Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with insomnia

I need to sleep

kamikazegopher — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:25:29 -0800

I keep good sleep hygiene. I have herbal tea and a warm bath/shower an hour before bed. I take 50-75 mg of Benedryl (or equivalent) every night. I'm still only sleeping 3-4 hours a night. I can't take Ambien because it makes me sleepwalk. Ideas?

How do you find a psychiatrist anyway?

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:22:32 -0800

For the first time in a while, my anxiety is more than I can manage on my own without medication. On top of that, I've had chronic insomnia for over 15 years, not sleeping is a probably my biggest anxiety trigger, and I'm tired of begging my primary care doctor for ambien prescriptions. Twice before I've waited until everything fell apart and I was in a major crisis and dropping out of my life to seek help; I don't want to do that again. I've had quite successful therapy (talk and CBT) before and been prescribed various meds by primary care doctors in the past, but I want to start managing my brain chemistry in a more proactive way. I've never seen a psychiatrist and don't know where to start. Yelp reviews? Standing on the sidewalk with a sign? I'm in San Francisco, I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO insurance, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and real desire not to have another nervous breakdown. What's my next step?

Guided meditation recommendations for kid with insomnia.

missuswayne — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:02:20 -0800

My son is almost 9. He suffers from mild anxiety, and very often can't sleep at night. He gets plenty of exercise most days as he plays sports year round. He reads at night, but this doesn't always do the trick. He's a very intense kid, and rather than cut down on the sports (which very often is the source of his stress, even though he loves playing) I'd like to manage the anxiety. I think some sort of guided sleep meditation might be really useful here, and I'd love some recommendations. Most of what I've found so far either is sort of corny and a little babyish, or is not specific to sleep and is more about mindfulness and not as good for relaxation. Thanks!

How do I get healthy sleep with a difficult, inconsistent work schedule?

none of these will bring disaster — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:30:20 -0800

I work 50+ hours a week in a job that I love. My schedule changes daily; some days are normal 9-6, but others are 2am to "whenever." How do I get healthy sleep while coping with this schedule? I've been working at this fantastic job for two months. About three weeks ago, I got moved to a schedule that I'm still struggling to handle. It looks like this:

Monday: 9 am to 6 pm (all end times are completely theoretical as I'm often there for another two hours)
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 9 am to 6 pm
Friday: 7 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 2 am to noon
Sunday: 2 am to noon

Tried melatonin and valerian root and they screw with my head far too much upon waking. Chamomile is ineffective. Actual drugs (benadryl, etc.) leave me stupid and drowsy in the morning.

I'm the sole producer/reporter for the Saturday and Sunday morning shows (meaning I'm on the air from 6am to 8am on Saturday and 7am to 9am on Sunday). So I'm the only person in the office when I show up at 1:30 am, and nobody else gets there until around 4am.

It's been a huge struggle not to fall asleep at my desk, since I'm usually only managing to get about four hours of sleep on Friday and Saturday nights. I always try to be in bed by 7pm at the latest, but this usually means that I'll have only two hours after getting home from work to cook dinner, try to relax, maybe talk with a friend, etc.

I've ended up lying awake in bed for hours, getting frustrated, getting up to try to do calming things, listen to music or boring podcasts ... nothing works or gets me to drop off any sooner than 10pm.

Then on Sunday nights, I crash hard from exhaustion around 4 pm and sleep until about 2 am, at which point I am wide fucking awake and have plenty of time to putter around until I get to work at 9 ... and then end up exhausted around 3 pm.

Add this to the fact that the culture of the office is very much "your schedule is meaningless" and if the work needs to be done, you're expected to stay there and complete it regardless of how much time you've already spent at the office -- since everything we do is, by its very nature, time-sensitive. It's not that I'm too slow during the day to accomplish what I need to, because everyone ends up staying this late and we are quietly shamed for leaving "on time."

Lunch hours supposedly exist but we are tacitly encouraged to take them at our desks so that we are always available to get something done.

The end result is that I end up working 10-12 hour days five days a week. I'm on salary so this is not for a monetary benefit. My schedule is going to look like this for quite a long time, as has been reinforced by my director.

My social life is suffering. The schedule change that was offered when I brought up some of my sleep issues was working all mornings ... which would put me on something a little later than "third shift," where I'd get to the office around 3 am and leave at 1 pm, to produce the 8 am and noon shows. The only thing I can see that doing is taking my limping social life and killing it dead. I haven't seen my friends in weeks since I can't hang out on normal nights. I'm supposed to have a housewarming party next week and the only night I can reasonably hold it for my own sanity is Monday or Tuesday, but no one is willing to come out to a dinner party on a Tuesday.

Enough rambling. What do?

Getting to sleep the night before a big event?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:13:22 -0800

Lately I've been having this horrible anxiety/insomnia the night before important presentations or other work events. How can I fix this? The last few times I've had to give a big presentation for work, I end up awake almost all night the night before. Even if I know I'm prepared, I can't seem to shake the anxiety. Usually the anxiety shows up as shots of adrenaline right before I'm about to drift off to sleep. It is very frustrating because I know what is happening but I can't seem to do anything about it.

