Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with insomnia

How to get rid of the creeps?

ajarbaday — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:58:52 -0800

I get the 'creeps'. When I was young, I worried E.T. was out to get me. Now I get the chills from Japanese horror movies, David Lynch, or 'unsettling' internet stories. How do I cure myself on unreasonable fears when it's time to go to bed? Okay, I enjoy watching unsettling things. But sometimes I overdo it and I have trouble sleeping, or walking through dark hallways, or otherwise going about everyday tasks. It's not a crippling paralysis, but it makes me feel sort of cowardly. I am looking for suggestions to trick yourself into getting 'unscared'. For example, my friend once told me a rather strange story of how she dealt with her Freddy Kreuger fear - she imagined that he was attracted to her and wanted to sleep with her and this diffused her fear. Any other psychological tricks like that to fool yourself into laughing off lingering fears?

Who needs sleep? (well you're never gonna get it)

decathecting — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:34:31 -0800

I can't sleep through the night anymore. Can I re-learn? And should I be worried about my sleep, given that I'm not tired? About three months ago, I stopped being able to sleep through the night. I've always had trouble falling asleep (it usually takes about an hour), but once I was asleep, I could stay asleep for ~8 hours. I slept reasonably well and was generally happy with my sleep quality.

Fairly gradually, I started waking up in the middle of the night. First it was once a night (about an hour before my normal waking time), then it was twice, and now I'm waking up about every 1.5-2 hours from the time I fall asleep until it's time to wake up in the morning. This happens almost every night now. It doesn't matter how tired I am when I go to sleep, or what I'm doing before bed, or where I'm sleeping (my bedroom vs. hotel, etc.).

The thing that makes me brush this off is that I'm not tired at all during the day. I feel fine. I'm as productive as I've always been, and I'm not sick or run-down. Does that mean that this is simply my body's new way of sleeping and that I'm normal?

Factors to consider/discount:
*When I was having a lot of trouble falling asleep a few years ago, I tried nearly every commercially available sleep remedy, including melatonin, Benadryl, and several prescription drugs. None of them worked. Since this new problem arose, I tried them all again and saw no change in my sleep patterns.
*About one night every two weeks, I sleep through the night. This is usually a weekend night when I don't have to be up at any specific time the next day.
*My bedroom is very dark and quiet, and my bed is comfortable.
*I am not unusually stressed out, and I'm not upset about anything.
*When I wake up, I can usually fall back to sleep within 10-15 minutes.
*I'm not hungry or thirsty and I don't need to pee when I wake up.
*I am in good health. I exercise regularly and eat a healthy vegetarian diet.
*I don't snore or have other symptoms of sleep apnea.
*I don't have nightmares or vivid dreams that might wake me up, at least not that I remember.

So, should I be worried about this? And if so, what can I do to fix it?

The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sassyfras — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:03:45 -0800

Is there any way to become a deeper sleeper without medication? I am a terribly light sleeper. The a/c kicks on and I wake up. A child tiptoes to the bathroom in the middle of the night . . . I wake up. My husband breathes . . . I wake up. EVERY little creak and change in atmosphere wakes me up.

I also tend to have a bit of anxiety that I'll not wake up on time and so that contributes to a constant consciousness on my part - making sure I'm with it enough to wake up when the alarm goes off or to be awake enough to be aware that it's time to get up (should the alarm not work for some reason).

I'm 33, female, decent shape, exercise regularly, good diet, blah blah blah.

What can I do? Is there someone to train myself to be a deeper sleeper WITHOUT medication (or alcohol)?

How to solve a medical mystery involving insomnia, chemical sensitivity, and an air purifier that seems to be an accomplice?

bross12 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:46:04 -0800

Does anyone have recommendations for dealing with wicked, terrible insomnia that seems to be caused by something I'm breathing in (judging by my racing heartbeat, constriction in my chest, and burning eyes)? Multiple Chemical Sensitivities are a part of this, so anyone with this who has learned a trick for controlling indoor air quality - please help me!!! Here's what I think are the most likely causes:

- Formaldehyde gas exposure. I live near a plastics factory that produces a fair amount of this, so that could be one source of exposure. I've lived in this apartment for a year, though, and have had insomnia only off and on. So maybe it's happening when the factory is churning up their goodies? I know I react to clothing treated with formaldehyde, so there's no question I'm sensitive. But I pray it's not the factory, because what then could I really do about it, short of getting a really expensive industrial quality air filter?

- Possibly allergens in the air right now. But I don't have any sneezing or runny nose or itchy eye things going on, which I'd think I would if it was a regular allergy. This would be great, though, because it would be easier to address.

- Mold. We recently had a new roommate move in who had lived in a house with a fair amount of mold that she reacted to. She cleaned everything she owned before moving in, and isn't reacting now, but maybe she brought in some mold and I'm reacting to that? In the past, my reactions to mold have been a heightening of fatigue rather than a racing heartbeat, though.

