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...

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Never wake feeling refreshed!

Butterfly918
Butterfly918
When I was diagnosed with CFS, my doc told me that treatment options were poor. He said that many people with CFS don't get the stage 4 - deep sleep. The insomnia is bad!! I haven't felt refreshing sleep in over two years...it is so miserable NEVER feeling rested and ALWAYS fatigued. I've tried many meds without success due to side effects. Ambien/AmbienCR have helped me shut my brain off for 3 - 6 hours, but I wake feeling worse...anxious, fatigued, drugged, and with the flu-like symptoms of CFS. I've been using it since February and am concerned about it being habit-forming. I have tried a couple of nights without using it, but then I don't sleep at all, just like I was before being diagnosed. Is there anything that provides the "deep, restorative" sleep I need before I just give up trying to manage these awful illnesses? Please, help! (I also have FM and IBS.)
seay
seay
Have you considered seeing a sleep specialist that only treats sleep disorders? I know that CFS is not a sleep disorder per se but I imagine many of them have knowledge or have some experience helping with this.
Tez62
Tez62
Butterfly918, I agree with seay, when all else fails see a sleep specialist, there are many sleep disorders out there that Dr's either don't want to know about or are just happy to treat the symptoms one of which is insomnia. Seay and I were diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and that is not to say you have it but the treatment has turned our life around. I done think enough research has been done into the between sleep disorders and ilnesses like CFS or Fibro. I had symptons that were similar to depression and was diagnosed with depression. I may have had depression but my symptoms were exactly the same as sleep apnea as well. My Drs found it easier and for me more expensive to keep upping the dosage of sleep and anti depressants rather than finding the actual cause and treating that.
Butterfly918
Butterfly918
Thanks for the suggestion. I have already seen a sleep specialist who felt it was CFS fatigue, not a sleep disorder. He told me the treatment options were poor for the unrefreshing sleep caused by this illness which may have something to do with a problem getting deep sleep/stage 4, but the "why" is still unknown. I guess I am stuck! This is so maddening!!
deleted_user
deleted_user
ive never woken up feeling refreshed. Even before i had such severe insomnia. And i slept just fine. So in all honesty i dont know how important feeling "refreshed" really is. As long as youre getting quality sleep.
deleted_user
deleted_user
And of course feeling "refreshed" is subjective, and a moving target as you age.

It's just a fact that as we age we will never again sleep like a baby. All of us need to make healthy adjustments as we age, and having a realistic expectation of what refreshed means might be part of this for you.