Anybody Out There?

[Cheetahone]

Hi everyone who is not sleeping. Just trying to reach out and find some friendly people or those who can use a simple hello how are you, to let some friends into their lives, and ease the loneliness.

How was your night and day? Good, bad or more of the same?

Yesterday I slept over 12 hours and today I slept just 6. Can’t seem to find a happy middle ground. I am aiming for 7-8 hours a night. So at least 6 hours is closer than 12+.

Looking forward to hearing from you all and hopefully you can find some peace of mind by connecting even a little.

[SaladQueen]

Hello, I’m the same. Can I ask how old you are? I’m 58 and my sleep has got steadily worse as I’ve got older.

[Cheetahone in reply to SaladQueen]

Sure, I’m 68 years young. I have had bouts with sleep since I was younger. Also, though I’m not sure how true it is, I’ve read that older people need less sleep. But 5 to 6 hours seems too short.

[SaladQueen in reply to Cheetahone]

My grandfather would fall asleep in his chair for hours so I’m not sure how true that is 😆. 5 to 6 is too short I’m sure. My mother and my friends over 60 all seem to have erratic sleep. I’m all or nothing myself too. I try to eat nuts and take vitamin D and have warm milk etc. Have you googled?

[Cheetahone in reply to SaladQueen]

Actually, I turned vegan and I lost over 50 lbs and got off cholesterol and blood pressure medications. So, the effects are pretty dramatic. My depression has gotten better but it’s still interfering with my sleep schedule. I take 50mg sertraline but may need an increase.

[SaladQueen in reply to Cheetahone]

My goodness that is truly amazing, well done you!

[Dolphin14 in reply to Cheetahone]

You are not that old I remember my mother in her very late 70-80 saying that. All our bodies are different though.

Is your brain spinning?

I slept 12 hours twice this week. Haven't done that in over 15 years. I feel horrible sleeping that long but at the same time I hate to complain.

🐬

[Cheetahone in reply to Dolphin14]

I wouldn’t be sorry about sleeping that long as for some reason your body needs it. As for complaining, what good is it if you can’t state the facts?🙂

[Dolphin14 in reply to Cheetahone]

So true!! You are 100% correct

I'm on meds and it messed up my med cycle that's one reason I hate it.

Are you on meds? You do r have to answer that if you don't want. But I have a whopper of a headache because my schedule is off

[Cheetahone in reply to Dolphin14]

No problem, I’ve posted it before. I’m on sertraline 50mg for the last 4 months.

That’s a good point. I never considered how taking the pills at different times can affect their effectiveness. Got to work on that.

[Dolphin14 in reply to Cheetahone]

I mentioned this to my psychiatrist. After years of telling me she wanted me to sleep things got quite comical when she said I might have to set an alarm to get my meds in on time. We had a good laugh on that.

If I'm more than 3 hours behind on my morning meds it takes my body time to catch up.

We will figure it all out as we go

[Cheetahone in reply to Dolphin14]

I was considering asking for an increase in dosage but based on your post I think I’ll wait on that and try to take the meds on a consistent schedule. Thanks for the advice and insight.

[Dolphin14 in reply to Cheetahone]

Maybe have the discussion with your prescriber. I would love to know what their thoughts are if you decide to discuss with them

[Cheetahone in reply to Dolphin14]

Thanks, I will talk with my prescriber in February at my next appointment. I will try to let you know her suggestion.

[Dolphin14 in reply to Cheetahone]

Awesome

Best of luck

[Downinil]

Hi Cheetahone! Connection on here has helped me tremendously. I struggle with sleep some nights. Sleep deprivation makes everything feel worse.

[Cheetahone in reply to Downinil]

You’re right Downinil about sleep deprivation. I just replied to someone else who inspired me about how it messes with depression and anxiety meds.

As for help from this site, you’re right again. My therapist said it was a great idea and even that she was proud of me. That alone helped ease my mind.

[Downinil]

Lack of enough sleep feeds into the depression.

[Cheetahone in reply to Downinil]

You’re so right. I also found that sleeping too much doesn’t help with depression either. When I sleep too long I wake up feeling tired and depressed and anxious.

[Downinil in reply to Cheetahone]

I find that so as well. We need a sleep schedule.

[TheBooG]

how are you, hope you’re doing well, I’m in Michigan where are you?

[Cookie2217 in reply to TheBooG]

PA

[Cheetahone in reply to TheBooG]

I’m in IL

[Cookie2217]

Well hi there. I'm up tonight. We have snow tonight about 8 in. My husband was trying to get the car up a hill with ice slid into the fn dumpster. Broken headlight now. Paul my husband then falls backwards smashing his head on same hill of ice. Hope he doesn't have a concussion. What a night huh

[Firinne]

No sleep at all last night. It's nearly 9 a.m. here in the UK. My sleep is dreadful but I don't have a good sleep schedule, I'm not good at keeping regular sleep hours, it was gone 3 a.m. when I switched my light off last night. I have taken 1 mg of Lorazapam a night for about 6 years which is no longer working but I'm worried about stopping it, as I've read scare stories about bad effects from stopping it. I'm female, married, 78 years old.

[primrose81]

Hi Firine, you could always try taking a half Lorazapam for a month or 6 weeks and then just a quarter for the same period of time. The trick is to take it slowly. I’m 72 and after reading up about it decided I would be better off without it, I had been on it for 13? years or so, and on Diazapam before that. I had been taking a low maintenance dose of 1 mg for a while before trying the half mg. My psychiatrist at the time said to come off it once I had got down to 1 mg but I opted for slow withdrawal as it’s a powerful drug to come off even though it stops having an effect after a while. I would always go by what Dr Heather Ashton says, The Ashton Manual is brilliant - it is all about the detrimental effect of benzos like Lorazapam and how to come off them/ taper the dose very gradually indeed to avoid horrendous side effects. Good luck!

[primrose81]

Hi Cheetahone, I wake up at least 3 times a night and consider 6 hours is about enough for me but often only have 3 or 4 hours sleep. Consequently get through loads of books - the last one was called The Bee Sting and had 676 pages and it lasted less than 2 weeks with me… great book though. I think it’s your attitude to sleep that matters ie not to stress about it, I think we can do well on less sleep - cavemen apparently got very little sleep as they had to be on constant alert for predators coming into the cave…

[SsgCulldelight]

Hi and yeah we here, the best sheep for test is between 9pm and 4am, that's when your body recharges. According to science and the cosmos the magnetic belt out val Allen belt reverses polarity after 12am to recharge for the next 24, look it up as you know our sleep cycles are connected to and part of our circadian rhythm. Try it and be diligent. Cheers

[Pitalife]

Try music or white noise files on YouTube,rain sounds,storms,helps me relax n get sleep,I'm chronic insomniac n have trouble STAYING asleep. .hope you find something you like on YouTube just type in noises for sleep...good luck to you...

[glpike]

I stop using all electronics about 1 hour before sleeping including cell phone, TV etc. then I slowly take 10 deep breathes through the nose and out through the mouth and again when I wake. It helps. Our bodies build tolerance to Benzos and alcohol then needing more. I know after taking Alprazolam for two years. I'm not saying to stop due to side effects. Maybe another one will help more for awhile. Cognitive and behavior therapy has also helped me.

[casablancalover14]

Hi, I hope your day was a nice one. I get between 6-7 hours of sleep at night, but wish I could get 8. I seem to do good with this, I guess some people need more rest.I would love to chat!😇😇

[Ellelou1]

thanks so much . I agree connection is very important . Loneliness is not fun and having no connection is just not good for the soul