A wrinkle to consider:

- I recently bought an expensive air purifier from a company called Blue Air. This purifier is supposed to be great at getting rid of mold, allergens, and tiny dust particles, has a HEPA filter, and is supposed to not off-gas anything weird (such as ozone or gases from plastic). It does not address gas exposure though. I ran it in my room about a week ago and then things got MUCH worse. I am scratching my head over this one. Any thoughts?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

MD in Washington that specializes in sleep problems

queseyo — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:54:16 -0800

Recommendations for an MD who can help with long-term sleep problems, (SE) WA state I'm asking for my mom, who has had serious sleep problems (insomnia, inability to sleep through the night) for about a decade now. She has been to a sleep clinic, and does not have sleep apnea; however, they apparently were not terribly helpful beyond that diagnosis. She is on several medications that I would imagine are contributing in some way to the issue, but none of the doctors she has seen have been able to find a solution. I don't know specifically what she has/ hasn't tried, but I do get the sense that she needs someone who would be able to tackle the issue from various angles, ie, what medications is she on, and how are they impacting the problem; what is her lifestyle like, etc.

Her sleep has been getting worse, and she is wearing herself down. She lives in the Tri-City area but can travel elsewhere (Seattle or Portland), if need be. Does anyone know of any doctors who specialize in sleep disorders?

What Should I Tell The Doctor?

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:41:36 -0800

Doctor-Filter: I have an appointment scheduled to see a doctor this afternoon about some... sensitive issues. I'm wondering how free I should be with the information I give them, and whether or not certain factors might discourage them from giving me the treatment I feel like I need. To cut a long story short, I'm under a lot of stress and anxiety of late, and I have been for a while. I've spent many a sleepless night in various states of freak-out, and many restless days gnawing my own nerves ragged. Now, I know the standard reply is "get thee to a therapist"- which is good advice, and I have an appointment booked to see a psychologist next week... I'll see how I go with that, and take it from there- I feel like it could be beneficial... but meanwhile, I need help...

Here's the sensitive bit. I use heroin.. I guess it's a misguided attempt at self-medication. I have done off and on (/often on) for the last few years- not to the point of physical dependency (though on my days off I definitely go into minor withdrawal).. but I consider myself an addict. It's getting to the point where I'm ready to stop, and move on with my life. But I need help to do that.

Of course, when I go see the psychologist next week I'll be straightforward and upfront- no good to obfuscate the facts of the matter, of course! But when I see the doctor today, what I really want is something to help me get through the next couple of weeks without using- I want something for the anxiety, and something to help me sleep. I know that medication isn't an ultimate solution to these problems of mine- it goes to deep and runs too long- but I feel that pharmaceutical assistance would go a long way towards surviving the next few weeks.

I guess my question comes down to this: should I be open about my habit with the doctor when I go to see him (this will be the first time I've attended this particular doctor's surgery)? Or should I just focus on the general stress, anxiety and insomnia that I'm suffering at the moment? Telling a doctor that you (ab)use hard drugs probably wouldn't do me any favours when what I'm ultimately asking for is... psychotropic drugs. What do you think? What are the chances of them prescribing me anything anyway, one way or the other.

I really need help- and at last I'm reaching out for it. But I just don't know what to expect, or whether or not they'll even be willing to help me in the first place, considering as I'm one of "them"- a miscreant who has made a few wrong turns along the way, and now finds himself painted into a corner.

Any advice is much appreciated- thanks guys.

Oh, and I'm in Australia, if that makes any difference.

help me sleep... PLEASE.

isoman2kx — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:35:06 -0800

Please help me sleep. Please :( This is going to be VERY VERY VERY long because my sleeping problems have a 2-3 year history. Any replies I get beyond zero I will be very appreciative of.

I've posted questions/threads this in the past but the past has spanned a while hasn't it? As the months have progressed, each time I post this I'm increasingly frustrated and saddened that I will never have a normal sleeping life to get through college and get my degree. I started having sleeping problems when I started college. To this day, I cannot recall anything particularly horrific happening to me to traumatize my sleeping patterns. 4 years ago I switched from high school to college. That's what a good percentage of Americans do right and? Right.

I have a history of depression and a history of anxiety. Both I would say are not severe. The depression is moderate to slightly above moderate most of the time. I take 120 mg of Cymbalta for it and have done so for almost a year. I have anxiety, I used to take Xanax 3 times a day at .5 mg a clip and now I take it all at night to see if it helps me sleep any since I can cope with the anxiety in the day better now.

My depression/anxiety stems from lack of self-esteem and energy from a lack of sleep. So far it's all making sense right? Ok, let's keep going then.

I've always had a hard time winding down for sleep since I can remember and definitely before I started college. I'm sensitive to light before going to bed and I spend way too much time on the computer before bed (even though I've incorporated at least an hour to 2 hour cool down period before bed now after turning off the computer). I currently see an ENT doctor and a psychiatrist (and a psychologist for talk therapy sessions just to kinda vent really, I never have any big updates to give lol) . My ENT doctor is outstanding while I feel my psychiatrist is useless and I'm strictly on a seeing her every 2 month just because that's what you do I guess when you have all this shit going on. My psychologist/campus counselor is outstanding as well.

