Insomnia

[Gypsy]

So... I'm afflicted... as I gather others on here are... with insomnia... most of the time it's under control thanks to my lovely pills... but tonight I'm out-- forgot to go to the pharmacy... and I can't shut my brain off.... physically I KNOW I'm tired, but... can't fall asleep.

My Dr has perscribed many things for me... but the one I find works best for me isn't an insomnia medication... just an anti-depressant that's virtually obsolete these days with the super drugs out there... and because at effective dosages you're out cold

. Trazadone. Works well for my insomnia though and isn't 'addictive'... but well... if I can't sleep without it... I consider that dependency.

But... what works for you? The thought of being pill dependent for the rest of my life is... just awful. Any advice?


ETA: 6:23 am and all is well... I am wide the heck awake....

ETA: 7:33 and ... well. Frustrated.

 

[strmrdr]

I get it on occasion will stay awake for 72+ hours then crash for 12-18 hours.
Doesnt happen enough for me to talk to the doc about it.
Lately its been pain keeping me awake more than anything else.
taking vicodin for more than a couple days will sometimes do it too.
Sorry dont have any advice that might help :{
Hope your getting some sleep today.

 

[strmrdr]

have you had a sleep study done? that might help find answers.

 

[strmrdr]

http://www.businessballs.com/insomnia_sleep_disorders_aids.htm

http://www.helpguide.org/life/insomnia_treatment.htm

 

[diamondfan]

Gypsy, you and I should get together (at 2:00 am) and talk about THIS. This is one of my banes in life, and I have been this way as long as I can recall. Having kids made it worse, I am nervous and feel the need to watch over my babies. Now it is such a problem, I watch Oprah at 3:00 am on the rebroadcast instead of during the day. Allergic reaction to trazedone and ambien, and a bit afraid I will need to have them, end up just fighting it out and staying up. My dh also snores so that makes it so tough, cannot begin to fall asleep with THAT noise next to me. I end up on PS, or doing online shopping, or emailing friends on the west coast...but man, I am tired and at 40 this is getting tougher and tougher. I have some other health stuff going on and when I am trying to fall asleep it seems worse, plus migraines and reflux, so it is not easy. I need the sleep and want it, but seem to only be able to sleep during the day now. So sorry you are suffering too!

 

[strmrdr]

Some people are night people I have to force myself to be awake during the day after years and years of doing it its getting better but when I was working 3rd shift i felt better and healthier not fighting it.
Growing up I was always up all hours of the night and sleeping during the day during the summer.
Even now I dont really come alive untill around noon even when iv been up since 6:30am.
on weekends i tend to revert to a night owl which makes it real hard on mondays.

 

[Gypsy]

Diamonfan... definitely. Mine started in lawschool when the family emergencies started... and now... especially right now with my stress level while trying to find a job is insane... my thoughts churn like crazy. Nothing works. That talk is a date.

Storm-- I''ve always been a night ow-- exept for the 3rd shift stuff0-- it''s like I typed thatl... and it is hard... especially now when I have all this freaking TIME and have to self schedule I have to fight it.... I finally got to sleep at 8:30 am and forced myself to get up at 11:30-- and it''s now 11 pm and I''m WIDE AWAKE. On 3 hours sleep... after dragging all day. It''s crazy.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 6/17/2006 7:55:37 PM
Author: strmrdr
have you had a sleep study done? that might help find answers.

No... I haven't... would love to... but that's going to have to wait until I get medical insurance.

I should move to Canada.


I am sorry your toothache is making the situation worse, Storm.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/17/2006 11:08:50 PM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 6/17/2006 7:55:37 PM

Author: strmrdr

have you had a sleep study done? that might help find answers.

No... I haven''t... would love to... but that''s going to have to wait until I get medical insurance.

I should move to Canada.



I am sorry your toothache is making the situation worse, Storm.

There is a 1 year wait for them in some parts of Canada so be carefull what ya wish for....
I hear ya no insurance here either....

 

[Gypsy]

Really? Wow. Okay... that''s something to consider. LOL.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/17/2006 11:07:22 PM
Author: Gypsy
Diamonfan... definitely. Mine started in lawschool when the family emergencies started... and now... especially right now with my stress level while trying to find a job is insane... my thoughts churn like crazy. Nothing works. That talk is a date.

Storm-- I''ve always been a night ow-- exept for the 3rd shift stuff0-- it''s like I typed thatl... and it is hard... especially now when I have all this freaking TIME and have to self schedule I have to fight it.... I finally got to sleep at 8:30 am and forced myself to get up at 11:30-- and it''s now 11 pm and I''m WIDE AWAKE. On 3 hours sleep... after dragging all day. It''s crazy.

I hear ya even after a lllllllooooooooooooooonnnnggggg hard day cleaning and lotsa pain meds its 1125pm and im more awake than i was at noon and have been up since 7.
unless i force myself to go to bed will likely be up till 2 or 3 and if i start reading a book maybe 7 or 8 am.

