I’m not posting at 5:19 because I’m an early riser. Oh, no. Anyway, I’ve been troubled with insomnia throughout my life, but I’m going thtrough a bad spell right now. Weeks now without a decent night’s sleep. I’m constantly exhausted, eyes burning, temper on edge. Does anyone have any tips, etc?
It use to be if I prayed/meditated before bed I’d slip peacefully into sleep, but now I’m so tired I can’t focus and I’ll drift off, but only for a bit and not quality sleep. I’ve tried using my mother’s prescription Ambien, but even that doesn’t seem to do it, nor does benedryl. I thought it might be a side-effect of the Topomax my neurologist put me on for migraines, but he said that was unlikely. He did say he’d order a sleep study. I haven’t gotten back to him about it.
Jeebus, do I hate insomnia. I can’t think of much that is more frustrating than being so tired you can’t think straight, but not being able to sleep. And of course, when you get frustrated, then you really can’t sleep. Sometimes, I think my body has somehow forgotten how to sleep, it gets so bad.
My tips:
Change where you sleep for a night. Sometimes, I can fall asleep on the couch when I can’t in bed. Sometimes even flipping around in bed helps–sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed makes it seem like a different bed. I bet changing the sheets might help, too.
Good sleep hygiene is highly recommended in everything I have read. Go to bed at the same time every night, get up at the same time, and don’t use your bed for work (what about hookers with insomnia?)
Speaking of which, sex helps sometimes. Crying does, too. I have never tried both at the same time, but that might really work.
I’ve suffered a time or two, and sometimes the problem is that I’m trying too hard to get to sleep. So I get up and read a book for half an hour or so to relax myself, then return to bed.
However, your case seems rather more serious, and I would suggest you visit a doctor sooner rather than later.
I am a lifelong insomniac, now aged 46. Apparently it started when I was a baby - I hardly slept at all, which drove my poor parents bonkers. I am currently unemployed, and have been for 18 months, but this has had no noticeable effect on my sleep patterns. If anything, I “sleep” even less than I did when I was working.
Of course, I have tried all the self-help tips which are supposed to work but to no avail. I would love to have the opportunity of chemical-induced sleep but doubt whether my doctor would prescribe anything. Not that I have ever asked; it is so much a part of my life that I hardly complain these days.
A recently-dead uncle used to take rohypnol regularly (he had all sorts of heart problems) and I always wanted to nick a few and see what effect they had (on me, that is, not some random young lady …).
What surprises me is the amount of sleep other people claim to get. Eight hours a night?! I’m lucky if I get that much in a week.
Insomnia never ever happened to me until I had kids.
Not sure what happened to the body chemistry, but nothing was ever the same after I had the first kid 22 years ago.
The sleeplessness comes and goes according to my female cycles, is worse right before my period, and will probably be awful when menopause hits (I am almost 51.)
I agree with the good sleep hygiene advice–I try to get regular exercise and fresh air. Reading helps, but sometimes no matter what I do, sleep just doesn’t come, so I get up and go do something, trying not to wake up the rest of the house.
I also periodically take over the counter stuff like melatonin or that other OTC stuff that starts with a D. But I hate to depend on drugs.
The way I found best to get to sleep is some sort of book on tape – I used the radio show of Hitchhikers. Put it on, get in bed, listen with your eyes closed and relaxed. Worked like a charm for me because I was concentrating on listening rather than trying to sleep. Also took me about 6 months to finally finish the CD, too!
Why do you think you doctor wouldn’t prescribe something?
As for me, I just started taking trazodone. I asked my doctor if I would notice a difference right away and he said yes. I haven’t so far, but it’s only night two. Before that, I tried Ambien (10 days) which made almost no difference until around the 6th night, and then I was straightened out for about 2 weeks. It was a good two weeks.
Before any drugs at all, I started sleeping with a fan on. The noise created something for me to concentrate on and helped to kind of drown out my mind. It worked better than anything I’ve tried since, but has become less effective over time.
The last regular sleep I can remember was grade school. Now I’m pushing to 40 - that’s 30 years of long nights.
