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.

@MellowMelly You videoed him??? Crap. I’ve watched enough movies to know this now goes two ways: either that means you’re a goner (Sorry, MellowCat, we’ll find someone to not feed you every 45 minutes) or you’ll have evidence for the police (congrats, MellowCat, your owner is a hero!)

@AllOfUsAreDead So glad you’re pain free! Sorry it didn’t result in sleep last night though. But I’m hoping it will last and allow for sleep tonight! I have all my fingers crossed.

I slept all afternoon due to feeling like my eyes are falling out of my head, just awakened, they still feel that way, so going to try keeping them closed s bit longer.

@5YearsLeft

Oh god yes definitely sleep for a bit longer. I find ice on my head helps a lot for migraines but I know everyone's way of helping them is different.

Hello.

I had an on and off night and eventually got back to sleep , listening to a (I shit you not) David Attenborough relaxing playlist on BBC sounds. 😂

Was so tired that I've just had an hours' nap and feel a bit better. Dr appointment early tomorrow to ask for HRT to see if that can help with insomnia.

See you all later.

@catwomando I listen to audiobooks and David Attenborough has such a relaxing voice and all one tone it does help!
The negative side to it though is either getting really interested in a book and not wanting to sleep so you know what happens next.
Or falling asleep, waking up with no idea what’s going on 🙈

I once listened to a book I really enjoyed (end of the world running club) decided to listen to it again and I’d missed 2 chapters the first time round 🤣

@catwomando Good luck with the appointment tomorrow! I think I mentioned this in the other thread, but I found the estrogen gel is a lot easier than the estrogen patch, if you have an option, or need estrogen plus progesterone.

Also, I’m exactly like @Chichimcgee, ha. If the voice is too soothing in an audiobook, I wander off and suddenly notice I’ve missed two chapters and have to skip back for them. Argh! And they have occasionally knocked me out in the past when a paper book wouldn’t… and I wasn’t looking to sleep, ha.

@AllOfUsAreDead Good advice, and I took it! I’m just up now and it’s 19:38 my time. I do usually use ice over my eyes, and it helps, but today, I have no idea why I just thought, “It hurts, I just want to close my eyes in the dark.” It probably would have stopped hurting s lot sooner with ice. If it starts back up, will definitely remember tonight! Thanks for the advice.

@5YearsLeft
Dammit. This may well be my last ever MN post then! Poor MellowCat. At whom will he yell at now!

@5YearsLeft

Its usually the only way I can get rid of the damn things. Once they start nothing works except that and sleep. Glad it's gone.

I have had insomnia for about 7 years. No idea why. It used to be that I would still be tossing and turning at 3-4 am totally unable to turn my brain off. Recently I have been falling asleep almost immediately but waking up at about 3.30 and then unable to go back to sleep. I much prefer the latter but it is still exhausting.

Ah @MellowMelly and all because of a blurry 5am cellphone video of your obnoxious neighbor. This is probably the most CSI our thread will ever get, hahaha. Joking aside, I’m sure you and MellowCat have many happy years of 45-minute increments together ahead.

@AllOfUsAreDead I completely understand needing sleep. There’s just nothing you can do to get rid of the damn things until they’re ready to go.

@Alleycat1 I’m sorry to hear this. It seems to be one of the forms of insomnia and one that I often suffer from too - that if I do get off to sleep, I’ll always wake up about 330am (almost always around 337am, ha). Then there are those with insomnia who can’t sleep at all. They’re both so exhausting. Have you tried melatonin? Maybe on the weekend, but I’ve heard some people say that they can take it when they wake up during the night to sleep until morning and not wake up drowsy. But I’m well aware that most insomnia sufferers on this thread (probably you included) have tried everything already, so I completely understand if you’ve tried that. It’s an absolute shite thing and obnoxious to wake up and see the clock again at 3-4am. Argh. One of us will be around though (possibly) if you’re up with it tonight. Good luck with maybe having a rare good night.

5YearsLeft.Thank you. Yes, have tried everything. There are 5 of us in The Wide Awake Club, as we call it, and 4 of us are recently diagnosed diabetics which may have something to do with it? I almost look forward to my back going out as the pain killers I then take, Co-codamol, work better than any sleeping pills.