I've got some big presentations coming up and I need to figure out how to get some sleep the night before. I'd like to come up with something relatively failsafe, like a sleeping pill that will let me make sure I am asleep when I'd like to be. Is this a terrible plan? I've never taken a sleeping pill before and I have no idea which one would be best. I need to be sharp the next day, so anything with a "hangover" type effect isn't ideal. Should I try to get a prescription for a sleeping pill? Which one would be best? Is there some anti-anxiety medication that would be better than a sleeping pill in this type of situation? I realize this is a lot of medical advice, but I live in a foreign country and don't speak the language very well, so I'll need to go to my doctor prepared. Any advice (also non-pharmaceutical solutions) appreciated.

Arggghhh

latkes — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:21:22 -0800

What are your best insomnia remedies? A swing shift work schedule, an over abundance of circumstantial stress, along with what seems to be a genetic predisposition toward earlier and earlier AM waking with age is really screwing with my sleep. Its tough to use all my healthiest strategies, given the aforementioned stressful circumstances, but i do meditate at least three days a week and exercise regularly. I have issues on all ends of the sleep cycle, with difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking, and then early morning waking without being able to go back to sleep. Often I'm laying there obsessing, but sometimes it just feels physical and the main thing I'm stressed about is not being able to sleep.

In general I'm a morning person and also have a kid i have to take to school in the mornings, and I've been working the 3 to 11:30 PM shift about 3 days a week.

Any suggestions, including lifestyle modification and specific strategies for getting back to sleep, welcome and appreciated.

Has anyone been prescribed Topamax purely as a sleep aid?

Rosie M. Banks — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:13:09 -0800

My pdoc prescribed me Topamax as a sleep aid. I do not have epilepsy or migraines, which Topamax is usually prescribed for. I have searched Crazymeds and a couple other drugs forums and no-one has ever mentioned it being prescribed purely as a sleep aid. Oh, and it doesn't even work. Long story: I have bipolar and take Lamictal and Wellbutrin. The latter doesn't spin me into mania, luckily, but it works wonders in keeping depression at bay. I was taking Ambien for sleep for quite some time, but it stopped working, so my pdoc switched me to Seroquel. That made me gain weight and gave me horrible hunger pangs - I could eat and eat and EAT until my stomach burst and still feel hungry.

Obviously the Seroquel was not sustainable, so I weaned off. I asked my pdoc what would help me sleep but not make me gain weight, and he prescribed Topamax. I did some research and found out that 1) it's not normally a sleep med, 2) it doesn't even make you feel sleepy half the time, and 3) is known as "Dopamax" for good reason. I did try taking it at the lowest dose (25 mg) and got nothing but sore feet. No sleepy-byes.

Right now I am working very hard on sleeping without any drugs at all. So far an air purifier, Breathe Right nasal strips, avoiding caffeine after 10 AM, taking my Wellbutrin before 10 AM, and listening to soothing music have all helped. I do so much better at staying asleep. It's falling asleep that's still tricky. I've stayed awake tossing and turning for two hours. Not fun. And I refuse to sleep in (that's a terrible habit, AFAIC, that I do not wish to start. Besides, I love being up with the sun).

When I asked my pdoc if I could resume Ambien just as needed (since I'm really trying hard to train myself to sleep) he said no, it "disturbs sleep patterns." And Lunesta is a no-go because Kaiser doesn't cover it and pdoc says "it doesn't work." I wonder if he is thinking that I am a drug seeker (oh horrors!), but if that is so why wouldn't he say something?

So - tl;dr: Anyone find that Topamax works purely as a sleep aid (since I don't have migraines or epilepsy which it is usually prescribed for)? Any chronic insomniacs - I've been one since childhood - successfully sleep without pills? Is it time for a new pdoc and maybe a neurologist or sleep lab test? (I did take a sleep test, one of those take-home kind, and it didn't detect sleep apnea). Or can I just take heart that we need less sleep as we age? (I am a post-menopausal woman.)

Sudden, odd case of insomnia--help me sleep!

andariel — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:39:30 -0800

My doctor's office is closed today but I am in desperate need of a good night's sleep tonight. Weird adrenal "fight or flight" response kicks in every time I'm about to hit REM. I've been fighting a bit of a head cold, and one night last week I had a mild case of sleep apnea due to my nasal congestion that jolted me awake. Scared the crap out of me, and it's been difficult for me to sleep since. I have anxiety issues and have been under a good deal of stress in general (particularly in the past few weeks), so this bout of insomnia is tipping things over the edge. I've been averaging maybe 2-5 hours a night and I am just plain exhausted at this point.

I have my regular bedtime routine, nothing unusual. I take a hot shower and relax, but right as I'm drifting off, a shot of adrenaline zaps me awake. It's like my body is terrified of going to sleep. This keeps up all throughout the night. I took 0.25 mg of Xanax one night and that helped a little, but I don't feel like that is strong enough (my prescription is for 1-2 0.25 pills as needed so I could potentially take more).

