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...
Things aren't going very well for well for me. I've been been "sleeping" from midnight till 8 a.m for the last 2 weeks(one week before school and this one). I started a new semester at school and now have to commute/have a different schedule every day and this probably isn't making it easier although I didn't even sleep good during my break! Now I'm forced to wake up at 8 a.m which is very early for me and I'm sleeping extremely light.
I can't say that I'm not sleeping because I am but I can just tell tell I'm not sleeping deeply. I wake up several times(sometimes I can't go back to bed even),am semi aware of things, and never have dreams. It doesn't always happen but at least several nights I appear to be falling asleep the way I'm supposed to extremely late. It's hard to explain and impossible to know exactly when but it's almost like I can feel a switch to normal sleep really late. I will often remember dreams when I wake up which tells me I'm sleeping normally at some point. I think i'm not falling asleep normally until very close to when I'm supposed to get up. I think i'm waking up during REM sleep because I'm having the worlds most difficult time getting out of bed and usually wake up very unwell rested, often with bad headaches, and cranky.
In addition to sometimes falling asleep normally extremely late, I've been falling asleep or nearly falling asleep in abnormal positions and or circumstances. One day when I took a bath this week, I had just finished taking the bath and decided to lay down on the floor for a few minutes, just to relax before getting dressed/doing whatever I planned on doing. No pillow, no nothing and I fell asleep for 2 or 3 hours before my mom eventually woke me up somehow(probably by knocking on the door/yelling). I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep based on the position but I've felt extremely sleepy and like I might be able to sleep when I've laid down on he bed trying to watching t.v with our puppy. He likes you to put your arm by his head so he can prop his head up while he sleeps. It's an uncomfortable position but because I have to be still, I feel extremely tired and like I maybe could sleep(I never do because it's in my moms room/her bed).
Anyway, the frustration is mounting. I was stressed for a few of the nights so although I'd unhappy about it, I'd kind of understand if I didn't sleep well only on them. The problem and frustration comes from me when the last few nights(and the majority of the year in fact!) I haven't had one valid reason to be sleeping poorly. I really hate to say it but I don't know if I'll let me be around to experience the world in 2 or 3 years. Insomnia is ruining my life. I have good days and often like today, I won't remember being happy and having a good day, instead I'll remember sleeping like shit for no good reason and feeling horrible tomorrow.
I don't think it's necessarily these last 2 weeks that are impacting me so badly. The last 5 years I've had really bad sleeping problems and this year I haven't slept well from June-today. Last year my sleep resolved itself in September or October when the weather started to cool down but this past year nothings helped. I just really don't know what to do at this point. I follow good sleeping habits, I've tried amytriptiline, ambien and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Nothing seems to be working. I'm out of sessions with the CBT and was a cool guy and very honest. He said he doesn't think I really have any behavioral issues. In fact, he says its impossible to not when you're sleeping as bad as I am. Generally my only negative thoughts/behavioral issues come after several horrendous sleep nights.
So honestly I'm running out of options/ideas of what to do. If I don't kill myself by then, I'm going to be an Exercise and Sports Science major with an emphasis on fitness leadership. My sleep is so horrendous that what I love most(exercise and sports) isn't even fun to do anymore because of my condition. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can try to do? I don't know if this is sleep restriction like many of you have reffered to but my only idea I have left involves not sleeping much but I'm not sure if I can wrap my head around doing it with my current work load. My idea was to go to bed at 3 or 4 A.M and continue getting up at 8. Maybe I'll sleep good for those short hours and maybe I could slowly go to bed 5 or 10 minutes earlier each night until I back track enough to be at a proper sleeping length/my usual bed time.
I can't say that I'm not sleeping because I am but I can just tell tell I'm not sleeping deeply. I wake up several times(sometimes I can't go back to bed even),am semi aware of things, and never have dreams. It doesn't always happen but at least several nights I appear to be falling asleep the way I'm supposed to extremely late. It's hard to explain and impossible to know exactly when but it's almost like I can feel a switch to normal sleep really late. I will often remember dreams when I wake up which tells me I'm sleeping normally at some point. I think i'm not falling asleep normally until very close to when I'm supposed to get up. I think i'm waking up during REM sleep because I'm having the worlds most difficult time getting out of bed and usually wake up very unwell rested, often with bad headaches, and cranky.
