Insomnia Anonymous

Vikka_V

I tried and failed, I don't think I slept all all last night. 11 hour work day today... Awesome

Have a good day tired people

Francl27

strifechick wrote: »

How much melatonin are you taking? I used to do 10mg?

I do 5mg. Still not sure it's doing much, frankly, but it seems to make going back to sleep a bit easier. More than that and I'm worried I'll be completely out of it all day (I mean, one dose of Nyquill and I'm passed out in 20 minutes).

KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »

I have a husband that SNORES all night! I am going to bat him over the head with a pot!

Mine wears a mask for sleep apnea. It doesn't make the snoring as bad but it just gets really loud sometimes and there's no way I can sleep through that... and he has restless leg syndrome at times too. Try sleeping with someone kicking next to you.

I end up sleeping in the downstairs recliner a LOT, but then I have to share it with my cat, and it's pretty tight.

BedsideTableKangaroo

maybe try yoga nidra, helps calm the mind and entire body

dwrightlaw

KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »

I have a husband that SNORES all night! I am going to bat him over the head with a pot!

Try an elbow to the ribs. It gets it to stop temporarily & it is an effective outlet for my frustration at their ability to sleep when I cannot

strifechick

I managed about 4 hours last night with the Sonata. It actually made me somewhat tired when I took it but I woke up a millions times as usual.

It did make me feel kinda crappy when I did wake up when I normally feel fine and I'm a lot more tired now in the morning than I think I should be, because 4 hours is a lot for me and I'm usually not this groggy and blah feeling. This is why I stopped Ambien (and a few weird occurrences while on it). So I'm pretty sure it's the meds. I'll give it a couple more nights to be sure this isn't just some pre-migraine activity going on.

Overall not to happy with it.

tinat51796

looking4better wrote: »

Well, I made it to almost 1:30 am before waking up. Normally I'll make it to closer to 3 and then just be awake for the rest of the night. So maybe, since I'm up earlier, I will actually get back to sleep? That would be awesome. For now my plans include sitting on the couch, staring at the fire, and staring at my cats, who are staring at me. Will probably read and make more tea. Will also be a creepy neighbor and stare at the house across the street, wondering why on earth that couple in their late 80's is still up at 1:45 in the morning. So, I've got a pretty exciting night ahead of me.

@strifechick good luck with the Sonata, let me know how it goes
@tinat51796 which essential oils are you using?

@looking4better I'm not sure if you mean what company or what specific oils. I use Young Living essential oils and I alternate between what oils I use at night. Lavender, Cedarwood,,Vetiver are some of my favorites. There are also several blends from Young Living that I really like.

tinat51796

KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »

I have a husband that SNORES all night! I am going to bat him over the head with a pot!

@KANGOOJUMPS we have found that essential oils really help cut down on snoring and helps improve sleep for all of us. You don't want to ruin a perfectly good pot!

jjejjtu

@strifechick that's a bummer, but maybe (hopefully) your body just needs a couple days to adjust to new medication and then it will work like a dream (pun intended!).

@tinat51796 I was interested in which specific oils you were using. I've tried lavender in the past, but not the other two. Definitely interested in trying something new that doesn't involve a prescription.

@Vikka_V Hang in there! Hopefully you will sleep tonight!

strifechick

Ugh woke up with another massive migraine. I don't think I'm gonna try that medicine anymore, I'm not really getting much more sleep than usually, maybe like an hour, but I feel so much worse in the morning I have to stay just laying in the dark for hours cause of the migraine. So not worth the trade off.

tinat51796

@looking4better I sent you a PM

Vikka_V

Hi sleepless people,
Have a good rest of your weekend, or start of the week

amtyrell

I have been unable to sleep for the last few hours These re the times of day i crave empty calories

Vikka_V

Yep...I always have to eat before bed, something carby like potatoes, french fries, bread, chips etc. It makes me feel happier which helps me relax - as I say at 4:51, still not even in bed!

YvetteK2015

@strifechick do you take any preventatives for your migraines? I have migraines every damn day. I do take a boat load of medication, but if I didn't, well I wouldn't function all ever. I also have chronic insomnia. I totally get where you are coming from.

YvetteK2015

I was on an awesome med for migraines and sleep. I got the best sleep ever on it. Amitryplitine. But I gained 80 lbs on that med. My sleep has been horrible every since, and my migraines are worse

strifechick

YvetteK2015 wrote: »

@strifechick do you take any preventatives for your migraines? I have migraines every damn day. I do take a boat load of medication, but if I didn't, well I wouldn't function all ever. I also have chronic insomnia. I totally get where you are coming from.

I currently only take Topamax for prevention (plus some supplements like magnesium). But I have been around the block with medications.

I just started getting the migraines about 5 years ago out of the blue, before that I never had a single one in my life that I can recall. And I have literally been on every single medication out there that can be used to treat or prevent migraines (dozens of anti seizure drugs, anti depressants, even blood pressure medications, while I already have very low pressure to begin with, etc..) I've also been through acupuncture, chiropractor, even PT and none of that has helped either.

I was on tons and tons for a while and I was just having side effects and no benefit so I just cut them all off but the topamax which seems to slightly lower the intensity of some but doesn't do anything much for frequency.

