Introduction

[MissUnderstoodB]

Hello

I've suffered from INSOMNIA for the past 12 years and have been on a specific antidepressant that helps with sleep since however I still struggle. I felt really alone so I've joined this group.

Love for all mankind

MissUnderstoodB

[WestysWifey]

Hi, welcome to the group.

You have most definitely come to the right place 😁🤗.

I also suffer from Insomnia & have so far had 2 sleep studies done via a sleep disorder centre.

The 1st sleep study showed that I had mixed sleep apnea although mostly central apnea & that I didn't have any other sleep stages except a very abnormal 84% deep sleep, which my sleep consultant had never ever seen in all his many long years of being a sleep Dr (He's rather old lol) but he thought that it was all down to me being on Opiates because I am a chronic pain sufferer.

That study was done a year ago now & at the time i was given a sleep apnoea machine (ASV) kinda like a cpap machine but for central apnoea & if I managed to fall asleep before I was given the machine I would never sleep longer than 2-3hrs & after I got given the ASV machine & had gotten used to wearing it, (& still hated having to use it) my amount of sleep had gotten much worse & I was down to 1-1.5hrs sleep (If I fell asleep which was still very rare just like before I got the machine).

A couple of weeks ago I asked my sleep consultant if he could retest me with another sleep study because I had gotten myself off of the morphine & had luckily found a painkiller that was still strong but wasn't opiate based at all (Yayy go me lolz) so I said to him that it would be good to have another one now I'm off of it so you can get a true reading & clearly be able to see what is going on with my sleep cycles etc & he agreed.

I had this done last week & haven't had my telephone appointment yet to get my results but I am very intrigued to find out what they have shown, as well as I'm praying that I no longer have any form of sleep apnoea. I gave my machine back to the sleep clinic as I had stopped using it due to it just making things worse (even though I never thought it would be possible for my sleep to get worse).

So far I am still stuck in a rut & are back to square one & the maximum amount of sleep I get in a week is roughly 10hrs & even with that I still never wake up feeling refreshed.

Have you asked your GP to refer you to a sleep disorder centre for a sleep study? If not I would definitely recommend you do.

Another thing I have come to notice is that a lot of meditations have insomnia & fatigue as a side effect of them & so it may be worth also asking your GP to swap the ones that do have that as a common side effect for another medication that doesn't.

I have got an appointment next week to change my happy pills (antidepressants) for ones that don't include insomnia,fatigue & dizziness as I suffer extremely bad.

Anyway, I hope I have given you a good head start with some ideas on how to hopefully get to the root cause of your insomnia issue & I am quite sure that you will get other members commenting on your status with other great ideas you can try because this group is really helpful & friendly.

Insight timer is a good app on the play store (has a brown bowl in a white background) there are plenty of good guided meditations for insomnia sufferers on there which have on occasion helped me so its worth trying out if you can take time out & learn mediation.

I wish you every success with getting a well rested sleep & hope it is sooner than later.

Hugs

Nikki (UK)

[AnIslandOfPeace]

I hope you feel better, dear. And about being alone, may I be your friend?

[zeldab4scott]

Hi MissUnderstoodB, Westyswifey, Anislandofpeace, insomnia is lonely... like wandering in a wilderness lost, and then the day comes and you get another chance.. to really address it, to look at your habits... what can you change, what is helpful, what is not helpful... In my case I know I'm addicted to screens, have a laptop and a phone where I can reach them all night! I pretend that it "helps" me to have access to meditation apps and lulling youtube videos, but that is no longer true for me, instead I look up disturbing news stories and read alarming health stories... I am only fooling myself. I can change some of my habits, I've done it before. I also have a dog in my bed who has a flea problem every summer, no matter what I try for her, so that is disturbing her sleep and mine! This morning I dusted her butt with diatomaceous earth, in addition to her flea meds, lol, and I'm heading out to store to get a different flea med... tonight I plan to keep the screens in another room and have some tea before bed, maybe a good book... helps to say it here... what will you try to change up, to make your sleep a priority?

[Goldilocks11]

Hi MissUnderstoodB,

I've had insomnia on and off for 17 years. I don't panic about it now but listen to the radio quietly and try to relax. Sometimes I'm lucky to drift off to sleep. I take zolpidem to give me a break if I haven't slept for a few days.

You are not alone x