Awake again

[Skyblue1202]

So I got a few hours of sleep. Yay. But now I'm wide awake. Any tips on how to get back to sleep. I'm just laying listening to my husband sleep and I cant seem to get back to sleep. So frustrating

[Hidden]

Get out of bed. The worst thing you can do is lie in bed awake.

Get up, do something boring, ironing, reading a dull book you've already read, Bore yourself back to sleep.

OR get up and stay up, don't sleep and stay active for the day. Go to bed at your usual hour, not a minute earlier. Keep doing this until your body gets the message that being awake at night is boring and it will start to fall into a routine as you continue.

IF you are working, can you do any work at home at night while awake? If not working, don't worry, just get up and do what housework you can without wakening hubby.

Routine is one of the greatest assets to sleep. What is driving the insomnia? Have you anxiety or stress issues? Is there a health issue that is causing discomfort? Have you worked yourself into bad habits - alcohol or caffeine at night, using the computer or phone close to bed time? Identifying the source of the problem is a must - insomnia is a symptom of something else. Find the something else and you have the solution to your insomnia.

Hope that helps, take care.

[Hidden]

I have this problem too. My insomnia is not a symptom, I have a messed up body clock/circadian rhythm disorder. I’m working with a sleep specialist, but far from finding the right regime. I even tried a new med he gave me last night it gave me 50 minutes of sleep.

After you have exhausted the above posters sleep hygiene checks, getting out of bed and doing something to 1) shut of the noise going on in your mind 2) get tired again and lay down at the first sign of sleepiness.

Important factor when anxiety keeps you awake, do not nap in the daytime. Staying awake all day builds a strong sleep drive so that at night your sleep onset should be fairly quick, but if you do not stay asleep repeat getting of bed after 25-30 minutes.

Exercise and good diet as keeping a daily schedule and limiting time in bed might improve your sleep. For example if you need 6 hours snd need to wake at 6:00 am, your bedtime should start 12:00 midnight, if you do not get much sleep, you’ll have to fight this, but repetitive nights could rewire your sleep.

Why it doesn’t work for me is I have sleep wake disorder, I have up 3 times a day (I can only sleep approx 2-3 hours at a time) when my body allows opportunity for sleep, very complex to correct without meds and severe sleep restriction.

I’m noting exerbated my sleep problem though with getting out of bed, for me I believe I created a condition where i wake in the same range of hours every night, my doc calls this conditioned arousal. Just caution and maybe take a few sleep notes to see if you are creating bad habits at night.

Anyhoo, when in doubt and you’ve exhausted all you can on your own, time to see a doc. Health checkup, anxiety management. I wish you luck and an abundance of sleep.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/153...

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

In my case I have no causative physical or related condition as a reason. My insomnia isn’t actually insomnia, it’s more of a nuisance or a social issue as I actually can get enough sleep through a 24 hour period, but sleep deprivation is still a major problem when awake only after a couple hours sleep.

This does not rule out others being a symptom, but mine is not.

[Trill in reply to Hidden]

Ever got tested for Periodic Limb Movement Disorder?

[Hidden in reply to Trill]

I had a sleep study last July. No PLMD/RLS or APNEA.

[Skyblue1202]

Thanks for all your tips. I do have anxiety and also sleep apnea so that doesnt help either.

I'm trying hard to not sleep in the day but absolutely shattered already.

[Crystal999]

I have this problem too, and also suffer from horrible nightmares. Has anybody found any medication that helps with sleeping and nightmares?

[Skyblue1202 in reply to Crystal999]

I'm doing a therapy for nightmares. We go over the nightmare then I become an object that's part of the nightmare for example a chair or a book and say how I feel about myself and the room that my nightmares are in.

Theres also emdr therapy that's meant to help with ptsd if that's why you have nightmares

[Hidden in reply to Crystal999]

If you live in a country where it is available to you at low/no risk, cannabis can work in helping people sleep and is also known for suppressing REM sleep, where dreams and nightmares occur. Might be an option worth considering if the nightmares are getting too much.

That said, I would ask myself - why are they occurring? Are you under stress? Has there been a big upheaval in your life? Many cultures look at dreams and nightmares as messages from the subconscious with recurring ones requiring attention!

[Agnes14]

Sorry to hear you’re suffering with this. I’m also experiencing difficulties with sleep. Was prescribed Sertraline 2 weeks ago for depression and anxiety. I was waking at 5/6am each day in panic. I’m now waking up wide awake at 4/5 without panic but awake. I’ve found listening to Headspace sleep scapes really help just get my mind and body back into a sleepy rested state so I can drift back off.

Could it be some medication your taking?

[Skyblue1202]

Most of my medication is sedating. But still get this insomnia. Like you I'm waking up at 4 or 5. I've heard of headspace might download it.

[Crystal999]

Thanks for the replies. Skyblue, if you don't mind tell me more about about that therapy process. I am seeing a therapist and maybe she can help me with it.

[Skyblue1202]

I believe emdr is about eye movements and related trauma not started that yet. However with DreamWork (which has made my nightmares a bit better) yousit with your therapist and go through the most traumatic nightmare. She/he writes it down and then selects significant parts and objects of the dream. Then you basically start with "I am the ......" and go through how you feel about the different parts of the dream.

I can only say it has helped me understand my nightmares better and that it's all about processing the dream. Because our dreams are a reflection of us or our trauma. It desensitized you from the dream.

[Hidden in reply to Skyblue1202]

EMDR is a reprogramming of the feelings around the troubling thought, its very good and effective and like EFT which can have instant results (I had a friend try it on me and a traumatic event I was involved in stopped bothering me in about 2 minutes. I can still remember it, I can place myself there but there is no fear or bothersome thoughts).

The nightmare/dream-work is a fantastic approach and I am amazed you have a forward (or backward really!) thinking therapist. It is perfectly doable on your own as you need to look at the different aspects of the dream and look for what it says to you. Dreams are very individualistic and need looked at from that aspect (dump the dream dictionaries!).

I would hazard an educated guess that once you tackle the driving anxiety (great you see it - many are depressed/anxious and either cannot see it or cannot see the effects on their thinking, feelings and behaviours - they are the ones that are normally attacking/running down others in order to make themselves feel better, unable to move forward for missing the point of the problem.

Good luck with the EMDR, and if you would be so kind - I'd like to hear how you get on with it. I studied CBT some 24 years ago when it was increasing in popularity in my area. Unfortunately it was the straight therapy minus the EMDR so I never got a chance to really investigate it but have heard great things about it.

[Crystal999]

Thanks skyblue