As a side note I've had dozens of different scans of my brain, neck, and everywhere else and there are no physical problems that are causing them either. I'm unable to work at the moment because of how often and how bad I get them so it's pretty terrible.

My doctor hopes if she can get the insomnia under control it might help the migraines scale back a bit.

strifechick

IslandGal3 wrote: »

I'd give anything to sleep like I did many, many years ago.

I never really slept great but I would love to go back to the days where I could get like 5-6 hours a night. It didn't seem like a ton at the time but that would be amazing at this point!

YvetteK2015

I just switched from melatonin in pill form to liquid form. Also, just some information, melatonin is not like a sleeping pill where if you take a larger dose, it will work faster or keep you asleep long. It's a hormone. Large doses can actually keep you awake and make you more agitated. Sleep specialists would only recommend no more than 1 mg, but a little more wouldn't hurt. So if you are taking 5-10 mg, it might actually be counter productive and leave you exhausted.

strifechick

YvetteK2015 wrote: »

I just switched from melatonin in pill form to liquid form. Also, just some information, melatonin is not like a sleeping pill where if you take a larger dose, it will work faster or keep you asleep long. It's a hormone. Large doses can actually keep you awake and make you more agitated. Sleep specialists would only recommend no more than 1 mg, but a little more wouldn't hurt. So if you are taking 5-10 mg, it might actually be counter productive and leave you exhausted.

My doctor is the one that recommend the dose I was on, she said it was the best for what I was already taking and due to some digestive issues medications don't always properly absorb right into my system so I often take weird doses of stuff. I trust her judgement on the dose so I would stick with it for me personally.

I have never tried the liquid form though. I haven't even seen it before maybe I will try to find it and see if it absorbs into my system better than the pills do. Where do you typically buy it from?

YvetteK2015

@strifechick I found the liquid form on Amazon. The brand I use is called Sleep Soundly. I love it. It has no taste at all, so you can add it to a drink, or just take it orally.

strifechick

YvetteK2015 wrote: »

@strifechick I found the liquid form on Amazon. The brand I use is called Sleep Soundly. I love it. It has no taste at all, so you can add it to a drink, or just take it orally.

Thanks I'll have to give it a shot! I know a lot of the time pills aren't nearly as effective as the liquids!

iamlucky86

I'm an insomniac too But there's not much I can do as I take meds. These make me experience very vivid dreams and I then wake up and it becomes difficult to go back to sleep.

However, restricting caffeine intake in the evening and the use of mobiles and screens also helps. The screens emit blue light which inhibits the body from releasing melatonin and can disrupt sleep. I've done this and noticed a dramatic improvement in sleep.

strifechick

iamlucky86 wrote: »

I'm an insomniac too But there's not much I can do as I take meds. These make me experience very vivid dreams and I then wake up and it becomes difficult to go back to sleep.

However, restricting caffeine intake in the evening and the use of mobiles and screens also helps. The screens emit blue light which inhibits the body from releasing melatonin and can disrupt sleep. I've done this and noticed a dramatic improvement in sleep.

Been there tried all of that. Wish it was something simple for me.

YvetteK2015

I can't take regular sleeping pills like ambien and lunesta. I call them my wide awake pills. When I tried taking them in the past, I would get a burst of energy and be pissed off all night. That's why I had to move to old school antidepressants that worked for sleep, but....80 lb gain. Had to come off them. Now I'm back to trial and error of medicine with off label use for sleep. No luck as of yet. And I know when I get less than 2 hrs sleep, it's level 10 migraine for me all day. I've been dealing with this issue for 15 yrs now.

strifechick

PLMD aka restless legs/arms is killing me right now! Had a massive attaclnlast night and it's been going on for well over 24 hours!

I can't stand still, I'm in tons of pain! I really wanna just skin myself! It's like I don't belong in this skin!!!

This is the worst because nothing helps! I've been to the gym multiple times to "get my mind off it" and took several hot showers! No hope! Plus my meds are useless!!!

BrinaBecnel

I just literally can't sleep... I don't know if it's stress or what?! Maybe I'm just too tired to sleep.

FeraFilia

Almost 3am and I can't sleep. Again.

Vikka_V

Every night. It doesn't matter how much or little sleep I get it... I just am always wanting to stay awake when I should try to go to sleep.

I always get so stressed out too, just counting down the hours 'till I have to be somewhere (usually work, but any appointment really). Then I do ok at first the next day, but mid-day I am a disaster. I always perk up in the later evening....to repeat the cycle.

I have given up caffeine - which helps a bit with the mid-day slump.

strifechick

5am here and guess what? No sleep! Oh great times! I tried laying down all night hoping for something, about to give up all together though...

This is the worst!!

Vikka_V

So I had a surprisingly good 11 hour day at work today with ~2 hours sleep. I always get stressed out thinking about how I will function in the world with so little sleep.

Question for others - does anyone else have a wonky appetite when they are very tired?

Occasionally when I am tired at work I have contemplated eating sugar by the teaspoon (gross I know). It just comes to my head that "this is what I need right now". I haven't done it yet! Typically don't have a sweet-tooth at all.

Also, when I am tired I have problems feeling satiated, I just keep wanting to eat food even tho I am really not hungry.