I have insomnia AMA

[More2Fly]

I can't remember when I last slept for more than 3 hours in a night (maybe 15 years ago?)
I'm permanently exhausted, sometimes to the point of being ill, but somehow survive, and have a job, a marriage, a baby and drive a car. But I sometimes wonder how I'm even still alive 😭😭😭

Nytol did nothing for me except give me a headache unfortunately.
I'm on melatonin which has maybe lengthened sleep by half an hour or so.gp has now given me promethazine but I haven't taken her as I'm currently laid up with a chest infection and dosed up with antibiotics and paracetamol. Has anyone tried promethazine on here?

Have you always had trouble sleeping .. as a child etc?

I was always crap at sleeping as a child.

Mother would put me to bed at 6.30 and I would still be awake at 1 am.

When I was an adult and could go to bed when I was tired and get up feeling fantastic in the morning.

Last 3 years since I have gone through the menopause has been torture. Suddenly not able to sleep more than sometimes 90 minutes.
I have had to give up work everything and all I get from the GP is printed off sheets from the internet saying things like don't have caffeine before bedtime and other stuff that makes you feel like they think you are stupid

Apparently as a child I was a really light sleeper.. but a good sleeper (as long as all the conditions were perfect!). My parents moved me into my own room at 4 weeks or something (back in the 80s) and I slept like a log... as long as it was dark, cool and completely silent!

Thanks for Nytol suggestion but that doesn't touch the edges I'm afraid

OP I'm the same. It's awful. And I agree that not going to bed just means you're still around at 6am. Dire.

someone asked about promethazine - made me feel so awful, I considered sticking my fingers down my throat to get it out of my system. Never again.

I didn't mean to sound patronising about nitol just that it totally knocks DH out . Is weird it doesn't work on everyone though isn't it .

Not at all hendricksy I'm always open to suggestions anyway. A fellow insomniac once told me what cured him was training for a marathon. He had to get up at 5am every day to train before a whole day's work, and was then able to fall into a proper sleep about midnight. It's a vicious circle though isn't it? I can barely drag myself down the road to catch the train to work let alone do a workout first!

I've noticed if I can work out 2 hours a day then I can get some sleep.

but finding time and energy is easier said that done. Normally I work out every day but today I was just too tired. I started and then stopped.

Also, the risk of actually falling over my feet while out jogging is quite high with sleep deprivation!

Hi, op. I feel like I’m in the same boat. I take a handful of sleeping tablets plus Melatonin just to get a few hours of sleep. I did manage excellent sleep on Xanax but my gp won’t prescribe for sleep issues.
I did find that heavy exercise gives me an exhausted feeling and let’s me drop off to sleep but not necessarily stay asleep.

I feel frustrated, anxious and angry with my sleep issue.

@SecretWitch

I have had Xanax recommended, GP said no as well. Do you mind if I ask what else you take? I can't take melatonin.

I don't know if I would have more luck going private maybe but not willing to risk forking out for the appointment just to be told "no".

every so often, they grant me a few diazepam when I've had to resort to calling in sick for work or when I've become manic. However, the GP has already said to me he is unhappy about doing this.

Oddly enough an old thread about safety in London has just come up on my feed. It would help if I could get a night time jog or fast walk but it's now so rough in my area, that's not possible. Pacing up and down in a tiny flat is the pits.

This was me for 20 years. Then purely by accident for another reason l was prescribed an anti depressant called amitriptyline.

Since then l sleep well nearly every night. I never get colds or illnesses. When l had insomnia l was always ill

@Womaningreen, I am prescribed Trazadone for sleeping. I’ve been taking it so long though, the normal dose has ceased to be effective and I find myself doubling the amount. Not good. My gp will also grudgingly give me 10 diazepam if I tell him my anxiety over not sleeping is severe.

I found Trazadone awful. Made the insomnia much worse

thanks, I've not come across Trazadone. I will ask about it.

I had amitriptyline, didn't work, but made me feel groggy for hours the next day which was worse.

I have a theory that the the opioid crisis in the US probably coincides with cutbacks on sleeping pill prescriptions. I have a rellie over there who took Ambien for years and was told she had to come off it even though she'd never needed a dose increase or anything. I don't know what doctors think people will do but surely if they can obtain something else, they will! Of course a lot of people will drink heavily as well. I can't really drink, my stomach won't tolerate it, but frankly if I thought it would help, I would try it!

It as me that asked re the promethazine. Awful in what ways if you don't mind me prying?
I am actually starting to get depressed over my sleep so maybe I just take the anti depressants that the gp also suggested as a possibility-it's now like which case first the chicken or the egg

More2Fly, thanks for replying. It sounds bloomin miserable. A lovely colleague suffers with insomnia and I've never really considered how it impacts her daily life. She just comments with "bad night" or "I need sleep" and I know shes not feeling the best. It never really occurred to me that it wasn't simply a case of her getting an early night, in the way I try to resolve my own tiredness. That lack of control over sleep must be horrific, even worse than early baby days...at least if you're sleep deprived with baby you have some hope of it ending or handing baby over while you catch up.

I wish you all an overnight miraculous recovery like a pp had.

Nigel a lot of people are fine with it.

What I felt was foggy, but with the worst restless legs ever and nauseous, which makes no sense as I think it's meant for travel sickness. So possibly just me being very weird!

Ive had to ditch driving because of insomnia. I'm probably lucky my general health hasn't taken more of a hit, though I do catch every bug going round.

womaningreen yeah i probably shouldn't be driving either. I'm ok on 3 hours but if I have to drive after a couple of days of zero hours it's extremely scarey (I try and avoid it if possible). I imagine that's what it feels like to drink drive!
Yeah I have a constant cold and catch lots of small things but nothing big so far!
I've tried lots of those prescribed drugs but I really don't like taking them and had to stop anyway while pregnant

@Womaningreen, Oh the Ambien! My gp very willingly prescribed it. It knocked me out cold in less than ten minutes, into a very deep and dreamless sleep. The problem is that I took to sleep walking, out on front garden in T-shirt and boxer shorts on a frigid January morning, into my car with keys in hand, happily our doors all chime when opened so I was rescued each time before I harmed myself or others.
Called gp with these issues, was taken off straight away and on to the Trazedone.

People who don’t have chronic insomnia really often don’t get how disabling this condition is. Lack of sleep can cause a variety of emotional and physical problems.

Lack of sleep can cause a variety of emotional and physical problems
Secretwitch yeah it's often linked with depression but i sometimes wonder which causes which, or maybe it's a vicious circle

Yes, there's a lot of Ambien stories out there. Suited me, just can't get it prescribed.

Re driving, I do want to leave London and that will mean driving. However, my mum said her insomnia improved after menopause so I'm hoping that will happen to me.

I think a physical outdoor job might help me, but sadly I'm too far down the road to switch to anything physical that would pay the mortgage.

@More2Fly, I wish more research were put into the connection between insomnia and depression. I have had them both since I was seventeen

@Womaningreen, I do hope things improve for you. I have noticed an increase in my waking too early since I’ve been peri menopausal. Sometimes, I think it’s due to increased body temperature.

R u awake