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'm not new on DS but I think this is the first time I've posted in this group.
I've had insomnia for about 6 years now, complimentary gift from my PTSD. I get about 3 hours on an avarage night, unless I have a lot of stress, then it goes down to one at max, sometimes even up to three days without.
I'm closing in on my school finals, which means a lot of stress and my insomnia having a field day, just when I can't afford this.
My problem is: I'm completely resistant against sleeping aids. Same thing with painkillers, local anaesthetics and anaesthetics. It's been that way for my entire life, the doctors suspect it's a minor genetic mutation that affects the receptors in my brain and spinal cord, so that these kinds of meds can't 'latch on' to them and therefore have no effect on me. It's weird and bloody annoying.
I tried several breathing techniques and while they do calm me, it doesn't really help with falling asleep. What non-meds things work for you?
I've had insomnia for about 6 years now, complimentary gift from my PTSD. I get about 3 hours on an avarage night, unless I have a lot of stress, then it goes down to one at max, sometimes even up to three days without.
I'm closing in on my school finals, which means a lot of stress and my insomnia having a field day, just when I can't afford this.
My problem is: I'm completely resistant against sleeping aids. Same thing with painkillers, local anaesthetics and anaesthetics. It's been that way for my entire life, the doctors suspect it's a minor genetic mutation that affects the receptors in my brain and spinal cord, so that these kinds of meds can't 'latch on' to them and therefore have no effect on me. It's weird and bloody annoying.
I tried several breathing techniques and while they do calm me, it doesn't really help with falling asleep. What non-meds things work for you?
and welcome aboard to this group. What works for me is a combo of deep diaphragmatic breathing with progressive muscle relaxation. Although you can't force sleep, what this does consciously mimic a sleep-like state with slow deep breathing and relaxed muscles. I do that in bed and it usually helps me drift off.
There are many other methods people use. Counting sheep, mindfulness, acceptance, guided imagery. The list goes on.
However, whatever you do will be much more effective if it is framed within a sleep supportive lifestyle. Taking a comprehensive approach is really the way to deal with insomnia.
In your case, you've identified your underlying cause for insomnia -- stress. So it's important to continue to treat that root cause, and your sleep stands to improve as you manage excessive stress.
It's also important to consider other nonmedical issues that may be contributing to the problems as well. These may include lifestyle choices such as keeping a consistent sleep schedule (especially important is a consistent wake time), getting exercise most every day, exposing yourself to bright light first thing upon awakening, avoiding caffeine (in any form), alcohol, and nicotine later in the day, and using a relaxing pre-bed routine to help transition to a drowsy state conducive to sleep.
In a way it's a blessing to be "med-resistant". We often hear horror stories in this group about unintended negative consequences from various meds, including habituation, from seemingly helpful sleep aids.
After all, why should we need to take meds to sleep. In reality, sleep is as natural, normal, healthy, and necessary as eating or breathing. And we don't need to take drugs to do those things.
The real answer is to address the true underlying issues, and your sleep then stands to improve naturally and permanently.