Recent Insomnia the last 3 months. Please help.

[shk123]

Hi Everyone,

I found this site looking for answers as I've been dealing w/ insomnia for almost 3 months now.

When if first started happening, I could fall asleep, but I'd wake around 3-4 AM, then I couldn't go back to sleep. Afterwards, I couldn't fall asleep, taking up to 5 + hours to fall asleep. This is 7 days a week. So, I'd sleep around 1-3 hours of broken sleep. Also, I can't nap or make up the sleep at all, because I can't fall asleep.

I think this part's really important, maybe I'm wrong, but I think it speaks to what the issue might be. When I go to bed, I'm really sleepy, I start to fall asleep and get right to the point of where you'd normally "drift off", but then I get "jolted" awake. It could be a small or a bit larger jolt. It's in my brain, not a physical jolt like a spasm or a thought of something unpleasant, etc. It's like when I get to part where I'm about to fall asleep, my sleepiness level goes "up" a notch where I'm not as sleepy. So I'm sort of stuck in this limbo of just being so sleepy, but not falling asleep. I hope this makes sense.

I was taking CBD, but it started to stop working. A week or so ago, I started taking tryptophan, but after about 5 days, I started feeling strange. I don't know if it's the tryptophan or due to a lack of sleep, but I had a weird headache and felt just generally bad yesterday. Last night I started taking magnesium glycine which did help me last night, though it gave my loose stool at 800 mg. Sleepy time teas worked at some point (passion flower, kava, chamomile, lavender), but started to lose it's efficacy.

I think the lack of sleep is just making me feel terrible and anxious about sleep in general which isn't good. It also has started to give me bad headaches.

* To give you a little background, I'm female, 41 and live in the U.S.

* My physical was normal, a blood test showed I had low Vit D and anemic, though it wasn't severe, so I'm presently taking extra iron and vit D.

*No mental health issues such as anxiety/depression.

*No thyroid issues. I'm not overweight or have other health issues or medications.

*There's no stress that's keeping up at night.

*I was already practicing sleep hygiene, but tightened up on it.

*No coffee after 11AM.

* Started keeping a sleep diary.

*Sleeping at the same time every day even on weekends.

* I eat healthy already, but now paying more attention to what I put in my body.

*Started exercising and also started practicing Vipassana meditation again. Have gone to retreats, but always stopped meditating at home for awhile.

* I did recently stop smoking cigarettes (a week ago).

I do believe in conventional medicine, but also like alternative therapies so I am very much open to those.

I really do not want to take sleep meds as I think they're really bad long term and in my case I don't think it would get at the root cause of things.

My current doctor is completely useless, as she won't even listen to the issue at hand, says she doesn't know why I can't sleep, but doesn't want to send me to a specialist either? I'm confused. She did a blood test, but didn't check other things such as hormones, melatonin, amino acids or anything. Her only suggestion is to sleep w/ my mother, which is ridiculous.

I know this was a long post and thank you to anyone who reads it. I just need to sleep. I want to see a sleep specialist and a CBTi therapist and I'll most likely have to switch doctors which takes about a month or so here.

[welly10]

Try phenergan its anti histamine also used for insomnia

[shk123 in reply to welly10]

Hi Welly10, Thank you. I'll look in to it.

[welly10 in reply to shk123]

Also you can get referred by your doc for an online course called sleepstation if your in UK.its very good uses different techniques with videos from the doctor of the course.it 7 weeks long you input your sleep data every week and they do a programme for you to follow.

[shk123 in reply to welly10]

Hi Welly10, Have you tried it? I did see it and looks interesting w/ good reviews. Unfortunately, I'm in the U.S. and I don't know if I'd be able to get a referral for that. Have you tried it and if so, how has it helped you? Thanks for your responses

[welly10 in reply to shk123]

Hi shk123 I suffer with sleep anxiety if I don't sleep my mental health really is effected as I accociated it with a burn out/break down in 2015.i was on zopiclone for about 8 weeks 7.5 mg day.i saw the course online and my doc referred me did the course it got me back on track I don't take sleep aids anymore I still have them only as a last resort.i still get some sleepless nights but I now have better tools to deal with it.i have read a lot of books on self help also.i know the stats in the US that 40 % of the population suffer.if you google sleep restriction techniques this is in the course seems weird at first to restrict sleep but its all part of the process.good luck

[Trill]

I'm just the same and have gone through all the self-help and sleeping pills to which you refer. Only, I hate to tell you, but I am now 70 and it began when I was 28.

You really do need to get a sleep study done. I eventually did have one, and it showed up as periodic limb movement disorder. I am rather a neurological freak so that was no surprise. What that does is to cause the body to thrash around somewhat - not enough to wake you, but enough to bring you to the level of near-consciousness. It is treated by Clonazepam.

But the behaviour has become utterly entrenched with me and exacerbated by any stress during the day whatsoever. Like you, I had the strange sensation of being at the brink of sleep then the brain suddenly deciding this was a dangerous state to be in and bringing me back to most unwelcome consciousness.

One thing you are repeatedly told is to get up if you are lying there awake, and do something menial and dull, even repeat your night time routine. Go back to bed when sleepy again.

Another thing I was told all those years was that I was depressed, and medics took a lot of persuading that the sleeplessness caused depression and not the other way round.

We all, of course, are governed by a sleep and wake cycle, and the alert time often occurs at 3 or 4 am, like a dip in the daytime of tiredness you often get around that time. It can be hard to return to sleep from that, but worse if it's 5am.

Don't whatever you do get angry or frustrated when trying to sleep. Utterly counterproductive.

