A few weeks ago I was asked to participate in a small clinical study of Lunesta, a "hypnotic" medication recently approved for long-term treatment of multiple forms of insomnia. The reason for the study was to give the manufacturer, Sepracor Inc., consumer feedback about the drug. People who were presently taking a prescription sleep aid were asked to replace it with Lunesta for ten days, or less if they found Lunesta problematic.
To recap my sleep history briefly: I first noticed that I was an unusually light sleeper as a young teen, when I would awaken instantly if my mother just quietly opened my bedroom door. As I grew older, getting to sleep and staying asleep became increasingly difficult. Any noise was too much noise: when my family took a trip on a houseboat, Mom had to give me sleeping pills because of Daddy's snoring. In college, sharing a room with a heavy sleeping whose blaring alarm went off two hours before I needed to get up was torture (my alarm was, and still is, the softest possible beep). That same semester I began having headaches that would last all day, only going away when I slept them off overnight. My M.D. said I was "tense" and prescribed Darvon, which did absolutely nothing.
When the headaches were occurring three times a week, I was talked into going to a chiropractor. Best thing I ever did. He found the muscles of my neck were swollen and inflamed and the cervical spine rigid and misaligned - straight instead of curved. He asked if I'd been in an accident, but I hadn't - apparently the inflamed muscles had been that way for so long that they had pulled the vertebrae out of position over time.
I know now that those headaches signaled the onset of fibromyalgia - back then an unknown condition, but obvious today when put together with the sleep problems and what the chiropractic exam uncovered. Fortunately for me, the chiropractor's treatment relieved the headaches and kept them at bay for years; eventually the FMS moved into my arms, stayed there for several years, and then settled in my back, where it remains to this day.
By the time I was in my mid-30s it was taking 30-90 minutes for me to fall asleep; I could count on coming at least partly awake two or more times each night; I had dreams so long and vivid that when occasionally I wrote one down, it would fill five pages; and I woke barely refreshed.
I was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1987 and put on Elavil. For the first time in at least 20 years I slept soundly all night, with few dreams, and awakened feeling rested. The pain retreated. It was glorious. But as time passed the necessary dosage crept up from 5 to 65 milligrams, my appetite increased dramatically, and I gained 30 pounds. In 1992 I reluctantly decided I had no choice but to dropp the wonder drug because of weight gain. Before too long the weight was coming off - and the sleep problems and pain were returning. By mid-1994 I had lost 40 pounds.
Much of the time since 1995 I've been taking Trazodone. We've tried some others off and on, and currently it is augmented with other meds that promote drowsiness or relaxation, but Trazodone was the medication they wanted me to replace with Lunesta.
I hit my first snag just trying to get the study prescription filled. For whatever reason, my regular pharmacy, Walgreens, was not participating, so I had to go to another pharmacy. I stopped at a nearby Osco, handed over the paperwork, and waited. They asked each other questions. Tried buttons on the register. Conferred. Hmmm. Finally made a phone call. Got put on hold. An answer! Turned out the documentation was incomplete and unclear. Once they finally had all the information to give me the free 10-day supply, I still had to give them all my information, even though I'll probably never shop their again. I think the whole thing took a good half hour. Oh well. At least while I waited I met a white Beany Baby cat named Bianca who looked me smack in the eye and told me to take her home with me, which I did.
Next: Lunesta and me
