Insomnia

[SooVeryTired]

Can anyone offer any help with regards to the terrible insomnia that I'm struggling with...

I'm 42 and in the last 12 months have been hit with a couple of bouts of insomnia. The first cleared quite quickly with 15mg per night of mirtazapine. The mirtazapine stopped being effective around October time and I've had chronic insomnia ever since. I get between 2 and 5 hours a night. If its 5 hours, its a broken 5.

I've tried EVERYTHING. This includes:

• Magnesium
• Phenergan
• Zopiclone
• Quviviq
• Amitriptyline
• CBD
• Weed
• Ashwaganda
• ...and much more

Nothing makes a dent.

I've been on hrt (2 pumps of Oestrogel and 2 Progesterone tablets a night for half the month) since early November. It's not made one bit of difference.

I had a lot of stress last year, so am focusing on stress management, including now being on 30mg of mirtazapine to focus on tackling anxiety rather than insomnia, doing CBTi, and doing yoga and healing therapies etc.

I fall asleep fine, but wake a few hours later and dont go back to sleep. Im not aware of worrying about anything when I wake.

I lift weights (in the morning) 4 times a week. I get lots of exercise and fresh air. I have 1 cup of coffee a day (very early), limited alcohol, and a great diet. I weigh myself every so often to check I'm not in a calorie deficit, in case that's spiking my cortisol.

I'm trying to remain calm, but am becoming increasingly depressed. I'm so exhausted, all I do each day is go through the motions.

Will this ever end?

How do I know if my hrt is right for me? I dont have any other symptoms of perimenopause.

Hi OP. First time poster, but your message resonated so much with me that I wanted to reply with my experience. 9 years of peri and menopause, with really bad sleeping problems throughout, and a recent diagnosis of significant insomnia. Like you, I could fall asleep easily, but would wake in the night and stay awake for hours. Like you I tried many things. I very nearly gave up work. My GP eventually agreed to put me on a waiting list for a sleep clinic - but that's at least a six month wait for the first appointment. He also mentioned diadorexant, a relatively newly licenced drug here in UK, I understand (brand name Quviviq). He wasn't able to prescribe it, but I managed to get a private prescription from Boots Online insomnia clinic. I'm only 5 weeks in, but it's been a game changer so far. I still often wake, but manage to get back to sleep again, and I'm regularly getting 6 hours sleep a night, which is so much better than it has been for years. It's early days and might not last, but - for the moment at least - I feel human again. I just wanted to mention this in case you'd not come across this medication yet. I wish you all the best in finding something that works for you. Take care.

Please ask your gp for a referral to the hospital menopause/perimenopause specialist clinic or consultant. They will be able to prescribe something that actually works. Insomnia is a known consequence of menopause/perimenopause, and registrars and consultants know more about it than your gp.

Melatonin and other supplements are, in my experience, a complete waste of time and money.

NICE has recently approved daridorexant for people exactly in your situation, and doctors are just starting to prescribe it in my area. It’s been a game changer for me after a decade of crippling insomnia. I would highly recommend.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta922/chapter/1-Recommendations

good luck OP

I suffered with insomnia and started taking nutrition geeks magnesium glycinate and it's been a game changer. Someone recommended speaking to a naturopath which I did but didn't go any further as the magnesium helped. A naturopath will do a blood test and look at the results more in depth than a GP would. They will find the cause (hormone imbalances, deficiencies etc) then treat accordingly

daridorexant - my last resort. Unfortunately it was just another thing that didn’t work for me.
Im 69 and my insomnia started the day I turned 50. I went from 8 hours unbroken sleep
every night to between 3 and 5hours broken sleep.
I really sympathise with you, the years up to 60 when I was a full time infant teacher drove me almost to madness with lack of sleep and tiredness during the day. I stopped full time at 60 almost completely due to insomnia and did supply teaching 2/3 days a week.
Now I’m retired it’s slightly easier to live with - although now I think it’s my aging bladder that wakes me up as well!
A typical night now for me is read in bed till about 12, drop off to sleep , wake up at 1.30 for a wee ( having stopped liquids at 4 pm and I only ever drink decaf tea or water anyway) go back to sleep til about 3.30/4 am and that’s when I do find it hard to go back to sleep. Maybe drop off again about 6 till about 8.30 am
I know i’m on my phone now but generally speaking I put it away before 8pm.
Im still taking the magnesium glycinate but sceptical about its benefits.
Recently I’ve been experimenting with a very simple technique - choose a 4 number sequence. I do 2468- and say it over and over in your head. I’ve had some success with getting back to sleep in the middle of the night with this.
I really sympathise with you, I took for granted my lovely restful sleep, I even had 3 brilliant whole night sleeping babies from 6 weeks old so it was a huge shock.
Re the daridorexant, I had to do a talking therapy session before my gp was allowed to prescribe it. I had high hopes, like I did with melatonin, but it didn’t work for me. Hopefully it will for you though.

I had terrible insomnia for ten years. What works for me now is two gabapentin (for fibromyalgia), one amitriptyline, one melatonin and occasional magnesium glycenate. I’m finally sleeping all night. I would also recommend a heated throw. It’s kind of weighty and the combination of that and the warmth is good for getting drowsy. I switch it off as I’m going to sleep. I was on two to four hours for years. It’s so debilitating.

Correcting a typo in my previous post - daridorexant is the thing that is finally working for me