Insomnia

DeanEvergreen

I suffer from terrible insomnia, which can leave me with 4-5 hours of sleep for my day. I know in order to bulk and grow I need a few 8-9hrs. According to my doctor because of my ADHD 9 would be optimal. I’ve tried melatonin and meditation. My mind just runs a million miles at night. Any suggestions on other things like melatonin I can take. I’ve given up on meditative or routine things that can help me sleep. Cuss even if I exhaust myself at the gym and jog before bed. My brain won’t shut up. 🥲

AnnPT77

For me, what helped the most was hypnotherapy: Limited course of sessions, self-pay. But I have a very different type of insomnia.

When I went to my employer's assistance program for a referral to a hypnotherapist, they told me that short-course cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was often effective for the "mind racing" kind of insomnia.

I'd encourage you to keep going with the meditation. There's a reason they call it a "meditation practice". Pretty much everyone is terrible at it, at first. Improvement can be slow, but it's likely to happen with continuing practice.

If I exercised hard right before bed, it would increase the odds that I couldn't sleep. Settling down late in the day would be more helpful to me: Stretching/yoga, dimmer lights, not much activity. YMMV.

There are a whole bunch of threads in this topic area of the Community, where people share ideas about what to do. Have you read them? Maybe there's something in there.

I hope so, for your sake. Best wishes!

ninerbuff

Smoke weed.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

goodnoodl

Hi, I have nacrolepsy and insomina and I have tried what feels like everything under the sun in the 5 years since being diagnosed. The things that I have found that work for me are keeping a routine and trazodone. I keep a strict routine that not only helps my mind understand that its bedtime, but also my body. I make sure to go to be and wake up at the same time each day and that helps a lot. I also take a half hour before bed to drink a cup of something hot to relax and de-brief from my day. I go through a gratitude exercise where I list 3 things I liked from today and the 3 things I am most looking forward to tomorrow. This helps me get into a positive mindset for sleeping and reflect on my day. Hopefully this helped!

TheUnhealthyDad

DeanEvergreen wrote: »

I suffer from terrible insomnia, which can leave me with 4-5 hours of sleep for my day. I know in order to bulk and grow I need a few 8-9hrs. According to my doctor because of my ADHD 9 would be optimal. I’ve tried melatonin and meditation. My mind just runs a million miles at night. Any suggestions on other things like melatonin I can take. I’ve given up on meditative or routine things that can help me sleep. Cuss even if I exhaust myself at the gym and jog before bed. My brain won’t shut up. 🥲

I am suffering from insomnia and only average 4.5hrs a night. I'm not recovering from my workouts and I always feel tired. For me, it is cyclical. It has been bad for the past month and not even Xanax is helping. I still wake after 2-3hrs. I might have to try Ambien. I hate taking meds but the insomnia is killing me. I think it is partly due to my wife's current schedule being wacky.

Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have the answer for you (other than maybe meds?). I hope you can get some better rest. Don't let it get out of control. My insomnia has caused me to have memory issues. I went from having a photographic memory (it made college a breeze), to feeling like I might have early onset Alzhiemers. And losing that gift has led to depression.

fabgeekmom

I see a sleep doctor yearly and am taking Trazadone. I get 7-8 hours sleep most nights even though I get up twice. I had tried all the sleep hygiene ideas.

micaroo4

Have you tried brown noise

Upnadam821

I’ve been struggling with sleep lately myself, although trying to dial back screen time and caffeine. Feel like I e got extra energy to burn off and am just restless

henridw2095

I also have had insomnia on and off since childhood and have seen a sleep Dr for it once.

Things that stuck:

-I try to not exercise or work after 6, since it energizes me
-I use a very comfortable in the ear sleep headset and play audiobooks without a sleep timer, it sounds weird, but that puts me to sleep and keeps me asleep better than white noise.
-I have a white noise machine which has helped in the past.
-Improved my mental health, figuring out and limiting what keeps me awake.
-I try to not stress about the hours I sleep. The Dr told me that with a family history like mine (multiple insomniacs on both sides) it will likely be an ongoing issue due to genetics. I can function on little sleep if it does happen and will sleep better the next night.
-I don’t nap or go to bed earlier than normal. I also don’t sleep in.

I tried melatonin, but had a nonstandard response (worse sleep). Have not tried sleep meds.

@TheUnhealthyDad when my insomnia was worst, I would often sleep on the sofa to not disturb my husband. It’s ok to sometimes have separate bedrooms if that helps (we don’t have an extra room).

meganlea33

I also deal with insomnia and for me sticking to a strict sleep schedule can help. I try to do the same routine each night before bed and go to bed at the same time. I have tried melatonin, Benadryl, camomile tea and most of the readily available products but they typically do not help.

Corina1143

I feel for you and really wish I could help. But what helped me won't help you guys, except for maybe a tiny chuckle.
1. Finally got through menopause
2. My ex-husband fiinally quit calling and coming around.
I slept 8 hours last night.

stegeem

I take 10mg of metformin each night. About once a month, it doesn't work and I'm up all night, but oh well. It used to take 3 or 4 hours to fall asleep.

springlering62

Of all the ridiculous things, a weighted blanket turned it around for me.

I toss and turn a lot, trying to resettle into a new position for joint pain. The weighted blanket puts gentle enough pressure that it relieves the aches and also makes it difficult enough to turn that I just don’t.

I got a twin size because my husband hates the darn thing, so I only cover my side of the bed.

I got a smaller lighter one, but found I slept better with larger and heavier.

It also helps me with the whack-a-mole brain. I think that getting used to it, it just signals “rest time” now as soon as I draw (lug) it up over me.

They’re cheap enough on Amazon that if you hate it, it’s no biggie to chalk it off as a mistake.

Sometimes it’s the simpleton things that work.

jgnickel

-I go to bed earlier (8 or 9) since I know I will wake up at 3 am no matter what
-I use melatonin with valerian root
-Stop all caffeine at noon
-No alcohol
-Weighted blanket
-Get off my phone an hour or so before bedtime and switch to a book
-I try to read a few chapters on my kindle
-I have a sonicsleep speaker for my pillow. the ONLY thing that turns off my brain is having a TV show playing on my tablet that only I can hear (my husband refuses to sleep with a TV on) I find this ONLY works if I've seen the show a zillion times and don't have to pay 100% attention to it. My go to is Friends.

None of this is foolproof, but I've gotten to 6-7 hours instead of 3-4 so I'll take that as a success

xbowhunter

I eat a cannabis gummy before bed and sleep like a baby...

CrazyMermaid1

Trazodone works well for me as well. It’s actually an anti-anxiety medication that is used for sleep. Makes sense actually.