Insomnia

[Loopylou89]

Hi everyone been awhile ... So iv had countless doctors appointments lately iv struggled with the chronic fatigue for years and waking in the night not being able to sleep and sleep disturbances lately I can’t sleep night or day and my body is so exhausted it shuts off but my brain is still going I hear everything like conversations but my body and eyes won’t / can’t wake up it’s horrible anyway been to doctors three times over two weeks and she has referred me for talking to a counsellor has anybody else tried this I’m struggling to see how this would help any advice or similar stories would be much appreciated thanks sending love xxx

[Ljcprockish123]

I think that because of what fibromyalgia is the natural courses to see a counselor of some kind even a psychiatrist perhaps maybe there is some chemical imbalances when you have fibromyalgia especially I think if you've had it for any amount of years your Chemistry has to change in your body I would imagine. I know that I have gone that route because I believe that if my body stays in a certain state like maybe depression or like you were talking about you can't sleep but your brain keeps going and going and going and going and can't stop like you can't even pick a thought out of the air, I truly believe that my body became used to that that state or those States therefore something had to be done it would have been nice if I could have just started and had counseling but they don't like to do that too much would like to give you pills and I think even though maybe what they were saying was true at that time there were no test that you can come up with that conclude the diagnosis is that I was given during the years that I went through that in fact I think it made me worse. I do feel guilty a lot which never helps but I think talking to someone who someone that you know can refer you to could not hurt. I'm just throwing this out there for anybody else who might be in our same position which I'm guessing is quite a few people huh LOL my doctor a long time ago diagnosed me with Epstein-Barr syndrome. I have had doctors ask me since that time why would your doctor test for that and I really truly could not remember the reason until I went back into my medical records the tiredness the pain the anemia they all followed a pattern of that syndrome which is really just not just but it's lying dormant in your body a lot of times just waiting for you to run yourself down it's comes from you know the teenage kissing disease of mono. I don't know if this'll do anything for anyone but knowing that and that there is a blood test for that and there is something that shows I get anemic even though they can't figure out in a blood test or urine sample fibromyalgia they just have to believe you and press on certain places and say you have it or chronic fatigue syndrome same thing but the symptoms all seems so similar how can you delineate from the other? Sometimes this is the only thing that gives me hope and sometimes that's all I need is a little hope take care

[ALKT]

sound like the familiar wired but tired very common with M E something to do with high cortisol levels at the wrong times. you could check out the subject on Phoenix rising or science for M E web sites .both sites have some very knowledgeable people when it comes down to M E and its symptoms . their is also the possibility that your thyroid gland needs checking wishing you some relief .

[Loopylou89]

Thanks for the replies I'm glad I was just handed pills and sent on my merry way maybe talking might be good fibro comes with some many feelings it might be good to talk and maybe that it could be some subconscious anxiety that's keeping my brain in overdrive guess I'll have to wait and see

[Marz in reply to Loopylou89]

Sleep disturbances can be linked to adrenals. There is a 24 Hour Saliva Test that can be done Privately through the post through various companies which is more informative than the NHS blood test done early in the morning. Cortisol is better lower at night to let you sleep and higher in the morning for your get up and go !

Also low thyroid can disrupt sleep badly - have you been tested ?

[Dinkie]

Insomnia is the pits. I hate it. Those lonely hours in the middle of the night when your mind goes over and over different things from the absurd to the ridiculous. I paid to see a therapist privately and the talking therapy was useful to an extent, the hypnotherapy was good and I go periodically when insomnia gets so bad and when I can afford it. She taught me a technique whereby you imagine you are by a flowing stream along the stream on the water are large leaves. For every thought you have think of plucking them from your brain and place them on the leaf and watch them float away, takes some doing as the mind wanders to begin with then once you have mastered that put it together with the controlled breathing breathe in for 5 and out for 5 but not too deeply.

[carmenp1]

Hi Loopylou89, I also can't see how seeing a counsellor can help with insomnia. Insomnia is part of the symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. It's a physical condition not a mental one. I struggled for 6 years with my GP and even the psychiatrists and counsellors he sent me to, to try to get them to understand that I was happy, not depressed, just exhausted, in pain and now have recently been relieved to discover from my online research on fibro that my insomnia is a symptom of fibro. Don't make your GP your only source of information on your symptoms. GP's can be overwhelmed and don't give each patient the time needed to properly diagnose. It can be an easy way out for them to just send you off to a counsellor but only medication can help you with insomnia. I can't sleep without any medication. I spent two weeks trying to sleep without any meds and I didn't sleep. Something is wrong but it is a physical issue. I hope you can get the right help. One more thing... I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue but took years for them to diagnose the fibromyalgia. The symptoms were there from the start. So what are these Dr's. thinking... if you know your diagnosis you are in a better place to deal with the symptoms which are like a puzzle and unconnected but when they are connected to the cause can be dealt with using the right medication.