Roughly a year ago, I went in for a sleep study because as you'll see later on in this master thesis, I've tried every medication known to man for falling asleep and staying asleep. After an awful night in those horrendous laboratories they call sleep clinics, they said they had enough data despite my whopping 240 minutes of sleep. I was later diagnosed with sleep apnea and frequent arousals with my brain wave patterns. My options were CPAP, throat and uvula surgery (noooooooooo way. nooooooo way in hell), mandibular retainer, treating restless leg syndrome and jumping off a building. We tried a CPAP machine and I just got increasingly frustrating with the thing. At first the mask wasn't right, I got a new mask. Then I just detested all the maintenance you had to do to keep the piece of crap that didn't help me sleep all clean and functional. Later on, the sleep clinic and I tried to treat me for restless leg syndrome. Needless to say that didn't do a damn thing. I was on mirapex, although I don't remember the dosage. I just remember increasing it and then quitting the stuff. After I went back to them after all of that, I wrote them off as idiots and politely never scheduled another appointment with them again. I'm done with them. Best sleep clinic in Houston??? We fix the problems other clinics miss? Oh really???

So that led me to my ENT that I currently see. After a few months of trying nasal sprays (prescription), afrin, and useless saline rinses I decided to have sinus surgery on June 22, 2009. For the medical students out there... I had a balloon sinusplasty done combined with correcting a deviated septum (which doesn't cause problems in most peoples sleep) along with a right turbinate reduction. The surgery sucked balls but now I can breathe better, just no improvement in sleep. Hooray! :) The sinus surgery was my part one out of a two part plan for fixing my sleep. My ENT informed me that he could definitely get me breathing better but the surgery would not be primarily to fix my sleep. If it did so then that would be great, but if not then that was what we had understood going into the surgery so no big whoop. I secretly hoped it would though and had the surgery more so for that reason than fixing my day-time breathing. My second part would be using a mandibular retainer after my sinuses fully heal up. I think at this point, my ENT and I are "entertaining" the idea of when it's all healed I'll have great sleep. At this point, if I got a mandibular retainer it would be through a doctor that my ENT knows and not the useless sleep clinic that I previously went to. I don't even know what good that would do?

Now let us back track to what goes on once I manage to get relatively sleepy. I always eat before I go to bed because I've gotten so frustrated with every other method and medicine I've tried, so that's my first step. I then go to sleep and proceed to wake up anywhere from 3-4 times like god damn clockwork (for the past 4-5 years at least). I've consulted with other friends and they wake up too, but they fall asleep quickly. I usually eat before I go back to bed because in my mind I'm tiring my body out by using energy to digest food and thus it will help me get back to sleep. I know, but it's my theory, valid or not, lol. At this point when I post, I'm always asked well what do you think about when you wake up? Are you short of breath? What is your mood? How do you feel?

Well, I'm almost always irritated because I immediately think "great, it starts again. let's see how many times I wake up this night". Despite my severe sleep apnea diagnosis, I never wake up in a panic or short of breath. My mood of course is frustrated and irritated and I feel the same. Surprisingly, this is the point where I say there is nothing traumatic going on in my life that's causing me to wake up in the night like this. I've got the usual responsibilites such as being the man of the house since my dad passed away last year (again, sleep problems existed long before he passed away and I've discussed this with others at length), going to school trying to finish my degree through being tired as hell, helping my mom with daily house chores, running whatever errands I do, getting a good amount of exercise per week, getting together with friends, etc. It's not like I'm waking up every night 3-4 times because there's some lingering issue. If it's buried deep in my subconscious then that's where it must be and someone needs to Harry Potter my brain and extract whatever haunting fear or memory that is buried there with a magic wand because it sure as hell isn't anything out of the ordinary I can think of.

So now we're done with describing this. Have you fallen asleep yet? :). Within the last 3 months, we've replaced my bed and I have a brand new tempurpedic mattress and tempurpedic pillows - both of which I happen to like. However, the new bed and new pillows are not helping my waking up 3-4 times a night any. It's more comfortable to sleep on, but it's not helping the issue I bought it for.

Ok, aside from that paragraph I've stopped taking sleeping pills. They just don't work. Here is a list of what I have taken and I have been on each of these medications for at least 2 week periods (which in my mind is more than enough to see a difference, I've never believed that crap about give it more time...give it more time. 2 weeks is enough god damn time).

list (most are official sleeping pills, some are not):

Ambien
Ambien CR
Lunesta
Restoril
Rozerem
Trazodone
Seroquel

regular things I've tried:

all the sleep time teas in the world
valerian root capsules
different herbal cocktails (like those bottles that have valerian root, chamomile, etc in their capsules)
different indian teas.
hot baths for at least 30 mins, about an hour before I go to bed.
hot baths with epsom salt (yeah, it doesn't help sleep specifically, whatever right?)
hot baths with different "sleep" salts and other sleep mixtures.

what I haven't tried:

overdosing on drugs and getting permanent sleep. I'm kidding about this as I've entertained the idea, but you get the point of my situation.

