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...
Last summer my insomnia was at its worst. It was awful straight for 3 months. Barely slept and was absolutely miserable. There's a difference between sleep deprivation and insomnia. My husband and I may try to start a family the end of this year and I'm terrified of how my insomnia will be when the baby comes. I can't fall back to sleep easy when I wake up and no matter how exhausted I can't take a nap of any length during day. Even if I am up all night, I can't sleep at all in day. So I'm so afraid of how awful it will be when I have a baby. None of my friends get what it's like to have insomnia. I feel so alone. Any of you moms with the same issue can tell me any advice? I'm scared my health will end up declining so badly when I have a kid and it will affect them.
My suggestion would be to have a checkup with your doc to either treat or rule out an underlying medical or psychiatric issue. Chances are you have neither. But if you do, these can be treated, sometimes with drugs, sometimes not. That then puts you in a more knowledgeable position about getting pregnant. Your doc can be a big help with this.
If you have no underlying medical issues, then you likely have the most common form of insomnia, what's sometimes called psychophysiologic insomnia. This has no true medical/psychiatric basis. It often is a result of bad sleep habits and excessive worry about the idea of sleep. Both of those can be corrected without drugs.
Check out adult sleep training methods based on CBT -- cognitive behavioral therapy. It is drug free and the gold standard for treating insomnia as recommended by medical doctors who specialize in sleep.
Given all that, will you lose sleep once your baby arrives? Absolutely. Prepare to get up pretty much anytime during the night -- although hopefully your husband will help -- but the joy and privilege of being a parent that gives meaning and purpose to life far exceeds the inconvenience. As a parent of 3, that's my take. Having kids was the best thing my wife and I ever did.
And guess what? You just may find that despite the demands of a new baby, your overall sleep -- the sleep that you do get -- actually improves.
Your post really touched my heart as I was once you with the same fears and apprehension about having a baby while suffering from insomnia. Your sleep problems sound identical to mine. I have gone 3 months without deep sleep and still battle the problem daily. For me it has been 29 years. You are not alone!!!! I have two children. One is 18 and the other 15. I remember telling my husband so long ago that for the same reasons you say, I was afraid to have them. He said are you going to let insomnia rule your life? Well, soon after I became pregnant with my first and was in it regardless of my sleep problems. I am here to say that I hardly slept the entire pregnancy and certainly did not sleep deeply once she was born. Was it healthy for me? Probably not, but I did get through it. And she turned out fine! The body is truly amazing when it comes to what it can take. And the joy of having her was worth it. I then went on to have my second child because I didn't want the first to be alone. I had sleep troubles with the 2nd too, but I just kept on pushing through. So despite years of having it, I am still here, physically healthy, and have had the privilege of caring for them and watching them to turn into wonderful adults. Even a person who sleeps well doesn't know how their health is going to be or even if they will live to see another moment. I don't think we can live with what if's. The question is are you willing to be okay with things if you can't sleep? I can tell you that for me, I battle saying no to things in life because of how badly I feel but if I give in to that, I'll never do anything. I've decided that I'd rather experience life feeling lousy than to not experience it at all. I hope this doesn't sound depressing because I don't mean it to be! I just want you to know that I deeply understand your concerns and how you feel 100% as as I'm sure many here do. Many people are helped by cognitive behavioral therapy and other methods so maybe some of those things will help you. They are all excellent techniques. For me, I just happen to have a very stubborn mind!
Take good care and feel free PM me if you want! I'll be thinking of you.