Insomnia
 

Lately I have a problem with insomnia and there are times when I am up all night and do not fall asleep until 5:30 or 6:00.

Is there anyone else dealing with insomnia? Does anyone have any tips that worked for them.

Do you have an iPod? Audiobooks put me STRAIGHT to sleep. I downloaded one to my iPod and have yet to make it past the first three minutes.

Re: Insomnia
 

You could be talking about me when writing this. I have to take medicine to get to sleep. Here are a list of suggestions:

-Use your bed for sleep (and "other" activities) only. Do not spend the day in there reading a book, watching TV, etc. This way you will "train" your mind that the bed is there for sleep.

-If you can't get to sleep within an hour, get out of bed and go to another room. Watch TV, read a book...when you start to feel tired, lay in bed.

-Try to go to sleep at the same time every night. Same with waking up. Thus, along the lines of mind training.

-See your doctor if this has been happening for longer than a "few times" - there might be a medical reason for you not sleeping. There are some medicines that can be prescribed to help with short-term insomnia.

I hope these help. I know what you are feeling, and it sucks. My hope is that you will find whatever works for you to sleep.

Night-night! ;)

Nyquil, the moonshine of medicine. I take two gelcaps and I'm out like a light.

I'm going to give some of the tips a try tonight.

Thanks

:)

I'd have to second the Benadryl, but I don't have a serious sleep disorder; just mild insomnia in times of stress. Good luck getting some sleep!

Ambien works very well and you don't get the Nyquil "hangover" the next day.

Just remember to proceed directly to bed after you take it because it works fast.

How many hours of sleep do you need to get when you take it?

-Rudey

I find that I wake up naturally at about the 8 hour point.

Make sure you're not taking in stimulants for several hours before bed too (caffeine especially).

What happens when you try to fall asleep? If my mind is racing, I use numerous different stress management techniques. I especially like this one:

Take in a deep breath through your nose, hold for a count of 5, release in a big whoosh through your mouth (cleansing breath).

Take the deep breath and point your toes as hard as you can, one foot at a time. After the count of 5, relax your muscles again and let the breath go.

Do that with each muscle group... toes, ankles(point or flex), tighten knees, hips, push out stomach hard, make fists, tighten elbows, lift shoulders to ears, clench jaw.. you get the idea? With each muscle, you tighten it up, deep breath, release after a count of 5.

This does several things. First, it makes you focus on something other than what your mind is racing about. Second, it causes a physical relaxation response. After you've trained yourself in this, you will probably fall asleep before you get to the hips.

Imagery works better for some people. Listening to a tape with nature sounds, waves, a thunderstorm.. whichever noises you think would relax you could be very useful. While you're listening though, you try to picture the scenery.

I had a hard time falling asleep when I was little because I had night terrors. My mom used to have me imagine that I was floating on a big pink (my fave color) cloud. It worked great for me so I guess these other things are along the same line.

I used to teach relaxation/stress management classes and I loved it. Another one of my favorites is just bring myself down any time I'm starting to feel stressed by imagining myself going down a stairwell very slowly, counting the steps down from 10 to 1.

Now, I mainly have insomnia as a PMS thing, and more frequently now that I'm peri-menopausal. I know when things are going to happen because I can't sleep the night before. At those times, I do have to resort to Benadryl because it's just totally physical. I would try the other types of techniques first though.

Dee

Speaking of insomnia....I am up yet again after only a half-hour's worth of sleep. Going to be a long night. I see my doctor tomorrow. Hopefully we can come up with something.

I hope you got some sleep tonight!

I did not get any sleep last night. :( I think I finally fell asleep around 5:30 a.m. Which really sucks because I am starting to feel the lack of sleep.

Tonight I'm going to try to go to sleep by 11pm.

I was wondering how you did last night. I hope you find some sleep tonight. Don't worry, your body will sleep when it needs it.

Do you take naps at all? Just a thought that if you do, then maybe that has something to do with it.

Re: Insomnia
 

Drink a HUGE glass of whole milk and eat a decent amount of turkey slices and you'll pass out within an hour. Both of them are natural sedatives. When I'm on a cycle I have a hard time getting to sleep if I'm taking a lot of sauce and instead of taking 2mg of Xanax I started eating turkey and drinking milk. It works better and is healthier than taking some sleep aid.

Anyone tried Lunesta? My doc prescribed that today. I've taken Ambien in the past.
I have an adverse reaction to Benadryl and NyQuil (and most of the other antihistamine products on the market), so that's out for me.