During the day, I am a little more anxious than usual. I have GAD, panic disorder, and a case of hypochondria, but generally I've always been able to sleep at night without anything like this ever happening. My mind is racing with worst possible scenarios (losing my mind due to sleep deprivation, having a heart attack, dying in my sleep) and I am dreading nighttime. I need need NEED to stop Googling my symptoms because it's making me more nervous. I'm otherwise completely healthy, pretty sedentary, average BMI, no heart issues, no issues with snoring or sleep apnea or asthma.

How do I cope until I see my doctor? I know YANMD, but could it really be just anxiety that's causing this? How can I just get one GOOD night of sleep with this feeling going on?

Help! I can't stay asleep.

zeri — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:40:37 -0800

Here's what a typical night looks like for me: 1. Go to bed between 10pm and midnight. Fall asleep easily. 2. 3-4 hours later, wake up for no apparent reason. Turn over and (usually) fall asleep again. 3. An hour or two later, wake up again. If lucky, fall asleep again; if unlucky, toss and turn for a while first. 4. Repeat step 3 several more times until morning. 5. Get out of bed at 9 or 10 feeling tired and unrefreshed. The awakenings happen for no discernible reason. I don't have nightmares, need to pee, etc., I just find myself awake. On an average night I wake up 4-5 times. This has been going on for years, though it hasn't always been this bad. Things I've tried: 5-HTP, melatonin, GABA, magnesium supplements, herbal teas, kava kava, alcohol, meditation/progressive relaxation. Some of these things make me fall asleep faster, but my problem isn't falling asleep, it's staying asleep.

I consulted a sleep specialist, who ruled out sleep apnea, said the problem was psychological (nervous tension), and offered to prescribe sleeping pills. But I don't want to take a pill every night just to get a reasonable night's sleep.

Things I'm considering: cognitive-behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy. But my budget is tight and I can't afford prolonged therapy. Has anyone tried these for insomnia and if so, how many sessions before you saw results?

You Are Not My Walrus

storminator7 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:05:34 -0800

But you might have some insight into my Ambien questions. Any suggestions on what antidepressants might work well for someone whose brain really likes Ambien? Do you find that certain activities/foods/supplements make Ambien work better? If you've tried both Ambien and another heavy-duty sleep aid, how do they compare? Background on me: mid-30's female with a history of insomnia (both trouble going to sleep and staying asleep) for as long as I can remember. I'm well-versed in sleep hygiene and OTC supplements like Benadryl, melatonin, and valerian do nothing. Trazodone seems to help in getting back to sleep, but not going to sleep or frequent wakings. So I've been taking Ambien, 10mg a night, for several years, and for the most part, it's been a wonder drug. But here are a few questions that have eluded my Google-fu:

1. I also have a history of chronic depression (predating the Ambien use), mostly of the "never feel like doing anything, don't enjoy things or doing things, what's the point of it all" variety. My pattern seems to be a few okay days, where I feel like I can cope, do the work/housework that needs to be done, followed by a few days where everything is So Hard and I break down crying frequently over nothing. I have been listening to my depression's lies of "you just need to get a hobby, you're just lazy and need to get your butt off the couch" for far too long and something needs to be done. This is where the Ambien comes in: it makes me feel like myself. Some nights it only makes me sleepy, but most nights there's a substantial mood lift to the point where I feel like contacting my friends and making plans, I can see the point in doing the dishes and feel some satisfaction in accomplishing something, I look forward to the future. I don't feel high or euphoric, I just feel normal. Obviously I'm not unique in the Ambien-elevated-mood arena, but I haven't read any accounts quite like mine, where Ambien functions as an ideal antidepressant, at least for the 30 or so minutes from the time it kicks in until the time I pass out. So my question is, given my response to Ambien, which antidepressant would be best for me to try? I've taken a few Ativan recently, and while it takes the edge off the depression/anxiety, it's nowhere near as effective as Ambien, and it's not a long term solution anyway. What about other GABA drugs like Lyrica or Gabapentin? Would that be a good idea, or bad (would it make the Ambien less effective if I also hit up GABA pretty hard with a similar drug during the daytime)?

2. As much as I love Ambien, it doesn't always love me back. I go through phases, usually a couple nights in a row, where it just never seems to kick in, and I have to take another 1/4 pill to get to sleep. I've tried to make a connection between what I've had to eat, or lifestyle factors, that would cause it to work really well some nights and not so much other nights, but I haven't come up with anything. Surprisingly, the up/down times with Ambien don't seem to correlate with my up/down depression times. Have you used Ambien long-term and found that certain foods/behaviors make it more/less effective?

3. I plan to stay on Ambien indefinitely, as long as it continues to function at this level. But I'm concerned that over time it may become less effective, or my doctor my have a change of heart about continuing to prescribe it, or the FDA's new regulations may affect my ability to get it at this dose. What other sleep meds have you found to be as effective as Ambien? How does it compare to Lunesta, in your experience? Unfortunately, the aforementioned depression complicates matters for me; a night or two of bad sleep causes depression to spiral out of control, which of course exacerbates the insomnia, and so on and so forth.

tl;dr

Share your industrial-strength med experiences with a fellow depressive insomniac.

