Not complaining, just questioning: Longterm medication use makes most patients snappish

[libdem4life]

54. After two head injuries...car accidents (not my fault)...I lost my ability to sleep. Everything

else seemed to heal fine. And since I'm opposed to taking medication and have had the fortune of good health, I was terrified of dependency on sleeping meds. I almost lost my mind with sleep deprivation while raising a young son who didn't sleep...later diagnosed with ADHD. (Not a winning combination)

I was in therapy, and finally my psychologist insisted that I be medicated and sleep. So he and the psychiatrist agreed, and I was prescribed 2...one very potent, one for getting drowsy. Since it will never heal, I'll be on them for the rest of my life, but it has definitely made a difference in my tolerance level, to be sure. Of course there's that other thing called age...now Social Security age. But females in my family live to almost 100..that's a long time to take these pills.

Not sure whether it is the condition (brain malfunction) or the medication...one of which is usually only prescribed for a few weeks...but I'll be on it for the rest of my life. The way I put it is that I'm addicted to sleeping a whole night...still wake up one to two times every night...but knowing help is on the bed stand ramps down the panic.

Thanks for sharing...you can't believe the "ideas" I got for sleeping before the meds. One was to run around the block before bedtime...(in the city in the dark, right,)