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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Fucking bastard insommnia

72 replies

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 11/02/2019 03:38

There is just no hope. I guess this is it for me now. Acceptance that I will never sleep more than 3 hours at a time (and I am VERY lucky if I even get those 3 hours)

OP posts:
Eminybob · 11/02/2019 05:32

I have so much sympathy for you all. I’ve suffered with insomnia off and on for years.

I have an 11 week old baby who up until now has slept like shit but as I’m used to being up all night I’ve been able to cope with the extra tiredness.

But tonight, DS has had the best sleep of his life - only woke at 12.30 and 4.30 but I’ve been awake since 3!

Even though I’m on maternity I still need to be up to sort out DS1 and do the school run in the morning so I’m considering if it’s even worth trying to get back to sleep. It would be quite nice to sneak downstairs and have a brew and some toast before the rest of the house wakes up and chaos ensues.

Seahorseshoe · 11/02/2019 05:42

Urghhhh it gets worse the older you get, apparently. Yayyyy 😭

sockportal · 11/02/2019 05:46

Wanders blearily eyed into thread. I have had insomnia for over two years now and like @Zoflorabore it's a symptom of fibromyalgia for me. I get around 4 hours of broken sleep a night: I have tried everything, no one understands how soul destroying it is.

DameIfYouDo · 11/02/2019 05:51

My sleep pattern is all over the gaff. I have literally no routine. Haven't the energy to scratch myself. If it was my dd I'd be blaming screen time. Perhaps I should take my own advice.
I feel like inside me I'm brimming with energy, but I am too lazy to wag.
Going to clean my kitchen. 5 minutes. I need to do something to tire myself out. But then I am so tired I haven't the energy to do anything. I've a doctor's appointment tomorrow and they will take bloods. Be interested to see what that throws up!

Northernsights · 11/02/2019 06:01

I’m here too. I’ve had insominia for years, made worse by the fact that ds (11) doesn’t sleep so if on the occasional night I do sleep he wakes me anyway. I think my body has forgotten how to do it now!

I’ve just bought ds a weighted blanket. It seems to be working a bit. I’m considering getting one too. Anyone else tried one?

Huge sympathies everyone

scaryteacher · 11/02/2019 07:53

I've had insomnia since I hit the perimenopause I've started taking magnesium, which seems to help, and I also bought some melatonin tablets (I'm in Belgium, so they are available over the counter), which I will try at the weekend. I need to sleep, but it just isn't happening.

Lizzie48 · 11/02/2019 08:02

I've had insomnia in the past. It's horrible and you really do have my sympathy. What made it worse for me was that my DH has always slept mike a baby!

I used to watch a DVD downstairs until I started nodding off then went back upstairs.

CalvinJohn · 11/02/2019 11:14

I once was awake for 4 days straight and I began to have auditory hallucinations.

There's more than 1 choice of sleeping tablets there's zopiclone, zolpidem, quetiapine and temazepam.

There's also anti depressants who's side effect is sleepiness. These are mirtazapine and trazadone..

Hope that helps

Oddcat · 11/02/2019 11:17

Thank you Calvin , I was taking ad's but they made no difference to my mood at all so came off them . I wondered if they made the insomnia worse ( sertraline and then citalopram)

Zoflorabore · 11/02/2019 11:21

For the pp who asked, I've been on diazepam for nearly 5 years for my anxiety and OCD and they did help me sleep at first (5mg dose) but I've been taking the 2mg dose for the last two years just to take the edge off and they don't make me sleep. I can take them day or night.

I was so shocked then the prescribed sleeping tablets didn't work. I was also taking 2. I could fall asleep but couldn't stay asleep. That's always the way it affects me.

Hope today is kind to us all.

CalvinJohn · 11/02/2019 11:23

The best anti depressant for sleep is mirtazapine at the lowest dose which is 15mgs.

Some ppl worry about weight gain on it. I've not personally had that. But those I know who have ,have just been more careful with their diet and done a bit more exercise.Its well worth it for a full nights sleep.

sockportal · 11/02/2019 13:32

My main issue is that I can't stay asleep

Zoflorabore · 11/02/2019 13:42

Me too sock and this is what others struggle to understand.
The second I'm awake that's it for me. I get up, go to the loo, go down and make a cup of tea, pop in the garden for a cigBlush and pretty much start my day.
I do enjoy the quiet time when the rest of the house is asleep but I pay the price later in the day when I'm exhausted.
I would just like to be normal, whatever that is!