New babies. Still a bit damp when DH found them he went to put the camera back up just now.

The white headed ewe is convinced they are hers but she is still very pregnant. But she is now crying for her lost babies.

We always put the ewe and new lambs separately so they can bond safely.

TallisimoCoroico97 Sorry to hear that you are both in pain with sciatica. I haven't read part 1 so forgive me if this has already been suggested. I have back problems and sometimes I cannot move without severe pain. Naproxen alone does not work too well for me, Co-codamol alone a little better but put the two together and Bingo!. I sometimes take 2 Co-codamol with a Naproxen and sleep for about 5 hours straight. Obviously I can't drive , use machinery or appliances or go to work whilst taking the pills but I don't expect you are doing either of those things whilst experiencing a flare up anyway. Hope things soon improve for you both.

@Alleycat1 Oh gosh, I did figure you’d probably tried everything (when someone says they have insomnia, they’ve usually tried everything on the shelf and a few things from the doctor). I’m sorry; I know it’s just such shit. That’s really interesting that four of you are recently diagnosed diabetics; I’m wondering maybe somehow that affects deep sleep, and it’s disrupting yours? What an absolute nightmare. I wish I had answers for all of us, I mean, of course, then we wouldn’t have a thread, ha. I’m so sorry.

@Wallywobbles I love the photos. I’m sorry about the ewe crying, but hopefully it’ll be sorted once she has her babies if she’s pregnant now? I can’t even imagine just walking out and finding brand new baby lambs, though. I can’t even walk out and find a fucking magic cup of tea without making it myself.

Here we go again, another night of little sleep. It's been like this for 6 months and I would just like, for 1 night, to have the bed to myself and for my DS to sleep in his room. I know it's not going to happen and I feel so down about it tonight, I can't carry on like this. Selfish I guess

It’s (five minutes until) after midnight and that means the thread is open (not that we’re ever officially closed). If you’re up with poorly babies, children, OHs, pets, or you’re poorly yourself, or you’re facing life anxiety, work anxiety, all the other types of anxiety, if you can’t sleep because of grief or loss or other sadness and depression, if you’re just struggling with the crap that is insomnia - this thread is here. Feel free to share whatever you want, and we try to be here for each other. Also, you’ve survived Monday!!! Whatever else happens after now, even if you can’t sleep tonight, you still made it through today, so you’re doing great in my book.

@alwaysscared It’s not selfish to feel that way! We all have needs, and we ALL need some quality, restful sleep, no matter how much you love your children and want the best for them. Please, please don’t add guilt to your exhaustion. You’re doing the best you can! I’m sure it just feels absolutely bloody endless, another night just like the one before. As usual, I wish I had a magic solution tree for this thread, but I never do. But don’t ever feel guilty for needing sleep; we’re all here because we need support for going without something that’s a basic bodily function! We’ll just try to be here for each other until you can hopefully get your bed back one of these days. It’s okay to get down; six months when it’s something difficult is a VERY long time (anyone in physical pain can tell you that, and this is causing you a type of mental pain, having constant low-level sleep deprivation). The thread will be here, and hopefully it will still be here to see the day you get your own bed back. But yes, absolutely please try to tell yourself that you have nothing to feel selfish about.

@5YearsLeft thank you for those words, I really needed to hear them tonight

@Alleycat1

TallisimoCoroico97 Sorry to hear that you are both in pain with sciatica. I haven't read part 1 so forgive me if this has already been suggested. I have back problems and sometimes I cannot move without severe pain. Naproxen alone does not work too well for me, Co-codamol alone a little better but put the two together and Bingo!. I sometimes take 2 Co-codamol with a Naproxen and sleep for about 5 hours straight. Obviously I can't drive , use machinery or appliances or go to work whilst taking the pills but I don't expect you are doing either of those things whilst experiencing a flare up anyway. Hope things soon improve for you both.

I wish the Naproxen and cocodamol combo worked for me but sadly,it doesn’t seem to do much. I’ve booked a phone consult with the GP for next Monday (the earliest he has available).

@Coroico97 did you have an MRI scan to see where the problem was occurring? I don’t know what to ask the doc to consider next!

@alwaysscared @5YearsLeft has it spot on. In fact, I think all her words are so very wise!