In addition to sometimes falling asleep normally extremely late, I've been falling asleep or nearly falling asleep in abnormal positions and or circumstances. One day when I took a bath this week, I had just finished taking the bath and decided to lay down on the floor for a few minutes, just to relax before getting dressed/doing whatever I planned on doing. No pillow, no nothing and I fell asleep for 2 or 3 hours before my mom eventually woke me up somehow(probably by knocking on the door/yelling). I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep based on the position but I've felt extremely sleepy and like I might be able to sleep when I've laid down on he bed trying to watching t.v with our puppy. He likes you to put your arm by his head so he can prop his head up while he sleeps. It's an uncomfortable position but because I have to be still, I feel extremely tired and like I maybe could sleep(I never do because it's in my moms room/her bed).
Anyway, the frustration is mounting. I was stressed for a few of the nights so although I'd unhappy about it, I'd kind of understand if I didn't sleep well only on them. The problem and frustration comes from me when the last few nights(and the majority of the year in fact!) I haven't had one valid reason to be sleeping poorly. I really hate to say it but I don't know if I'll let me be around to experience the world in 2 or 3 years. Insomnia is ruining my life. I have good days and often like today, I won't remember being happy and having a good day, instead I'll remember sleeping like shit for no good reason and feeling horrible tomorrow.
I don't think it's necessarily these last 2 weeks that are impacting me so badly. The last 5 years I've had really bad sleeping problems and this year I haven't slept well from June-today. Last year my sleep resolved itself in September or October when the weather started to cool down but this past year nothings helped. I just really don't know what to do at this point. I follow good sleeping habits, I've tried amytriptiline, ambien and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Nothing seems to be working. I'm out of sessions with the CBT and was a cool guy and very honest. He said he doesn't think I really have any behavioral issues. In fact, he says its impossible to not when you're sleeping as bad as I am. Generally my only negative thoughts/behavioral issues come after several horrendous sleep nights.
So honestly I'm running out of options/ideas of what to do. If I don't kill myself by then, I'm going to be an Exercise and Sports Science major with an emphasis on fitness leadership. My sleep is so horrendous that what I love most(exercise and sports) isn't even fun to do anymore because of my condition. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can try to do? I don't know if this is sleep restriction like many of you have reffered to but my only idea I have left involves not sleeping much but I'm not sure if I can wrap my head around doing it with my current work load. My idea was to go to bed at 3 or 4 A.M and continue getting up at 8. Maybe I'll sleep good for those short hours and maybe I could slowly go to bed 5 or 10 minutes earlier each night until I back track enough to be at a proper sleeping length/my usual bed time.
3-I don't have sleep state misperception. Typically I'll sleep lightly till about 3 and usually right on the dot, I wake up at 3 a.m. I'm usually unable to go back to bed so I'll do whatever till 4 or 5 a.m and then I'll usually instantly fall asleep but unlike the before 3 a.m session, time flies in this session and I'm sleeping so deeply that typically I don't even hear my alarm untill 8:05. I can tell the very late sleep is different than the original "sleep". Even if I was having sleep state misperception that doesn't make me feel better. I remember when I used to sleep good consistently and even RARELY now. Good sleep days you don't find yourself debating with your self about if you slept deeply or if you were totally awake from a time frame. If you really slept good or correctly and are questioning things then you have some sort of mental problem, which I don't think I have.
4-The headaches are from lack of sleep. I know all about diet, nutrition and exercise and know what to do so you won't get headaches. I don't eat the typical 3 meals a day that most people do, I eat approximately every 3 hours but smaller meals. I also am always carrying a 32 oz gatorade bottle full of water and I drink frequently and fill this bottle up several times per day.
5-It's just so hard to be positive. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't think it's these last 2 weeks that are hurting me right now, I think it's a combination of sleeping horrendously for the last 5 years, and the fact that it's winter. I always move forward with my day but in all honesty I'm just rarely ever happy anymore. All hobbies and goals get cut short because it's hard enough to stay awake and I just don't have that drive to do something when I sleep ideally.
6-I forgot to mention that I slept normally 2 days of the last 2 weeks. Both days involved me using a ipod boom box thing and playing meditation music before bed. The last while it's batteries died and I didn't have a chance to go get them untill today. So it will be nice if it works although I think if stress is really it, I need to learn methods where I don't rely on technology to manage it.