More accurately, lack of sleep issues. I have generally had poor sleeping habits my entire life (I’m 42). My mom jokes that I’ve never slept through the night!
So there’s that, but also occassionally, specifically this week, I’ve really had trouble getting to sleep and/or staying asleep. I just can’t seem to shut down my brain. I’ve tried nearly every home remedy but drugs, prescritpion or otherwise, aren’t an option (they affect me in unusual ways, and being a single mother, I can’t afford to be incoherent). Here’s my sleep history this week:
Sun - fell asleep around 11pm, woke up at 1:15am, never fell back to sleep
Mon - fell asleep around 10pm, woke up at 2:25am, fell asleep again around 4:30am, alarm goes off at 5am
Tues - fell asleep around 3am, woke up at 4:30am
Wed - fell asleep around midnight, woke up at 3:17am, never fell back to sleep
Thurs - fell asleep around 11pm, woke up at 1:30am, fell back to sleep around 4:45am, alarm went off at 5am but I snoozed until 5:30am
As you can see, I’m not getting much sleep and it is really starting to affect me, especially at work.
I’ve already tried warm baths, not watching TV in bed, I’ve done away with all caffiene, turning my clock away from my bed, and I bought a sound machine. I don’t do work or homework in bed…I’m not sure what else there is! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Sleeping well at night depends just as much on what you do during the day as what you do at night. This sounds silly, but in order to sleep you must be tired. Make sure you get adequate intellectual stimulation over the course of a day. Do puzzles. Talk to people. It is especially important to work out with an hour of aerobic exercise each day. Sitting in front of your computer in your cubicle answering emails and playing mindsweeper at work doesn’t count. You must be mildly stressed throughout the day.
Go to bed at the same time everyday. No exceptions. People who naturally sleep deeply can afford to dick around, you can’t.
One hour before bed, start getting ready. Think to yourself, “Gosh its late, it’s time to sleep.” Turn off the TV. Avoid using any electronic screens, ipads, etc. Read a technical book, one without any involving plot. No page turners.
Honestly, the key to restful sleep is what you do during the day, not at night. That being said, maintaining a routine and good sleep hygiene are also key. It also gets harder as you get older.
Have you tried antihistamines? They aren’t going to make you incoherent. They only last 4 hours though but that seems to be more than what you’re getting. Benadryl (antihistamine) is my sleeping pill after prescription Ambien stopped working. I don’t seem to build up an immunity to Benadryl.
My sleep patterns are worse than yours. Stopping all caffeine helped me a small bit. Also, I use earplugs although lately the sound of my heart beating and hearing myself breathe has even started to bother me!
I found meditation excellent for helping me stay asleep or fall back to sleep (my form of insomnia was always waking up far too early and not being able to get back to sleep). Conscious relaxation is also very good for helping you to sleep. I haven’t done any meditating in a couple of years now, but my brain has been trained so that when I focus on my breathing instead of my racing thoughts, it’s time to go to sleep, and it still works.
I had a similar problem years ago, I never “cured” it, but what I’d do was stay in bed, with a nightlight on, and think of something ‘calming’, like mountains, or a river, or a horse grazing in a field, or something of that ilk - to get my brain to ‘switch off’.
I wouldn’t go to sleep, but I did rest myself over night and was able to function at work the next day
I’m in the same boat, except I’ve tried the sleeping pills and haven’t found one yet that really works. On the other hand, if I don’t take them, I’m guaranteed to not fall asleep at all, whereas if I do take them, I’ll eventually fall asleep, maybe 3-4 hours later.
I’ve had this problem my entire life and it SUCKS. When I sleep deeply, I wake up groggy and feeling drunk the entire day, I feel more rested if I sleep lightly. I’ve tried going to sleep at the same time every night but then I just wake up about 4 hours later and can’t go back to sleep. The only thing that helped me for a while was a muscle relaxer called Soma, it really helped relax my body and my mind and didn’t give me that drugged feeling.
Have you tried reading or writing in a journal before bed? A journal REALLY helps me with stress, I just write down whatever I’m feeling so it’s not all up in my head anymore.
Great name/post combo.
Your sleep patterns are somewhat like mine, but yours seem a little more extreme. Years ago, when it was more a matter of “I can’t fall asleep. At all.” I looked at the insomnia as a gift of another two hours to my day. I read more, mended, or did calming, repetitive crafts.
Back in the days of CRT monitors, I also played the various solitaire games. However, I think the light from the newfangled monitors and from iPads seems to do something to my sleep quality. I’m back to reading either light fiction or heavy-duty non-fiction paper books before sleep.
