Insomnia, trouble sleeping

[HouseOfLove]

Hello, all-

I just wanted to ask about this; I've had insomnia or trouble sleeping for pretty much all my adult life.

The thing is I usually have trouble falling asleep, but once I fall asleep usually I just woke up until my alarm went off.

However for the last couple of weeks I have little trouble falling asleep but I'll wake up after 5-6 hours and can't fall back asleep. I start my day and everything is good, but after maybe two hours I feel as though I haven't slept at all. I'm really tired for the rest of the day. And at night when I have to go back to sleep I plan to have 7-8 hours of sleep but no matter how tired I am I just can't sleep that long.

Is there anything I can do to remedy this? Short of taking sleeping pills - I'm deadly afraid of becoming dependant on them-.

I feel like the lack of sleep is just piling up and I am feeling worse and worse.

Anybody have this kind of trouble? Any tips?

Any help and advice will be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

R

 

[jensu846]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

I take Ambien. Works wonders. I know you don't want to go that route, but I don't know if anything can really cure insomnia. At least now, I get rested and I think that's more important than worrying about getting hooked on em.

 

[racer2438]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

My honey was , kinda still is affected by it. But he takes Ambien, and was also tested for sleep apnea . He now used a CPAP machine, but he gets really good rest now.

You might wanna get checked for sleep apnea.....this can trigger insomnia ...

 

[mirlox]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

You could also try to look for some unhealthy habits that some people(I do have some of these) have that can pretty much ruin your sleep:

You should not eat right before going to bed. Your body will be focused in processing the food and you will take longer to fall asleep. Can also lead to a bad quality sleep.

You should not drink caffeine rich beverages for some hours before going to bed. This is for obvious reasons, but it affects people differently: I once drank a can of RedBull and fell asleep two minutes after finishing it, other day I drank a small mug of coffee at 8 PM because I had to do some stuff and I didn't get to sleep until 3 AM.

You should stop using computers, phones and such at least half an hour before going to bed. The light produced by the electric screens halts the production of Melatonin, hormone related to dark/light cycles, and thus making it harder to sleep.

 

[jft245]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

Buy a melatonin supplement and take one tablet a half hour before you go to bed. This has helped me to sleep longer then I usually do. I have no problem falling asleep but usually wake up after 3-4 hours and like you, can't fall back to sleep. After about a week of taking the melatonin I have started to sleep between 6-7 hours straight and it makes a big difference in how I feel later in the day.

 

[Benvolio]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

Reading in bed helps many people. It is an passive activity for the brain, and, in effect, turns off the active thinking parts of the brain, allowing them to shut down. At least, that is the way it seems to me.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

What is unusual about your situation is that you're sleeping a reasonable amount of time- 5 to 6 hours - yet you are feeling tired and sleep during the day.

The question is whether you're getting good quality sleep or whether there's something going on that has affected the normal cycles of sleep that are needed for a person to feel rested.

You might give some thought to whether anything has changed recently- are you on a new medication, are you taking any supplements that might contain caffeine, etc?

Sometimes periods of sleeplessness and insomnia will pass on their own after a week or so. For short term relief, you might try a herbal tea that has a sleep aid in it, melatonin or an antihistamine that contains diphenhydramine (Benadryl) to see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, you should make an appointment with your doctor to make sure there's nothing else going on that might be affecting your sleep.

 

[cgymike]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

Try using ear plugs if it's noise. I know where I am I need them from time to time. Noise levels can be awful in city.

 

[HouseOfLove]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

Thank you all for you comments.
I have tried Melatonin when traveling to different time zones. I usually have vey colourful and lively dreams when I have it. Although my sleeping has improved, it is not quite excellent.
I am trying to avoid looking at screens about 20 minutes before going to bed, but I'm not sure that is helping.

 

[Latimer]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

The lively and colorful dreams may be the result of prior lack of sleep and these dreams are making up for it. I'd try melatonin again, particularly the timed-release variety.

 

[jcpp7622]

Re: Insmonia, trouble sleeping

Sleeping disorders are no fun. It sounds like you're getting the right number of hours in but the quality of the sleep isn't good. This has a cumulative affect as one night leads into another with the no-sleep becoming a bugger. You then worry about not getting enough sleep which makes the whole shebang worse because you end up stressed from worrying about not being able to fall asleep.

As Kara suggests, you might want to discuss this with your GP or PCP and see about setting up an appointment with a sleep specialist. The sleep specialist will set you up with a sleep study where they will put all kinds of monitors on you, and observe your vital signs and movements during your sleep. The study is of course performed at night, and no you don't get any real sleep in because of the wires, different bed, noise, etc., but apparently they can get enough readings to see what's happening. Once the test is done, they will forward your results to your GP and he can determine what is going on.

I have had a few of these done due to some PLMD issues - Periodic Limb Movement Disorder issues. I was waking up during the night, thrashing about, and ended up give myself a black eye. Another time I ended up with the biggest bruise on my hand from an acted out fight. I had punched my window sill and just missed the window its self. My issue is caused by some underlying neurological problems and is controlled with an increase in my medication. Like I said, discuss this with your doctor.

Good luck with this.