Sleepless and on Xalkori 2 years this past 28th of Nov. - 1267515

Hi Lorrie,

It's good to hear from you. I don't have any personal experience to make a recommendation, but I would note that prednisone can cause sleeplessness, so you may want to talk to your doctor about a substitution.

I believe Dr. West previously provided this link on dealing with insomnia, but here it is again as a reminder: http://cancergrace.org/cancer-treatments/2010/02/09/getting-your-z%E2%8… As Dr. Harman stated in that post: "Steroids are notorious for causing insomnia—up to 50-70% of patients taking prednisone complain of this."

Good luck getting more sleep; going without it makes everything worse.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!

JimC
Forum moderator

Good to hear from you, and let me say again how sorry I am about your son's passing.

I think it's appropriate to check in with the doctor if your rash gets worse. And yes, prednisone is definitely a common cause of sleeplessness (benadryl can help with that as well as rashes). But as the link notes, there are many potential options that may help.

There are also some physicians who focus on sleep as their specialization if this problem is bad enough.

Good luck.

-Dr. West

I just wanted to say HI Lorrie. I know this won't be such a joyous Christmas but I hope you get through it with a few carefree moments and lots of hugs. I hope you find some good sleep as well. I don't know how you feel about prescription anti-anxiety and sleep aids but they can do the trick if monitored closely. Have you spoken with your doctor or a psychiatrist?

All best,
Janine

Lorie, I dug this up from a past discussion which was about anxiety but the drug was discussed is in the same class of drugs as tremazepam, benzodiazepines. Dr. Weiss had this to say, "There are multiple ways to treat anxiety. Perhaps the most effective and safest is counseling from a skilled and compassionate cancer psychiatrist or cancer counselor. When medications are used, they’re typically from a class called benzodiazepines, with ativan most frequently used in the cancer world." http://cancergrace.org/lung/topic/updating-each-other-in-a-common-threa…

I'll ask Dr. Walko, our oncology pharmacologist to comment as well.

I keep you close and hope you get some rest.

Janine

Lorie, I am assuming that you are talking about temazepam. There is a slight risk of drug interaction that could increase the exposure of both agents slightly, but with the low 15 mg dose of temazepam, likely is not of major concern, especially if you only take the drug on occasion.

Best wishes,
Dr. Walko

Lorrie, I have respect for people finding the best way to grieve and I'm so glad to hear you and your husband are taking next steps together. Your struggles make mine look small and they sure as hell don't feel small. I want you to know that what I say to you is always with the utmost respect and just hope that something along the way is helpful.

I pointed to that link because it was the only one I found with a doctor's comment on interactions between xalkori and benzodiazepine (Dr. Weiss' comment). Both ativan and temazepam belong in the benzodiazepine class. but I didn't mean to make a connection with you, just your most recent question.

Janine

Lorrie, Neither should be a big problem. The Celexa may also compete to a small degree with the crizotinib but given the low dose you are taking, it is likely not going to be a problem.

I know the holidays can always be tough after a loss, so keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Dr. Walko