Please help me stay asleep before I go insane.

nakedmolerats — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:13:08 -0800

I am an incredibly light and difficult sleeper, but only sometimes. Other times I sleep like a rock. This happens regardless of tiredness level. How do I keep from getting into vicious cycles where everything wakes me up? Right up front I will say: I have no health insurance, so I can't afford to go to a doctor or get a prescription for anything unless I've exhausted all other options.

I write this at 2:30 am; I have to be up for work in five hours. I get up at 7:30 and usually am in bed by 10:30, sometimes I will read or be online until about 11:30. I seem to need a solid 8 hours a night to be rested. My partner works from home and usually gets up around 8 or 8:30, I believe. She usually will come to bed with me and use her laptop for a few hours, and usually put on a TV show to fall asleep to. Sometimes she will get up to use the bathroom or get a snack.

Sometimes I will be incredibly tired, fall asleep around 11, and then get woken up intermittently by EVERYTHING, which seems to turn into a vicious cycle. I wake up and I'm too hot. I wake up if she gets out of bed to do anything. I wake up when she's typing or the screen light bothers me or she puts on the TV show and the noise bothers me. But this only happens SOMETIMES - sometimes I will go straight to sleep and nothing wakes me up. I actually like having the TV show on, usually. I can't really estimate how often this happens, maybe one night out of 8? 10? That I'm a suddenly-light sleeper and then I'm awake for hours. The multiple wakings are such that any sleep I get during that time is not refreshing - if I keep waking up until 2 am, then I feel like I only got 5 hours sleep the next day.

I'm on our couch crying from frustration and STILL AWAKE. It's so frustrating that I don't know which nights it will be so hard to stay asleep. It doesn't seem fair that my partner should have to come to bed and be completely quiet and still in a dark room because I'm so fussy. Is the only option for her to only come to bed when she's ready to sleep? I might wake up anyway when she gets into bed, but at least (hopefully?) that'd only be once instead of multiple times over hours.

Other info: my work sleep schedule is (supposed to be) completely regular, I sleep in a bit on weekends but not insanely, I'm definitely not staying up until 3 am on the weekends such that my body's confused. I don't typically feel like my mind is racing or I'm too tense to get to sleep, UNTIL I start waking up multiple times and get into "oh fuck I have to be at work in 6 hours, 5 hours, 4 hours" mode. It seems like sometimes the sleepless nights come in pairs - I had trouble getting to sleep last night, but not this badly, and now tonight again, even though I'm SO TIRED. I don't drink a ton of caffeine, maybe 3 combined caffeinated drinks total a day, if that. But I drink caffeine even on days where I sleep like a rock.

Why is it only certain nights? What can I do about it? Please help me.

Can't stop lucid dreaming

mellosphere — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:21:42 -0800

Has anyone found any strategies for combating sleep state misperception/paradoxical insomnia? I was recently diagnosed with sleep state misperception, also known as paradoxical insomnia. Here's how I understand it: I used to think that I hardly ever slept, and felt tired a lot. I thought I would go to sleep, and felt like I was sleeping for like 3-4 hours, but then I'd wake up and stay awake the rest of the night. This has been going on the last 8 years. Recently I did a sleep study and they said my body was asleep, and even my brain was asleep for most of the night (86% of their sleep time allowed, which was about 8 hours). But my mind remained active, giving me a heightened sense of awareness during sleep and making me feel like I've been awake a long time when I wake up. It is one of the strangest things I've ever heard of. I has something to do with my brain's awareness of consciousness. And it has given me the extraordinary ability to lucid dream.

However, it is frustrating to feel like I've been awake a long time, or to not feel like I'm getting restful sleep. The study says I am, so I guess I'll just roll with it, but does anyone have any suggestions as to how to stop lucid dreaming or how to convince my mind that I'm really sleeping? I don't know anyone else personally who has this issue, so I'm reaching out to this network. The only thing I could find online was to use sleep restriction techniques. But I've tried this and just end up feeling tired in the long run.

Other possibly useful information: I am a young (22) male, eat quite healthy (paleo diet - no gluten, soy, or dairy, and <150 carbs/day), allow myself adequate time to sleep (11:00 - 6:30), and get 3-4 days of exercise per week (walk or play basketball, lift weights). I do have thyroid issues, but these have been ruled out (by an endocrinologist and sleep science doctor at Mayo Clinic) as being the source of this issue. She said it is mainly a mental thing and the only thing she could recommend was CBT. Haven't tried that yet.

Thanks!

I just want some sleep!

desjardins — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 13:16:53 -0800

I am having serious psychological trouble adjusting to using my CPAP machine. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns and I'm resentful and miserable and shall I go on? Yes, I shall. From the beginning it has made my life measurably worse. I don't know who these people are that report increased energy and joie de vivre but it's not me. I sleep awesomely without it, I'm not tired during the day, I don't get morning headaches. The only reason I use it is because it's not fair to my husband to have to deal with my disability or death. It understandably makes him very anxious when I don't wear it, plus I snore like a chainsaw.