After all of that and I really am sorry I had to put you through reading it, but there's just no way to sufficiently describe my situation. I wake up 4-5 days out of the week wanting to kill someone upon waking up or wanting to punch holes in my wall (which I haven't done yet).

What do you guys recommend? I am seriously convinced that certain pathways in my brain are screwed up and that I should almost see a neurologist to see what else could be going on with me. At this point, what would you do? I have tried so many things... so so many things and for what? What has it done for me besides nothing? Who should I take my problems to? Who should I see for this? What battery of tests can help me?

- Travis

I need sleep.

reenum — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:38:17 -0800

How can I make my office more comfortable so that I can take naps over lunch? From time to time, I battle insomnia. This necessitates me having to take a nap over lunch. I know this isn't the best way to deal with it, but please humor me.

Here is my setup: I have my own office with a closing door. I have an L-shaped desk and a reclining office chair. There is ample floor space.

I need to figure out a way to make my power naps work for me. I also can't have anything too obvious, so cots and the like are out. I've heard of people suggesting yoga mats and the like, but I want to hear from others who are able to sleep at the office.

What sorts of things should I have that allow me to sleep well for that one hour in the middle of the day?

post-breakup fallout

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:24:39 -0800

Questions on post-breakup insomnia, anxiety, and making decisions about my future. I'm a 26 year old female, coming out of a bad breakup. My ex and I were together for 5 years (living together since Sept), until he cheated on me while I was away visiting relatives. What was supposed to be a two-week stay with my sister has now been a month, and I'm being encouraged to consider settling down in my sister's city. My sister has a strong personality, and I've been appreciating her pushing me to work through this and apply for jobs. She would like to have me around (in part, I think, b/c I'm a bit of a project for her - which I appreciate at the moment, as I've got no drive of my own), but she's incredibly busy in her own grad program. It has been a rough few weeks though, and I'm finding I can't cope with looking for work, finding an apartment, and planning for a future that up till 2 weeks ago I thought I would share with the love of my life.

I was unemployed while living with my boyfriend, having recently graduated from an MA program in a not terribly useful field. My university is in a different country, so I can't simply move back and try to find work there, where I'd be comfortable. I moved down to be with him, after years of a long-distance relationship - my end goal was to get into a library program, but I didn't apply for next year as both he and I were planning to go abroad next year. The unemployment was unpleasant, but I thought temporary.

My family and friends have been wonderful, and very supportive of me. I couldn't ask for more from them. Which makes me upset that I have to continue asking for more - I've been with my sister and her husband for so long already, and I know they'd like their lives back. But without a job, and being thrown out of my apartment, and not having any savings of my own, I'm at a loss for what else to do.

I've been looking for jobs in this city, as well as another where I have a few friends (on the other coast). Nothing's come through. My sister is encouraging me to take a retail job and get my own sublet, to get some of my independence back, and I think I'd like to, only I'm incredibly anxious about moving out here. In this city, I only have her and her husband, and I'm worried about relying on them too much. I'm also incredibly awkward socially, and the thought of living with strangers is a bit daunting after how comfortable I had been on my own and then with my boyfriend.

Also, I think my indecisiveness about where to live and what to do is not being helped by my insomnia. Ever since this happened, two weeks ago, I've been waking up every night at 2:30, usually staying awake till 6 and then getting another hour or two (if I'm lucky) before I get up for good. At night, as soon as I wake up, I relive everything about my relationship, thinking on all the details of our lives together, and how my current situation simply isn't possible. And then I relive, over and over again, the cold way he told me it was over, that he found someone new, that he wanted my stuff packed and out of the house.

He has become another person altogether. While he was sweet and supportive while we were together (5 years is a long time, I had grown to trust him more than anyone), he's now nothing but callous to me. A week after the breakup, I had a friend write to him trying to work out how my stuff would be retrieved. He wrote back that he intended to keep half of the furniture I had brought with me from my previous apartment, that he would not pay back the money we had borrowed from my mother to pay rent ($2000), and that he wanted my stuff out as soon as possible. My sister thinks I should just write off all that as a loss - our parents had a terrible divorce, and she'd rather see me cut all ties and move on than live with that kind of extended animosity.

I'm trying to get over this as best I can, and move on with my life. I'm trying to tell myself that I've just graduated from my grad program this month, and am now looking for work in the two cities where I know people, my sister in one and friends in the other. I've started running. I'm trying to think of practicalities instead of emotions (eg: if I stay here, in my sister's town, I'll be eligible for in-state residency & tuition in 1 year, and the uni here has a fantastic library program). As much as I want to crawl up in a ball and pray that all of this never happened, I know that I have to deal with it.

So, my questions are complex and multiple. With no job to distract me, how can I move on from a breakup? Should I stay in a city I don't know (and now associate with this breakup), where I might potentially, eventually begin a library program? Or do I get on a flight, go back to my home coast (closer to him) and move in with friends (who will only be living there for a year)? Is it better to start over and be potentially isolated, or to go back and continue being stuck in a temporary position?

