Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
Hi everyone. I am sorry this is so long... I don't want to bore you with too much information, but I also don't want to leave anything out!
I had very horrible insomnia while I was in college, and I remember despairing, feeling as though it was permanent, thinking it was ruining my life, and finding little information online that made me feel HOPEFUL. I wanted to share with you my story, so you can see that someone who had insomnia overcame it, and maybe feel some hope :D.
My insomnia:
It started suddenly in college... one night it took about 6 hours for me to fall asleep, the next night it took about 7, and then suddenly this was the norm. I would go full nights without sleeping, even though I was in bed the whole time.
My doctor suggested anxiety may have caused it, but I felt NO anxiety before it happened. It just felt random!
I quickly became very anxious and depressed. I developed "anticipatory anxiety" at night, where I would get so anxious before bed because I didn't want to experience the insomnia again. I lied in bed, racing heart. Every night provided more "proof" that insomnia wasn't going away. I became anxious throughout the day, unpleasant to be around, and very very depressed.
What was happening?:
I saw one of the best "sleep psychiatrists". He suggested that, while he could not say what initially called my insomnia, 2 things were causing it to persist.
1) My anxiety! I was anxious constantly. All day, and especially at night. Think of a prehistoric human... why would he be anxious all day and night? Because he was being hunted... because there was no food... there was something dangerous happen... naturally, when we feel anxious, our body keeps us awake, to help us fight off that bear, migrate, avoid danger. When your insomnia causes you anxiety, that anxiety is going to trigger your body to keep you awake.
2) I had established a pattern. People can develop very strong sleep patterns. If someone were to, on purpose, begin sleeping for about 5 hours a night, eventually their body would naturally allow them to sleep only this much before waking. If you have had insomnia for some time... then your body has established a pattern! It can get "stuck" in the pattern of getting only a little sleep.
What cured me:
1) Anxiety medication. I took remeron, it calms you and also helps you sleep.
2) Sleep aids. I took lunesta
The key was that I kept taking this medicine until I felt better (no more anxiety and depression) and had established a better sleep pattern (it didn't happen overnight... after a few months of the medicine I began falling asleep quickly and sleeping through the night).
I did not become addicted, and I did not plan to take the medicine permanently... I just needed it long enough to feel calm, relaxed, more positive, and to also establish a better sleep pattern.
Honestly, I chose to take the sleep medicine for 2 years, and the anxiety medication for 4... but that was a choice, and I perhaps didn't need it that long. But, regardless, weening off was easy, I am not "addicted", and I am sleeping well.
I know medicine is scary, but it saved my life. AT LEAST try it short term. It is amazing what a few weeks of sleep can do for your mental health, even if it is medically induced :)
Thats my story! sorry it is so long. I just feel like when we are sick, we never hear from the "recovered" and that can make us feel like our problems are permanent. Good luck!
I had very horrible insomnia while I was in college, and I remember despairing, feeling as though it was permanent, thinking it was ruining my life, and finding little information online that made me feel HOPEFUL. I wanted to share with you my story, so you can see that someone who had insomnia overcame it, and maybe feel some hope :D.
My insomnia:
It started suddenly in college... one night it took about 6 hours for me to fall asleep, the next night it took about 7, and then suddenly this was the norm. I would go full nights without sleeping, even though I was in bed the whole time.
My doctor suggested anxiety may have caused it, but I felt NO anxiety before it happened. It just felt random!
I quickly became very anxious and depressed. I developed "anticipatory anxiety" at night, where I would get so anxious before bed because I didn't want to experience the insomnia again. I lied in bed, racing heart. Every night provided more "proof" that insomnia wasn't going away. I became anxious throughout the day, unpleasant to be around, and very very depressed.
What was happening?:
I saw one of the best "sleep psychiatrists". He suggested that, while he could not say what initially called my insomnia, 2 things were causing it to persist.
1) My anxiety! I was anxious constantly. All day, and especially at night. Think of a prehistoric human... why would he be anxious all day and night? Because he was being hunted... because there was no food... there was something dangerous happen... naturally, when we feel anxious, our body keeps us awake, to help us fight off that bear, migrate, avoid danger. When your insomnia causes you anxiety, that anxiety is going to trigger your body to keep you awake.
2) I had established a pattern. People can develop very strong sleep patterns. If someone were to, on purpose, begin sleeping for about 5 hours a night, eventually their body would naturally allow them to sleep only this much before waking. If you have had insomnia for some time... then your body has established a pattern! It can get "stuck" in the pattern of getting only a little sleep.
What cured me:
1) Anxiety medication. I took remeron, it calms you and also helps you sleep.
2) Sleep aids. I took lunesta
The key was that I kept taking this medicine until I felt better (no more anxiety and depression) and had established a better sleep pattern (it didn't happen overnight... after a few months of the medicine I began falling asleep quickly and sleeping through the night).
I did not become addicted, and I did not plan to take the medicine permanently... I just needed it long enough to feel calm, relaxed, more positive, and to also establish a better sleep pattern.
Honestly, I chose to take the sleep medicine for 2 years, and the anxiety medication for 4... but that was a choice, and I perhaps didn't need it that long. But, regardless, weening off was easy, I am not "addicted", and I am sleeping well.
I know medicine is scary, but it saved my life. AT LEAST try it short term. It is amazing what a few weeks of sleep can do for your mental health, even if it is medically induced :)
Thats my story! sorry it is so long. I just feel like when we are sick, we never hear from the "recovered" and that can make us feel like our problems are permanent. Good luck!
But for the past few months I have not been able to get back on track. And it sounds like what I've been doing may not be the best. My current doctor is very hesitant to prescribe sleeping pills (my old doctor recently left). So I'm so concerned about rationing the Lunesta that I have that I'll take one pill and then see how many nights in a row I can go without really sleeping much and still function at work and then when I feel like I can't take it anymore, I'll take another one. But doing that I have not been able to get back on a sleep schedule. I'll have 1 good night and then go back to not sleeping. It sounds like what worked for you was taking sleeping pills multiple nights in a row to get you back on track. Now I just need to try and convince my doctor that maybe taking sleeping pills for a longer period of time could help me and I'm not trying to become a drug addict!
Did you have trouble finding a doctor that would agree to prescribe you sleeping pills for that long?
Did you cure your anxiety issues or are you still dealing with that?
@ hypnosis - I still have some anxiety, and still consider myself to be an anxious person, but I am waaay better than I was before. Before, I experienced panic attacks, and would lie in bed with a racing heart for hours and hours. Now I experience much more manageable levels of anxiety, which I have accepted :D.
@curious - Thats a great point. I tried CBT a little bit... but completely on my own, without the help of a therapist, which probably wasn't sufficient. I think it is a great idea to try those sorts of things first, and resorting to medicine only if that doesn't work... I am wondering why my psychiatrist jumped to medicine so quickly :)