 

[diamondfan]

Storm, I need a sleep study too. My youngest had one, and I heard a sleep specialist speak at my kid''s school and I am considering doing it . I have issues both falling and staying asleep, and am totally noctural. I did this as a kid since my dad, a doctor, would come home late and I wanted to see him. It was our quiet time late at night. Then I started reading really horrifc books about serial killers and that kept me up. I lived a couple blocks away from where Manson killed Sharon Tate and I visited the house (we saw it from the driveway) and I read Helter Skelter when I was young, and I seriiously could not sleep, would fall asleep at daybreak with all my bedroom lights on. My mom used to freak about what I read, Ted Bundy, etc, and thought I was nuts...certainly did not help the insomnia any!!!!

 

[Gypsy]

See... at least you have a reason.... habit and daddy time. Although... I was a huge reader when I was young (still am)... voracious... and late at night was the only time I could really have quiet and sit and enjoy... just me my flashlight, and a tent with the covers over my head. Hmmm....


well... two am. WIDE awake... three hours sleep last night. Makes no sense. Was exhausted all freaking day... till 11pm. THEN I woke up.

ARGH!!!

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 6/18/2006 12:29:09 AM
Author: strmrdr


I hear ya even after a lllllllooooooooooooooonnnnggggg hard day cleaning and lotsa pain meds its 1125pm and im more awake than i was at noon and have been up since 7.
unless i force myself to go to bed will likely be up till 2 or 3 and if i start reading a book maybe 7 or 8 am.

3/4 bottle of wine... ran around cleaning, dealing with FMIL (draining) and was a miserable moody meanie all day. Like I was electrified at 11:00.. We started to watch a movie... and now... well. Here I am.

 

[strmrdr]

well i guess misery likes company cuz im here 2.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 6/18/2006 2:17:12 AM
Author: strmrdr
well i guess misery likes company cuz im here 2.

Good company though. How is your tooth tonight?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/18/2006 2:18:27 AM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 6/18/2006 2:17:12 AM

Author: strmrdr

well i guess misery likes company cuz im here 2.

Good company though. How is your tooth tonight?

not too bad compared to what it was earlier this week, its mostly my elbow thats keeping me awake tonight ... way over did it today.

 

[Gypsy]

Cleaning? Yeah... do you have a brace for it?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/18/2006 2:30:58 AM
Author: Gypsy
Cleaning? Yeah... do you have a brace for it?

wifey2b will be here July 4th so have some major cleaning to do.

Yea have a brace it helps some.

 

[Gypsy]

OH WOW... if your starting this early... how bad is the place...lol.

My knee brace helps too... except when it starts rolling.

Hmm... pills are kicking in... time for bed for me... blessedly. I hope you are able to get to sleep tonight Storm. It was nice chatting with you. THank you for the company.

 

[diamondfan]

Date: 6/18/2006 2:08:27 AM
Author: Gypsy
See... at least you have a reason.... habit and daddy time. Although... I was a huge reader when I was young (still am)... voracious... and late at night was the only time I could really have quiet and sit and enjoy... just me my flashlight, and a tent with the covers over my head. Hmmm....


well... two am. WIDE awake... three hours sleep last night. Makes no sense. Was exhausted all freaking day... till 11pm. THEN I woke up.

ARGH!!!

I was an "under cover" reader reading under the covers too! Also, I will be exhausted and wiped at 5:00 pm but get my second wind at midnight...my oldest stays up late now, he is a teenager, and I cannot sleep until he is in bed for the night, and so then I am up late and have missed the wiindow for sleep...it is almost like one can be too tired to sleep...if that makes sense. Kids get that way too and then they get nutty...

 

[dbgaap]

diamondfan, I really feel for you!
I have been through that same thing

Date: 6/18/2006 7:51:45 AM
Author: diamondfan

my oldest stays up late now, he is a teenager, and I cannot sleep until he is in bed for the night, and so then I am up late and have missed the wiindow for sleep...it is almost like one can be too tired to sleep...if that makes sense. Kids get that way too and then they get nutty...

I hope it gets better for you when he goes to college. That''s when I was able to get some better sleep.
And ask your doctor for more options.
I couldn''t take trazedone either and we found something that works for me.
Gypsy & storm, you have my prayers for pain relief and recovery.
Been there, too - and it ain''t fun!!!

 

[diamondfan]

Date: 6/18/2006 9:15:26 AM
Author: dbgaap
diamondfan, I really feel for you!
I have been through that same thing

Date: 6/18/2006 7:51:45 AM
Author: diamondfan

my oldest stays up late now, he is a teenager, and I cannot sleep until he is in bed for the night, and so then I am up late and have missed the wiindow for sleep...it is almost like one can be too tired to sleep...if that makes sense. Kids get that way too and then they get nutty...

I hope it gets better for you when he goes to college. That''s when I was able to get some better sleep.
And ask your doctor for more options.
I couldn''t take trazedone either and we found something that works for me.
Gypsy & storm, you have my prayers for pain relief and recovery.
Been there, too - and it ain''t fun!!!

I have never been a good sleeper, my mom always tell me I stayed up late even as a young girl...stayed up late to hang with my dad who would come home late from the hospital rounds and it was my only time with him, liked to read late and have just always been one who is an insomniac. College did not help, pulled lots of all nighters...and it is now just a habit that is impossible to get over. I am loathe to start with pills, because I think I would become dependant even if they are not addictive...add my dh''s snoring, and my pain/health issues, sleep is something that eludes me most nights...