But if you can only answer one question it'd be this: How can I start sleeping through the night again?

moving.through.it@gmail.com

How can I decide on a college major when I have NO interest?

isopropyl — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:35:33 -0800

How am I suppose to decide on a major when I have no real hobbies, interest, or passions for anything. Other than sleep or a good book I don't really do anything. I'm not the greatest writer and you can't support a family with sleep so what so I do to find something I truly enjoy. Something that actually will make me look forward to the day while I'm wasting away in minimum wage jobs while I decide on a major; After 60 semester hours at my school you have no choice.

Whining about Wine

tdischino — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:46:00 -0800

Why does red wine keep only me awake? Contrary to pretty much everything returned by a google search of wine + sleep, if I have 3+ glasses of wine over the course of an evening (say within 2-3 hours), I will usually wake up about 1-2 hours after falling asleep that night and not be able to fall back asleep solidly for the rest of the night. This occurs most notably when I've had a few glasses of wine, and not when I've had beer or booze. I don't drink white wine much at all, so i can't say if it has the same effect, but this is extremely common when I've had reds (usually zin, syrah/shiraz, malbec). When I wake up, I will feel very tired, but it's almost impossible to keep my eyes shut, or "turn my brain off." What gives?

Better sleeping through chemistry

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:22:18 -0800

Is there any supplement I can add to 5-HTP to help me sleep at night? Or do I need to try something different instead? I'd rather not... Reasons & stuff inside. I have a couple of issues, 5-HTP is really helping with some, not really helping with others.

Firstly, I have life-long issues with falling asleep at an appropriate time. Can't say much other than that I feel like my internal clock is off, and has been as far back as I can remember. For me to lay in bed for hours trying to fall asleep is the norm. I've tried everything between childhood and now, with no real solution, and suffered pretty awful consequences due to the issue for many years. I finally reached a point a few years back where I was just beyond tired of struggling with this.

My basic solution was to drink a glass of wine before bed. This has, over the last couple of years, turned into a 3-4 glass-per-night every-single-night situation. Basically I have been drinking myself rather drunk most every night for probably a year or so. The upside - No more trouble sleeping (obviously). The downside - I was basically being controlled by alcohol. If I didn't have anything to drink, knowing I would not have any to help me sleep caused me such incredible anxiety that there was no chance I'd sleep at all. I couldn't help but wonder if I was no longer anxious about not sleeping and just anxious about not drinking. My anxiety all day long was escalating in general. Also, I was becoming an increasingly surly and angry drunk. Not surprisingly, this whole thing was beginning to screw up my relationship.

I looked into some sleeping solutions, reasoning that if I could get to sleep another way, I'd at least not be drinking. I considered melatonin, but didn't try it (first, because I'd tried it years ago with little effect, and also because I read bout 5-HTP). I got some 5-HTP and i'm taking 2x 100mg pills every day. This has done wonders for my anxiety, I hadn't realized at all how bad it'd gotten. So my life is easier in that way. It has done nothing much for my ability to sleep at night, though. I'm getting 4-5 hours of sleep per night, and I just don't function well with that. Running constantly on empty this way has a lot of negative effects on my quality of life. I'm ending up in the exact situation that I started drinking to avoid, and I can't express how badly I don't want to go there. However, the anti-anxiety effects are really wonderful, and I hate to give that up.

Is there anything I can add to the 5-HTP to help me sleep? I'd be looking for something that would pretty actively make me at least a little drowsy (I don't feel drowsy after taking 5-HTP). I do know that the sleep aid in Tylenol PM makes me feel like crap the entire next day, worse than if I hadn't slept. Also have tried taking Benadryl, it doesn't do anything for me. But I'm not sure what, if anything, I can take along with the 5-HTP. Or if I should increase the dose? Am taking the two pills 12 hours apart - would I do better to take them both before bed since I'm looking for help w/ insomnia? Or do one in the morning and two before bed?

You're not a doctor, and neither am I. Am just looking for someone who might take the same supplement for insomnia (or combined it with something else) and had good results.

Where did my lunesta butterfly go?

mostlymartha — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:23:49 -0800

Why does lunesta sometimes work beautifully and sometimes do nothing at all? Yes, I'll be asking my doctor, but it's going to be a few weeks before I can see him so I thought I'd see if could get a little info before then.

Probably too much background: I am a 27 and have had serious insomnia since I was 14 or 15. Even younger, at 11 or 12, I thought it was normal for it to take 3 hours to fall asleep. Most of my family suffers from insomnia to one degree or another. I have anxiety problems, but so far, nothing I've done to treat (rather successfully) my anxiety has had any effect on my insomnia at all. My insomnia is characterized by a brain that just will not turn off. It's like a treadmill of negative thoughts, snippets of songs, and just general brain static.