The primary issue is that it keeps me awake most of the night. It's the feeling of something touching me, the pressure of the straps, and the air blowing in my face (and sometimes in my eyes). Even when I'm dog-tired, just initially putting it on wakes me up again because of the sudden influx of oxygen. Last night I was in bed for 10 hours and slept maybe 2. I said "fuck this," took it off and slept beautifully for another three hours. The angels sung.

I've been through three masks. This is by far the best one, and there are no other viable options to try. I have to have a full-face mask because I cannot breathe through my nose. I've been to two doctors and two medical supply places and the nice people have told me that it really doesn't get any better than this; all masks are going to leak a bit, all masks are going to make my mouth dry, all masks are (obviously) going to be touching me all night. They're really polite about it, but the end result is "suck it up."

I am not a candidate for surgery because my apnea is so severe that surgery would still not bring it down to a safe level. (I've gotten a second opinion.) I'm 105 lbs so my weight is definitely not a factor. I have painkillers (from neck and back trouble) but I'm loathe to take them just to sleep.

I'm ANGRY that I have to wear this thing and terrified of not getting a good night's sleep for the rest of my life. I've had this thing for a few years and I can't manage more than a month or two of using it. I get maybe one good night's sleep out of 5, and the good night is because I'm so fucking exhausted from the previous four. I'd really like to figure this out because it's not fair to my husband to be afraid of my death.

How to take the drama out of bedtime.

Ziggy500 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:13:47 -0800

I've had problems sleeping ever since I was a kid which has led me, as an adult, to get really easily stressed out about things that potentially upset my sleep. How can I become more zen about sleep? Ever since I was a kid I've had sleep-drama, starting from nightmares as a little kid to frequent sleepless nights as I got older.

I really feel it when I have a bad night's sleep. If I can't nap during the day I feel like hell all day and have to resign myself to accomplishing nothing, eating crap and bursting into tears at the slightest provocation.

I am now a sleep hygiene champion and very particular about things like my sleeping environment, bedtime routine, my caffeine intake, etc. I'm well up on ways to control my sleeping environment; I am always well stocked up with earphones, I have a sleep mask and a white noise app on my phone.

But I am very control-freaky about sleep which means that whenever I'm, say, stressed about work or something I will also start worrying about how it is going to impact my sleep and then how my work is going to suffer from poor sleep etc. And then of course... I can't sleep. It's a vicious cycle. Also, there are some things about my sleeping environment I simply can't control like noise from neighbours (normal noise, not excessive), etc. I am a very light sleeper and seem to only be able to sleep in optimal conditions; and if they're not optimal, I stress about them and tada! I can't sleep.

So I guess I'm not asking for ways to further control my sleeping environment but for ways to let go of my need for control, stop stressing and just... sleep?

(I don't take any medication. I would like to avoid that as much as possible but would welcome information on any meds that have really helped you with your sleep.)

Thanks Mefites!

Help me find this $&^# mosquito

three_red_balloons — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:29:50 -0800

On Monday night, I woke up to a mosquito buzzing in my ear and two giant bites. Since then, it's terrorized me all week. I have trouble sleeping anyway, and being woken up by this thing is not helping. Early this morning, I saw it perched on the wall (after getting yet another giant, swelling bite on my cheek), and tried to swat it, but missed. Help! How can I track it down in my studio apartment today? And how can I make sure to kill it when I find it?

Essence of Foul

Corvid — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:11:58 -0800

pharmacology question: what does it mean that I reacted so very badly to a single dose of Lunesta (eszopiclone, 3 mg)? Last week, I tried a single dose of Lunesta for insomnia. (I usually take zolpidem, but lately it's a little less effective than it used to be.) How I wish I could un-take that nasty little pill.

First, it didn't work very well. After ~ 4 hours of lying awake, I finally fell asleep, and then slept long (too long) into the next day. (I had taken it on an empty stomach, as directed, with no recent high-fat meals.)

Worse, I got the famous bad taste, but in a really intense way. For me, the taste was more than just unpleasant and annoying -- it came with a strong and constant feeling of disgust. It tasted like the greasy, gaggy smell of a dead mouse decaying under the fridge -- like I had found that dead mouse and chewed on it for a while. I found it very hard to eat at all for a couple of days. My mouth still tastes like 3-day-old death. Anything that stimulates saliva flow, like eating, chewing gum or brushing my teeth, actually makes the taste worse for a while, so no amount of scrubbing or masking is helping at all. My appetite has suffered enough that I've lost a couple of pounds. (Is anyone thinking of using this as a weight loss drug? Sort of like Antabuse for food.)

I knew ahead of time that some people report an unpleasant taste while taking this drug, but apparently it's generally not this awful, because lots of people choose to take it anyway (and at great expense). People who like Lunesta like it a lot. I wasn't too concerned about the possibility of the taste, because I tend to like bitter flavors. I don't love the bitterness of aspirin, but it's no big deal. So this reaction really took me by surprise.

And worst of all, that one pill shoved me into a sharp, deep, foul depression, which is very unusual for me. It feels different than other times of sadness I've felt. It feels chemical. Fortunately, it's fading -- at the exact same rate that the foul taste is fading. I'm still aware of both, but each day feels a little closer to normal.

