Alpha Wave Intrusion ???

[Celeste]

If anyone has information on how to treat this, I would love to hear about it. I have chronic back pain - relatively mild during the day - but my sleep study came back indicating that i woke 72 times during a 6 hour period and that this coincided with periods of alpha wave intrusion. The Dr prescribed Neurontin - which helps somewhat. But I find that the muscle relaxents provided by my normal Dr. provide better results.

[tooper]

I have suffered with Alpha wave intrusion for at least 8 years. Probably more. My doctor prescribed Xyrem (GHB) for this problem. It has worked wonders. I still do not get an adequate amount of sleep per night; however, prior to using the Xyrem, I had 48 awakenings in a 3 hour period (when I thought that I was actually asleep). Now, I get around 5 hours of actual sleep per evening. Xyrem sounds really scary, and there are quite a few folks experiencing some significant side effects. I have not had any problems with it. I will also add that I am not taking anything else (no other sleep meds, anti-depressants, pain medications, etc.). Just Xyrem and Armour thyroid. I think that may be significant as to why I am doing so well on the drug. Also, I'm fairly healthy otherwise. Hope this helps.

[DrMichelle]

I agree that Xyrem sounds really scary, but the idea is intriguing. Celeste, your post brings out a couple of points: Do your "Normal Dr." and "Sleep Dr." talk to each other?? They need to know about each others' meds.

Also, there are some "Muscle relaxers" that are closely related to the old fashioned antidepressants (I'm referring to flexeril being like amitriptyline or Elavil). This medicine seems to knock you out more than relax your muscles. That's not always a bad thing, but I'm not sure it would help alpha-wave intrusion, or give you a normal sleep cycle. Soma is addictive. (Can you tell I'm not a fan of muscle relaxers for chronic use?)

If Neurontin helps, maybe Lyrica would be better. Or, maybe something like Cymbalta would help both the pain AND the sleep problems. I know it helped me. I get NO stage 4 sleep and have LOTS of alpha intrusion. The cymbalta helps lots. It might take both neurontin and cymbalta. Be sure to get your two Doctors talking and working TOGETHER for you...Good Luck!

[Kim]

I took Cymbalta for a year a few years ago and it was the most incredibly awful drug I have ever taken. After discontinuing I had nothing but what felt like shocks to my body for weeks afterwards- shocks to the brain- felt like I was being tasered- not sure if the spelling is correct on that one.

At any rate, I don't suggest anyone take Cymbalta - it is awful. My doctor prescribed it for pain and mild depression. He thought my depression was caused by my pain. anyway, I feel better being off of that stuff. Bad news as far as I am concerned.