How bad is your sleep with your depression?

[MoiveMarcus]

How many People suffer from sleep disorders, insomnia or bad sleep as well as their depression? I found stats online saying its quite a lot but don't find anyone talking about it here. I've been doing a lot of research and as a chronic night owl who (until recently) slept at 5am and woke up at 3pm pretty sure they go hand in hand with the depression. Any thoughts? am I walking down the wrong trail of thought here? if we slept well would that be the game changer?

[panamaborn]

You are not alone I also have problems sleeping I went to sleep around 10 pm woke thinking I had a good nights sleep and it was 1:30 am I have been struggling with sleep for some time I open to talking about this in the forum.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to panamaborn]

whats interesting is that is 2 complete sleeping cycles and also your getting your "money hours" for sleep (the time between 10pm - 2am) which is your peak sleep time, i personally dont have an issue in terms of waking up in the night but my partner does shes focusing on how to get good at falling back asleep, she has made some progress there are some great simple tools out there

[panamaborn in reply to MoiveMarcus]

MovieMarcus thank you for replying what are the tools that you mentioned?

[MoiveMarcus in reply to panamaborn]

perhaps i should message you, hope this is ok

[panamaborn in reply to MoiveMarcus]

yes it's ok to message me

[panamaborn in reply to MoiveMarcus]

how do I get your message MoiveMarcus?

[Zimarra]

You aren’t alone. My sleep problems started this current cycle I’m in. I’ve only been able to find relief through doing self hypnosis and calming meditation and then up a lot and jolted awake thanks to depression and anxiety. I still struggle a lot and even though I somehow put myself to sleep every night with a combo of pills and hypnosis I struggle with early morning awake now and not being able to get back to sleep

[MoiveMarcus in reply to Zimarra]

i haven't used self hypnosis but alot of people have mentioned it, is there any particular kind you've had success with?

[Obscured]

I have a terrible time with sleep. I can usually fall asleep very easily as I have leukemia and suffer from extreme fatigue. Unfortunately, I am plagued with nightmares and wake-ups that cause intense panic and anxiety. I definitely agree that sleep is an important component of our overall health. I am sure getting better sleep would help with depression, but there are so many potential causes that I doubt sleep alone would cure it.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to Obscured]

sure i understand, sorry to hear about your tough situation are you seeing any one for the cause of the nightmares?

[Obscured in reply to MoiveMarcus]

I don't see a therapist or anything, but my doctor prescribed me some anti-anxiety medication. It hasn't helped yet, but I've only been taking it for a few days so I still have hope.

[Hb2003]

Very bad I tend to have nightmares when I am depressed I sometimes stay up all night because I go to paranoia and panic mode 😩🙁

[Jane_5060 in reply to Hb2003]

So sorry- that sounds tough!😢 I have sleep problems too. Especially if I have to get up early for anything.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to Jane_5060]

what do you mean if you get up early? that makes it harder to sleep the following night?

[Jane_5060 in reply to MoiveMarcus]

Yes- because I’m not naturally an early riser. I have fought it my whole life. If you have to get up early for anything you think about it all night. You can’t sleep and you count the hours before you have to get up. My nerves just won’t let me sleep. The next day I’m a zombie.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to Hb2003]

sorry to hear that, must be hard to over come such fear what have your tried at this point?

[Hb2003 in reply to MoiveMarcus]

I tried Benadryl and honey.

[AnxiousCanadianChic]

It’s awful for me. I have a heck of a time falling asleep, then I tend to have to get up often to go to the bathroom, then after like 3 hours I’m wide awake and unable to sleep again for like 4 hours after. Then the same b.s. I developed epilepsy 7 years ago and of course one trigger for a seizure is lack of sleep (also anxiety/stress yay 🙄) so I have to get sleep or I get anxious about seizures.

[Jane_5060 in reply to AnxiousCanadianChic]

😢💕💕💤

[MoiveMarcus in reply to AnxiousCanadianChic]

that really sucks, I've just joined this group and noticed for men, waking and having interrupting sleep isn't our issue but for women it is? am i just generalizing here and potentially being sexist or is there any truth to this?