I took ambien on and off for a couple of years. Whenever I was off it, the only way I'd sleep at all was to have a rigid, almost OCD schedule. I had to be home by 6PM, eat dinner at a specific time, bath at a certain time, watch a certain amount of TV, dim the lights at a certain time, do deep breathing, etc, etc. and it still took me at least two hours to fall asleep. My life basically revolved around bedtime.

Melatonin did nothing and benedryl (i.e. sominex) actually makes me a little wired. Rozeram was useless.

Ambien generally worked quite well. Some nights I could break a 5 mg tablet in half and that would do it. Sometimes I needed a full 5 mg and during periods of stress I needed 10 mg. Toward the end, the ambien was not quite as effective as it had been (not a surprise). That combined with the fact that doctors generally aren't nuts on long term ambien use got me switched to 3 mg of lunesta in February.

At first, it was the best sleep of my life. I could even cut the pill in half on nights when I was very relaxed. After a while, it stopped working so well. Then it kicked back in. Now, once again, I take it and have no effect at all. Even a full pill leaves me on the mental treadmill, tossing and turning all night.

Any ideas why lunesta sometimes feels like a gift from god and sometimes leaves me in the lurch?

Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy.

4ster — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:25:52 -0800

I need some sleep advice: I a 37 year old man and on this past Saturday night, I pulled an all-niter to finish a project (haven't stayed up all night for 7 years). I took a ~2hr nap Sunday afternoon, and then couldn't sleep all night. I also just upped my dosage of Vyvanse. There's also more detail inside. Please help me get back through today and back on track. It is like I have given myself jet lag. Lately, I've been staying up too much anyway, sometimes until 3am and then getting up 4-5 hours later and going to work. This was going on for a couple of weeks, then last Thursday I felt awful, got the kid to the bus, and with a couple of 1.5 hour breaks, slept until the next morning.

Clearly, I need a better work/life balance, and I've already started making some clear and serious changes. However, I need some help in the short-term.

Right now, I'm just doing the kind of dumb things sleep-deprived people do, like forgetting what I was just thinking about, walking into rooms and completely forgetting why, getting out pen and paper to write a reminder and forgetting what it was. While writing this question, I even capitalized common nouns in the middle of sentences.

Around 1pm on Sunday, too tired to make lunch and suffering from sleep-deprived queasiness, , I decided to have some cereal and milk, which I actually referred to in that moment as "breakfast soup."

I went to bed around 9pm last night and slept OK until 11p. Then I was really restless, the kind of sleep where you feel like you aren't sleeping at all, but probably are, but not well. Around 3am, I just gave up and I've been up ever since (it's 8:15 am as I write this).

I also feel slightly chilled sometimes and slightly hot at others.

I've been on Celexa for almost a year, which I take at night and which makes me a little sleepy during the day. I go through periods where I awaken a few times a night. I've heard that this comes from getting older, so it may be that.

I've also, within the last week, gone from 40 mg of Vyvanse to 70. I've never had any side effects from either medication that I'm aware of, and I believe both have helped me a great deal. Also my caffeine intake is one of the big cans of Red Bull each morning, and that's it.

After writing all this, it does sound like I probably need to talk to my GP, however, I'm wondering what any of you would suggest I do for the rest of the day/evening. Right now, I feel tired, but surprisingly awake.

Thanks, as always.

Where can I order melatonin online, which will ship internationally?

chrisbucks — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:40:37 -0800

What are some reputable American websites which will ship supplements internationally? More inside specifically regarding melatonin. (I've checked the other online pharmacy questions and they all appear to be in regards to prescription only meds rather than OTC)

After trying a lot of different things to help ease my problematic sleeping patterns I've finally found the miracle that is melatonin supplements. However, I've found that it is also prohibitively expensive in my country. In New Zealand it is prescription only and to compound things it is also a "Section C Restricted" (?) medication, meaning I cannot pick it up the same day as I give the pharmacy my script, since they have to order it in from a specific company.

Currently it is costing me about $20 - $30 per 30 tablets (3mg). Unless the pharmacist (and my doctor) are incorrect, I don't need a prescription if I'm ordering it from a country where it is an over-the-counter supplement (eg: USA).

I found one place which I can get 100 tablets for $2, given this price is substantially lower than brands I question the quality. (I note though that the same site has the same brand I'm getting at the moment for only about $6 or so for 120 tabs).

So:
What sites are reputable?

and what brands of melatonin supplement are likely to be the safest bet? (prerequisites being that the site ships internationally and without charging some huge fee).

(bonus points if the site sells other supplements as well, since I've noticed a lot of stuff is cheaper overseas than locally).

i'm immune to sleep :o

isoman2kx — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:51:51 -0800

I'm immune to sleep. Any ideas? How do you fellow insomniac's condition yourselves to fall asleep these days amid the mind-racing and self-doubt about falling asleep?

I think I seriously have an aversion to falling asleep now. Like an actual ****ing aversion to sleep itself, lol. It's fairly crummy. I'm so worried about not getting a good nights sleep that I'm shooting myself in the foot before I even fall asleep. If I do manage to fall asleep, I worry about getting back to sleep when I get up. It's more or less just a worry about sleep. It's not necessarily that much life stress at all.

