Have you tried any pills for anxiety? A couple years ago I developed anxiety and rarely slept. Took Xanax for a while. Worked pretty well.

I have a lot of sleep issues again and going to see someone for it soon. I can't take any over the counter sleep aids because I get weird anxiety from them. I end up waking up and not knowing if I'm dreaming or not. It's not fun. How do you feel on Ambien?

I know how you feel though. I just said yesterday that a coma would be nice. Lol

Hope you find peaceful sleep soon!

I have had insomnia all my life. Doctors have tried everything and I have found that praying myself to sleep works some times. If you don't believe in God then in your mind just start giving thanks for all you have...Another method I use is I force myself to not see any jumping sheep or images of what went on during the day, only darkness, like being sedated, lights out and just concentrate on the darkness...
I can really relate to what you are going through as I do the same thing...I now have Tylenol Liver from years of abusing tylenol PM's...Ambien worked the first week for me then it started taking more and more to put me to sleep...
I do know those feelings of desperation all too well...I understand how Elvis, Michael Jackson, Heath ledger, and so many others died from just trying to sleep and it is very sad. Chronic Insomnia is a very lonely disease...That is what brought me to this site about a month ago but I was to chicken to post as my post would have been similar to yours...But I just want to say don't give up. I am 53 and I still find ways to fall asleep...Also, as you probably all ready know, just simply worrying about if you will have insomnia will trigger it...So I ignore thinking about it and that helps some....Also last bit of advise is be careful what Doctors prescribe to you. I have had them put me on stuff that would knock a horse out and have me feeling drugged all the time, highly addictive stuff...If I had it to do over I would have never started any meds I would have stuck with meditation, sleepy music, relaxation exercising...I hope this helps...

oh honey you cant think aabout it. You need to relax and go to bed when you feel tired. I know last night was a bad one for me and i couldnt wait to get up but try to do what you can to relax before bed time so you are not thinking to much thats one thing that will keep you awake is your mind is not shutting down. So RELAX lisa

Hi Dingle. Very important to understand that your fear and anxiety is very likely feeding your insomnia. That's where it gets it's energy from. Take away or just reduce that negative energy even a little, and your sleep is very likely to improve naturally.

This is something you can control to at least some degree. You can't force sleep, but you can in effect stack the deck in your favor during your waking hours to make better sleep practically a sure thing. There are many good ways to do this.

Also very important to understand some basic facts about sleep, such as this: you can't not sleep. Your physiological requirement for sleep is in fact stronger than your insomnia. No matter how much you worry or fret about insomnia, at some point (normally far earlier than 5 days, and probably after about 16 hours of nonstop wakefulness on average) your urge to sleep overwhelms you and sleep comes naturally.

The key is to manage this natural process intelligently, and with you in control. Be confident you can do this. There is every reason to believe you can.

If you have any underlying medical or psychiatric problems, including an anxiety disorder, it's very important to treat them appropriately with the help of a doctor, therapist, or other healthcare professional. Whatever your problems, you want to get to the true underlying root of them, and not just treat the symptom.

Sleep is the symptom.

I also can highly recommend using CBT methods for better sleep. CBT helps most people, and it is the standard of care for insomnia as recommended by the American Association of Sleep Medicine, the professional association of medical doctors who specialize in sleep.

Be confident and be determined. You can make this better.

P.S. I would also like to congratulate Rowdy for sharing his story. That will help a lot of people. I totally agree that you can help yourself sleep better without drugs, and that's the best way to do it.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I am supposed to be seeing a Psychiatrist soon, and I am hoping he will go through CBT with me as it seems to have helped so many others.

And for those asking, I am on Klonopin and Zoloft and Ambien (the generic forms).

And Rowdy, you hit the nail on the head. It's a terribly lonely disease because I feel like I don't have control and I'm the only one who can get control and I can't seem to do it!

Rowdy, Wow. Well-said.

I too, identify when I hear of Elvis and Michael Jackson going to extreme measures -- just to be able to sleep.