[AnxiousCanadianChic in reply to MoiveMarcus]

I also find it’s mostly women too. Mine isn’t really related to anxiety I don’t think but idk. It’s like right now, I was super tired before then went to bed, used guided meditation to fall asleep and woke up after 1.5 hours and wide awake 😠.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to AnxiousCanadianChic]

what time do you sleep? my partner is facing similar issues she has found some tools work others not, takes time to go through trial and error, guided meditation hasn't work for you?

[AnxiousCanadianChic in reply to MoiveMarcus]

My hours of sleep vary. Some days the first 2-3 hours could start at 1am, other days 9am. Guided meditation does work for me but only if I feel tired. Usually I never feel really tired but now lately I do. Idk what’s going on with me lately to make me always feel so tired, I’m guessing depression and anxiety but I’ve had both for a long time so I really don’t know. I used to take sleeping pills which would work but I’d be really tired/groggy the next day.

I’ve just been diagnosed with non alcoholic liver disease so I don’t take sleeping pills anymore just in case they contributed to that. Before my epilepsy I could easily get by on 3 hours sleep but now I have to get lots of sleep. I’m pretty sure I used to be able to fall asleep/stay asleep ok but I’m not sure when it all changed… maybe when my mom died almost 8 years ago.

[FlorenceAllbright123]

Don't think you are alone, there are days I wish I could sleep well, my thoughts never let me sleep and I stare at the roof for no reason. I feel sleep and depression and interconnected!

[MoiveMarcus]

thanks for sharing, how late do you sleep? do you also, like me, have a history of finding it hard to get out of bed and sleeping until late?

[Walnutbutterfly]

I'm new to here and excited to find a thread about sleeping issues. I'm looking for someone else that has been diagnosed with Nightmare Disorder. I first started experiencing sleep paralysis/night terrors when I was 8....full blown nightmares every night mostly by teens. I'm 44 now and my nightly cycle is falling asleep fairly easy, then waking up every two hours having personal hellscape nightmares where I yell and curse like a sailor (I'm normally very sweet and don't swear much) in between. Do this til 9 am or so. My husband wakes me when it's real bad. I was put on risperidone 7 years ago. Before it, even though I KNEW it was a dream, my brain processed it as real when I woke up and it would sometimes take hours to "come out of it". With the risperidone I'm able to separate it and, even though it was horrific, my brain fades it like a dream. IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WITH SIMILAR SLEEP ISSUES? I've lived with GAD and chronic depression for most of my life so my brains already a little screwy....I just wish it wouldn't betray me so horribly at night. Sorry for the big vent, just excited to talk about it with someone.

[MoiveMarcus]

i ahve no experience with nightmare disorderreally sounds tough, in this post alone a few people have spoken about nightmares hope you can all relate x

[Onedge]

I’ve got chronic insomnia. I used to have difficulty falling asleep because I was just too agitated with heart palpitations and my brain was on full alert with so many thoughts biserkly running amok! I’m hypothyroid and was advised to try nightly dose of levothyroxine and it seems to help calm the body just enough for me to fall asleep most of the time. Unfortunately, like many on here I’m awake an hour later. I have restless leg syndrome and fibromyalgia so I tense up and flail around trying to relax bit to no avail. It’s horrendous and I don’t know how I’m still surviving. I’ve tried sleeping tablets, magnesium tablets and tumeric tablets and now I’m trialling melatonin tablets. So far it’s not working just giving me migraines and sickness to add to my troubles. I have magnesium salt baths, do mindfulness and meditation and have lavender sprays and oils and sleep candles. I have crystals in my bedroom which is cool, dark and uncluttered. I limit my tea intake and some of this is decaf. I’ve used sleep tea with no avail. By reading all the posts here it’s seems vital that more research is necessary for this debilitating problem. We all suffer so much.

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Onedge]

Hello Onedge. I tried a lot of different brands of melatonin that didn't help me until I tried time-release melatonin. It makes a big difference for me. I'm still up much too late, but now I sleep through and get a reasonable amount of sleep. It does seem to make depression worse though, but maybe that's just me. Since you're not getting the whole dose at once, it doesn't seem to cause headaches either.

