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    Living with Anxiety
    3,381 members • 2,374 posts

    Chronic insomnia

    Having trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep and not having quality sleep. Seem to have got into a bit of a vicious cycle and when the alarm goes off I switch it off fall back to sleep (this is when I have the best quality sleep) and don't get up til about 10::00.

    Recently I've also been plagued with some very disturbing nightmares and very odd dreams.

    8 Replies
    oldest • newest

    Hello kez1963 & Welcome :-)

    Nothing worse than having sleep problems and lack of sleep makes everything feel so much worse

    Getting into bad sleeping patterns is so easily done yet so difficult to break the mind is such a powerful thing

    I am not the best sleeper I would say but what I do is I either stay up till I am so tired my eyes are closing or I go to bed and read till I drop to sleep and wake up many a morning with my book on the floor , I try and keep of the internet , TV etc an hour or so before bed as well as I find a shower or bath seems to help relax me to :-)

    This one you may struggle with but if you could try it then it just might help , when your alarm goes of and I know you will be feeling shattered but make yourself get up , as soon as you hear it don't reach out and switch it of but get out of bed and make sure you are awake and ready to go downstairs before you switch it of so you are not tempted to go back to sleep

    Now you will feel tired and for a while you will feel rough but after a while you may also find you start sleeping better as well as breaking the bad sleeping pattern you have got into :-)

    If you are still struggling after trying a few things that speak with your Doctor as you do need to get this sorted :-)

    If you need a chat you know where we are and knowing someone is listening can feel like a weight has been lifted of your shoulders

    Remember the more you worry over sleep the more you will feel anxious which will feed the fear and help to feed the Insomnia

    Take Care x

    Reply

    Thank you for your reply.

    Unfortunately I struggle reading in bed. I cannot seem to be in a comfortable position especially with my neck region. I would need a light on and have to wear glasses . I would worry about breaking/bending them if I fell asleep with them on. I may try listing to music or practising mindfulness.

    I think placing my alarm somewhere out of reach may be my best option and expecting to feel groggy in the morning to begin with.

    This going to sound silly but I worry about disturbing my neighbour if I leave my alarm ringing too long. Perhaps I could put a note through her door to let me know.

    I really don't want to go down the sleeping tablet route. I tried a CBT course. all they could suggest was to get up and do something. I was really interested in 'noise' section of sleep hygiene I can't remember their solution was as it wouldn't apply to tinnitus.

    I'll give somethings a go won't expect instantaneous miracles.

    Reply

    Hello :-)

    Mindfulness or some kind of relaxing music would be great :-)

    I understand about you not wanting to disturb your neighbour but I am sure they would understand and maybe they don't even hear it ?

    Nothing sounds silly on here , we all worry over different things and we totally understand :-)

    Sleeping pills is not always the way that some people want to deal with this and it is not a long term solution which is what we want so give those things a go and you are right it won't be an instant result but the end result maybe worth all your perseverance :-)

    As I said we are a small group but if others have any suggestions that could help I hope they will come along and let you know :-)

    Let us know how you get on :-) x

    Reply

    Hi Kez.

    Lack of sleep is the pits.

    Things are so much worse when we don’t sleep. Well they certainly are for me anyway, 😞

    What does help me are YouTube meditations..there are lots of them to choose from. My mind will still,often wander off when I listen to them but I keep bringing it back to what is being said and it works ,,Jason Stephenson does a lot of them for sleep...I usually use one that is about an hour long but never get anywhere near to the end or it’s rare ...

    Good wishes

    🌺🌼🌺🌼

    2 likes
    Reply

    Thank you for your kindness. I might give it a go. I try not to use devices such as smartphones/tablets in my bedroom.

    Reply

    I have just bought a "sleep light" from Avon cosmetics It's a little battery operated light that shines a beam on the ceiling It slowly goes on and off and you breathe with it You have to keep at it but after about 10 mins my brain totally stops racing the breathing takes over and I drift off It turns itself off after 30 mins I'm thrilled with it I've bought one for a friend as a birthday present as she suffers from depression and it says it's good for that too

    It was £10 and I know you can get it online

    With regards to the nightmares are you on any medication only some can have that as a side effect I was put on some a couple of years ago for my bad hayfever I get with the grass pollen and I felt really black and had terrible nightmares I never thought to look at the leaflet but it was listed on it

    Good luck 😊

    2 likes
    Reply

    Thank you for the suggestion of the sleep light. I didn't know such a thing existed! I'll look into it. I'm on antihistamines and an inhaler. I've a disagreement with pollen. I'll have to dig out the drug information sheet. Never even gave it a thought.

    The other night I was Princess Eugene on her wedding day!?

    Thank you for your kindness.

    Reply

    Today I managed to get up at 07:45 despite not switching the light of till close to midnight.

    To be honest I really didn't want to get up and it was a real struggle not to climb back into bed. I felt groggy and rough for about 45 mins. Despite this I chose to do some much needed washing up and the groggy feeling went plus I was dead chuffed with how much I got done.

    Reply

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