I understand that metabolites of Lunesta cause some people to experience this bad taste, to varying degrees. Depression is also listed as a possible side effect. I've experienced both of these with extreme intensity, from a single pill, and I'm still feeling them (at a greatly reduced level) a week later. I at least want to learn from the mistake I made when I ingested that little chunk of awfulness. So, questions:

1. How can it be that this little bit of drug is still affecting me? Supposedly, it has a half-life of 6 hours (9 hrs in people > 65; I'm 60), but that doesn't seem to be consistent with my experience.

2. Does this unusual reaction tell me anything useful about how my body processes drugs? (There have been other times when I've had paradoxical, or very strong, reactions to drugs. A single, small, experimental dose of thyroid medication made me extremely groggy. Most people get jittery and hyper if they take it but don't need it, but I could barely move).

3. Are there other drugs that are metabolized in a similar way that I might expect to react badly to, and should approach with extra caution?

[possibly relevant medical background: I have limited systemic scleroderma, with Sjogren's syndrome, autoimmune hepatitis, and chronic kidney disease, all "mild" enough to require only symptomatic treatment. I'm not taking any of the drugs that are listed as having potential interactions with Lunesta, and none of my conditions are listed as requiring any change in dosage.]

Midnight Cowboy Snacker

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:54:00 -0800

Why and I eating in the middle of the night and how do I stop? I have always had trouble sleeping and rarely sleep more than 5 or 6 hours a night. I am trying to have better sleep hygiene (i.e. no caffeine before bed, no computer within an hour of sleeping, reading before bed, using iPhone sleep cycle app). I still wake up at least 1 or 2 times during the night.

Sometimes, I have an uncontrollable desire to get up and get a snack in the middle of the night. I lay in bed and sweat and toss and turn and a lot of times, the food will quickly put me back to sleep. I eat enough during the day and this habit often makes me feel gross in the morning. I really want to break this habit but I am not sure why this is happening or how to stop. Any insight?

five hours and 45 minutes of crappy sleep. For the last 20 years.

mecran01 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:44:24 -0800

Last night I slept for five hours and 45 minutes. For the last 20 years. I've tried many of the frequently recommended solutions such as melatonin and environmental changes, and am not sure what my next step should be.
I was looking through a journal and kept seeing references to how tired I was. I remember in 1994, prior to getting married, I fell asleep at work and was fired from a temp job. I’ve been manually tracking my sleep by setting a stop watch when I doze off, and then glancing at it when I wake up, and most of the time I am sleeping about five hours and 45 minutes.

I guess my first question is:

What’s the best place to go online to ask for help with this? I went to a sleep forum years ago but it was a little too hard core. I’d had a sleep study conducted and the results were inconclusive, and the members were all “Scan it in and show us the numbers” and also spent a lot of time talking about tranquilizers that would kill a horse. I’m not there…yet.

How do I find a good persistent sleep specialist? The last guy I saw seemed pretty smart, but he prescribed amiltryptiline, which left me groggy.

Given the following context and history, what should my next step be?

Here is some background. I:

am 46 years old, 215 lbs., 6'6.

have been diagnosed with ADHD. My online Aspie scores are high

do not have trouble falling asleep

had a sleep study >five years ago, and it didn’t say much.

have allergies

have keratosis pilaris (sp?) and dandruff

have tried valerian/melatonin. Doesn’t seem to do much

Calcium/mag supplements made a difference once, then nothing.

Unisom and its ilk work ok if taken early in the evening, in that I don’t wake, but I often feel groggy throughout the day

When I go to sleep early, say 10 pm, I may awaken around 4pm but then fall back asleep. Often feel tired the next day

My exercise consists of riding the bicycle to work, three miles each way. Average speed: 9.8 mph, top speed: 19 mph on a slight downgrade.

am sleeping in a cold basement room on a mediocre, slightly short mattress with the windows blocked by cardboard.

wear earplugs and sometimes a sleep mask

use a sleep mask

my wife says I snore, but I don’t think it has been as bad lately

had nasal surgery a year ago and had my septum straightened and turbinates reduced.

Ambien puts me to sleep, but that’s not the problem.

After my nightly 5.45 of sleep, I often have a slight headache or develop one later in the day

After bad sleep I also experience more tendonitis and general achiness.

Having sex makes much of the headache and achiness go away. Surprise.

After a night of restless sleep I start feeling a little more energized around 6pm

I usually don’t sleep in the same room as my wife, because she goes to sleep around midnight, so if I go to sleep early I may wake up in two hours to see her bathed in the blue laptop glow of Downton Abbey

My work stress levels are moderate, but not worse than usual.

I have been skipping breakfast lately in case this is what Seth Roberts calls “Anticipatory Waking”

I don’t eat after 7pm, usually

My only electronics have been the iPad (with f.lux installed) but usually a Kindle with a nightlight.

In short, I feel like my sleep hygiene is a B/B+, and even on the nights when I am totally sleep-hygeinic, I don’t feel that rested. At this point I am inclined to get another sleep study and see my sleep doctor or another sleep doctor. I want to figure out if this is physical, psychological, or some murky combination of the two.