Also, Benadryl is my friend as long as I don’t have to be productive in the early morning.
My wife claimed the same exact problems. Then we got married, and her sleep habits fell in line with mine. I’ve never had trouble with sleep long term; occasionally I’ll have sleeplessness for a night or two but that’s it.
It basically came down to this:
A regular sleep schedule (and sticking to it for at least a month) with similar sleep and waking times.
Actually laying down and physically preparing for sleep. All the things you’re doing, like no TV, no caffeine, etc.
And I also recommended she engage her mind in a little activity. Basically you mentally shut down your body, one part at a time. Lie on your back, or whatever works for you (try your back first, seems to work better), and become aware of your muscles. All of them. Consciously flex and relax as many as you have control over, lightly. Then starting with your toes, actively disengage the muscle, and feel it stop moving and relax, like sitting down after heavy exercise. Slowly work your way up to your foot, your ankle, your calves, knees, making sure to spend enough time at each muscle to become aware that it is actually relaxing. Make your way all the way up to your head. Don’t forget your arms. If you make it all the way up and aren’t asleep, try starting over and see if you’re unconsciously tensing up any muscles. It may be due to an uncomfortable sleeping position.
Basically you’re forcing your mind to do something simple yet engaging. Take your mind off of whatever stressful thoughts are keeping it going, and focus it on your body and the rest that it needs.
I don’t know what to tell you other than I feel your pain.
The worst kind of insomnia I get is the kind where your body floods with adrenaline and stress hormones right as you are about to fall asleep. Supposedly this is caused by a buildup of stress, and your brain thinks you are in danger and doesn’t want you to lower your guard by going to sleep (that is how a doctor explained it to me). All well and good if I knew any relaxation techniques that consistently worked. So far I don’t know of any that help me through it. When I do get it I just take OTC drugs to knock me out.
As far as OTC drugs I have personally had good experiences with benadryl, 300mcg melatonin and pharmagaba (either alone or in combination). But you said you can’t take OTC drugs, so I really don’t know.
Do you think your insomnia, your user name and your hypersensitivity to medications (when I have anxiety I seem to develop hypersensitivity to meds too) are all connected to an underlying anxiety issue? I don’t know if that is obvious but figured I’d ask.
Ugh, tell me about it. I’m already battling with insomnia as it is, but just last night (just as I was about to fall asleep, finally) I turned over in bed and saw an ENORMOUS ant crawling on my pillow, 2 inches from my face. Screamed, adrenaline rushed, got up, shook out my linens, and didn’t fall asleep for another hour and a half. sigh
I started using the generic Costco brand 10 years ago and it almost always works. I started with 1 pill and night and soon boosted it to 2 a night, which seems to work perfectly for me and my wife.
If I am worried about something that can keep me from getting a good night’s sleep. There are medications that you can take to “quiet the mind”. You should talk to a doctor and be open minded about new prescription drugs that are non-narcotic and non-addictive.
There are doctors for this. Having a sleep study done is a life-changing event. I really resisted this for a long time, but oh how I wish I could go back in time and slap some sense into my younger self.
Opal, I would think that such a result from the sleep study wouldn’t lead to the conclusion of “you’re fucked.” I would expect it to lead to hypnotics and similar drug therapy. Was there some complicating factor involved?
ETA: Now I read the thread and saw your post #8, wherein you indicate you’ve tried this and yes some complicating factor is involved. I guess you are fucked.
I have sleep issues too - historically it was issues falling asleep, but in the last couple of months, I’ve also been waking up early (an hour or two before my alarm). I’ve tried OTC sleep aids but I seem to build up a tolerance, and that scares me, so I quit. But what has been working for me most nights is 10mg of melatonin. It takes about 45 minutes for it to kick in, and it seems to allow my brain to stop running at 100 miles a minute, which is my main problem.
I also keep a journal or use the notes function in my phone - often my brain is worried about forgetting things I need to do the next day so I’m constantly thinking about it until I write it down. Once I do that, I can generally fall asleep.
What I get is a rush of adrenaline out of nowhere that seems to strike when I am trying to sleep. I looked around for other people who had it and what the medical consensus was as to a cause, and although I found lots of people who have it, I can’t find a medical term for it. ‘Adrenaline surges’, ‘adrenaline jolt’ or ‘adrenaline rush’ come up a lot to describe it. The consensus seems to be it is either due to anxiety or an endocrine or neurotransmitter issue.
“Insomnia due to mental disorder” was the diagnosis.