Chronic Insomnia

[OkRad]

My brain refuses to sleep. Welcome to OKRAD in the evening....... I just wish the CBD oil had THC in it. I would be asleep.........If anyone else is awake, hello fellow insomniacs. I won't be so cheerful tomorrow, that's for sure. But right now? Anyone want to go running or biking or hiking through a forest? All this has just made me hyper.......... I hate my brain.

 

[Loren]

Oddly, what has worked for me is the amino acid, L-Tyrosine, which is, actually, generally used to obtain mental clarity and stamina, as opposed to a state of relaxation or the like. A hike through a forest sounds quite pleasing, right about now. I hope you get to sleep, soon. Pleasant dreams...

 

[Streetwise]

Im praying for you that emoji is the nearest I can get to snoring for some reason this website doesn't receive iPad emojis

 

[Bolletje]

I’ve been prescribed medication to help me sleep. The result is a weird amalgam sleep and waking: my body is asleep, but my brain keeps racing and I remain aware of my surroundings.

 

[Peter Morrison]

I've had sleep issues for most of my adult life. Most of it, if not all, related to reviewing events of the day, problem solving, and not being able to turn off the clamor of thoughts. I took to listening to a familiar TV show or movie. My ears were paying attention, but my mind was playing the images of the show in my head. It is usually quite effective.

When I can't do that, I imagine lying on the deck of a boat, curled up in a niche somewhere, and letting the rocking of the boat and the sound of the waves put me to sleep. My mind never turns off, so I divert its attention to something else that I find pleasant. I also find thunder storms to be relaxing.

 

[Sid Delicious]

I'm afraid I don't have a cure, but can sympathise. I'm a lifelong insomniac, but I think I've gotten better with age as I generally get some sleep most nights and I've found having extra hours compared to the average person can be a benefit if I use it wisely (although I'm not sure how I'd survive without caffeine). I never try to make myself sleep, but I save the 'unfocused' tasks I have for when I should be sleeping and my brain isn't functioning at full capacity. It tends to eventually make me sleepy if I try to concentrate on an easy task. Not sure if that's helpful or not, but hope you get some rest eventually.

 

[Theta.G]

What book are those bottles resting on?

(Also have sleep issues but haven't came up with any fixes so... i'm not useful here lol)

 

[OkRad]

What book are those bottles resting on?

(Also have sleep issues but haven't came up with any fixes so... i'm not useful here lol)

You are perceptive. Homer's Iliad is the one on top (Alexander Pope translation) and one on the bottom is Bach- Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner.

Homer is my uber special interest and Bach is one of my more routine SIs! Thank you for asking!

 

[BraidedPony]

Sometimes I take Ambien, but not every night or I get used to it and then it doesn’t work. So no more than once a week.
I do all the usual suggested things, reduce blue light, no caffeine after 2pm, have a dark cool quiet comfortable bedroom, routine before bed, no phone calls or social activity after 7pm, small easy to digest snack before bed...
I listen to audio books with the timer set for 30 minutes, sometimes that helps, or play meditation type music on Spotify, or I try counting all herbs and spices in alphabetical order.
Many times though none of this works. My pantry looks a lot like your stash there. Usually I end up taking more than one thing, like a melatonin and a Xanax or melatonin and a Benedryl and maybe something else. Whatever works though I get used to it and have to change what I take.
Telling my brain to shut up never works.

 

[mw2530]

Insomnia may be the biggest thing holding me back right now. I struggle with this every night. The only times I have got glimpses of good sleep is when I try to be mindful during the day rather than let my mind wander to make believe world. I guess then I am more focused, less worried, and get more tired.

 

[Streetwise]

Found it only time I sleep for a long time is when I am so so engulfed in pain usually when I'm bleeding and eaten a lot of carbohydrate and not drunk fizzy drinks.

 

[TempeFan]

Yep, I've tried it all. What ever works for others does the opposite to me. What doesn't help others sleep, doesn't help me either. For example, if I have 1 glass of wine with dinner then I'm too sleepy to watch a movie, but if I am drinking alcohal for the purpose of sleeping, then after 1 or even 2 glasses, I am as wide awake as if I downed a whole gallon of caffeine laden soda pop.

The best night's sleep I ever had was in college. A group of us were doing an all nighter study session for a big final exam. Somebody opened a bottle of No Dose caffeine pills. I took one and promptly fell asleep until the alarm went off. I aced the exam but that was my last 8 hour nap. Caffeine now has no effect one way or the other. If I do everything right, it takes 3 to 5 hours to get to sleep but within an hour or two I'm wide awake again. The only thing that comes close is camping. I can go 4 hours down, 4hours up and 4 hours down again if the boy scouts don't show up banging around at the crack of dawn.