I’m just not sure what my next step should be. There are just too many variables for me to make a decision.

Sleep doesn't rule everything around me...

handbanana — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:00:18 -0800

(Chronic Insomniacs-filter) Sleep avoids me. Been doing so for years. Any tips or tricks to try and successfully sleep? Always special snow flakes.... First and foremost, I know the general things recommended for falling askeep. No tv or internet. Avoid caffeine. Don't exercise before bed....
They.Don't.Work
On average I sleep about 4 to 5 hours every night. Never much more. I do have arthritis in my spine and I know this has something to do with it. I have tried damn near everything. Pills, melatonin, avoiding electronics, booze even cutting down on coffee in the afternoon. I am so tired of being tired. It affects my life in work, schook, and personal relatonships. Doctor isn't the answer. She isnt particularly good in this department (just take another pill...that doesn't help. It only increases my tolerance and makes me have to get early refills) I am going to try to get in to a sleep clinic, but money is an issue as my insurance totally sucks. I do smoke cannabis in the evenings which can help me get in the mood for sleep but again tolerance. I have an awesomely comfortable bed, which helps but not enough. I do use a heatpad which can trigger sleep but that is dangerous and not always a sure thing.
Looking for any tips or tricks I may not have tried or what you do to deal with poor sleep. That or coping mechanisms.
Thanks everyone in advance.

How do I sleep sleep with my partner?

J. Wilson — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:28:47 -0800

How do I sleep (as in, catch some z's) with my girlfriend? So, when my (wonderful) girlfriend and I spend the night at either of our places, I have trouble sleeping. It's harder to fall asleep and it's harder to stay asleep. Any tips?

I'm not sure what information is relevant, but I've spent most of life -- and most of my adult life -- single. I've always had trouble falling asleep (not every night, but frequently), but it seems to be harder with company. This has been the case with others in the past, too. Current girlfriend is more into cuddling than others have been, if that matters. We usually have sex and we usually have a couple drinks, but not always on either of those things.

Is this something I'm just going to get over when I get used to us sleeping together? Do you have any hacks? Is there anything I should be considering?

For example, last night I devised and wrote this post in my head.

zadermatermorts — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 07:32:18 -0800

I sometimes have the type of trouble sleeping where although I am objectively tired, I can't "shut my brain off" and end up lying awake with my eyes closed. What can I do with my brain during these times? This isn't a chronic sleep issue for me and doesn't trouble me that much in and of itself. I've seen other questions about this type of insomnia but am not exactly seeking a cure for it; I'm more looking for ways to pleasantly ride it out.

So I often read or play games on my iPhone before falling asleep, and this seems to tire out my brain. Sometimes, though, my body feels too physically tired to focus my eyes at length or to hold up a book, yet my mind is still engaged and wants to think about things that are not sleep.

I'm looking for ideas of how to productively occupy my brain during these times. Without anything else to think about, I usually will obsess over recent life events or speculate about future things that I'm anxious about. I find this unhelpful and unpleasant, so I'm looking for ways to repurpose these spare brain cycles that are entertaining and/or useful, and perhaps as a side benefit would even help me get to sleep.

Good possibilities (a) would not involve me moving any part of my body or keeping my eyes open, and (b) would not require bright light, sound, or anything else that might wake my partner.

Audiobooks on headphones comes to mind. I also thought about trying to memorize things, like poems or lists of data or trivia, but I'm not sure how I'd do that without an original to refer to. What about meditation? I know nothing about that. Thanks for any suggestions!

Sleep Hygiene For the Sleep-Filthy?

julthumbscrew — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:48:52 -0800

What is the best, quickest way to recover from unavoidable weeklong periods of awful sleep? Here's the deal: approximately every 1.5 or 2 months, Mr. Julthumbscrew is on-call for a week for work. It's a brutal experience... basically, for that entire period, he doesn't get more than two hours of contiguous sleep (and on some nights gets NO sleep). This is unavoidable. What I'm hoping IS avoidable are the post-on-call issues.

While you'd think that after a week of no sleep, he'd just collapse into bed, sleep for 18 hours and wake up fresh as a daisy, this isn't the case. On-call weeks seem to "break" his ability to sleep, somehow, and for several weeks afterwards, his sleep is awful: he can't fall asleep, he can't STAY asleep, he winds up napping semi-involuntarily and then isn't tired at bedtime, etc.

What can we do to snap him back to relatively-normal sleep as quickly as possible? Some possibly-relevant data:

- He's a smoker and a coffee drinker (but doesn't drink it after mid-afternoon).
- Apparently, it's easier for him to fall asleep while watching/listening to something because it slows down the chatter in his brain.
- We've heard the "only use the bedroom for sleep and sex!" advice, but as our bedroom is ALSO his office, that ain't gonna work for us.
- We are open to any and all other suggestions, though.
- He's an otherwise pretty-healthy, pretty-normal early-30s dude.

Thanks, HiveMind!