No, but I quit taking ambien. Have you ever taken it and not went to sleep. You start tripping. :rolleyes:

And do you take it every night?

I don't get how I'm so tired and then I have trouble falling asleep too. It's mung.

-Rudey

Yeah, the Ambien trip is very weird!! That's happened to me several times. I cannot STAND not being able to fall asleep when I know I'm tired and I know I have to get up early.

My doctor prescribed that for me last month. I had the WORST taste (literally) left in my mouth, and it didn't help me sleep at all. Needless to say, I couldn't get rid of the sour taste and ended up stopping it all together.

I had been on Ambien for an extended amount of time. I had the problem of staying awake and talking (what about I don't know). My brother (who I used to live with) just got into the habit of telling me to go to bed whenever I tried to talk to him.

I had isomnia last night. The worst part of it was that I had the song that never ends stuck in my head while I was trying to fall asleep!

Did the Lunesta work for you? I hope so. Are you having the bad taste in your mouth?

I miss my ambien. I took it for quite awhile, but then it just stopped working. SUCKS! Now I take xanax and Nyquil for sleep. As you can tell, they are not working again tonight....

But I have been thinking of everyone who has posted on here about their insomnia!



I just would tlk and talk after I took it. Drove my friends and family NUTS! But if I didn't get the eight hours you are supposed to get of sleep, I have the worst Ambien hangovers where your head feels stuffed with cotton. It is a hypnotic that works very fast. Bad thing is that it doesn't prevent you from making drugged phone calls to my mother for hours on end every night.

I second the eating bit--some of the other meds I take say to take them before bed and not to eat before I take them, so I'm missing my midnight snacks and that sucks because I know I should already be getting back to a normal schedule (as normal as I can two time zones away from school, LOL), but I know good and well that I'm probably going to be staring at the ceiling or talking to Fluffy Bunny 'til 4 in the morning (6 TX time--so not trying to think about how Welcome Week's a couple weeks off, aughh!!!).

But yes, when I could, or when I feel like fudging with the prescription stuff ("the big bads are dairy products...I'll just pretend this is fake cheese in the tacos!")...eat something, that always knocks me out. I'm not a turkey fan, but microwaveable Mexican stuff (tacos, taquitos, enchiladas, take-out, you name it, the cheesier, the better) always used to do the trick.

Any suggestions for getting back into a normal routine? I don't really like the idea of meds messing with my sleep (I know it's a whole 'nother banana, but the one time I tried No-Doz, I went into a freaking panic attack the night before two finals, aughh!), so is there something else I should be doing that I'm not?

I blame my room...rent houses in WA state typically don't have air conditioning. It's sticky, it's humid, I'm on the top floor, and the aforementioned Fluffy Bunny is gonna stick to my face in the morning. Blecch.

So, I feel the insomnia coming on...grr, arrgh. I like sleep, really, I do...

No shit, I did the same thing. I called a friend of mine up at 5am on a tuesday morning and asked him if it was 5:00 in the morning or 5:00 in the evening. And I didnt even remember it the next day. Not to mention I'd be trippin balls sometimes. I had to drop it.

yea, I'd always hide my phone and turn it off after I'd take my med so that I wouldnt make drugged phone calls in the wee hours of the morning in case i didnt fall asleep after taking it.

Well, I've taken the Lunesta twice. It's really different from Ambien. Ya know (as we've all apparently experienced) how the Ambien makes you actually "feel" something? The Lunesta seems to make you more tired without the drunk feeling. I do stay asleep for a full 8 hours with it, which is very nice, with no hangover effect. So far I haven't experienced the bad taste in my mouth. Hopefully I won't get that!! I have been having headaches the last couple of days. I don't know if that's a side effect or just my sinuses.

Don't be so quick to rely on medicine. Your body can get used to it, and then when you try to sleep normally, you won't.

(I'm currently taking sleeping pills to treat insomnia, and trying to wean myself from them has been difficult).

A few things my doctor told me to do:

* Set a bedtime every night and stick to it. Try increasing that bedtime by 15 minutes every night if you want, but the object is to go to bed earlier, not later.

* No naps during the day

* No spicy or heavy foods at least 2-3 hours before bedtime

* No strenuous exercise at least 2-3 hours before bedtime

* Exercise in the morning - by the end of the day your body will be exhausted and will need recharging

* Make your sleeping environment as comfortable as possible

* Reserve the bedroom for sleeping or sex only. Get rid of any TVs, computers, phones, or other distractions

* Take yoga!