I don’t think I’m a proper insomniac however. I can’t get to sleep. Once I do I’m normally ok. I think my problem is more my default sleep cycle. I think its something like 24 hours awake, 8 hours asleep. I’ve never been able to knock it to 12 hours awake, 8 hours sleep.
I end up with about 2-3 hours a night of real sleep- if that.
I’ve never found anything that helped bring sleep, just things to help not mind not sleeping. I’ve tried pills but I wake up as tired as if I didn’t sleep. I’d rather be awake doing something then taking pills if that’s the case.
I think I’d be fine with a 30-hour day. Awake 20 hours, asleep 10. Wish I could try it out…
I’m 24 and have been suffering for about as long as I can remember. The idea that I could go through every day feeling rested, go into every night feeling tired and ready to sleep–that’s just foreign to me.
I can hold down a job successfully, but it means having an understanding employer (lucky me; I can go in late) and many days that are just agonizing. I thought I was fine just a few days ago but am now going through another sleepless night. During college, I would pull one or two all-nighters per week, just trying to re-set myself. I’d already be awake, so I wouldn’t have to think about waking up. Waking up is so difficult for me that I once slept through an exam intentionally. Naps never work because they stretch out to four hours or more.
Worst of all is that I’ve never been able to get help from a doctor. I’m sure I’ve got problems, but everyone just expects me to “will power” myself through it. I’ve tried losing weight, and the mental energy involved in losing weight is considerably less intense than this. So why the brush off?
:o I’m going to use this as my “insomniac” smiley. Glad to have a thread for unloading.
When getting summer jobs in highschool, I quickly found that second shift was optimal, and third shift close behind. Now that I’m in college, I’m having a REAL problem with classes all day and a second-shift part-time job.
Case in point: I got normal sleep over the weekend, and Sunday night. I set four alarms (TV, computer, cellphone, alarm clock) Monday morning and woke up alright at 8 a.m… Monday night I could NOT fall asleep. Finally fell asleep at six, but only slept for an hour because I had alarms set and an 8 a.m. class. Got done with work early tonight and fell asleep for about three hours, but woke up at about midnight-30, and haven’t been able to get back to sleep since.
Garfield226, it’s hard. Hang in there. College was an “enabler” for my insomniac lifestyle–it was too easy to give in to what my body wanted and then fight it only when necessary. Things like caffeine and alcohol combined with a schedule that never really ends is deadly. I need more of a schedule in my life to keep me motivated. If I know I can work during the day and have personal time during the evening (as opposed to feeling like I can’t take any personal time, I should be studying, etc.), it gets me through the days.
Funny, right now I’m looking for a job (just moved) and the insomnia is worse than ever. It’s like being bored all the time and just letting my body go is the worst thing I can do for it.
As for treatment, I’ve tried a lot of holistic stuff–exercise routines, avoiding caffeine completely, creating a ritual…it’s all the same. I just can’t “will myself” to fall asleep when it’s time. I’ve tried Ambien, but my husband doesn’t like the idea of me getting hooked on sleeping pills. (For me, that’s a very real possibility.) I guess my big question to the world is, “Why doesn’t anyone care about me?” As I said before, this involves at least as many self-control/willpower issue as weight loss. But weight loss is something people care enough about to develop real systems of assistance–there are support groups, a million different diets, pills, workouts, you name it. Sleep problems are hell. I’d rather have a regular sleep schedule than lose twenty pounds.
When I get insomnia it’s because I can’t shut my frigging brain off, and I can’t remember how to relax. I only get it sporadically, but I can recognise the symptoms pretty fast if I’m not going to sleep.
I’ve just had my second night of it, and I’m cranky. What really scares me (and probably helps prevent sleep) is wondering if I have forgotten how to fall asleep. My rational brain parts shut down, and my thoughts whirl by in nonsense patterns really fast. I can’t pray because I’m too disconnected-feeling, and I’m too tired to get up. Reading doesn’t help.
I just wait for it to go away. The only thing that’s ever effectively broken insomnia for me is having my husband asleep next to me. It provides enough ‘secure’ and distracting vibes or something for me to sleep. Unfortunately he works a lot of nights, so we don’t often sleep at the same time.
