Do I have insomnia? What can I do about it?
Question by Kiki: Do I have insomnia? What can I do about it?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had trouble falling asleep at night. From when I was about 12 to when I was almost 19, I’d been on some kind of anti-depressant that causes a sedative effect. So for a long time, I didn’t have to worry about going to sleep. I simply took my pill and went to sleep when I physically couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.
I honestly can’t remember if I had trouble falling asleep before then, but I think I may have. I know when I was a kid my mom bought me a relaxation tape, and I don’t think she would have done that if I didn’t have trouble getting to sleep. She also used to tell me bedtime stories that had something akin to a hypnotic induction in the beginning.
Anyway, ever since I stopped taking the heavy anti-depressants (I’m still on a low dose of Zoloft, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect on my sleep), my sleep difficulties have become very noticeable.
When looking at the symptoms for insomnia though, I only fit a few of them.
I have immense trouble falling asleep, and occasionally I wake up and am unable to fall back asleep. Very rarely I wake up too early and can’t fall back asleep. No more than the average person, I’d think. And I almost never feel tired during the day.
I do wake up feeling unrested, maybe half the time, and in those cases I usually go back to sleep and end up OVERsleeping; sometimes I sleep for up to 12 hours, if I stayed up very late the night before.
So it might seem like all I have is a case of a messed up sleeping pattern, but no matter when I go to bed, when I wake up, how long I sleep, I ALWAYS have trouble falling asleep. It’s gotten to the point where I almost dread it. I stay up too late because it’s honestly easier than trying to fall asleep. Falling asleep now feels to me like a grudging responsibility, like a kid feels about homework. I stay up later and later in the hopes that I’ll be so exhausted I can fall asleep quickly. Sometimes this results in me sleeping for 12 hours; other times, I can wake up on my own after as little as four hours of sleep, and not feel any negative effects.
In the past couple weeks I feel like I’ve been sleeping less and less, and the only psychological effect I can see is that as soon as it gets dark, I start worrying that in a few hours, I’ll have to try to get to sleep.
So I don’t know if this counts as insomnia, or if a doctor will prescribe me anything for it, or if I even want to get back into those habit-forming drugs, but I don’t know how many other options I have…
I’ve tried white noise, meditation, hypnosis… nothing else seems to work.
Oh I’ve also tried melatonin, forgot about that… It didn’t seem to help.
And I know becoming dependent is bad, but I worry that I’m already screwed in that department. I’ve had trouble ever since I stopped the heavy pills, and that was almost two years ago. It seems if I was going to not need them anymore, it would have happened by now.
“when you haven’t considered actually exercising” How do you know I haven’t? To say that when you don’t know is ignorant of YOU, I think.
“running/tennis/squash/horseriding
Best answer:
Answer by Yahoo! Team
Yes. drink more caffeine.
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Filed under: Insomnia Hypnosis
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drink milk and read a book.
I’ve tried all those things as well (except for the sleeping pills). Like you, I’ve also got insomnia. It’s very frustrating, isn’t it?!
I think we’re just going to have to trust our bodies. The thing I’ve learned with insomnia is never to go to bed worrying about how much sleep you’re going to get. It’s a hard lesson, and I still struggle with it. But sometimes there’s just nothing more we can do.
However, you may be lacking Melatonin, a natural substance your body produces to help you fall asleep. STOP THE SLEEPING PILLS (sorry for caps, emphasis needed!). This is the worst thing you can do. Instead, go to your local health-food store and buy a bottle of Melatonin. It’s completely natural, and they dissolve under your tongue. If your body lacks melatonin, this could be the way to go. I’ve tried it, and it works well.
Like you, I’ve also tried setting up a relaxing space in my room. I’ve played white noise, turned down lights, done hypnosis, not have done any computer or tv before bed, drank tea, etc… but nothing works. I find that when I put the extra effort in to falling asleep, I expect something more, and end up worrying when I don’t fall asleep in my expected time frame.
Exercise sometimes works, but try not to do it before bed. This just gets you heart-rate up, and although you might feel tired, you’re often too hyped to fall asleep.
We all have those nights when we can’t fall asleep. For us, it’s pretty frequent. The best advice I can give you is to relax (even when it feels like you can’t) and trust that God made your body for sleeping. Perhaps our bodies go through cycles, who knows. But you can trust that you’re not alone in that bedroom, and no matter what sleep you get, you’re going to be fine. Our bodies are strong, and annoying as it is, insomnia is something you need to be strong with. Don’t always rely on crutches. That’s also something I’ve learned… the more you take things to help you sleep, the more dependent you become.
I hope I was able to help. Honestly, I still don’t have the answer. But I hope I was able to give a bit of advice, anyway
You need to work your body harder during the day. To say you’ve tried everything and nothing works, when you haven’t considered actually exercising, and complaining about not being able to sleep is kindda ignorant. You should take up some physical hobbies such as running/tennis/squash/horseriding etc. If you work your body hard enough you’ll be GRATEFUL to go to bed and you’ll almost instantly fall asleep, without trying.
I also have insomnia, although not to the degree that you do. It takes me a good hour/2 hours to get to sleep. However if I’ve been playing basketball that day and I’ve really pushed myself, I look forward to sleeping, and it takes me no more than 15 mins to fall to sleep.
Good luck
try it.
Insomnia doesn’t require a doctor’s evaluation. If you cannot sleep, it’s insomnia. The causes are up to the Doc to determine.
You may think the only psychological effect is worrying about sleep, but it obviously is not. You had a clear dependency on your old antidepressant, and those echo elsewhere in life.
I wouldn’t advise sleeping pills just yet. I would try to increase physical activity up until sunset (working out, cleaning…the key is physical, not intellectual/analytical work). Set up a wind-down routine for after dinner. Herbal stuff like chamomile or lavender are good teas. You can also try kava as a relaxation promoter (the liquid extract is potent-tasting, but very effective. PharmaKava makes the best capsules so you don’t have to taste it.). Go to your sleep space an hour before your “bedtime” (pick one), turn off all screens/monitors; keep only very quiet, non-radio music on (or better yet, ambient noise). Make sure your room, once lights are off, is as dark as possible. In particular, ditch any glaring alarm clocks (or put post-its on the display so it’s not lighting up the room) and make sure you have a cooler-than-normal temp. Then read to sleep.
If you find no change after a week, try melatonin in addition to the above. If nothing after another week, see a doctor.
Tried this, from Dr. Kerr?
Insomnia – Guided Meditation
http://www.meditation-all-you-need.com/insomnia.html