To think that insomnia takes over your life?

[Retroflex]

And also to think that nobody "gets" insomnia until they get it?

I'm currently lying down in my bed in absolute agony, I took my medications at 11pm, and as it was my last dose of the day, so I honestly expect to be getting back out of bed in around 2 hours, just to maybe try some gentle movements, or to find a comfortable position.

Whilst I am "up" I think about all the things I can do, load the washing machine and tumble dryer from my wheelchair, maybe prepare and cook tomorrow nights dinner (again whilst sitting in my wheelchair) so that it only needs to be warmed through before serving... I could make sandwiches for my husband to take to work with him for his lunch...

But then reality sets in, and I realise that all of these things, with the amount of pain I'm in, will be far too much for me to handle...

However, if I don't sleep, and don't get the dinner made then technically by the time my husband arrives home from work tomorrow night, (exhausted), I will be like a zombie, and he will need to make the dinner again! which isn't the partnership I'd hoped our marriage would continue with! He actually said to me last night (Monday into Tuesday) that I "seem very down"... Lack of sleep will do that to anyone! Or AIBU about that too?

I know I'm not the only one who suffers with insomnia, and I guess I'm just looking for any ideas as to how I can either sleep, or do the above tasks with minimal pain...

Sorry for the long post, just didn't want to drop feed...

I am with you .

For years now i get between 2-3 hours sleep.

I have a fibromyalgia, have taken all my meds and have to get up for work in the morning.

I am so exhausted at the moment that the pain is severe which is affecting my mood and im really quite tearful.

I like to keep busy usually but im so useless at the moment that DH is picking up everything and at times like this i feel hes more my carer than my DH

I have lots of health worries about my children & parents at the moment so also feeling stressed as well as feeling rubbish with peri menopause .

YADNBU , its just so hard to feel as though you have a meaningful quality of life at times like this

Yanbu

And hi x

Hi I’m with you both. I also have fibromyalgia and chronic insomnia and other issues and I’m averaging 2-3 hours a night. I can get to sleep I just can’t stay asleep.

Currently sat in my kitchen in the dark on my phone, cups of tea on the loop and had my painkillers. It’s relentless.

Am sick and tired of being sick and tired!

I truly feel for you. I simply can’t understand people who drop off on car rides/planes/the sofa. I could go several days without sleep and still that would never happen.

I’m in the US and have started taking a cannabis tincture, which is a total game changer. It gives me 5-6 hours sleep, which is a vast improvement on the 3-4 I was previously getting. Sometimes if I want more than 5-6 and have the luxury of sleeping in (Sunday) I additionally take L-Theanine and magnesium and that knocks me out for 1-2 more hours. I also wear an eye mask, have black out blinds, wear ear plugs, and use a weighted blanket.

I’ve taken Advil PM, Trazadone and Ambien, and none of those worked particularly well. I have always been a light sleeper, and it’s worsened with age.

Hi Retroflex, I’ve just typed you a long post and then mumsnet lost it. Basically, you’re not on your own! Keep warm, stay calm, maybe read or watch something quiet (I find Lewis can be quite good for this, interesting enough to distract, but not too loud or stimulating). It will pass!

I too struggle with my energy levels, and I have found batch cooking and freezing such a help. You can buy frozen chopped veg too which save time and labour. Nowadays I cook potatoes or veg for two meals and put half in the fridge for the next day. Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains all do sachets of microwave rice that serve two for under 50p, two minutes and they are done. A pot of prepared salad for a pound will serve two. I also try to sort out/ start what we’re having to eat at night - I hate starting from scratch at 6 pm when I’m tired.

I don’t know if you ever manage to get abroad, but I find a break away in late a January / February helps me get over the back end of winter and does wonders for my pain, as well as topping up those vital vitamin D levels that make everything feel so much better. [Try a supplement, we’re all deficient in the Uk at this time of the year?). You can get away to Spain or Portugal for hardly any money at this time of the year, honestly, and you can turn the heating down at home while you’re away.
It’s fun just looking as well! 😊

Personally I think it’s very good of us insomniacs to stay awake and watch over the world so the rest of humanity can sleep peacefully watching their backs! I wish you peace and rest. 💕

Honestly, I've got severe MS and degenerative disc disease, (with the damn disc slipped again) and every movement I make is agony...

I'm used to insomnia, or getting between 3 and 4 hours sleep a night on average, and I can honestly cope with that, but when I'm in this much pain with nothing helping to ease it, I just feel like a complete waste of space!

My husband is currently lying beside me snoring, I did a good job of hiding my pain earlier by sitting on the floor and spray/cleaning my fridge, but I'm paying for that stupidity now that's for sure!

The nights that I have managed to sleep this week have been after I cried so much I gave myself a sore face (below my eye) and a killer headache, I guess I just really want my previous life back

• sort out what we’re having that night in the morning

Oh lovely, have an unmumsnetty hug! Everything seems worse at this time in the morning doesn’t it, it’s when we are at our lowest ebb. In an hour or two tomorrow will slowly start to wind up, but for now nobody needs anything from you so try and be kind to yourself. Do you have any happy thoughts and memories you could try and think about? You sound like you have a lovely DH.

@stopgap there's apparently a treatment (cannibis based) stavitax? I don't know, I could be confusing the name that a few of my MS friends are currently taking, but with the people I know it seems to be a mixed review... I guess I wouldn't know until I try it for myself, but I'm on so much medication, that the thought of adding more on a regular basis is slightly off putting...

