Dealing with insomnia?

Mitchell Knives

Mitchell Knives

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Hi guys. I've been dealing with insomnia for the last 5 years or so. I usually get a few hours of sleep a day, but I will sometimes stay up without sleep for several days. I end up missing work because I can't sleep. On days when I do get a decent amount of sleep, I pretty much want to stay in bed all day to make up for the days I didn't sleep.

As you can imagine, I can't get much done without a solid 8 hours of sleep. It's starting to get to me; I can't remember things, the days blur together and I'm too tired to do basic stuff, etc.

I went to the Dr., and got some drugs that seem to help occasionally. Ambien works once in a while, but gives me a slight hangover.

Not sure what to do now. Anyone else suffer with this? Did anything you tried work?
 
I can't fall asleep. And if I do, I can't stay asleep. Eventually I'll pass out from exhaustion, after a couple days, but that's no fun. I don't want to take prescription sleep aids, so for the past few years I've been taking melatonin and Benadryl. Works for me.
 
I have had the same problem for years. It is very frustrating and definitely not healthy for a person..
I usually only sleep about 6 hours or so and I'm fine. I have taken Ambien for about 5 years, but it got to the point where it wasn't working anymore, so I quit taking it.... Now that I've had a break from it for awhile, it is working again.

If the Ambien is not working for you, tell your doctor. Maybe he can up the dosage or give you something else to try. If it gives you a hangover though, I would ask him for something different. It doesn't do much good to sleep, but wake up feeling crappy.
 
You saw a Doc but were they a sleep specialist? You probably need to do the overnight stay where they hook up the electrodes and monitor your REM, breathing, etc.
 
gazz98 said:
You saw a Doc but were they a sleep specialist? You probably need to do the overnight stay where they hook up the electrodes and monitor your REM, breathing, etc.
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Yep, sleep apnea is nothing to mess with. I have it, and it contributes to my atrial fibrillation. You don't want to fall asleep on the interstate.
 
ElectricZombie said:
Hi guys. I've been dealing with insomnia for the last 5 years or so.
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I've been dealing with it ever since I could remember and I'm still trying to cope with it :o

Honestly though, from someone on the same boat, trying to isolate the cause of the problem should be the prime consideration; is it physical, environmental or psychological? Maybe a comibantion of factors?

What I discovered though is that exercise and physical activity does help somehow.

(Ok thats it. Sorry but that's all I could come up with at 03:00 :( . . .)
 
i often only get insomnia when i "detox" THC. (sorry if that is not ok in community its my first post here. but its the truth). however, i take a double dose of St. John's Wort and have found that it helps me relax and stop my mind from running 100mph. my dad has had success with ambien but i personally dont like the "pharm drug" sleep aids. another thing i do is just get up when i cant sleep. i get more flustered laying there and thinking about it. i like to get up and paint or do small crafts (not just reading or surfing the net).

whatever you do GOOD LUCK. sleeping bad can make like really terrible as you know.
 
Insomnia isn't sleep apnea.

Try 50mg(or more, but start with 50 if you try it) of 5-HTP before bed. Works when I take it. Solid sleep, but vivid dreams, and too much makes me bloated and sick at my stomach.

I always feel like I've got something that I need to do, read, look at, etc. even when I don't. Plus, I work night shift. Sometimes I'm up for a couple of days on 3hrs. sleep. I never want to go to sleep, and usually crash out once a week. 'Course sometimes I wake up sitting at the computer, or in my truck in the driveway.
The 5-HTP does help, like I said, when I take it.
 
I would try to find a sleep specialist since it is an ongoing issue. They say that they are starting to think probably 50% of the population has some sort of sleep disorder.

When I use to be able to work out, whether lifting weights or a good bike ride, I would get a great nights sleep.

Occasionally when I can't fall asleep I will take some benadryl. 25 or 50 mg should do the trick. It has been around for a long time, is safe, and many doctors I know take it themselves when they need something to help fall asleep. It is available over the counter, isn't too expensive if you get the generic, and doesn't give me any kind of hang over feeling personally.
 
I sympathise, I've had this problem for some years now, I fear it gets worse as you get older...

My concentration goes, I do my job alright but I don't feel my heart is in it, I get irritable and very weary all round. I've tried some prescript drugs but I won't use them long term as I'm sure they can WORSEN the situation in the long run.I take them maybe once a month if I have a crucial day ahead of me. Exercise makes you feel better but I've never found it does much for the insomnia itself, help you to cope better though.

Hanging around in knife forums in the early hours is not too helpful for it either....but you learn a few things!
 
