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...

3,669 Members
3,811 Posts
0 Online
Sleep Disorders
/ Insomnia Support Group

Months of bad sleep coming to major

DJfromColorado
DJfromColorado
Since early October I have had problems sleeping, it got better for a while, then when I got a sinus infection the meds knocked me out (YEAH). Now it is back and worse. I thought I would do all I could to knock it out last night and failed. Here is what I did last night-no caffiene after 5, no eating after 6:30, took sleep meds about 8:30 was tired already, in bed at 8:45 (normally 9) and played one track of Delta Sleep CD by Jeffrey Thompson. Woke fully up at 2, couldn't go back to sleep, tried playing the CD back to back; I tossed and turned and gave up at 4:30.

Plan tonight, since my mind would not shut off at 2, I am taking an ativan for my anxiety at 6, tylenol pm at 8, using a diffrent CD that has had better results before-Alpha Relaxation System 2.0 also by Jeffrey Thompson no caffiene after 6, no food after 6:30. If I wake up in the middle of the night I'm taking a sledge hammer to my head!

And no I have not talked with my doctor yet, this cleared up for a while and is back worse than before. If it conitunes I will.
whocoolkid
whocoolkid
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you get some sleep tonight. Let us know how it goes.
deleted_user
deleted_user
For me the key to getting a better nights sleep was to stop worrying about falling asleep. When I would try methods like listening to music, not eating before bed, etc, I would lie in bed thinking "I hope it works. Why hasn't it worked? It's not going to work is it?"

Even people without insomnia have trouble falling asleep when they "try" to fall asleep, and focus on falling asleep.

My suggestion would be to go to sleep and think "if I sleep well tonight, great, if not... thats ok too, ive done that before and was ok". This is what worked in my personal experience, but everyone is different! :)
DJfromColorado
DJfromColorado
GeeGollyGesh I know what you mean, it worked last night, slept great from 9 till 4, not as good as I want, but its better than toss and turning. Will keep same game plan again tonight. The only real problem I had was a major case of munchies an hour before bed and wanted to sink my teeth in meat! Not chips, crackers or anything else bad for me in my cupboard-I wanted MEAT...go figure that one out lol!
deleted_user
deleted_user
One night is not an indictment of what you are trying. Give it more time. If the natural approach doesn't work after several night of trying, then go back to the pills for a few nights to reset your sleep schedule. Then try again with the natural approach. You can still use these relaxation techniques on nights when you take a pill. Good luck!
deleted_user
deleted_user
It takes 8 hours for the body to metabolize caffeine. You may want to try cutting out the caffeine a bit earlier.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Having insomnia for 30 years, i would definitely not have much caffine at all during the day, especially coffee. Try not to take ativan, i have a friend who is so additicated to it she has to take it every 4 hours. i think she is going to have to go to a treatment center to ever be able to get off of it..
Serce
Serce
I was diagnosed and treated for insomnia due to chronic health conditions, pain was a key factor. But I found out after two years of struggling that I had another condition that was undiagnosed, sleep apnea. I wish I had not waited so long to try another sleep clinic, had pressed my doctors harder to listen regarding my failure dance to get good quality restful restorative sleep.

So give it some time, but don't be as patient as I was...I ended up so tired that I could not function at all for a long while...couldn't trust myself to drive, lots of factors that became a real problem in order to work and function....I wish you well finding the right answers for you and to be able to get good rest!