Help with insomnia

Post Reply New Topic

First post in the haven but I am really struggling with this right now so I figured some of you might have some useful input.

I really struggle with insomnia and have done so now for many years.

This didn't used to be a problem, however in my current job I am constantly interacting with people either in groups or one on one. I need all of my attention in order to act NT, therefore I cannot afford to be tired. As soon as I am tired, the act starts slipping.

This is not the ideal job for me, however I am saving up to go back to college and this is the best option in the meantime, not to mention aside from the constant interaction I do enjoy and am good at what I do.

Often I will be up until 3 or 5 am when I have work the next morning. There are just nights when I cannot sleep, and as such I have taken to pulling out books on history or politics and reading for most or all of the night for many years now.

I have noticed the insomnia tends to get worse when there are emotional issues that I haven't dealt with or processed, although it's not always possible to process everything without overwhelming myself sometimes. And sometimes it just happens for no disconcernable reason.

I was wondering if any of the other insomniacs we have here could offer any advice or anything that has helped the in the past with theirs? I am open to any and all suggestions right now.

I'd suggest talking with your doctor about getting something like Ambien. I've taken it before and it doesn't cause next day sleepyness in me. The regular kind gives me about 4 hours sleep then I wake up and if I need to, and have the time to sleep more, I can take another one and sleep for four more hours.

Apparantly it causes this in lots of other people too, because they came out with Ambien CR, which is constant release and it's supposed to work 8 hours. I haven't tried that one.

Lunesta, in my opinion, isn't any good. It didn't make me sleep it just game me a slight feeling of being "numb" like thorazine (they gave thorazine to me once for a migraine! bad doctor!)

The new drug out, Silinor, is nothing but Sinequan, which is an old tricyclic antidepressant and it's a tiny dose of it, and doesn't work at all for me.

The benzo's such as Restoril, Xanax, Ativan, Valium, etc will work somewhat but they can leave me with a sleep hangover the next day.

OTC meds such as diphenhydramine and doxylamine are possibilities. They work somewhat, and are worth trying.

Good luck!

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

I suffer from occasional insomnia. Here are some things that helped me.

•spend your waking time in bright light, try to get as much natural light as possible, and refrain from wearing sunglasses when outside. Keep track of the UV index in your area; it's suggested you may still want to wear shades between 11:00am-1:00pm. These times tend to be when the UV highest. No sunglasses did a lot for me, it took a long time to get used to it though.

•Limit your caffeine intake, taking note of your sensitivity to it. I generally don't have any after 2pm

•Go to bed and get up at the same times. No staying up, no sleeping in. I have some tired mornings, but I usually go to bed pretty easy anymore. I only take a two hour nap every Friday. No naps any other time.

•good nutrition, avoiding refined carbs and processed foods. I have ben wheat free for over a month now and that has made a huge difference. Eat lots of raw fruits and veggies.

Stuff I should be doing but am not.

•exercise regularly

Good luck!

Valarian works for me if I'm having a restless night. It stinks to high heaven, but I've found it to be effective.

Hi there, I've been an insomnia sufferer for many years, here is my advice:

First and foremost, see your doctor to rule out a medical cause. In my case, the insomnia was a symptom of an underlying health problem. Now that I have that under control, my insomnia has reduced from several times a week to perhaps once a month, big improvement!

Second, if your doctor can't help, here are some tips from one insomnia sufferer to another.

1. Never, ever look at the clock when you have insomnia! Saying "ugh, now it's 3am, I'm going to be such a mess tomorrow!" will only make the insomnia worse.
2. If you can't sleep, get up and do something! Tossing and turning in bed accomplishes nothing. I like your idea of reading a good book.
3. Keep pen & paper next to the bed. If you have a thought or idea that's keeping you up, write it down and promise yourself to forget about it until tomorrow.
4. Exercise/sunshine/fresh air/meditation/diet/caffeine/alcohol/herbal remedies/positive thinking/etc.

I suffer with this too.

When it gets really bad, I try to read, it usually relaxes me and puts me to sleep. The best book for reading is the bible- boring as heck! Start reading the book of 'Numbers' or 'Matthew' and you'll see text like "Solomon was the son of David, who was the son of ________, who was the son of ______, who was married to the widow, who was the son of..." and on and on.

I dare you, the next time you can't sleep try reading chapter 1 of the book of Matthew from the bible and not get drowsy reading it! (I've read 80% of the bible just dealing with my problems of getting to sleep at night)

I'm not overly religious, but it does put me to sleep fast.

Personally, I have had success with a combination of two strategies intended to alleviate pain.
The first strategy is reduce heart-burn causing factors like avoid tomatoes, onion, or citrus, sleep on an incline, take Prilosec OTC, and take Tums at night. Generally, I try to make sure my stomach is happy before trying to sleep.
The second strategy is taking pain medication before going to bed ibuprofen (aka Advil) and acetaminophen (aka Tylenol). I have heard that these two do not interact, so a full dose can be taken of both.
An article from WebMD got me on the right track titled "6 Surprising Sleep Wreckers"
“Just about any painful condition can cause disrupted sleep. Headaches, back pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and menstrual pain are all common causes. What you might not realize is that the pain doesn't even have to be particularly severe to cause sleep loss. In fact, it doesn't even have to wake you up. Pain signals sent out by your body can fragment your sleep, reducing the amount of time you spend in deep, restorative sleep. You might not wake up, but your sleep will be less restful."
My theory is that if someone has both digestive pain and is insensitive to that pain then that person may be uncomfortable and not know it. Unperceived discomfort may cause insomnia.

Sweet Pea hugs

Thanks for the participation and the options everyone.

Anything mentioned that I am not already doing or have not yet tried, I will look into.

Various substances have helped me from time to time when my insomnia got really bad, benedryl (but I have to take it a good 12 hours before my waking time or I'll be groggy), tryptophan, or more natural things like valerian root, even just a glass of milk.

When I was stressed and dealing with the NT world too much, one thing I found that helped me was to read poetry with a certain feeling to it before bed. For me, Mary Oliver or W.B. Yeats work - as the way they write gets me into an other-worldly frame of mind much like the dream state. If I can get my mind out of the material or hard mental world and into the flow of poetry, or imagery that is dreamlike, it helps me a great deal.

I also avoided watching any news in the evening, violent movies, drinking alcohol (beer isn't as bad as wine, I suspect because of the sugars in the wine and the hops in the beer), anything loud whether music or movies or TV, or having much sugar. Even fruit can be naturally sugary enough to disturb my sleep. I've also found it helpful to turn off the TV completely for at least 1/2 to 1 hour before bedtime.

The earlier post that recommended no caffeine after 2 PM reminded me that I used to avoid it after noon when I worked early hours, and limited mine to 2 cups of coffee in the morning.

Meditation and exercise at some point in the day also help. In fact, exercise is especially sleep-inducing for me, if it's engaged in early enough in the day. I don't do that enough.

I am this way to. i cant get much sleep and have irr regular sleep patterns. I take melatonen which helps me sometimes.