Safe sleeping meds

peregrinefalconx

Hi all,

I've never posted on this board, but maybe I qualify? I have one beautiful daughter (10 months old!) conceived through a donor egg, and am now spontaneously pregnant (again) with my OE. 6.5 weeks and yesterday's US showed that I was tracking on time for baby size, heart rate and placement. We are cautiously optimistic. 

My question is about sleep meds. I have a call into my midwives as well, but I am desperate. I already had moderate to severe insomnia, waking up 10+times a night etc and have tried so many things to sleep. Usually pregnancy improves the sleeping part for me, but now I am so exhausted that I can barely move during the day and can't fall or stay asleep at night. I've tried unisom, melatonin, Tylenol PM and benadryl. These are supposedly safe, but I am so afraid I am poisoning this kid. They work maybe to get me drowsy a little but that's it.

I was reading in another post about diclegis helping another lady to sleep. I also am dizzy, nauseous, etc. I am just looking for others' opinions on what helped them so I can run it by my midwives. My psych wants me ask about hydroxyzine but the internet def does not like that for pregnant ladies. 

Looking forward to get to know this board.

kelrauh

I am in the third tri. But when I was in the hospital on bed rest they gave me Ambien to sleep. 

babylonghorn16

Hi! Congrats on your pregnancy and welcome!

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you. I've been pretty sleepless for a while now. I hope you get some sort of relief! Let me know what helped . H&H 9 months to you!

tvh1982

Hi, welcome and congratulations!
Ive never responded well on sleeping meds, but have been put on (this was before pregnancy) on some hay fever meds. They did the trick for me, but as mentioned I wasn't pregnant at the time, so not sure those mix!

Polythene Pam

I literally just called my nurse to ask as I have no issue falling asleep but when my daughter inevitably wakes me at 2am I can't fall back asleep, I'm running on fumes. She gave the thumbs up on unisom or Benadryl.

I did acupuncture during fertility treatments (and a long stretch before), if you find one that's good during pregnancy that might help! I slept the best the nights I'd done treatments. I've thought about going back if these meds don't help me, it just helps your body get a great relaxed point and I don't fully get it but it always helped me

wifeinraleigh28

Congrats on your pregnancy and sorry about the insomnia. I don't have any specific advice for you, but I wouldn't worry too much about what the internet says regarding medications and just follow doctors' advice. Babies are very resilient. The internet will tell you that meds are unsafe, but so is not getting any sleep! Your doctor will be able to weigh the pros and cons and help you. Sometimes medication is the way to go. Good luck!

BlueEyedDreamer

One of the active ingredients in Diclegis is the same as Unisom, so that is why it helps some ladies sleep (or makes some of us sleepy all.day.long... but that's another story).

I hope that your midwife or doctor can help you find something that gives you relief. It is crazy how much of an effect hormones can have on our sleep!

emgem819

I have been taking ambien for insomnia for 4 years before I got pregnant.  I am still taking it but have weaned my dose so I only take half a pill and will eventually go down to none if I can.  My OB is ok with this for now as she says sleep is important for me.  I'm also taking diclegis for MS which as pp said has unisom in it which you've already tried so may not work as well as you'd like but it is healthy for baby.  

peregrinefalconx

Just in case anybody was following this, I really had to fish around for an option and my midwives had me contact my high risk doc (who subsequently had few patients with insomnia!). He did say that ambien was considered safe.  But I find benzos to be evil (after having to get off klonopin) and my psych wanted me to just go without. Things are a little better--don't want to jump off a bridge at this particular moment. Thanks, Ladies. And congrats to all of you!

omarismyhomeboy

I take a half dose of unisom on the reg- but nothing prescription-based.