My Intro

[fr0gman605]

I am new here so I thought I would give you some background on me before I jump into the fray.

I am male, 40 years old, and I have suffered form insomnia for the past 24 years. Since adolescence I have never had a "normal" sleep pattern. Sleep never came easy and was never restful nor refreshing. I always dreamed (no pun) of being the guy that could go to sleep at 10 pm and bounce out of bed at 6 am ready to conquer the world. I was simply not THAT guy. I was the guy that struggled to fall asleep and on some nights I would get to sleep between 4 - 6 am and either sleep straight through the alarm (and work), or get up with 2 hours of poor quality sleep and then try to muddle through the day. Many nights I simply would not sleep at all. Then on the weekends I would repay this debt by sleeping all day on Saturday and most of Sunday just to restart the cycle again Sunday night.

3 years ago my doctor started me on Ambien and for the first time in my life I was able to get 6 to 8 hours of sleep but I never woke refreshed. I had been sleeping but it was a drugged sleep and while it gave my body some down time my mind never had the opportunity to recover. I was fortunate that I was immune to the strange side effects of Ambien. After taking Ambien for 2.5 years it abruptly stopped working. I could take 30mg and never sleep. My doctor switched me to Lunesta and that is when the nightmare began. After being on Lunesta for 1 week I awoke to find my car parked in a different location and $100 cash in my pocket. Sometime during the night I got up, drove to the bank, withdrew money, did who-knows-what, and dove back home and went to bed. All of this happened outside of conscious awareness. Pretty scary stuff so I stopped the Lunesta.

Next was Rozerum, which had zero effect on my sleep.

I was at a loss, but I knew that there had to be a solution and I embarked on a massive internet research campaign (insomniacs have a lot of free time to devote to research). I finally found what I thought might be the solution: Xyrem. Through much communication, mostly me educating my doctor on the drug, I was able to get an off-label prescription and I can honestly say, "XYREM HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!" I get about 6 hours of sweet, restful, regenerative sleep most nights and even on the nights I only get 4 hours I feel so much better the next day that it is not even comparable to the life before.

I was suffering some very profound anxiety and depression during the time on Ambien and that only increased in the time I was either trying new meds or trying to sleep without meds. On Xyrem the depression and anxiety have VANISHED! I have more energy. I can communicate with family member better. Work has improved. All-in-all, my life has changed for the better. I have lost weight that I really needed to lose and at my last check-up my blood pressure was lower than it has been in years.

So that's my story.

I will be jumping into conversations in the days and weeks to come. I can sometimes be passionate to the point of offending people. I can often be sarcastic, but I never mean to belittle the condition or circumstances of any individual. I understand that everyone is unique and every situation is unique.

That's me in a nutshell. Now, go get some sleep!

[FibroFog]

Is Xyrem covered by your insurance for insomnia?

[fr0gman605]

[FibroFog]

What did your insurance company do that was in bad faith? I can't imagine paying cash for Xyrem.

[fr0gman605]