Surely a paintball gun is not the answer

indognito — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:53:53 -0800

Barky dogs next door keeping me up at night: is there anything I can do? We live in a very quiet suburban neighborhood. All is peaceful until anywhere between 10:30 and midnight, when the next-door neighbors let their two barky dogs out. One is a smaller, yappy dog, and the other is a larger, more athletic-type dog with a ragged, piercing bark. The dogs bark intermittently for the next 15-45 minutes. Sometimes it's continuous, sometimes just a bark-bark here and a bark-bark there. Either way, it's just long enough to yank me out of sleep, fully wake me up and put me in a general state of wanting to take a crowbar to their windshield in retaliation. Then they let the dogs in for the night.

The yard of the barky dogs borders the side of our apartment the bedroom is in. I would love to be able to move the bedroom away from the barky side of the house, but that would mean moving it to the kitchen. I've got a white noise machine and earplugs. I've tried experimenting with going to bed earlier versus later, but the problem is equally annoying whether I've just fallen asleep or am about to fall asleep, and there's no predicting when the dogs will bark. This past winter, I wrote them a polite, anonymous letter explaining that the barking was keeping me up, and they actually did seem to get better about it for awhile, letting the dogs in right after the barking started rather than letting it drag on. But now it seems things are backsliding.

Are there any next steps I can take? If not, any mantras of peace and calm I can recite to myself as I am jolted out of a pleasant state of having just fallen asleep and put into barely coherent rage? I thought about buying two anti-bark muzzles and leaving them on the front porch as a big passive-aggressive gift. I could talk to them in person but would rather not because I'm timid, frankly. I guess if that's the best solution I could bottle up some of my rage and use that as courage.

(And yes, I realize that things could be much worse and they could leave their dogs out aaaaaaalllll night, so this seems like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things...small potatoes that are making me so very tired the next day.)

Help me knock myself out

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:08:27 -0800

Help me get over my irrational fear of sleep medication. I have had difficulty sleeping for my whole life. For years, I’ve considered 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep a gift, and I’ve endured more entirely sleepless nights than I can count (it happens at least once every two weeks).

Within the past year, I have started to suffer worsening depression and anxiety, which has troubled my sleep even more. I started seeing a psychiatrist about a month ago, and he put me on 5mg of Lexapro (which he plans to increase over time). This medication has impacted whatever regular sleep I was getting, making it seemingly impossible for me to fall into a deep slumber. At this point, I am so sleep-deprived that I can barely function at work. Moreover, I feel unable to assess whether the medication is having antianxiety or antidepressant effects, because I spend my days in such a gauzy haze of exhaustion.

Here is the twist: I’m irrationally terrified of sleep aids. My psychiatrist prescribed 10mg of ambien three weeks ago, and I’ve had it sitting on my desk since then. I have been unable to bring myself to take it. I know that I would feel much better if I were well-slept, and that the ambien can help with that. But I chicken out whenever I am about to knock one back.

I have two irrational fears: 1) that I will die in my sleep / pass into a coma and 2) that I will wake up somehow “changed”—i.e., that the drug will somehow permanently affect my personality or cognitive functioning. It’s likely that the first fear is part of the reason I have sleep trouble to begin with, and I have discussed both of these issues with my doctor. He is understanding, but the only thing he can say in response is that he recommends trying the ambien—it is my choice, of course, but he thinks it will help me and does not think it will hurt me.

I want to get well, and I believe that paying back my sleep debt is a necessary component of that. I know I have a tool in front of me to help. How do I make the leap?

Has anyone dealt with similar fears around sleep drugs? Is there any basis to my worries? Tips/tricks/advice?

If it makes any difference, I am a 29 year old male working a 9-5 desk job. Thank you so much.

How do you avoid nightmares?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:09:46 -0800

Sleep eludes me as the anniversary of a violent crime looms. Is there anything I can do to keep the nightmares from ruining my entire week? Two days hence and more than ten years ago, I was the victim of a terrifying violent crime. I didn't get therapy afterward when I could have and should have, and right now I can't get therapy for financial and geographical reasons. This doesn't usually happen that I get the nightmares, but it has happened before around the anniversary.

I live alone, and I'm in a new relationship, so I can't talk to my partner about it, I'm afraid this kind of baggage would scare him off before we establish something more permanent. I keep having very bad nightmares (night terrors?) the past two nights where I wake up dreaming about the event, screaming, shaking, and I can't think straight. I'm emotional during the day, jumpy, having trouble focusing on my work, overreacting to everything and being irritable, and then when I get home I'm scared to fall asleep and I cry a lot. Once I do fall asleep, it starts. I had two separate nightmares last night, resulting in my getting an hour of sleep and feeling very panicky all morning and right now even. I compulsively keep looking over my shoulder, and my posture can best be described as a cringe. My shoulders and neck are so tight I can't straighten up.

Is there anything I can do to make sure I get sleep without the nightmares?
Is there a food that causes deep sleep?
Aromatherapy? (I don't know anything about it and have never tried it, but I'm willing to consider it if it would help.)
Would drinking wine or other alcohol before bed help or make it worse? Pot? I don't have access to prescription drugs.
Should I try to be more tired or less tired when I fall asleep? Does it matter?
I'm willing to try just about anything.

Have you experienced this before? Do you know any tricks to get rid of nightmares?