I too have had to adjust to some life changing health issues over the last couple of years, and I have struggled at times to cope with the fact I rely on my husband a lot more than I used to. It’s not easy, but he’s been great and we are a team. It’s all part of life’s journey, but I’m not useless, I still have loads to contribute and so do you.

@HopeItComesWithBatteries

Tomorrow I'm having button mushrooms in a garlic, onion, sundried tomato and spinach creamy sauce with parmesan cheese, and I'm adding king prawns and mussels to it, which will probably be served with spaghetti pasta...

I actually bought pre prepped bags of "cabbage and leeks" x2 and trimmed Brussels sprouts x1 which I will half and roast along with fresh carrots to have with my roast chicken dinner, which I will serve with both mashed potatoes and baby roasted (I love potato!)

Then I'm going to marinade a pork loin joint in char sui sauce, then cook, rest and slice, adding leftover chicken, fried onion, Peppers, noodles, dark and light premium spy sauce...

Then I'll make beef and mushroom stroganoff, (with garlic creamy sauce and fried onion) and serve with boiled rice...

None of it is difficult to make, I do it often, but never when I'm like this...

Hi night shift. Insomnia holds me hostage.

I think thats it though @Retroflex .

The being awake i can deal with , its the being awake and being in pain not getting any respite that breaks me .

The hard thing is that my job is going to work and looking after other people... so that leaves me even more depleted.

My bloods are checked regularly at the hospital prior to my treatment, and the only thing I'm still deficient on is B12, despite being on regular injections. Apparently its pernatious anemia? I look like casper, but I'm pretty much ginger so I thought that was just my genes!

I'm back in hospital at the weekend, so I wanted a few "easy" days where I didn't need to think about any... It might still happen I suppose!

Unfortunately we used all of our holiday allowance already this year, but we're definitely looking for a getaway in April when they renew!

And I might even buy a microwave!

@Retroflex, B vitamin deficiency can worsen insomnia.

Re the cannabis, is that a UK brand name? I take an indica variety tincture. I know that it’s nigh on impossible to get medical marijuana in the UK, though.

OP, i feel your pain.. I average 4 /5hours sleep but broken sleep, So now I’m awake and probably won’t go back off until about 4 or 5 am only to then be woken by my cat who without fail also disturbs me at 5.30-6am and then I need to be up by 7am to start my day. It’s even worse when the cat also decides to scratch my door a various times during the night as I get even less sleep then, so then I think great I will catch up on sleep over the weekend.. but nope the cat will still wake me up by 6am.

My GP prescribed me some pills but I only take them when I get to that point where I’m so tired I’m practically ill, but yet again thr cat will wake me up, the whole thing is getting so bad I’m thinking of rehoming said cat as I’m constantly drained and I can’t keep being woken up

@stopgap it's called (Sativex) and it's licensed in the UK for MS patients. I haven't tried it personally yet though...

@IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls thankfully I have no work tomorrow, I was owed time so I'm taking it, I hated having people rely on me when I hadn't slept for days at a time! It's soul destroying!

Yes soul destroying is exactly right ! I just get so tired of my boss just not understanding my condition or how isolating it is .

Another one here feeling the pain! Had insomnia for pretty much my whole life, never ever been a good sleeper. Really struggling with it right now. Mine isn't helped by Borderline Personality Disorder and Costochondritis - I'm always in either physical pain or emotional pain or both. It's horrible because I always feel tired

Still awake here several hours later, your recipes sound lovely OP. I love a beef stroganoff, I’ve started adding a dash of brandy and it just finishes it off.

I hear you OP. I have bipolar disorder and C-PTSD, and sleep deprivation is one of my biggest triggers - it set off a 2 year long breakdown not so long ago, the worst I've had in a very long time. Doesn't help that I have to be up at 4am for work, so I'm also averaging 2-3 hours per night at the moment.

Currently it's a mixture of flashbacks and night terrors keeping me awake. I'm constantly tearful and on edge, so my heart goes out to you - it really is horrible, plus it takes such a massive toll physically. You're right in that unless you've been there, you just don't get it!

I ended up going into the living room last night, and forgot to take my mobile phone with me. I was in far too much pain to sleep, so watched several movies that I had recorded on my tivo which I've watched countless times before. I still haven't slept, the pain is pretty much still the same, but I'm now about to cook, which I find relaxing. My husband has said that he will clean for me, (he actually offered to do the cooking too if I told him we what to do), but I want to have at least achieved something today...

I'm hoping for a better night tonight, although I won't be holding my breath...

I do have bipolar disorder, which I like to think is stable with my current medication, but in reality, I don't think it is, as I still have the extreme highs, lows, mood swings and insomnia, but at least I don't seem to rapidly cycle as much anymore...

Retro I hope you get a better night tonight.

Your cooking sounds marvellous. I do find one of the other annoying things about insomnia is overeating....or just because I'm awake longer, I'm more likely to be hungry? I don't know.

@AutumnRose1 the overeating if you can even call it that, I have decided is a result of my body being awake for so many hours. On nights when I have managed to get a full night of sleep (they're very rare, but do occasionally happen) I obviously eat less because I'm asleep.

I do find eating plain porridge during the night prevents gorging on very indulgent foods like I'm currently making...

I only have the seafood to cook in garlic butter, everything else is ready, but it's probably one of the most indulgent meals I make, and certainly not suitable for calorie counting, which is why I was looking forward to it so much!