Hope this helps. Good luck - I've been battling insomnia for over a year, and it's only just starting to get better.

Sounds like you've got my routine down.

Ambien works great for me but I feel so hungover the next day. My Dr. prescribed Lunesta but I have not filled the prescription yet. I have been taking Tylenol PM for the last 2 weeks-it works ok. I have NO problems sleeping during the day since I work at night but on my 4 days off I try to switch back to being a day person which I find to be a very difficult task. BTW, how expensive was the Lunesta? I do have insurance, but I have to pay for it up front and then get reimbursed. I know ambien was $$$.

Well, I just pay a flat fee with my current insurance which is $25 since it isn't generic. I looked up the prices though and it looks like the 2mg Lunesta runs about $10-12 more expensive than 10mg Ambien. Hope that helps!

I have been having sleep problems also. I go to bed aroun 11ish, do not drink any caffine before and still toss and turn and end up wide awake around 3. If something doesn't straighten out in the next few days I am going to be screwed when I have to start teaching again. I tried tylenol pm, but I have freaky dreams. It almost seems like I am awake (but I am asleep) and I hear people walking through my apartment, showers turning on, etc. This has happend more than once. Anyone else had anything like this happen? A friend of mine is a DR and he said he would write me a prescrib. for aimbien or whatnot, but now I am scared of taking that and "tripping"....what to do, what to do. Not being able to sleep sucks!

All you have to do is look at the times of my posts (ranging from 12 ish to 3ish ... am that is.) Even as a child - I've always had trouble sleeping at night. Also, for the past few years, I've worked a shift that didn't end until 3-4 am in the morning.

I used to have really bad insomnia. I don't know how I overcame it, it just shifted when I changed my schedule to have my day start around 8am. By the end of the day, I was able to sleep because I'd been up forever (to me, I'm the type who needs a lot of sleep). I do have a short-term fix though--Arbor Mist. I don't drink, so any type of alcohol will knock me out. Sad, I know, but half a cup will do it every time. :rolleyes: Not for every night, but it works if there's something important that I have to be rested for the next day.

I'm an incredibly light sleeper and the city usually keeps me awake... but this weekend I am the cottage (the Reserve just north of here is completely covered by wireless, and I'm just in range here on the deck).

The cottage is usually very relaxing, and I usually catch up on my sleep... but the thing is right now I can hear two competing parties, sorry make that three... across the bay is the "Dock hippies" high as kites "jamming" on their guitars trying to pick-up the chicks next door (they'd have a better chance if they washed... or at least swam abit to cut the grease); down the shoreline are the spoiled kids from Woodbridge being loud, drunk, and obnoxious as per usual; and just a little further down are the "boys" from North Carolina whooping it up and shooting off fireworks (I hope) in a drunken and stoned blowout before heading back down south for school...

So here I am typing away online while working on translating some Bede :rolleyes:

It's after one and I still can't get to sleep.

I see major cups of coffee for me later this morning.

I'm a chronic insomniac. Have been like this even as a child.
I remember bringing in my rug to sleep on in kindergarten, and during nap time-- staring at everyone else sleeping!

This week, I'm really having a tough bout-- getting between two and four hours sleep a night.

I've tried it all-- SADD lamps, no caffeine (I don't drink coffee or tea anyway), reading, a sound machine of waves, rain, and waterfalls, drinking milk before bed, warm baths, aromatherapy.. you name it. Tylanol PM works a bit-- but I wake up in the middle of the night really thirsty-- so while it can get me to sleep, I don't stay asleep,

But, I can always sleep on a ship. I truly think it's the rocking motion. Now, if only someone would invent a cradle for adults, we'd all be golden! Either that, or maybe I should switch careers and join the Navy! :)

This is what I'm going through. I lay down around 9PM & usually don't fall asleep until 3 or 4 AM (I get up at 6!) I've been taking Tylenol PM to help myself nod off but it doesn't always work. I've been drinking Eye Openers every day for the last two weeks.

I have those dreams without the Tylenol PM, and the SUCK! If you get to sleep, it isn't very good sleep because you wake up feeling like you have been literally "running around" all night.

As for the Ambien...obviously each person is different. It was my experience that I literally had to be in bed within thirty minutes because that was how quick it worked. I must be a stubborn sleeper, because I loved to call my mother up and talk on the phone for HOURS - yet not remember saying a thing to her the next day. I can't say you will have this same experience. But I will say that it really is true that you need to donate at least 8 hours to sleep.

2 benedryl.

I love my Lunesta!