To ask what you’re doing awake post-midnight? Part 2: Insomnia Strikes Back

[5YearsLeft]

Bit awkward to start this in the middle of the day, but I wanted to be able to link it on the old thread before it completely fills. Meanwhile, even though right now it’s not post-midnight, if you’re having a day-after hangover from insomnia, feel free to post. Whether it’s from poorly children or babies or pets or OHs, whether it’s grief or fear or anxiety or other losses, whether it’s work stress or home stress or just LIFE stress, we get it. You’re not yelling into the void; you’re sharing with people who have been stuck wide awake, too.

I’ve a new foster pug.
She appears to be completely un-house trained and is on meds which make her very thirsty!
She’s weeing every hour - 2 hours, so I’m sleeping on the sofa with her to take her out the moment she stirs.
It’s going to be a long night!
Trying to be super-quiet not to wake my DH as he’s a very light sleeper, but I live in a flat so have to run down to the front door with her under my arm and lock and unlock the front door every time she needs to go!

She’s wee’d every time I’ve taken her out, so she knows what to do.
Just incapable of asking to go/waiting, so if I’m not on her like a hawk, she’ll try to go on the rug, the sofa……….

Think there will be lots of naps tomorrow!!

@Wallywobbles I do love your photographs of the lambs!
@1AngelicFruitCake I hope your little girl gets off to sleep and you do too. I often find putting on something to listen to rather than something to watch helps, so I use a lot of podcasts. It can't be anything too interesting though it I end up staying awake to listen to it!

I had my first chemotherapy session on Friday and now I've started worrying about every ache and pain, wondering if they're the start of side effects. I'm lying here trying to decide if I feel sick or not. I don't think I do really, but then I'll feel a bit odd or have a hiccup or something and decide that I do! I need to think about something else, so perhaps I should tame my own advice and try a podcast!

I ate too much kale... my own portion and the kids leftovers. My body is now up in arms about it, and I'm not straying too far from the bathroom

Hope those feeling unwell settles soon and the puppy sleeps!

Thanks so much confused. Hope you ban distract yourself and maybe listen to a podcast like you said. I hope your treatment is going well x

@MrsGlum I never asked what AD you took as i didn’t want to pry and this is the first time you’ve mentioned it was mirtazapine. Can I ask why you’re so certain you should be “over” it by now? Is it something your doctor has said? Because I know someone who was on Remeron (the brand name of mirtazapine I think) and didn’t completely feel like they were free of withdrawal symptoms for three months (I don’t remember everything, but I do remember it was insomnia, anxiety, some kind of joint pain, and some kind of stomach trouble, though I’m not sure if it was constipation or diarrhea), and even then, still struggled with insomnia for a further six, before feeling what she called “mostly normal.” This makes perfect sense to me since mirtazapine is an atypical AD, though like most ADs, takes 3-4 weeks to completely enter your blood stream, and even if you stop taking the pills and they’re out of your blood stream in a half-life of 80 hours, you still have contend with the chemical changes “stopping” when it took four weeks to change them. So a month is an absolute bare minimum for withdrawals, I would think, if you experience them.

@1AngelicFruitCake Oh, me. Ha. I often either wake up or I’m up with pain, ever since I got sick. Sometimes I doze half the night and sometimes I can sleep during the day; sometimes the pain is so bad, I can’t sleep for two days solid. I read a loooooooot of books, lots of cosy things that make me feel a bit more rested, even if I can’t sleep. Right now, I’m reading some murder mysteries written in the 1930s with a lot of witty dialogue and rich people sniping at each other in a funny manner. It distracts me from the pain and the insomnia for a bit. I don’t focus very well on TV, so books are perfect for me. I use Kindle books so I can read them either in my kindle or on my phone, and also I can get a lot of cheap books or rent ebooks from the library.

I remember thinking on a previous thread how lovely you are that despite feeling not feeling well you take the time to help others.

Those books sound interesting especially ‘rich people sniping’ 😄
I prefer autobiographies but that’s because I’m nosy!

@5YearsLeft those murder mysteries sound just the sort of thing I enjoy. Who are they by? I love my kindle!

@DrMadelineMaxwell How incredibly unpleasant, and what a way to spend your precious half-term freedom, full time the brim of cold! Terribly unfair and I’m sorry about that. At least you have DD and the cat, who both sound too notch, and I do hope you start to feel better soon. Also, I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but maybe try sleeping with your head elevated because then won’t feel so much like you’re drowning.

@Sadbabysitter Oh gosh, that’s a tough one! But it’s wonderful of you to take her in, knowing you’d have to deal with that and the medication making her thirsty so the problem is even worse. It sounds like you’re doing a great job with her, as exhausting as it must be. And thank you, on behalf of foster dogs everywhere, for getting them ready for their forever homes - without people like you, your foster pug wouldn’t stand a chance. I’m so glad she has you there tonight to be patient with her.

@Confusedmeanderings Ah, glad AND sorry to see you again! And ou wow, that’s such an incredibly tough thing, right after your first chemotherapy. I know sometimes people who haven’t gone through it have this idea that patients just finish chemo for the day, go to the bathroom, are sick, and then go on with their day, because often it’s portrayed like that in media (well, either that the patient is sick from chemo 24/7 or that they’re sick a single time and then just move on). Instead, it’s a continuum, and you might feel mostly well, or somewhat well, or a bit unwell, or like absolute shite. I do hope that you don’t have symptoms for as long as possible, and that when you do have them, they’re livable. Good luck, and the thread is always here for sharing.