And your "beware of what doctors prescribe" is spot-on. Sometimes it's like, "Oh, you can't sleep? Let me give you something that will knock you out for 16 hours each time. You don't need to work or function or anything, right?"

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Dingle, I do so identify with what you're saying. In fact, I told my doctor yesterday that I don't want to die, but I'm truly starting to wonder what's the point of living if each day is a struggle and I can't do most of the stuff I want to do. I look at other people and marvel that they magically fall asleep each night, wake up rested, go about their days normally and then do it all over again. Wow. I get maybe 2 rested-feeling days a month.

Hopefully you know this, but suicide is not the answer. I'm pretty down on myself and life in general because I'm so beyond sick of being so exhausted all the time, but even I'M managing to find a glimmer of hope. SOMETHING's got to work.

We'll be okay.

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BTW, People like you are why I love this site so much. As bad as things have gotten, at least I know I'm not alone.

If a doctor prescribed me something that strong, at least at this point I would be thankful. I'd take it as soon as I got home from work so I know that I would wake up at a decent time.

I just can't shut my brain down or stop thinking of sleep while I'm trying to. I just wish I could be prescribed something that would cut through both and knock me out like a horse.

Be confident you will soon be able to address all this better with your psychiatrist. The CBT methods you will learn, as well as the counseling you'll get, will all combine to help make you stronger and more able to control your thoughts. You will be back in charge of yourself, not the insomnia.

You can do this!

Tracy, I know what you mean. I wish I could remember the name of the sleeping pills this Doctor gave me years ago but I can't. I do remember he cautioned me to never take 2 doses or mix with alcohol and that it was the same sleeping med that Hank Williams was using when he died...That stuff knocked me out and I was real pessimistic about it working...The problem was though, I felt like hell when I woke up, like real badly hung over, and a zombie all day...It didn't take me long to stop taking those...
Dinglehopper, You said it ( It's a terribly lonely disease because I feel like I don't have control and I'm the only one who can get control and I can't seem to do it! ") That is one of the things that get me upset is it is my body, why can't I control this??? Gets very aggravating...

Except you can control it. Many people with insomnia have done it. So why not you? There's every reason to believe you can if you are willing to stay positive and deal constructively with the true underlying causes for your sleeping problems.

And of course be realistic. None of us will ever sleep again like a baby. But we can make it better, and we can be back in control.

When the choice is let insomnia control you or you control insomnia, that is an easy choice to make.

(Stay Positive) is the key words there. It is so hard when one stays positive and uses all they have learned over the years and sleep eludes us...My earliest memories was watching my siblings take naps while I laid in bed trying to figure out how they fell asleep so fast. My Mom would get pretty shook up at me, saying iI was fighting sleep, but the fact was I was fighting to sleep...
I had a real bad night last night...I did everything right, I thought, it was about 3:40am that I felt sleepy, I had taken all my meds and added some over the counter just to be sure, which I know I shouldn't do that but desperation is an awful feeling...I almost fell asleep after about 30 minutes, then it eluded me. I laid there till 7:00am before I finally dozed off...I do wanna look at some of the ideas you have sleeptraining..I am up for just about anything at this point...
Dinglehopper, I do the same thing yet preach against it. So crazy for me to as I already have Tylenol Liver from abusing Tylenol Pm's most of my life...I must be honest, I too have thought of ending it, to the point that I actually craved going into eternal sleep...Thank God I have talked myself out of it everytime...You have to talk yourself out of it Dingle, no matter what, stay the course and keep researching...Modern Technology is making leaps and bounds...No matter how rough it gets, don't never give up, I promise you will get better...Me, I am just going through a type of relapse and just diagnosed with insanely high blood sugar Diabetes even though I hate sweets. The Doctor said it was probably caused from a lifetime of insomnia and it will make sleeping more difficult until it is under control...
Time to go to the bed, lol, yeah I said that with dread, but, sleeptrial makes a good point, gotta hang onto the positive...