A hot bath is the only thing that seems to help me these days. Yet, I don't like getting in hot water every night to do so. It seems like I can't shutoff my mind when I go to bed when I go to sleep or wake up to actually relax. Help O_o o_O?

Bonus points if the options to help sleep are low in calories.

-Travis

What does an insomniac do with his bedroom?

Tomorrowful — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:26:03 -0800

One of the most common recommendations for insomniacs is to not use a bedroom for anything but sleeping (and sex, though I suspect that's a compromise to reality). And that's helped a lot. But... now I've crammed my entire life into my living room, because I have a one-bedroom apartment. And it's cramped! Right now, my bedroom consists only of bed, dresser, and a couple of bookcases that wouldn't fit in the living room. My living room, on the other hand, has to be my office (desk), library/study (bookshelves/comfy chair), entertainment space...

So: How do other insomnia-fighting folks deal with the fact that we're not exploiting the bedroom's space as much as other folks might?

I could make it a kind of storage-space, putting all of my shelves and such there, but I really want to have books 'on display,' because I'm a bibliophile and having visible shelving is a key part of 'home' for me. I'm not sure if putting up a big divider in the bedroom, and using half of it for an office, is viable - has anyone else tried that and found it to be a sufficiently 'different' space to still get the anti-insomnia benefits?

NB: I recognize that, ideally, I'd only live in apartments with very-small bedrooms and larger living rooms, or multiple bedrooms, but I wasn't able to find anything quite like the former, and my budget prevents the latter. Maybe in a couple of years...

Help me sleep.

matkline — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:20:00 -0800

I haven't been able to sleep for around 60 hours. What to do? I suppose it's possible I have slept, and it's simply been the less restful type of sleep, but it seems to me that I haven't slept at all. Any tips?

To sleep? Perchance to sleep?

MaddyRex — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:32:56 -0800

Dear Type A personality, what helps you ward off insomnia? One of my best friends has terrible insomnia. She's had it on and off her entire life, and recently it's been ON. Here are the facts:

On the plus side
1. She has a very healthy lifestyle: no drugs, very little alcohol, good eating habits, regular exercise.

On the con side
1. She just started a new job, which she loves, but it's a very high pressure job with real life or death consequences for the people she's helping, and she's very worried about doing well at it, making the right decisions, and making a good impression on her boss.

2. She has a tendency to knock herself down, especially when she can't get sleep. She sees having insomnia as a personal failing, which she knows is stupid, but it's a little voice she can't get rid of. Obviously that keeps her awake as well.

3. There's a good chance it's genetic, as her father (now deceased) had the same thing.

4. She takes Adovan occasionally for insomnia-related anxiety (I'm skeptical of this; I don't know if it's really indicated for that).

5. She's a Type A and also really not into the feel-good New Age stuff about mindfulness, meditation, yoga. Believe me, I've tried to bring this up with her.

Sigh. I personally think the major issue here is her crazy idea that insomnia some kind of moral failing, since she just starts hating on herself when she can't fall asleep and that exacerbates the issue. Obviously it would also be nice to get her to sleep in the first place.

Pharmacologically, I know some people take melatonin, and I've thought of recommending this to her, though I've never used it myself. Have any of you had luck with that?

So I guess there are a couple questions here: what do you do, in terms of drugs/sleep aids you take and things you do? How do you stop this cycle of late-night self hate?

Thanks! Looking forward to replies.

Is there a generic form of the sleep aid medicine Restoril (temazepam)?

isopropyl — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:32:04 -0800

My prescription is ourageous for brand name temazepam and my pharmacy doesn't offer any generics of it. Why would one pharmacy carry it and others not? Where can I find it.

How can I fall asleep without the nightly existential review?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:07:26 -0800

Every night when I get in bed I have an existential crisis that makes falling asleep difficult. What can I do? Between the time I go to bed and fall asleep, I begin to think about things like when I will die, when the people I love will die, all the things I regret not doing, time I've wasted, the nature of God, the likelihood of heaven, and other big questions. They make it hard to fall asleep, or sometimes fill me with sadness.

Right now the only thing that works is listening to audiobooks until I pass out with my headphones on. But I'd like to find another way to fall asleep that doesn't take so long. I've had small bouts of depression and anxiety in the past, but I've taken care of them with regular exercise. I also have a very small prescription for Xanax for when I fly, but my health insurance doesn't cover mental health. I'm looking for tips, books/articles, or any anecdotal advice on how to conquer, or at least minimize these feelings. Question email is cantwontsleep@gmail.com. Thanks!

