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 left for a very long time but decided to come back to see how people are doing and to share something interesting.
First off, I don't even know how to define sleep anymore. What do you think sleep is?
My doctor thinks that sleep is going unconscious. I can't say because going unconscious and recovering/refreshing are two different things.
Just a few days ago, I felt something I haven't felt in almost 5 years. My "unconsciousness" was fine. I just wasn't recovering/refreshing after I became conscious in the morning. So, I'd wake up in the morning exhausted.
An hour or so goes by and a huge amount of anxiety would kick in (I can only guess it was due to not recovering/refreshing over night). The first time this happened 5 years ago, I panicked and they labeled me as an anxiety disorder. I was smarter this time. I laid down, calm myself down and closed my eyes and went straight in to REM. I didn't move just as if I was unconscious. I felt everything just working. I finally was disturbed and it was 3hrs later. I felt much better but as I walked around, I was exhausted again. There wasn't much gas left in me.
I immediately stopped my medication and told my doctor I was stopping it. (learning from experience) I took a huge amount of Vitamin B-complex, zinc, magnesium, copper, choline, inositol, L-Glutamin, L-Tyrosine, D-Ribose, Acetly-L-Carnitine, 5HTP, L-Histadine and Fish oils. Today, is the first day I feel slightly recovered. I slept all night, was up for a few hours in the morning and then went back to sleep (so almost all day). I'm still sleepy, so I will probably eat some food, take a shower, do a little reading and go back to bed.
Doctor isn't convinced that it was the medication, but I sure am.
First off, I don't even know how to define sleep anymore. What do you think sleep is?
My doctor thinks that sleep is going unconscious. I can't say because going unconscious and recovering/refreshing are two different things.
Just a few days ago, I felt something I haven't felt in almost 5 years. My "unconsciousness" was fine. I just wasn't recovering/refreshing after I became conscious in the morning. So, I'd wake up in the morning exhausted.
An hour or so goes by and a huge amount of anxiety would kick in (I can only guess it was due to not recovering/refreshing over night). The first time this happened 5 years ago, I panicked and they labeled me as an anxiety disorder. I was smarter this time. I laid down, calm myself down and closed my eyes and went straight in to REM. I didn't move just as if I was unconscious. I felt everything just working. I finally was disturbed and it was 3hrs later. I felt much better but as I walked around, I was exhausted again. There wasn't much gas left in me.
I immediately stopped my medication and told my doctor I was stopping it. (learning from experience) I took a huge amount of Vitamin B-complex, zinc, magnesium, copper, choline, inositol, L-Glutamin, L-Tyrosine, D-Ribose, Acetly-L-Carnitine, 5HTP, L-Histadine and Fish oils. Today, is the first day I feel slightly recovered. I slept all night, was up for a few hours in the morning and then went back to sleep (so almost all day). I'm still sleepy, so I will probably eat some food, take a shower, do a little reading and go back to bed.
Doctor isn't convinced that it was the medication, but I sure am.
We just know we need it.
We also know it is not just going unconscious. That would be more akin to be anesthetized, or being in a coma, which is not sleep.
Sleep is actually a very dynamic process. Sleep is when our bodies are most capable of fighting disease. Sleep is when children grow. Sleep is when we consolidate learning and help form memories. Sleep is when we re-set our emotional mood.
We also awaken spontaneously from sleep, typically after a REM dream stage.
We also know that insomnia, or the inability to sleep when desired and awaken refreshed, isn't a disease. It's only a symptom.
How are you doing on managing your anxiety?
Anyway, the anxiety is induced by the medication I'm on. When I no longer take the medication, there is no anxiety.