Does anyone have some tips/tricks to help insomnia. I have had chronic insomnia since I was 11-12.
It always flares up durng times of stress (yes I know less stress would be a good idea).
My doctor gave me lunesta but I stopped taking after 3 months due to some side effects (Memory loss and some other stuff).
Most nights I get to sleep at about 2am. The latest I have not been able to sleep is around 5:30 am (last night)
I go to bed around 12:30-1:00am.
I have tried
-melatonin- kinda works (going to buy more tonight)
-OTC sleep aides- no longer work
-ZMA-nothing
-Reinforcement of the bed as a
sleeping/sex only place-nothing
-relaxation-nothing
-White noise- kinda
-sex-nothing
-No naps/wake up at the smae time regardless of sleep time-nothing
I always feel better when I don’t have a lot of stuff on my mind.
I do a brain-dump before bed where I just take a sheet of paper and write out everything that I need to get done the next day or things I ‘have to remember.’
That way, I don’t sit up tossing and trying to remember/stress over stuff.
[quote]Nate Green wrote:
I always feel better when I don’t have a lot of stuff on my mind.
I do a brain-dump before bed where I just take a sheet of paper and write out everything that I need to get done the next day or things I ‘have to remember.’
That way, I don’t sit up tossing and trying to remember/stress over stuff.
It may help a little.
-Nate[/quote]
That sounds like a great idea. I am going to try that tonight.
As Nate said, write stuff down, so you have less to worry about when you are trying to sleep.
I don’t know if you’ve done this, or this would help you, but when I can’t sleep, I turn on the TV and watch the most boring thing I can find (like C-SPAN or public access), and after I watch it for a few minutes I fall asleep.
Whenever I wake up I just turn off the TV, and go back to bed, since I’m already asleep. Hope that helps. It works for me.
I’ve been on Lunesta for a month and I love it. No sides yet. I am scheduled to go in for an hour to talk about my anxiety, and hopefully if I cure the anxiety I won’t need the Lunesta.
You might want to get your Cortisol checked.
A 4 sample (7am,12pm,5pm,11pm) salivary test might pin point where or if your cortisol is hi.
Diagnos-Teshs,Inc @1-425-251-0596.
Another way-short cut, a product by Neuroscience-Kavinace seems to do the trick for anxitey induced insomnia.
Dr. Tim
Look at it this way keaster, there’s no law that says you have to sleep at night. Is not sleeping causing your work/school to suffer? If not, don’t worry about it. Just find something productive to do at night.
I have had insomnia since I was 12. I never get more than 4 hours of sleep. It does not affect my work and it came in handy in school.
[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
Look at it this way keaster, there’s no law that says you have to sleep at night. Is not sleeping causing your work/school to suffer? If not, don’t worry about it. Just find something productive to do at night.
I have had insomnia since I was 12. I never get more than 4 hours of sleep. It does not affect my work and it came in handy in school.
Sleep is for wimps. It’s a waste of time.[/quote]
Yes, this insomnia is causing my school, family life, physique progress, and mood to suffer.
I have suffered from insomnia all my adult life. I’m lucky to get 4 hours sleep a night. When I was in my twenties I was on medication but stopped because of side effects, twitching and loss of appetite etc. I then discovered beer, a six pack a night and a alcohol induced sleep. Problem was a six pack became an eight pack, you get the picture.
The drinking was having a major effect on my workouts and it had to stop. Back to not sleeping, I could function fine with the sleep I was getting but my workouts were going no where. It was a frustration from hell. I pretty much gave up.
About ten years ago a great workout partner of mine turned me on to meditation. He spent a lot of time teaching me in the ways of meditation. I learned to lay in bed and meditate. This didn’t help me sleep any better but I learned to relax my body into a state total relaxation. This helped my body recover from workouts and changed my life. I was no longer the asshole jerk I used to be.
I aways go to bed around nine or ten and meditate until I fall asleep. I still only sleep about 4 hours but my life is in my control now.
There are lots of books out there on meditation, it does however take time to master it.
Try different medication. Talk to a sleep specialist. The cost in terms of time and money is well worth it. On streamline’s thread I recommended Imovane, which is a sedative. I don’t know how that would react with your bipolar medication (lithium?). Anti-anxiety medication doesn’t work for me, but sedatives do. Talk to a doctor. Try what he says. If it doesn’t work, go back, or visit a different MD. Rinse, lather, repeat.
I work rotating shifts and have to take Ambien. The medication just gets you asleep not keep you there and I have no problems stopping whenever my body adjusts to the new shift. Ambien is a hypnogenic or something like that and not a depressant which why it is non addicting for most people.
If anxiety is keeping one up, which it does me, staying asleep is easier one the anxiety of not being able to fall asleep because you are stressed out.