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...
Well guys I have been sleeping very well for once. I'd say about a month maybe a little less ago I posted here and was talking about how I couldn't fall asleep, had achy legs, couldn't stop thinking, etc. Well I finally went to the doctor for it. I've been takIng a 5 mg of melatonin pill and a anxiety medication called amitriptyline. I'm not sure which one is doing the trick but I know one of them is. I honestly slept really bad tonight but it's not so bad whne most of the time you sleep good. I spent to much time on the computer yesterday, particuularily before bed and as a result I was thinking to much. I still managed "some" sleep however where as before I would have had NONE.
If you want to sleep well, I suggest trying either of the melatonin or anxiety pills, not listening to music close to bed time, not being on the computer close to bed time, particularily if it involves thinking like research or homework, Take a hot bath before bed, wake up the same time of day regardless if it's your day off and obviously try to go to bed the same time every night. If you need to change what time you want to wake up or go to bed do it gradually. For example if you are used to going to bed at 1 a.m. and want to get to bed at midnight, a week or two before then try going to bed at 12:50 and gradually work your way down.
If you want to sleep well, I suggest trying either of the melatonin or anxiety pills, not listening to music close to bed time, not being on the computer close to bed time, particularily if it involves thinking like research or homework, Take a hot bath before bed, wake up the same time of day regardless if it's your day off and obviously try to go to bed the same time every night. If you need to change what time you want to wake up or go to bed do it gradually. For example if you are used to going to bed at 1 a.m. and want to get to bed at midnight, a week or two before then try going to bed at 12:50 and gradually work your way down.
All your ideas sound good to me, with one exception. My only comment is beware of taking pills or artificial substances of any kind for sleep, because of the risk of lifelong physical or psychological dependence.
Drugs used conservatively and under the supervision of a medical professional to treat underlying medical conditions that disrupt sleep are legitimate in my book. Not supplements including melatonin, which have not been proven to be safe or effective.
If in your case they helped you reduce anxiety so you could sleep better, that's terrific. Glad to hear it. However, my suggestion would be to continue making efforts to address the anxiety issue at its root. That way you're not forever treating the symptom and leaving the root problem unaddressed.
Good luck.
I only have 5 pills left for my anxiety medication so I have a decision to make if I should fill it or not. It really is frustrating not understanding why you have anxiety or can't sleep. You don't want to take pills to fix it and you want to get the root of the problem axdressed but it just doesn't work. I remember trying literally everything.
I have 3weeks of school left and then maybe I can research more.
http://www.intechopen.com/books/anxiety-and-related-disorders/mulungu-rainforest-anxiolytic
Without it, I may still be a nightly insomniac rather than an occasional one.
Anxiety generally is a do-it-yourself issue. Like a lot of insomnia, anxiety has its roots in thoughts, specifically recurring patterns of thoughts that are inextricably connected to intensely negative emotions, like guilt, shame, hate, envy, and fear. They often happen at or just below the level of conscious awareness.
But rest assured that by making an effort you can begin the process of greater self-awareness and start identifying these recurring negative thought patterns. That is huge. Just identifying them and seeing how they are hurting you (or more accurately how you are hurting yourself) is half the battle right there.
Then you are in an excellent position to start releasing these negative thoughts safely and replacing them with something better, something more accurate and realistic that you want and control.
It helps greatly if you have a system to do this, a framework or structure to work in. There are many. I'm partial to CBT, because it excels at this.
So maybe at semester break you'll have more time to check it out. Hope you'll continue to keep us posted, because ways to counteract anxiety will help so many people on this site.
But at leas I'm sleeping good and feeling well rested. I'm not sure which one it is but I suspect its the anxiety one is making me have some very bizarre dreams. I actually dated them and wrote sort of what they were about if you guys promise not to call me weird haha. But that's the only side effect these pills have had.
Even my doc recommended the melatonin so try cutting back on the anti anxiety. Worse that can happen is you have to take the other half.
Good luck