Please help with my insomnia!!! Going insane!

[Wingingitmum11]

I have always suffered from insomnia when stressed or anxious.

currently Diagnosed with postnatal depression and have started antidepressants two weeks ago (lexapro)

my insomnia is out of control.

I cannot seem to get back to sleep after 2am/3am feed every night. I have the drs again Friday but I am cracking up.

Any tips on what I can do????!
I am not lying wide awake but almost semi concious for hours it's awful.

Ask if you can try Amitriptyline, it really helped my dh when he had a year of insomnia.

That will teach me to read properly as you are taking antidepressants so that won't be appropriate. I imagine as you get better your sleep will improve. I thoroughly recommend The Honest Guys on YouTube sleep relaxation videos,they really help.

Do you get much support?

Magnesium could help but check with your gp due to other medication.

The usual advice is No tea or coffee after 2pm, eat well, do a bit of exercise. Walking with the baby?

It sounds really tough. I hope you're able to sort it out soon.

Hi. For different reasons, I have had insommnia really badly for more than a year. I can be awake ALL night. The mental health team supporting me did nothing other than authorise 7 sleeping tablets a month which is hardly useful. There are CBT based apps you can try. I found Sleepio quite useful but unfortunately it did not get me back sleeping again.
My daughter experiences anxiety and takes sertraline for that. She sleeps well as far as I am aware.
Anyway I went to my GP 3 months ago. She prescribed Melatonin and that makes a lot of difference to me.

Thanks all - I am walking ALOT and swimming. Dont go on my phone when I wake up.reduced coffee etc. really struggling :(

@Thistlelass that’s interesting that your GP prescribed melatonin . Are you in Scotland? My GP advised that current prescribing guidelines are for two x yearly prescriptions for insomnia which is obviously rubbish so I buy my mine online
OP , I have suffered for years and found the following useful until I then got used to them.
promethazine which is sold as a travel sickness medicine over the counter but also found in night nurse. Again only licensed for short term relic via GP
melatonion taken with 100g magnesium is good
but currently taking 10mg melatonin with 2x 30 co-codomol.
However some nights nothing touches the sides and I remain awake until around 5am then up for work at 8.
I hate it , it affects all areas of my life

Ok I recently saw a tip on a YouTube video that has really helped me. What you do is you think of a category of things, say food, films, bands, celebrities or whatever you know about. Then you go through the alphabet and try to think of a thing beginning with each letter. E.g. fruits: apple, banana, clementine, etc. That one might be a bit easy but you get the idea.

Last night I chose alliterative celebrities: Amy Adams, Burt Bacharach, Chevy Chase, etc. It is usually when I am struggling to think of one that I end up falling asleep. I rarely get further than about H. Then the next night I start from that point or choose a new topic.

Other things I do are using a lavender pillow spray and a really nice eye mask. By using them every night they kind of act like cues for my subconscious that it is time to go to sleep. But the alphabet thing is what has been the real game changer. Would love to know if it works for anyone else!

Yes I live in Scotland. They seem to can prescribe for up to 13 weeks for short term depression. This can be extended on the say so of a specialist. I am now just over 13 week mark. There is also now a new drug for insommnia
I will look it up and post in morning.

Just to say, you can take amitriptyline alongside other antidepressants (I do - citalopram in my case). GP can advise.

OP, worth asking for a referral to post natal mental health services. I saw a psychiatrist through this route when my insomnia in post natal period was out of control. She prescribed me a low dose of quetiapine and it really helped.

I do the alphabet game @mutationseagull and it always works for me! Never knew it was a thing - I just made it up! Definitely works

Could you do a combination of some of the following:

• lavender oil in diffuser, lavender oil in vaseline and rub it on you, lavender oil drops in hot bath
• very soft fuzzy pillow and/or blanket
• weighted blanket
• chamomile tea
• watching comedy programs or comfort type sitcoms while you're going to sleep (this is what helped me massively during pregnancy insomnia)

When I had my pregnancy insomnia and anxiety I had to take care of myself really well or otherwise I'd seriously panic. So I thought of as many comforting physical things as I could and did those, while watching Friends. If I couldn't sleep I'd just continue doing more comfortable things - massaging my hands, having tea and biscuits, running my hand over the soft pillow.

A key for me was not to think "omg it's 3am I should be asleep" but rather enjoy the night time with comforting and cosy things and comedy, and making the time as enjoyable as possible. And I often fell asleep quite quickly.

Oh interesting,I presumed you couldn't as it's an old skool antidepressant. Definitely worth asking then.

I use magnesium spray and melatonin. Yoga Nidra also helps.

Sympathies OP, insomnia is so awful.

I would lay it on thick with the doctor about the insomnia, it may be that you could have another antidepressant which is better for sleep. A relative of mine finds Amitryptiline incredibly helpful.

I’m also a sufferer and my best resource is talking books. Often drift off while I’m listening and even if I don’t, listening to someone telling me a story is soothing.

The sleep stories on the Calm app are brilliant. I very rarely get to the end of one so they must be working.

I suffer from insomnia and listening to guided sleep meditate has changed my life! I listen to sleep cove on Spotify. I found it weird to start with and had to practice listening and focusing but now it has me asleep in minutes.

I was given chlorpheniramine (antihistamine) to counteract a treatment side effect and that knocked me right out. You shouldn’t really take antihistamines long term unless you’re under doctor supervision.

I don’t know if you’re a bit past ‘tricks’ but I have read that washing your feet when you can’t get back to sleep works for some. The whole act of dragging yourself out of bed to do something you really don’t want to do resets your mindset somehow.

Ask your GP about mitazipine. It cured my insomnia and really helped with my depression.

I used melatonin, magnesium and ashwaganda. I also meditate at bedtime and if that fails do some yoga Nidra.
Ds was prescribed what was essentially phenergan. The only problem with that was that he was dopey all day after taking it.

Try a Bluetooth sleep mask, there are lots of stories and podcasts especially for easing you to sleep (I like The Sleepy Bookshelf on the podcast app) and it's so much more comfortable to wear than EarPods that you can lie there really naturally on your side or whatever. I keep it low volume so I can still hear the kids if needed but just lie in the dark listening to a gently story which calms my anxiety and stops the relentless brain chatter and helps me sleep most nights.

It’s also the antidepressant that is most likely to cause weight gain. I tried it once and while I did sleep well, my carb cravings were off the charts so I promptly discontinued it. I know that it can be a fantastic antidepressant for some, as well as being prescribed for OCD. But it is not licensed for treatment of insomnia in the UK and it is now considered a second or third line treatment for depression. So an GP is not going to prescribe it for sleep and is unlikely to prescribe it for depression unless you’ve already exhausted the available first line treatments (SSRIs etc)