Oddcat · 11/02/2019 15:35

I would like to know why I never feel tired ! I'm getting by on 3-4 hours sleep a night yet I still don't feel sleepy 😡

Funkyslippers · 11/02/2019 15:59

I've suffered for about 20 years with insomnia. Past few years it's improved. My one tip would be NEVER EVER look at the clock or it will just play on your mind about how long you've been awake and how long till you have to get up and just make you stressed.

These days I get lots of exercise and don't drink caffeine too much which helps. I get off to sleep ok but always wake up once or twice and often struggle to get back to sleep but I find that Bach Rescue Remedy Night and a paracetamol, plus deep breathing and tensing & relaxing parts of your body in turn helps.

I've tried lots of different sleeping tablets and I generally use the cheapy ones from Wilko. I only take one if I haven't got to sleep for a couple of hours and even then I do find that my quality of sleep is reduced so I do try to avoid them

Hope this helps, it's a crippling condition

Makemeaname · 11/02/2019 16:56

Feel for you. My sleep issues are depression/sertraline related but most of the time if I take a zopiclone it knocks me our for 8-10 hours. I'm lucky in that I rarely have anywhere to be so I can take one at 4am knowing that I won't wake until lunchtime.

Darkestnight · 11/02/2019 17:06

I've had insomnia for a very long time due to being a single parent to my disabled dd and having to care for her during the night as well as day has taken a toll on me.
But I went back to work in the evenings and it's helped me as I'm tired but max sleep is 3 to 4 hours and I always fall asleep during the day.
Flowers to all on this thread with insomnia

Lizzie48 · 11/02/2019 17:28

I've suffered for about 20 years with insomnia. Past few years it's improved. My one tip would be NEVER EVER look at the clock or it will just play on your mind about how long you've been awake and how long till you have to get up and just make you stressed.

Definitely. The clock used to be the bane of my life when I was unable to sleep.

panticus · 11/02/2019 20:25

@Oddcat I'm the same. What's with that? To be honest I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to be able to get by fine on so little sleep. I find that after a few nights of no sleep I can usually get one decent night in. Then start the cycle all over again.

You all have my sympathy. The only thing that seems to work for me is an anti histamine coupled with a couple of glasses of wine - probably not what a doctor would recommend. Melatonin, magnesium, temazepam and all the herbal stuff did nothing.

lljkk · 11/02/2019 20:45

What's your health like otherwise, my fellow Non-Sleepers?
I'm fairly robust, actually. X fingers.

DiaryofWimpyMumm · 11/02/2019 21:42

I'm finding sertraline is making me wake up at silly times then I can't get back to sleep till 7am when I should be thinking about getting up. So I can stay depressed and sleep most of the night or take the sertraline and be awake Confused

I also take 20mg olanzapine which should knock me out.

SapphireSeptember · 11/02/2019 23:55

I managed to stay awake for 25 hours! Shock I got home from work and went straight to bed. Fuck that noise. I need to sort out my body clock, (not helped by having an early start on a Monday when all my other shifts are late starts, and I'm a natural night owl. )

Shodan · 12/02/2019 00:23

I've pretty much beaten insomnia now, only occasional tiny bouts, but I had it for nearly 30 years- from the age of about 14 or so I think.

I found diazepam made me zombie-like, temazepam not much better, but zopiclone worked for a long time. Then that stopped working and I could be wide awake even after 2 pills.

I tried melatonin, herbal remedies, lavender pillows (I loathe the smell of lavender now), booze, no caffeine after 4pm, no caffeine ever, turkey...you name it, I tried it. Then my similarly-afflicted brother suggested Sleepeaze, from Boots. I took/take it with warm milk. I don't know whether it was the power of suggestion (I really value my brother's advice in all things!) or just the right combo, but it's bloody good.

Lizzie48 · 12/02/2019 00:31

I find Sleepeaze helpful too. Your idea of taking it with warm milk sounds worth a try too.

Zoflorabore · 13/02/2019 05:57

Well well well, 7 hours straight sleep here.
I'm shocked. Only difference was I went to bed much later than I normally do.
This feels alien to me.