@alwaysscared

Have you tried staying in his bed and sneaking away? Or could you put his bed next to yours?

I’m awake again due to stomach pain, I’m hoping soon enough I’ll be awake due to a newborn but I’m sure she’ll keep me on my toes wondering when she will get here!

In the refuge we’re at there’s 2 single beds, I’m heavily pregnant, my son is a big 12 year old. After a few nights of him being in with me I bribed him to sleep in his own bed, being in the same room helps and I don’t get kicked out of bed!

He won't tolerate being anywhere but near me at bedtime, so DH can't do anything to help either. I just want my happy, healthy boy back

Just got into bed. Read a reminder about not running appliances in the night and now I'm worried that the washing machine will catch fire. I the dishwasher. I always run them at night. We get cheaper electricity and the washing machine standard cycle runs forever so I'm not sure when else I could run it. Ugggh...still not worth it, is it?

Somehow things are just getting shittier by the day. Nothing major. Just little things that seem to take us closer to the boundary to serious crapness.

I don't remember when I last felt just optimistic about the future. Or cheerful. Maybw I'm falling nsvj into depression. That would be 50% of this household then.

@Tallisimo Ugh, I hate this for you. Nerve pain is notoriously difficult since it’s not exactly what we have anything over the counter for - almost everything over the counter is for some type of inflammation and nerve pain is such a specific thing, we can’t even often treat it successfully with a combination of prescription medications. I’m so sorry you’re going through what must feel like a laundry list of trying everything and just having none of it work because we don’t have great things to really reach the root of problems like that (I had to have a radio-guided injection straight into the nerve for a nerve pain problem and luckily it helped me, but not even the strongest by-mouth painkillers would completely get rid of it beforehand). I have no idea if nerve injections and nerve blocks are considered for sciatica because it’s such a large nerve; hopefully @Coroico97 might know?

@Chichimcgee Oh gosh, what a mix! Between stomach pain, insomnia, pregnancy, and just the issue of trying to make everything work in two single beds (at least you bribed your son into his own bed! That would have been difficult while heavily pregnant), that’s a lot to deal with at night. I hope maybe the stomach pains ease off and at least if you’re awake, it’s not with extra pain.

@alwaysscared I’m just so sorry. It’s only natural to want your DS to be happy again; every parent would want that for their child, and when you’re watching him go through so much, I’m sure it’s in your mind constantly, and especially during these long nights, when him in your bed is such a big reminder of what’s been happening lately. I’m sorry there’s no solution right now, really. I know so many parents go through this with children who have ASD and it never gets any easier. I hope so, so much that something clicks in that can make your days or nights a little easier, even if the all the help you need (to get him a supportive school, to get him to enjoy eating again, to get him a life that he enjoys living again - all the things your family needs) is a lot slower showing up than it should be.

@JustSomething While I know they want us to be careful about appliances, I do think a lot of those fires are caused by blocked ducts and full lint filters and blocked outflows and the like (and very old machines). So while I would be careful, don’t worry yourself too much. Do check all the filters, and maybe don’t run it when you’re not home, but a lot of people have to run these machines at night, and it’s fine. Please don’t torture yourself with extra worry. You already have so much you’re dealing with. And it sounds like you’re in a slump already, so you don’t need more. Maybe it is depression; the only real difference between a slump and depression is how long they last, it seems like. So the question is how long has every day seemed a little bit worse, and how long do you think you can keep facing it? If you’re not sure if the answer to the first part and then answer to the second part is, “I can’t face it much longer,” it might be time to ring the GP. And depression can be temporary. Taking medication for depression can be temporary. Situational depression is definitely a thing. When life is kicking you, who wouldn’t be struggling?!? So try to be gentle with yourself. Do not feel guilty! And don’t worry about how much of your house is depressed. It doesn’t matter whether 100% of your house is depressed; you’re allowed to get ill, and it’s an illness like any other that can happen to anyone. I hope maybe tomorrow, not that it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but maybe you have just one day off from more new small bad things happenings. We all need a day off to catch our breath sometimes. I have all my fingers crossed for you.

Well I managed an hour or two of sleep then got woken up by pain. But it's not as bad this time, so hopefully the pills kick in and I can go back to sleep again.