First of all I know that I probably don't have RS but I don't know the symptoms of it. And I couldn't find any other sleeping community
Hello! I'm a 14 year old girl who suffers from bad middle of the night insomnia and something's regular insomnia.
This has been happening for years now EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! I wake up around 3 times a night and it'll take 10-30 minutes to get back to sleep. O wake up for no good reason - nothing to wake me up.
I don't know what to do!!! My parents know and they've tried to help like looking for a kid friendly herbal medicine and we've seen a doctors and the doctor even said to our faces that she doesn't know anything about sleep and that all she knows is that we shouldn't start proper medication at my age which I agree with
I know that I've already posted before but that was before I visited the doctor (which didn't help)
If you want to read my previous post then feel free! I have good sleep hygiene, I drink warm milk before I go to bed and as far as I know I'm healthy.
Please please reply as fast as you can, and as much as you can even if someone else has commented - I need as much help as possible because I just don't know what to do!! Help
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ErinGarnett
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Erin i remember you posting before. Did your doctor just dismiss you and said they couldnt help you. Any blood tests..? Any referral to a sleep specialist..?
Are you in the USA or UK, i cant remember. Your doctor should have been more supportive and if saying they dont know anything about sleep, should have referred you to some one who does know about sleep and who could hopefully give you some answers.
Hi Erin. Often when people are experiencing sleep problems it is down to stresses and worries - even when people are not aware they are stressed!
Have you had any big events in life, are you under any pressure or have many worries?
We very quickly look for a physical cause to our problrms but at times it is our minds.
Could be worth keeping a book beside the bed writing down anything that bothered you that day with a plan to address the issues at a later date. This has worked for some.
Sleep hygiene is another thing to look at. I know you say it is good but have you avoided all phones/tablets/PCs prior to bed for a couple of hours? It is amazing the effects of those devices:
When this is looked at then physical health can be a problem. Erin, you are a young girl in puberty and that in itself has a huge impact on the body with hormones raging and all POSSIBLY affecting sleep - some info here:
I'd appreciate a link to your other post and has your DR carried out any tests or spoken with you about stress or pressure?
On the plus side you don't have RLS and that is a blessing - a HUGE BLESSING.
Take care
in reply to
I noticed in the link raffs posted about the possibility of hormones being a cause, (which I still think could easily be the problem), they mention caffeine. I remember you said you are very active and athletic. You don't drink those sports drinks, do you?? They are loaded with caffeine AND sugar, and both are stimulants. Fruit juices have actually a little more sugar in them than soda, so you need to avoid them as well, even though they are marketed as healthy. The fructose content is off the charts.
Back to the hormone connection- heavy exercise which is a form of stress on your body, can trigger what they call anovulatory cycles, a menstrual cycle where you don't ovulate, and if you don't ovulate, you don't produce progesterone. Since you've reposted, I decided to look it up. "The types of stress most likely to induce inovulatory cycles are heavy exercise and extremely low calorie intake ...stress causes estrogen dominance, which then causes insomnia and anxiety, which pulls on the adrenals, which then creates more estrogen dominance." (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause by John R. Lee, MD, p. 49-50.) I realize this book is written for much older women, but it still applies in that heavy exercise will mess with your hormones. I just keep thinking your lifestyle of lots of physical activity has a part in all this. And yes, doctors can be pretty much worthless this way. Did you notice the title to the book??
If you're desperate enough, you might try going to a health food store, get some progesterone cream, and use maybe half the recommended dose. It's transdermal- it is absorbed through the soft skin like on your neck, wrists, inside upper arms, etc. Use it at night, give it a couple weeks at least, then if you need to, try upping the dose to the full amount. Go gradually, and give it some time. Hormones are tricky. And the trickiest part is that it should be used in cycles, though progesterone is pretty benign. You might go looking for a forum with people who know a lot more than I do about this. Try googling "estrogen dominance forum" and see what comes up. You may even need to find an OB/GYN. I get my hormones from an apothecary, the natural stuff, but prescription only. If you should have an apothecary in your area, you might try asking them about which doctors in the area will prescribe natural stuff. They are the most likely to know what they're talking about.
If you are drinking stuff with caffeine and sugar, cut that mess out first and see if that helps before resorting to the hormone thing.
Dr. Jacobs at Harvard University has developed a 5 week sleep program you can do on your own at home. It uses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy which is just a systematic way of changing the way you think about sleeping. For example, it is perfectly normal to wake a few times during the night, even get up for a while. I went through the course on line at my Kaiser Health Plan web site. You could check out Jacobs book at the library, or pay about $35 to go through the course online at cbtforinsomnia.com. You will learn all about sleep and how to prepare for it. The method has a better success rate than medicines people take to sleep. And be sure to educate your doctor about this method.
You need to get your parents to DEMAND that you get a referral to a sleep doctor. We are limited as to what we can say to you, since you are only 14. Your parents HAVE to advocate for you. I know I was very surprised when I was looking thru different groups today and did not find one for sleep issues or Insomnia. That is nuts.
Totally agree, you need someone who will stand up to the apathy of Drs. At the very least they should have been some tests, or some sort of support. Another example of a poor Dr.
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