For a problem as on-going, serious, and debilitating as the OP describes, his doctor should have referred him to a sleep specialist. This is important. In this case, I -- while by no means expert in the area -- doubt apnea; apnea causes inability to stay asleep and/or poor sleep quality, not the inability to get any sleep for days at a time. Anyway, get to a sleep specialist asap.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I should clarify that I did see a sleep specialist, and I don't have sleep apnea. My insomnia is related to working at night and schedule changes that seem to occur regularly. Even when I'm on vacation, I can't seem to help but continue the "sleep all day, work all night" routine. I'm exhausted, but can't seem to fall asleep. I may just go to the gym and workout for 5 hours and see if that makes me sleepy.
 
I deal with it..partially because of my ADD but also Im getting older. ...Relaxation techniques, an Adult beverage before bed is a good thing also.
 
I'm glad you dont have sleep apnea. I have mild sleep apnea & I just got my CPAP machine, it's not bad. Its pretty
quiet, I'm still adjusting to the mask, its a little awkward.
 
EZ, I'd look into using light therapy. Basically, you're not suited to the kind of work you're doing. Some people can transition to an unnatural sleep pattern (working nights) and do just fine, but that's actually pretty rare. Your body is not supposed to do that. The lights I've had good success with for patients are the blue LED ones made by Apollo. Basically what you're doing with light therapy is tricking your brain into thinking it's on a normal schedule by signaling special receptors in your eyes. These receptors trigger the melatonin/serotonin cascade that sort of controls your who circadian rhythm throughout the day.

I've had some patients use them effectively working nights to sort of "reset" their circadian rhythms and allow them to function more normally. Could help a lot, could be a complete bust, but in my opinion it is WELL WORTH a try. You generally have to use these lights every day or two, maybe three if you're lucky, but the effects rarely last past that since you are using light to actually stimulate a hormone cascade.

In the past, full spectrum lights were used for this. They were expensive, extremely bright and needed to have UV protection on them, and carried some side-effects (minor, but still annoying). In the past 10 years or so, it has been found that the blue wavelength is what actually stimulates these receptors in the eyes, so you can use blue LED lights instead of the monster full spectrum ones.

Apollo has been acquired by Philips, it looks like, but here is the current version of the light I used with patients when I was in private practice:

http://www.consumer.philips.com/c/light-therapy/hf3332_60/prd/us/

Good luck, and if you try this and it works PLEASE contact me and let me know.
 
I had a rough time trying to work at night. I could not do it. If you really have to, make sure you eliminate day light. It is the only way I could really get to sleep. I foiled my windows and put a towel under the bedroom door crack to mock darkness. I would change jobs. If the conditions are agreeable, if not stay alert and go on interviews for something better during the day.
 
Chiro75 said:
EZ, I'd look into using light therapy. Basically, you're not suited to the kind of work you're doing.
Good luck, and if you try this and it works PLEASE contact me and let me know.
Click to expand...
I may check into that; thanks for the suggestion.

In the mean time, I'll keep looking for a new job and popping Provigils.
 
Thought I would throw in my 2 pesos....

I have been fighting sleep problems for a couple of years now. My first official prescription was Ambian. It quit working after a couple of months. And as mentioned, gave me some incredible hangovers.

For the past year I have been taking Trazodone. It works great. I fall asleep quickly, can wake up if I need to. Am able to fall back asleep after waking. No hangovers! The doctor says it is non-habit forming. My feeling is that it might not be physically addictive, mentally it is very much so. But at least I'm sleeping. I hope to someday be able to sleep without it though.

FWIW, I recommend NOT self-medicating with alcohol. Doesn't work very well anyway. You just end up drunk and unable to sleep. I speak from experience.

Wanted to add: melatonin didn't do jack for me.
 
I'd try a few things on your own first. Try and get yourself on a strict schedule so your body knows when it's supposed to be awake or asleep nd
eat your meals accordingly.

Fit some type of daily exercise into that schedule and try to make it enjoyable if possible.

If your mind is wound up at bedtime, you won't sleep well, if at all. Try and wind up your evening a few hours before bedtime.

If your thinking about "worries" at bedtime, you won't sleep. Set some time aside each evening after dinner to think about things that are going on. Allow yourself about 20-30 minutes and that's it. Write things down, catagorize things, seperate them.... get them out of your head on on paper. You may realize by looking at your notes that a great deal of it isn't really worth thinking about. In that 20-30 minutes, you either resolve things or set it aside for another day and not until it's scheduled time. "Worry once a day, Not all day".

Try Lunesta. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth and mimimal hangover but most folks who I know that have used it sleep like babies, myself included. YMMV

A sleep study would be the best place to start to see how you sleep. You might have sleep apnea.
 
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