I was a college insomniac, with occasional tendencies still. I’ll lay awake all night with all kinds of crap running through my head, or wake up at 2 a.m. stressed out about something at work. I have developed my own little system for falling asleep.
What works best for me (and I’ve heard you’re not supposed to do this) is to have the TV on. I allow myself to watch, but during the commercials I have to close my eyes. Pretty soon I just fall asleep. These days, by the time The Daily Show is over at 10:30, I’m out.
Another tip I have is to make sure your teeth are unclenched and put your tongue on the bottom of the mouth. The tongue part sounds strange, but it will amaze you how much it relaxes you.
Finally, I developed my own little game, kind of like counting sheep. I close my eyes and start out thinking of, say, foods that start with the letter “A.” I breathe in, think of one, then exhale. When I start to run out of foods that start with “A,” I give myself three deep breaths to think of one, then move on to “B.” You could do this with names, or whatever category you want. I find this works well because I’m a busy-brain insomniac and it helps keep my mind off everything. It also slows my breathing down, which helps me to fall asleep too.
Don’t know if any of these will help anyone else, but they work for me. I did try a few different things before I found a system that worked for me. I figured anything was worth a shot.
(The Google ads very nicely tell you about treatments. Interesting.)
I just came in here to commiserate. I get a severe case of insomnia every once in a while, mostly from this piece of crap called Restless Leg Syndrome. I hate it.
Has any of you found that when you tell someone that you have insomnia, they immediately say “Really? Well, I’m asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and I’m spark out for eight, nine hours - wake up fresh as a daisy!”? No effing sympathy whatsoever.
Now, if you’d told them that you were, say, blind, would you get a similar reaction? “Blind, eh? That’s funny, because my two eyes function perfectly. I can see everything: shapes, colours, the lot.” Don’t think so.
I read a while ago that you are more likely to be involved in a road accident when suffering from sleep deprivation than you are when under the influence of alcohol.
I think some people just can’t grasp what it’s like to try to function without sleep. It’s similar to depression in that way. Some people just shrug off depression as a real medical problem and tell you to get over it and stop feeling sorry for yourself, it’s all in your head, etc. Unless you’ve tried to function a day without sleeping the night before, it’s difficult to imagine what it would be like. With something like blindness, it’s easier to imagine how difficult it would be. Being able to sleep is something many people take for granted.
Another exhausted day. I had to pull off the road while driving home because I was so sleepy I couldn’t drive safely. I seem to function at work okay, but the drive (it’s over an hour home) does me in. I’ve gotten lots of exercise the last couple days, I have very regular sleep habits, but nothing does any good. I suppose I should call the doc to order the sleep study. I’m hoping I’ll soon have a new job, though and I won’t be there in time for the sleep study. And I don’t necessarily want this as a pre-existing condition if I’m changing insurance companies.
I have major sleep problems too. I would give anything to wake up at 7 am and be ready for bed by 11 or 12 pm. But I am a night owl. I am useless and exhausted in the mornings and start to get my energy rush after noon, get sleepy around 5 pm, then by the time it is 11 or midnight (which it is 12:15 am right now) I am super energetic again and not ready to sleep. If I try, my mind just won’t shut off and I will lay there for hours.
When I lived alone, it was no big deal… having the TV on helped a lot. But now that I live with my boyfriend, it really bothers me that when he goes off to be at 10 or 11, I am not ready for bed. So we don’t get to fall asleep together most nights Also, I can’t have the TV on, and it’s even harder to fall alseep because I am really fidgety when trying to get to sleep, but I am afraid of distrubing my BF, so therefore I can’t get truly comfortable, therefore making it even harder to sleep
I am glad to know I am not alone. I often think that a majority of the stress in my life is somehow related to my sleeping problems.
Also, I can’t have the TV on, and it’s even harder to fall alseep because I am really fidgety when trying to get to sleep, but I am afraid of distrubing my BF, so therefore I can’t get truly comfortable, therefore making it even harder to sleep