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 All,
My sleep I can say is finally showing improvement. There's still up and down days (or periods of the week) but overall I am seeing real improvement. While I'm "only" getting 5-6 hours per night, 6 hours was my regular weeknight sleep pattern (7-8 hours on the weekends) and this has left me at essentially 100% functionally in my energy and how good I feel. Instead of 4-5 bad days and one OK day of sleep, it's now 3-4 good days followed by one bad.
I don't plan on leaving this group anytime soon. I want to continue to support people here and offer whatever "insight" or encouragement I can.
Yeah, there were a few changes I made since my insomnia got really bad in early March that have worked:
1.) Going to bed at the same time: while it was very difficult to do this for weeks (because I wasn't sleepy) eventually I got to the point where if I missed by conditioned bedtime by 30mins+ I would feel it, feel a bit sleepy.
2.) Amitriptyline: I talk about it a lot here and don't want to "beat a dead horse" but for me this drug was a lifesaver. Trazodone, the usual first line insomnia treatment in Canada was totally ineffective. The Z-drugs only worked for one day. Temazepam (benzo) did and continues to knock me out but just four hours and they're supposedly addictive.
Amitriptyline made me feel mellow, content, and whenever I went to bed I was out like a light within minutes. Only buys me 4-6 hours but it is enough.
3.) Took B-6 and B-12: Supposedly these vitamins are essential and almost everyone is deficient in B-6 which can greatly affect sleep. I used to get a lot of B-vitamins in my diet energy drinks (used to drink 1 per day and sleep fine) as they're loaded with vitamin B, but now I can't drink them.
That's really about it. Don't get me wrong, it's been a slow process. But last night was a landmark in that it's the first time since my insomnia got bad that I was able to fall back asleep after waking up in the middle of the night.
Wishing you all the best :)