No rest for the wicked, apparently.

crinklebat — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:53:21 -0800

Why can't I sleep through the night? How can I keep myself slumbering soundly? Since this Sunday night, I've started waking up every three hours or so. It seems like I usually wake up from a dream (that is, I wake up and remember having just been in a dream - these aren't particularly disturbing or startling dreams, just run-of-the-mill off the wall sort of dreams like I usually have). In general, I'm very warm when I wake up, sometimes uncomfortably so - but I'm always quite warm when I wake up from sleep and it's never been something that woke me up on its own before, especially not several nights in a row. In some cases I have also been pretty thirsty.

I got up to pee at least once a night until last night - the night before last I actually asked myself "Why are you getting up to pee?" and it turned out I was doing it to get out of the hot bed, not because I really had to go. Last night I woke up and thought about getting out of bed, but decided to stay lying down and see what happened, and sure enough I didn't need to pee enough that it prevented me from dropping back off.

I'm eating and drinking pretty much the same stuff I always eat and drink. I may be suffering from mild seasonal allergies right now, but in the past when difficulty breathing has awakened me it's been pretty clear from the content of my dreams (ie, fish out of water dream, drowning dream). I'm planning my wedding and going through sort of a tricky time at work, but I don't think I'm much more stressed out than during a typical finals week in college.

I'm doing some experimentation to see if there's anything I can do to fix it on my own (for example, last night I tried going to bed earlier...no dice, I just woke up extra times). I'm looking forward to seeing if I can sleep through the night if I don't have to wake up for work the next day, but alas, I won't know that until tomorrow morning. However, anything that helps you stay asleep if you've ever had anything like this happen to you would be awesome to hear.

I've always had trouble getting to sleep but never staying asleep. These two put together have made me a complete zombie all week and I'm really feeling urgent about getting to the bottom of it. I'm also totally mystified as to why this would start now and as you can see, I'm trying to examine all the angles...

How can my wee boy get back to sleep?

dowcrag — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:26:08 -0800

Our little boy (he'll be 4 in June) wakes up most nights and can't get back to sleep for up to 3 hours. He suffers from occasional myoclonic seizures when he's tired, which complicate things some nights - but not all. He doesn't cry and this isn't the usual toddler sleep problem. It's more like chronic insomnia. What to do? We're all affected by this, obviously! The diagnosis so far is that his seizures are likely to be a mild form of epilepsy. They affect his upper body and right arm only, with gasping and some yelping at times. The paediatrician has seen video of them happening, but we've not managed to get an EEG done on him yet (he won't let the wires near him). They don't want to medicate as it's not seen as severe enough and he's likely to grow out of them eventually, but not for some years.

Whilst these can prevent him from getting back to sleep, they don't occur every night. It's a bit chicken and egg: we don't know if they wake him up, or just keep him awake and exacerbate another problem. He's not aware they happen, but he is aware that he's tired, and really does want to get back to sleep.

He sweats a lot in bed, and snores like a pig sometimes, but we don't think it's sleep apena, although we've not raised this.

He doesn't do all the usual toddler stuff: we're not plagued by a crying monster. By the time he calls out for one of us to come and try and sing him back to sleep, he's been awake for at least an hour or so, and it usually takes a couple of trips over the next hour until he finally flakes.

He wants to sleep, but tells us he can't. But this means we ALL lose sleep every night.

I sleep badly and I'm borderline insomniac myself, largely thanks to stuff filling my head if I wake in the night. He's got a terrific imagination for a such a wee mite and chats away about what he's been imagining whilst he's been lying there, but it's not bad dreams, either.

He's otherwise fit and well: bright as a button, articulate, but daytime is definitely affected by the lack of sleep - he's tired all day sometimes.

So what to do? All the advice we've found or been offered seems to be about solving problems that we don't have. We're open to pretty much any suggestions.

This has been going on since November. Before that he wasn't a great sleeper, but got through at least half the nights each week.

Why does alcohol disrupt my sleep? And what can I do about it?

jason's_planet — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:46:09 -0800

Why does alcohol disrupt my sleep? Is there anything I can do to minimize this disruption? When I drink too much, to the point of becoming obviously drunk, I often sleep poorly. Typically, I crash for two or three hours of deep sleep and then I wake up and am unable to get back to sleep. As the day wears on, I find myself increasingly tired and irritable. My sleep patterns are screwed up for a couple of days afterward. It's not pleasant at all. I mean, I can live with the other, classic side effects of drinking. But this drives me nuts. I've also started working out seriously; the lack of sleep makes my workouts suck. So what should I do? Are there any ways to minimize this sleep disruption, to get back to sleep after waking up?

Many thanks in advance.

Post workout sleeping disorder

Sharcho — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:50:08 -0800

After heading for the gym, I only manage to get a few hours of sleep. After the gym, I don't have any problems falling asleep, but I wake up for seemingly no reason after 4-5 hours of sleep. And I need about 7.5 hours of sleep. After waking up, I'm not tired enough to fall back asleep again for about two hours, but I get really tired later in the day.

I started going to the gym over a month ago. I go there in the evening after work twice a week. I run for 15 minutes and do weight training for 50 minutes. I go to bed 5 hours after returning from the gym.

Anybody experienced something similar, or has ideas how to prevent the post workout sleep disorder?