F***ing insomnia

[Trying]

Another night of not sleeping  and I am going out of my mind!  I have had insomnia for years and have tried just about everything.  I'm waiting to schedule a sleep study but in the meantime I am on my second week of being up several hours in the middle of the night.  It is so unhealthy  and I just want to fix it and be normal!!!

 

I can't tolerate sleeping pills, tried natural remedies, self hypnosis, nothing works consistently.

 

Has anyone successfully fixed a problem with insomnia?

[Wheelerswife]

Xanax works for me.  I take a small dose a few minutes before I go to bed, and combined with my dog practically sleeping on top of me, I can usually get to sleep and stay asleep.  On rare occasion these days, I wake abruptly or have nightmares and need another dose to settle me down.  This is probably more an issue with anxiety, but I don't know if it will help with insomnia.  I had insomnia after my first husband died, but that resolved after John and I were together and I wasn't sleeping alone.  Sigh.  I hope you find a solution.

 

Maureen

[Carey]

I take diphenhydramine which is basically just Benadryl.  Have to take a pretty high dose of it, but they SAY it's not habit forming.  But when I don't take it I don't sleep like at all.  Some people swear you have to turn off the TV etc. to sleep but I find I HAVE to keep it on. If someone were to come in and turn it off I'd sit right up wide awake.  But I do put it on something boring or a rerun of something I've already seen so it doesn't engage me too much.

[Trying]

I've been taking Ativan since DH died most nights at bed time but it doesn't seem to be helping anymore, I've tried now waiting until I wake up at 1:00 am to take it since I fall asleep initially ok, but that's not doing it either.  When I'm desperate I take Advil pm but it gives me a hang over so I don't like to do it often.  Tonight I may break down because I've only had one good nights sleep in almost 2 weeks.

 

Lack of sleep effects everything!

 

 

[Guest TooSoon]

I often take a 3 micro gram (NOT milligram) melatonin.  Works every time.  The key is the lower dose.  I couldn't find them in the health food store so I bought them on amazon.  I feel your pain.

[MissingMyJon]

I feel your pain as well.  I haven't found anything that really works, and I am leery of taking any sleeping aids, since I need to be able to function if a kid wakes and needs me in the middle of the night.  Sigh...  What I would give for a regular sleep schedule again.  Sorry I wasn't any help, but am sending you a hug, and hope tonight you get some good shut-eye.

[Captains wife]

Problem is lack of sleep is a hard on the mood....I have suffered alot from insomina since I think about everything WAY to much. I have tried to following:

 

Relaxation yoga before bed

Listening to meditation CDs

Working out during the day so feel very tired by bed time (earlier, if I work out too late that has the opposite effect)

Getting up early in the AM so get tired around the time my son goes to bed (i.e. 8PM)

Melatonin (but honestly this didnt do much)

[lcoxwell]

I, too, have struggled with insomnia for years, and have discovered that the issues have increased, since the death of my Kenneth. Doctors in my small town are known for being hopelessly inadequate and for not properly diagnosing people. I am hoping to find a decent doctor, once I move, in order to have a thorough checkup and a sleep study, so they can hopefully find something that works. I can feel your pain, as I have also had several mostly sleepless nights, as of late, and as I have attempted nearly every suggestion I know, to no avail. I sincerely hope you can find a solution to your insomnia soon.

[jlp]

Trying, I'm older than you and I found as I became perimenopausal then going through menopause, I also had trouble sleeping.  (Usually staying asleep, not falling asleep.)  A few months after DH died, it was so bad for a few weeks that I became like a zombie and thought I was really losing my mind.

 

I finally realized I had been pushing myself too hard.  I made myself basically do nothing for a weekend to force myself to relax, and that seemed to help.

 

I've heard of everything from tart cherry juice, Earl Grey (bergamot) tea, and extended release melatonin helping people, though I've never really tried them.  My psychologist told me to try to isolate what was going on when I woke up and I realized I was in pain!  Honestly, I basically just needed a new mattress!  With that, and a fan on low for some white noise and air movement, I'm sleeping much better.

 

So, maybe just trying to figure out why you're waking up might be a start.  It really sucks though -- it's not enough that we're all emotional anyway, and lack of sleep just makes it worse!

[Baylee627]

Insomniac, circa 2010, exacerbated massively by that bitch, widowhood.

 

On two prescription medications that collaborate to produce sleep. Because my body sure the hell won't.

 

You have my empathy. It's so defeating and maddening when you're body cannot--will not--do something it was designed to do. Days are endless because they are not demarcated by any particular Circadian rhythm; and you trudge through work and your daily routine, operating suboptimally in a haze of sleep deprivation.

 

Like a hangover without the fun of the night before.

 

I swear I about come unglued when someone asks me why I don't just "take a nap".

 

Baylee

 

[Trying]

Thanks for the suggestions and sympathy, I hate how many people share this problem!  I will keep you posted if I ever get this sleep study scheduled.

[Virgo]

Daily exercise?

Melatonin?

Different types of teas are suppose to help aid sleeping.

My LH worked 3rd shift and swore by ZMA's.

[hachi]

Trying,

 

This may not help you at all, but it helped me. I was sleep deprived for two long periods in my life, the first when I lost my home in a fire in 2007. I did not sleep for 7 months. Nothing worked. Until I moved into my new home. It took about 2 years to recover. By that, I mean for my sleep to go back to normal. During this time I was sleeping about 8.5 hours a day and still feeling exhausted.

 

The second period started with my husbands illness, and progressively got worse after his death. About 3 years. I finally spoke with my doctor about it and he asked me what the longest period I ever slept was on a GOOD night. I told him 7 hours. He asked me what time I needed to get up in the morning. I said 6. He told me that I should never go to bed before 11 PM until I could consistently sleep through the night. Waking up to use the bathroom and going back to sleep didn't count. He said that if I went to bed any earlier, my body would disrupt my sleep. If I went to bed at 8, for example, I would toss and turn, and be wakeful for 3 hours during the night and never get more than the 7 that my body wanted. I was skeptical, but it worked for me. It took some time. Probably about 6 months. Then I started an exercise program, about 4 hours a week. That has also improved. I usually get 7 to 7.5 hours a night now, but it is good quality sleep.

 

I was never one to take meds, even though I had them prescribed.