i have chronic insomnia. this is a lifelong issue probably linked to anxiety and an inability to still my mind
i have initial insomnia (trouble falling asleep) plus i wake frequently and i don't have refreshing sleep. sleeping pills tend not to work unless the doses are high enough to leave me dopey the next day. have tried other meds as well for anxiety antipsychotics etc
have done a whole pile of natural therapies and supplements. i am desperate for a decent night's sleep.
has anyone else had similar experiences. have you tried anything that worked. i feel like i have tried everything but maybe there is something out there i haven't tried
the other day someone suggested orthobionomy which is a new one on me!
try relaxing with the lights off before going to bed. because it helps to make your body think it's time for bed. try reading or watching tvin the dark.
glen
I had exactly all your problems- trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, restless mind and not being able to relax.
I have just started taking Lunesta, and it has changed my life. If you haven't tried Lunesta, try it. Even if other things have not worked for you in the past- which I have tried others that did not help- this one might.
I've been suffering from insomnia for 13 years. After being put on countless meds when I was a teenager (nothing worked), I pretty much came to the conclusion that this was just something I'd have to deal with. After leaving college (and my parents insurance), I haven't been able to go back to the doctor to try any of those new ones, like Ambien or Lunesta, but I'd doubt they'd work anyway, and I read some people still have that awful morning groggy feeling.
I've done research on my own, and I don't think I have insomnia, but a Circadian Rhythm disorder. When I just let it run natural, my clock always goes to this rhythm: I go to bed at 7:00 am and wake at 3:00 p.m. It's what always happens. Here is a CR assessment test: https://www.apollohealth.com/apps/ci...ss_survey.html
You've got to put in your email address, but they don't bombard you; they only send one email and never any more after the first. I'm at 85. A severe CRD. It suggests light therapy, which I'm looking into right now.
so harpo does that mean you still get 8 hrs sleep but during the day not night? i can see how that would happen as my circadian rhythms are out of synch too but i can not get 8 hrs continuous sleep
melatonin and lighyt boxes are used to right circadian rhythms...
glen i have regular massage but it doesn't help. drinking a bottle of wine on the other hand gives me a great night's sleep
When I force myself (using OTC sleeping pills) to go to sleep at a normal time (at 11 or 12 pm) I oversleep and usually still wake up in the afternoon. So I actually OVERSLEEP most of the time (another symptom of a circadian rhythm disdorder). I've tried melatonin too and it doesn't work. And I have to take double the normal dose of the OTC junk for it to even work. And sometimes it'll wear off and I'll wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning and not be able to go back to sleep so I have to manage on a few hours a day of sleep. I usually call the sleep I have when I've taken the pills pseudo sleep because my body isn't really tired and it's the drug that keeps me asleep. While I was in college, I just stayed up all night and went to my morning classes and then went home at and went to bed. I remember having been up the whole night on my very first class on my very first day of school. I even got schedules most of the time that were just morning and night classes, so I could sleep from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. I did pretty well with that.
I'm lucky. I only had to go through 2 different pills to find one that works for me. I take trazadone. It's an OLD antidepressant that is now mainly used for sleeping medicine and it is CHEAP. I find though that it's only when I treat the other disorder (bipolar) and I'm not having an episode that I feel my best with sleeping and can sometimes even skip a dose (though I don't usually risk it during the week). My mind twirls around all the time too so I know how that feels. I also lay down every night and watch tv for an hour before bedtime in the dark (not the recommended method by sleep experts) because I find watching and concentrating on a show keeps me from thinking about the million things I normally would. I keep going until I feel sleepy. It used to take much larger doses to keep me asleep until the other medicines started to take effect and work right. Now I still take it but at a very small dose.
Thanks for sharing that link- I took the test and found out that I have only mild DCR, but I have never heard of this before, and found it to be extremely interesting.
FYI, I don't have any grogginess in the morning from the Lunesta now, but that is a side effect. It took me about two weeks to adjust, and now I am fine, as long as I wake up on my own (most days) but if I am woken up early, and do not go back to sleep, it takes me a few minutes to get going, but nothing serious at all.
antipsychotics have worked for me for short periods of time with great sleep then stop working. sometimes klonopin helps. it doesn't help me fall sleep but once i do i sleep longer. the traditional sleeping pills have either not worked or left me totally groggy all day
Chronic insomnia