@YetAnotherCupOfTea Now, too much kale is one we’ve not seen on the thread before! But I’m sorry your stomach is not dealing well with it. I do hope it passes fairly swiftly and you’re able to get some sleep before the end of the night.

i..absolutely walked face first into hell. thats as much as i can share-for now..other than approaching day 700. The continous assault (not least on sanity-auto includes anxiety\despair\overthink\burl circles AND inability to sleep,or rest defo not relax.(if do drop off,scream demon awake-srill-stuck in initial moment.
only respite iv found has neen you tube/progressive muscle relaxation/hypnosis/sleep talkdowns
might be worth trying praps? x

@Confusedmeanderings They’re the Inspector Hannasyde mysteries by Georgette Heyer. I read her regency romances and loved them and then found out she wrote old-school style murder mysteries and I loved the first one, Death in the Stocks, and now I’m reading the second, Behold, Here’s Poison.

Awake again. Got up at 2 and did a bottle. The lambs not sucking so not looking very hopeful. The mother tried to eat the bottle and bit the end off the teat which was a bit of weirdness. She went on to eat it.

@5YearsLeft wow that’s quite a shock to hear, but very helpful to have a real life account, thank you.
I can’t believe something I took for 2 months might take a year to get over. The GPs really should warn people when they prescribe them.
Your friiend’s symptoms sound much like mine and the thought of suffering insomnia for that long fills me with horror!
I don’t think GP will prescribe sleep pills to me for that long so I’ve no idea how I’ll manage. Did your freind have lots of medical support with the withdrawal do you know?

Morning everyone!

Went to bed at 9 as was pooped after a weekend away at lovely friends' house. On waking 🐈‍⬛ immediately jumped on me (she's huge and heavy), starts loud purring and then did the affectionate bitey thing. she loves me being awake at night. I think cats know when we need them. After last night which consisted of wine-fuelled fitful sleep,packed with classic anxiety dreams I really needed some good kip tonight.

@5YearsLeft I love a bit of Heyer. Smashing. Have your read 'a gentleman in Moscow'? Such a lovely book, one of my all time favourites and fits your bill for gentle, well written (but not a thriller) . I've also started 'silver pigs' by Lindsey Davis (falco series) which was recommended by a friend who's a big Heyer fan. They are gumshoe detective style books but set in Roman times. Quite unexpectedly fun to read. And if you like posh people sniping, 'miss buncle's book' from the wonderful Persephone press is a blast. And Persephone books are just so beautiful you can just stroke them

@Wallywobbles I luffs the baby sheeps 🐑

@MrsGlum hang in there. Xxx

@tolerable that sounds very hard. You are doing incredibly well to be coping after such a long slog x

I wonder what news on @Chichimcgee who might have been in labour yesterday?

What plans does everyone have for tomorrow?

@catwomando thank you xxx
Am hanging on by my fingernails!

@YetAnotherCupOfTea Now, too much kale is one we’ve not seen on the thread before! But I’m sorry your stomach is not dealing well with it. I do hope it passes fairly swiftly and you’re able to get some sleep before the end of the night.

@Wallywobbles So sorry to hear that! Nature can really be a heartless beast someday.

@MrsGlum I think it’s probably really difficult to balance between telling oeople all the warnings they should have and not scaring some people away from medications they desperately need. What a tightrope walk. And unfortunately, you got a bit lost in the middle, because you don’t have exact allergies that make medications fatal BUT you are hyper-sensitive and more likely to suffer side effects than others. It’s a crap situation. As for my friend, we haven’t spoke in a while, but I can ask her. I seem to remember she had medical help in the beginning and then by the end, was buying sleep aids over the counter like so many arthritis sufferers and things. But I’m sure she remembers.

@catwomando Glad you’ve had a good weekend though sorry to see you awake so early! Those cats. They know how to live. And how to force their owners to live by extension, ha. And those books all sound fabulous! They’ve gone in the notepad list of books.

@tolerable I didn’t want to ignore you. Sounds like you’re going through an absolutely horrible time, and I do hope that maybe some of the things you’re trying to help you sleep work. It sounds like you’re incredibly beaten down and you need a rest. I do hope you’re able to get one.

Good morning, I managed sleep between 3 and 6, I feel ok at the moment but I know it's going to catch up with me later.

Also a Heyer fan so reading the book suggestions with interest, must copy them down somewhere so I can find them when I actually have the mental energy to get books!

Hope everyone else is surviving

@DyingForACuppa I just put them in the notepad in my phone since I know otherwise, I’ll never manage to copy anything to down, ha. And congrats on getting some sleep! Though it’s not enough, I completely understand, it’s still a wee bit better than a kick in the pants.

@5YearsLeft do you know how long your friend had been on mirtazapine and was she sensible and tapered down (unlike me)?

@5YearsLeft sorry- i posted the above before I saw your reply to me earlier. Apols!

And oh! We haven’t heard from @Chichimcgee! I do wonder if she must be in active labour like you say, @catwomando? I hope she’s all right; she always seems to have everything in hand, so I assumed she’d be giving us a play-by-play from the hospital when the time comes.

@MrsGlum No worries. I didn’t even really remember until I saw you mention it. I do know it was months, not weeks, but whether it was one month or six, I have no memory. I’ll send her a message today.

Thanks everyone for getting me through the night. My little girl wasn’t sick, my other one hasn’t been (yet!) and I managed two hours sleep. Hope you all have a good day x

@5YearsLeft that’s really kind of you thank you. I really appreciate

@5YearsLeft
appreciate it

@1AngelicFruitCake I’m so glad to hear it! Congrats on your amazing two hours of sleep!! We do the best we can with what we’ve got, and two hours sleep with no sickness might be better than four hours sleep and having to deal with sickness when you wake up. Sometimes, it balances out.