Chillow - This is a great product you can get at Walgreens or other drug store.  It's a flat plastic pad that you fill with water and place on your pillow to keep your head comfortably cool.  It soothes my tired brain.

 

Cold gel packs - I use these when I need major help in calming my mind down or when I am very hot (most people with fibro have temperature regulation problems caused by the hypothalamus).  I use the gel packs that feel like cloth on the outside.  They are more comfortable than the plastic kind.  I keep my cold packs in the freezer and put one behind my neck and sometimes one on my forehead when I lie down to sleep.  They are usually too cold right out of the freezer, so I let them warm up for about an hour before using.  Putting them in the fridge doesn't keep them cold long enough once in use.  I think the cold helps slow down my thinking processes and relaxes me.  I also live in Florida, where it is hot and humid much of the year, and I am also a woman in my 50's, so these cold packs help me manage "hot flashes."

Halcion - A hypnotic drug.  Worked okay for me about 10-15 years ago, but for some reason I stopped using it.  Can't remember why, but the one thing I do remember is feeling like I hadn't slept.  I would take a halcion tablet and within minutes it seemed that I was awake again and had to get ready to go to work.  Not the best sleep med I've used.

 

Holosync Audiotapes - This was very helpful for me in the past for falling asleep. I was usually asleep by the time Side One was over. You need stereo headphones to listen to the Holosync tapes. Not to worry....my husband got me a tape recorder with stereo headphones for only $4.97 at K-Mart, which I used for this purpose. However, I now use scripture tapes (KJV), and just love them! They help me calm down and give me a feeling of peace and spiritual safety. I also listen to a Christmas carol CD www.fms-help.com/CD.htm that I made in 2007 on a digital piano - it is very soothing also with many beautiful sounds.  I think listening to something distracts me from becoming anxious about sleeping.

 

Kava Kava - This herb helped me with mental relaxation and anxiety but was banned, because some people abused it, causing liver damage. (Strange, isn't it, that people abuse Tylenol every day and develop liver damage, but it is never pulled from the shelves.)  Recently, however, I found Kava Kava again at the health food store.  This herb was also useful to me in the past as a musician for "performance anxiety."

 

Klonopin - Anti-seizure medication - I took this about 20 years ago for sleep when I first developed FMS www.fms-help.com/fibro.htm.  Can't remember how it worked or why I stopped using it.

 

Lorazepam - This is the generic of Ativan (see above).

 

Lunesta - I tried this new sleep med last year when it first came out. It worked well for a few weeks with no unpleasant side effects, but eventually stopped working.  It was also very expensive.  Also, if I ate anything around the time of taking the pill, it didn't kick in for many hours. Some people report a bad taste in their mouth from Lunesta, but I did not experience that.   During the few weeks it worked for me, I liked that it helped me feel a little "sleepy" before knocking me out.

 

 

 

 

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