Has technology brought on the zombie apocolypse? The blue light from electronics devices and modern light bulbs and 24 hour hub hub has been scientifically shown to have a sleep depriving effect. You don't even have to look directly into the light Carol Ann.

 

[Fitzo]

I sympathise with you. Even though I take a mood stabilizer that helps me to sleep most nights these days, I still have nights (like last night) where I just don't sleep at all. For no apparent reason. Having suffered chronic severe insomnia for almost 50 years I still regard a good night's sleep as a gift. Every night is a challenge. It so incredibly frustrating that something most people just take for granted can be next to impossible for others. Today I feel like a limp rag.

 

[OkRad]

You all have given me some more good tips. The one that works the best for me is indoor camping, meaning all lights off when the sun starts to go down.

I know what you mean. I recall laying awake at night when I was little or waking up and lying there. I'd listen to the sounds the house made or the pattern the old GE oscillating fan made. It seems like I've spent a lifetime being tired. I've tried everything from pills to a different mattress to different pillows to even sleeping in the raw (yeah, TMI), as I heard that that helps balance the temperature. Nothing seemed to help.

You wrote about the things that are the most tortuous. Being forced to notice things we should not have to notice....the SOUNDS OF HOUSE! Oh so true. Scampering overheard, creaking, sighing of the wind, that utter silence that beckons most people into sleep.......We have evolved very badly, I think. We need to be able to shut down when the body needs it. Our hands certainly find the wherewithal to grab any morsel to chomp on and more when we need it.

 

[“Normal?”nick]

I’ve had insomnia my entire life. When I was a child I used to think that it was somehow related to my parents falling asleep before me. Like if they fell asleep first, that’s why I couldn’t sleep.

Now my insomnia seems to go in “cycles”. Usually 3-5 times a year lasting 1-3 weeks each. Starts off either not being able to fall asleep or (most commonly) waking up in the middle of the night for a period of time, as time progresses, the time I’m awake in the middle of the night slowly increases, peaks, then slowly decreases until I go back to sleeping normally.

I was prescribed Ambien but found I would drive or ride my Harley in my sleep (found receipt from the gas station in my pocket the next day from 4:00 am, ironically for Red Bull for all things) and after laying my bike down and having no recollection of it, decided it was not for me.

I’ve found that when the insomnia is at its worst, NOTHING will fix it. Sometimes thc helps, but nothing actually works.

 

[Rasputin]

I saw a new primary care physician on Christmas Eve, for chronic insomnia. The doctor diagnosed me with depression and an anxiety disorder, and referred me to a sleep doctor, a behavioral health doctor, and a psychiatrist.

I believe anxiety is involved, but I have lived with this so long that I am not aware of the anxiety. It's more like I am hyper-aware of everything and can not shut my brain off after I fall asleep. I am currently taking an antidepressant (Citalopram) and have tried Melatonin with it. So far, I can not tell if the drugs are working or not. I still wake up an hour or two after falling asleep, and do this 3-4 times every night. I also have sleep apnea and use a BiPap machine, but this insomnia seems to be in addition to sleep apnea.

I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and what helped your insomnia? I am skeptical of behavioral therapy because I don't think I have bad habits and I am not aware of the anxiety. I am worried about the health effects of chronic anxiety, and was just wondering what has helped others.

 

[tree]

Also see:

Insomnia...
Depression and insomnia
Insomnia

 

[Sarah S]

I had Insomnia most of my life (its ONE of the many comorbid diagnosis to ADHD ) its really not much you can do other then DONT try to force youre self to sleep all that will do is increase the insomnia im afraid . And if you have severe problems with this that effects youre life you need to listen and be openminded to the docs advice and be willing to utliest try what they are offering. And most important DONT give up if something isent working contact youre doc and report this and try something else .

And yes both anxiety as well as depression is contribute to insomnia

 

[Rasputin]

Also see:

Insomnia...
Depression and insomnia
Insomnia

I take Magnesium Citrate every night before going to bed. But one of the articles suggested Magnesium Chloride. Maybe I will try a different form of magnesium supplement?

 

[TheSaltyStray]

I've found I often "stim" to sleep or to a more relaxed state of mind to fall asleep. I often "rock" myself into sleep and/or have a strip of an old blanket that I run through my fingertips. A weighted blanket has helped along with no clocks, bright lights and fans going. I've tried everything minus Ambien to fall asleep, including rather high doses of antihistamines (hydroxyzine) with very little efficiency. Valerian root sometimes helps and found that if your cat does not enjoy catnip, they often will go gaga for valerian root.