[Onedge in reply to Nothing_but_books]

What brand was it?

I’m taking circadin 2 mg prolonged release tablets. I think I’m more depressed on them as my headaches are severe all day and night and I feel lethargic and sick. Just been in bed all day- no sleep. I’m up throughout the night. Just wondering how long it took you once starting the tablets to when you first slept through? I’m considering stopping as I feel like crap. Do you think I should persevere?? How long were u an insomniac for?

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Onedge]

Hello Onedge.

Sorry you're having sleep problems. I know it's miserable.

I'm not a doctor, so I can't advise you, I can only say what worked for me. I had those awful headaches with other brands, but I shopped around until I found something that helped me.

I take Natrol Time Release Melatonin; 5 mg. They began helping me sleep through the night almost immediately. I take it an hour before I plan on going to bed, and it helps me get sleepy too.

It does have a nasty side effect. It makes me more depressed. It's a trade-off. I wasn't sleeping much before, so I continue. I don't seem to have developed the tolerance problem you get with drugs to help you sleep either.

Should you persevere? My suggestion is to trust yourself. Be persistent trying things.

I was, off-and-on, sleeping poorly for years. A lot of HU members have sleep issues. It seems pretty common.

[Onedge in reply to Nothing_but_books]

Been physically sick all day. Decided to stop this brand and recover first before trying anything else

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Onedge]

I'm sorry to hear you're sick. That sounds like a good plan, get the bad stuff out of your system. Hope you're feeling better soon. 🌻 🦜

[quickblizzard]

I definitely think the lack of sleep makes depression and anxiety worse, but it's hard to say what causes what. I have had depressive episodes back in the day where I was anything but sleep deprived- sleeping up to 14 hrs if I could get away with it. But it did nothing to help my mood, and sometimes I think it made things worse. With the current insomnia I've been dealing with, I definitely have a better mood and feel more able to cope when I get a little more sleep, but even when I was sleeping better, I was still dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression. It's not quite clear how it all fits together.

[MoiveMarcus in reply to quickblizzard]

do you mean that even with insomnia now, your mood is better than it was back then? what type of insomnia do you have?

[quickblizzard in reply to MoiveMarcus]

Yes and no. Back then I was hypothyroid and heavily depressed/suicidal. Getting that fixed helped a lot, though I struggled with it on and off. Now I'm dealing with ptsd flashbacks interfering with my sleep. While it's been very difficult to deal with, I haven't been suicidal, so there's that. Despite struggling so much to sleep, I feel more hopeful now than I ever did then.

[UkyoCoanccy]

I have been having problems to sleep too. Sometimes I can't sleep after 2pm. I always have nightmares. Also I wake up many times at the middle of the night.Even though if for any reason I sleep early I am not able to have a good rest because of my nightmares.

I have been trying different methods but they work for a while. I always have to change of methods.

One of them is a preparation of milk with turmeric powder. You have to bring to a boil a cup of milk in a saucepan and put a spoon of turmeric powder. Also a pinch of black pepper and 2 to 3 spoons of honey.

Then drink if before bed. It relax a lot for a better sleep.

Also I play some relaxing tunes or sometimes I spray my bed with lavender oil or any other relaxing essence.

Well some times I have to do all of this at the same time but also I get annoyed for doing this all the time. But I can tell you that this helps for me.

[TobyGrey]

I sleep around 3am and wake by 6am and it's like that everyday. The only time I sleep by 10pm depends on my activity during the day. If I sleep by 10pm, I wake up around 3am.

[MoiveMarcus]

when you sleep at 10pm is that the weekend? and the 3 am to 6 am the weekdays, getting that little sleep everyday seems dangerous, how do you feel through out the day?

[secrets22]

hey Marcus.....well,as you already know my sleep or rather non sleep is a nightmare,and the past 2 nights have been dreadful and not sleeping until 3am and 4 am ,and then getting up again at 6.30am having had very little sleep has made me a wreck,and unfortunately i can never sleep in the day,i just cant,and consequently i end up like a blithering idiot.