MY ptsd started little over 6 months ago..sleep deprivation and insomnia being the biggest contention. lack of sleep and sleep deprivation drove me to the point of mania months ago..since then I've gotten past that. but now it feel like I'm at the beginning again...the sleep symptoms and deprivation never lift..and it feels as though I'm right back where i started...i though i made progress in the beginning of the week with 2 mights of very shallow and very unrestful sleep...but I'm right back to the insomnia and lack of sleep.
I guess my post is more of a question of what anyone thinks a good plan of action is to impove sleep to any kind that is restful. Ive been pursuing a sleep study but I'm not sure what answers that will bring. I'm avoiding taking antipsychotics that my psychiatrist have been trying to prescribe me..i have taken seroquel prior with no major help or improvement and would honestly love to find how to sleep naturally and restfully. I Most lie awake for hours in a shallow state for hours then to become completely wired feeling around 4am.
really not sure what to do at the point and I'm frankly tried and fed up and have no energy and am completely exhausted ...used to be an athlete and i have been noticing my muscles shrink and wither away with the giant sleep deprivation.
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mikewashere
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Have you tried aerobic exercise to help bring your body down? Other things that help guided imagery for sleep, a night routine before bed, a relaxing bath. I hope this helps.
I suffer a bit from this. When anything is on my mind I tend to just lie awake all night, getting the odd little bit of sleep for maybe half an hour.
I have found no way of curing it only to do a lot of exercise to tire the mind and body out. I drink cold water about 30 minutes before going to bed. I find that helps reset the mind and body.
After that I hope for the best. I just try to drop off. Some nights it doesn't happen. Those are scary but I get through them.
It's trial and error and the main thing is to keep trying.
For several years i have had unrelenting insomnia and exhaustion related to complex ptsd. by choice and due to being extremely hypersensitive to psychotropic medications, i do not take medication. during the past year i have been blessed to work with a healing touch practitioner who is also a yoga teacher. she recommended a yoga practice called yoga nidra and i have been using guided yoga nidra cd's and also have found on utube various yoga nidra guided practices that i have been using daily sometimes several times per day and through the night when i am unable to sleep regardless of my deep exhaustion. sometimes it has been my only relief from obsessive, intrusive thoughts and memories, and it has provided me at least with some rest and stillness of mind when i think i am going crazy and will never get well or get any good sleep. after many months of using this practice i am pleased to say that i am finding it very helpful. gradually, little by little, i am experiencing some lessening of my anxieties and improvement in my ability to calm myself and find some peace of mind and body at night. i hope this might be helpful.
Yes thank you I'm glad something is beginning to work for you. i Have been going to acupuncture 3 times a week and it does bring me calming...i do suffer from racing thoughts at times still. let me know about your progress and if your sleep improves. Im really hoping i can get to a place of deeper sleep..well sleep in general soon i truly need it. Its crazy how extreme stress/anxiety or prolonged stress can disrupt a persons nervous system so much.
i truly understand how crazy making chronic ongoing sleep deprivation can be and how it affects one's daily functioning on every level. i also have been seeing an accupuncturist once a week for the past year. when i began this healing journey in earnest i was desperate for any moments of calm, stillness, rest, and peace of mind. i felt like so many years of chronic stress had totally fried my nervous system. i am realizing that healing takes far more time and perseverence than i had imagined, and it takes one day and one night at a time. it has not been a linear nor straight path for me, and i'm certain it is different for each of us. as i just keep going though i have more moments of hope and i keep holding on to these little signs of progress. yoga nidra is described by some as deep rest with awareness, and even if i don't have much deeper sleep, yet, i know that this rest and calming experience is helping my nervous system in healing. in many of my darkest times i had wished and prayed for some kind of miraculous instant enlightenment and rewiring of my brain and thought processes. and sleep!! i am more accepting now of the ongoing nature of healing and recovery, and although frustrating and difficult with many ups and downs, i believe that if i keep learning and growing, if i continue with good practices and good helpers, little by little, i will continue healing even when it is not obvious to me. i will shout with joy some day, some morning, i will have slept and feel rested, i will let you know. best wishes !
What have you found to bring you real restful sleep? the kind where you drift off comfortably, and wake up feeling refreshed knowing you got some sleep...i ask because i have literally gone months without any kind of sleep at all, and now some nights I'm able to get some weird very shallow sleep often wakening as early as 2am and all times feel completely unrested or refreshed. i often wake up shaking or with tremors because of how unrested my body is and i feel as though its breaking down.
Have u tied listening to relaxation music whilst in bed. When I was at my worst like yourself that gave me some relief. what helped most was reassuring myself mentally that î would be ok now and am in a safe environment away from abusive ppl. I would love and comfort myself as best as I could aswell as try so hard not to believe the anxiety thoughts either. In the end it worked and my sleeping conditions improved. I would even hug myself in order to comfort myself and that helped also. I've always found positive self talk to help counteract the worrisome thoughts very beneficial once you feel safe and secure. Remind yourself that your safe now even though your functioning on minimal sleep. Tell yourself its not forever and that u had another restless sleep but it will soon pass also. You need to allow your mind to relax as best as it can. Soothe yourself in whatever way helps you. Maybe candles to lower ambience, gentle music, a nice smell such as incense or aromotherapy, etc. Once your mind realises your environment is safe it too will come around to the changes.
Wishing u best of luck and long peaceful deep sleep.
It's so odd you sound like me... same meds and sleep habit. I know that I have been looking more towards sleep phase disorder. Like we are just on a whole other schedule then most people. I think stressing out about it and having pressure to go to sleep by a certain time only makes it worse. The pressure of it all can make me get like 3-4 hrs of sleep which I just barely can think on. I think people like us have to just take the pressure off and stop going against what our body wants to do. Sometimes I like to look up different places in the world that are up when I am. Like maybe I'm not all these other things.... maybe I'm just living in the wrong place in wrong time zone? lol I hope you can take the pressure off and have an awesome nights sleep for both of us! lol
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