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...
I have struggled with insomnia for years. I refuse to use prescription drugs and have been trying to improve my sleep hygiene and use natural remedies. Last night I slept pretty good. I wake up a lot, but this time I quickly went back to sleep and also had dreams. When I did get up this morning, I had the feeling of mental detachment, which is kind of scary. I had the same experience when I used Melatonin once. Anybody else ever experience this and do you know what this is?
Did you feel this just as you were awakening, very briefly, then it wore off as you got up and got going?
Have to really speculate based on the limited info you've provided, but it's possible it could be something related to a hypnapompic hallucination. This occurs when we are in sort of a half-awake, half-still asleep mental state, but diminishes very quickly. Sometimes it's referred to as sleep paralysis, especially when it's experienced in the middle of the night.
If that's the case, it's typically considered harmless. Something you can safely let go.
I think you are doing the right thing but going with sleep hygiene. Not sure about "natural remedies" (whatever that means) because in the absence of an underlying medical condition it tends to perpetuate the idea that sleep is something out of your control.
Letting go of negative sleep thoughts will also help you. Easier said than done, I know, but there are effective strategies you can use.
And stop stressing.
My insomnia was cured once I had identified the cause which for me was stress. There is a site I found nighttimesleep.com/sleep-quiz/ which can help identify the cause of your sleep problems. I always found that improving my sleep routine or sometimes taking over the counter sleep aids helped, but never actually cured my insomnia.
Only once I had fixed the reasons for my stress and gave my mind time to correct itself did my sleep and mind improve to the point of cured. Also I tried acupuncture which helped a lot.