when I just started Prednisone and was on a relatively high dosage, I noticed that the TIMING of the Prednisone had a lot to do with how alert I was when I went to sleep. So, I change the timing to that my very first dose of Prednisone was taken at about 8.00am and my very last was taken at about 8.00pm (twelve hours apart). I noticed that right after taking Prednisone, I could not go to sleep - I was too alert. But four hours later (at 12.00pm), I could very well sleep for at least 6.00 hours. Why not try to experiment with the timing of the Prednisone to see what works for you?

Ambien seems to work for me. the VA started carrying since it went generic so I dont have to pay for it anymore. Its a lot better then Benzos that some docs hand out. They are very addictive. ambien is non habit forming and thats why i like it. Hope you get some sleep soon. Pain makes you tired and when you cant sleep it can be a vicious cycle.

I took elavil for 2 yrs until it no longer worked. Chronic pain interferes with sleep and in turn can cause the RA to be more severe. I take restoril and flexeril to sleep. I also have DDD and neuropathy with the RA so sleep is a BIG must for me to function!

Take 2 tylenol or excedrin aspirin free pm's. They should knock you out. Also benydrl, 2 will do the trick. Good luck on your test. ((hugs))marcia