Hi everyone
l have been treatingb12 deficiency for about 5 months now with cyanocobalamin injections. Though I have been having insomnia, it is getting worse. For more than 6 days now I have not slept for more than 2 hrs in the night. I don't sleep the in day time. Please can someone help me with information. My doctor told me it's a psychological problem. Please help save me.
General recommendations around insomnia would be to check you are doing everything you can to maximise your chances of getting good sleep.This would include
Avoid caffeine in the afternoon
Get some exposure to daylight outside in the morning
Avoid screen usage for at least an hour before bed
Avoid bright light for an hour before bed.
Avoid eating late.
Get into a regular habbit, ie don't vary the time you get to bed or you get up.
For some, increasing efforts to sleep leads into a vicious cycle which creates more difficulties in sleeping. I found the approach from Daniel at the Sleep Coach School to be the most helpful : m.youtube.com/watch?v=MTr_e.... I still do some mild "sleep hygiene" like reducing light in the bedroom etc and still take some magnesium and CBD Oil before bed, but I don't expect these to "make me sleep" - the main thing is to not make any deliberate effort to sleep at all. This was the only thing that worked for my insomnia (and I had several months of 1-2 hours sleep when I started treatment).
Hi Technoid, The video makes a LOT of sense. I spend so much time during the day/early evening wondering if I'll be sleeping well that night...especially when I know I must get up extra early the next morning. But when I think about it, it's those nights when I'm reading or watching TV and not thinking about having to get to sleep I doze off. Now staying asleep is another matter...😳
I feel you Agala, so frustrating. I'm struggling with that right now. I bought a watch to monitor my sleep because of it. My sleep scores is an average of 48 out of 100. I take cyanocobalamin too, daily. I like to play sleep sounds, it helps clear my spinning mind. I have outside influences too like an aging dog with more health problems than me. Leaky bladder that wakes me, so I put a bed aside commode so I wouldn't have to wake completely by walking all the way to the bathroom multiple times a night. It has helped. I use Marijuana, but it is legal here, I wear earplugs and that really helps me quiet the outside world and I can hear my own self-breathing which actually soothes me and helps me relax. Definitely don't drink anything with caffeine before you go to sleep. My stomach Burns at night so I do actually eat a piece of toast with almond butter so that my stomach burn is less and that helps me get to sleep. Staying asleep is a huge problem but so is falling asleep. I made sure last night that I put my 3 little dogs outside my bedroom, closed the door, put in ear plugs and played forest sleep sounds and I finally got 5.36 hours of sleep. It's 7 am now, so I'm going to try and catch a few more hours. Good luck. I also try not to take naps during the day even though I'm tired because then I won't be tired at night.
Can't wait to watch the video technoid posted
I had horrible insomnia but once I began receiving regular b12 injections, it subsided. The key is to receive frequent enough injections to recover and then to maintain symptom-free. I got better on weekly injections which is also my maintenance dose. No problems sleeping now. Good luck to you. I know what a vicious cycle it is and lack of sleep can really mess with your mind. Sometimes it can take a while to recover because the brain is working to repair itself. I took a very low dose fast acting antidepressant for 6 months that helped to bridge the gap until I was better with just the b12 injections. It is the only time I’ve ever taken an antidepressant in my life and before long I no longer needed it. My neurologist told me that it takes one year for the brain to recover from b12 deficiency, with treatment so your blood levels may be great but still symptomatic. Hope this helps.
This most definitely helps me, mcg-woo! In fact it directly answers my question. Yes of course it makes sense that the poor brain, deprived of B12 (for decades in my case) is going to take at least a year to recover! But I’m the meantime at least I know that my brain is working to repair itself. I used to suffer brain fog & dyslexia in my childhood, teens & early 20s. This all started to fade when I started meditating at 23 and then in my early 30s when I did a lot of work to reduce my stress & trauma. Now my memory and ability to focus have never been as good but I still struggle with insomnia.
Great! I’m glad you find it helpful. One more thing that I’ve noticed: when my b12 levels dip even a little, I am not able to tolerate even small amounts of caffeine. I don’t normally drink caffeine, except to treat migraines, but when I do and my levels are just a bit off, I would have problems with insomnia and anxiety. If my b12 levels are nice and healthy, then I am able to tolerate small amounts of caffeine without symptoms. It’s definitely a fine balance. I hope you are able to find some relief. I have been there and I know the misery. From my experience, the higher my b12 levels, the better I sleep. B12 is involved in the synthesis of melatonin, so it makes perfect sense! I agree—though I am much better, I don’t think I will ever have the memory and focus that I had before or maybe I’m just getting older! Best of luck!
Ok. You wouldn’t believe this but I still drink coffee. Sometimes 3 cups a day 🤪😜😳Your reply inspires me to now try cut out all coffee for a week or so and see does it make any difference. I just love coffee - my last bastion of indulgence 🥲😬. Even the alcohol has been banished. I’ll get back to you and report on any changes.
🙏
I love coffee too but it seems to contribute to migraines for me so I gave it up years ago. Even small amounts seem to trigger them. I may occasionally drink something with caffeine, such as iced tea and as long as my b12 levels are high, it doesn’t affect me. The only other times I drink caffeine is to treat a migraine attack—very effective with my meds. I would be careful because cutting caffeine too quickly is bound to cause headaches due to the caffeine dependency. I would try to cut back gradually and try to get those b12 levels up. Have you tried any melatonin? Talk to your doctor. It can be used in larger amounts under a doctor’s care. Good luck and keep us posted!
Apart from this wonderful gynecologist in Holland, who put me into the B12 and progesterone capsules- I don’t have a doctor here in Ireland, certainly not a doctor with whom I could discuss using melatonin. I’ve self treated with diet, herbs and other natural remedies for many decades now. Am in pretty good health.
B12 is involved in the synthesis of melatonin
Next time I have a consultation with her, I’ll discuss this.
Thanks again.
When I started receiving B12 shots it gave me insomnia. Fortunately for me the insomnia usually lasted for only a couple of nights after I got the shot. Here are some things that seemed to help; magnesium/calcium supplements taken before retiring for the night. Iron supplements. I know this sounds crazy but I read an article about how a rare side effect of iron deficiency. If I’m having a night where I just lay there and cannot get to sleep I’ll take my iron supplement the next morning and it usually fixes the problem. Exercise outside helps with my sleep. If worries are keeping me awake I try to tell myself that I have to stay awake and I try to keep my eyes open for as long as I can. Telling myself to do the opposite works better for me than telling my self I have to go to sleep. Good luck. I hope this helps.
These sound bizarre but give them a try, maybe one will work for you -
One nostril breathing. Choose one nostril to close, do not switch to the other like yogic breathing. Breathe in and out like that ten times. Apparently this balances the brain for sleep.
Wide fake yawns - five times.
There is a pressure point on the inside.of your wrist that induces sleep. Press on it for an extended time (as I am writing this out I am wondering if you have tried acupuncture)
These are all via an osteopath.. I don't suffer anymore since b12 supplementation- makes me wonder about too infrequent injections - but the first one worked well when I did..
My suggestion would be first, to switch to hydroxocobalamin if possible, then have chamomile tea or capsules before bed to relax the mind.
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