You may be anxious you get enough sleep and start going to bed earlier than you might otherwise have done to allow for this. Don't. Always wait until you are quite sleepy, and if you have a late night, stimulating, always wind down as you cannot get to sleep in that state. Don't eat late at night a heavy meal.

From what you say, I wouldn't be surprised if it is a neurological causation. The brain is so very complicated and not fully understood. I would absolutely insist on a sleep study being done. It's not known even if you have sleep apnea.

My parents both slept well, but their three daughters all have sleep difficulties. It does rather imply a neurological familial fault. Try to live with it if it continues, and - easier said than done - not let it get you down. It's more common than you think, and too easy to look for external solutions. I did try a Zeo device which analyses sleep and brain waves and discovered to my shock that I have very little delta waves - the deep sleep, restorative. So, for me, the sleep mechanism is just not functioning as it should and I can only give it as much chance as possible.

An admission, which I would heartily dissuade you from doing - when I am desperate will have a brandy. Knocks me out but it's not good sleep.

More healthy is that I listen to the radio every night. BBC World Service, very low volume, via earbuds. It distracts me from the exasperating sleep process, and the more interesting a programme is, the better it is at resulting in me dropping off. It also allays the boredom of being awake. Music doesn't do it for me, but engaging topics do.

[shk123 in reply to Trill]

Hi Trill,

I'm sorry you've been dealing with that for so many years! I can understand where you're coming from when you said people had a difficult time seeing that insomnia caused the depression and not the other way around. I think it could create all sorts of problems for people.

I also think it's some kind of neurological thing whether it's hormonal or some neurotransmitter issue. For a lack of better words, it feels like it. I was able to change primary physicians today and made an appointment to see the new doctor in a couple weeks. I wish I didn't have to wait so long, but I'm happy to be able to do it.

Thank you for your input and suggestions. I wish I could say that I haven't gotten upset about not being able to sleep. You're completely right, it's counteractive and just makes things worse.

I've been meditating each day and really focusing on positive thoughts about sleep, health, etc. and it has helped quite a bit.

I'll keep you updated if I find anything that helps me.

[Rhyothemis]

Congratulations on stopping smoking! There will likely be an adjustment period with respect to sleep as it is a major change, but it is worth it.

You had insomnia before you stopped smoking, though, right?

You might try the cold shower thing if you have not done so already. I can't anymore since I have a fatty acid oxidation disorder and cold showers cause hypoglycemia attacks and things have gotten worse as I have gotten older, but it does help. You could combine with a warm Epsom salt bath - take the bath first then rinse off in cold water. Mg can be absorbed through the skin without causing the GI problems.

There's a device called the Ebb that cools your forehead as you sleep. Looks a bit cumbersome and expensive, but it has a clinical trial saying it works. I tried just putting a cold pack on my forehead and eye area for around 20 min before bed (moving it around and on and off to avoid damaging the skin) until I could really feel the cold and it seemed to help with sleep a bit and also improved my ocular rosacea a great deal. Unfortunately, the rosacea started to flare up on my nose (which hadn't been a problem previously) so I gave up on it. Lots of health interventions seem to wind up sort of like playing whack-a-mole.

The probiotic drink Yakult seems to help a bit, especially if I take two - but that might cause the same issue as the Mg in some people.

I take fish oil as it helps delay menopause and it regulates my cycles. Lots of women approaching menopause have sleep issues due to hormone problems. I can't say for sure if it helps my sleep, though.

I've been exploring breath training and just got Leah Lago's book; if I find a technique that works I will post on it.

Hope you find something that works and if you do, please share.

[shk123 in reply to Rhyothemis]

Hi Rhyothemis,

Thank you for your response and suggestions. Yes! I'd told myself I'd stop smoking by the end of this year and I guess it happened just barely a little bit earlier. It's a terrible habit and I'm glad I've stopped. I read Alan Carr's Easy Way book, well audiobook and though it's barely been a week and a half, I've almost forgotten that I smoked, which is a bit strange! I feel much better healthwise, breathing and just in general. I wish I hadn't waited so long.

I'm going to go buy some of that Yakult that you mentioned. I think I had it a long time ago when I was little, but not lately. I hope it really helps. Is there a specific kind, Google is saying there's non fat and different kinds?

It's so interesting that you mentioned cold showers. I do enjoy Wim Hoff and his breathing and coincidentally right when I stopped doing cold showers I started getting insomnia, literally, the next day. I had been practicing for a couple of years, but would ease off as winter approached and would sort of just finish w/ a few moments of a cold rinse.

I'll also look into the Ebb as I've never heard of it and try putting a cooling pad on my head when I sleep.

Last night, I took Mg again, but half of what I took the night before. I still slept. Right now, I'm getting about 6-7 hours of decent sleep before I wake up. I hope this continues and that I can sort this out w/ the new doctor I have.

I'll let you know if I find something that is working for me. As of now, I've been practicing Vipassana meditation 1 or 2x a day and it has helped, not just w/ the anxiety thoughts about sleep, but just having my head and mind feeling better which helps w/ sleep.

[Rhyothemis in reply to shk123]

The only kind of Yakult available near me is the orange flavored non-fat version; Wegmans is the only store that carries it here (North Carolina).

massivesci.com/articles/mic...

[shk123 in reply to Rhyothemis]

Thank you. I live in the Los Angeles area and I was able to get some from Sprouts. They had a non fat version in a pink container. Thank you for the link also. I didn't know our gut health had so much to do w/ everything else in our bodies including sleep.