To ask for your sleep remedies

[HerRoyalHappiness]

Had a very useless appointment with the GP today who was more interested In how I parent as a disabled mother than the issue at hand. Which is my lack of sleep.
I haven't slept more than 3 hours in a month. I go to he'd at 10, drift off after 11 and I'm awake by 2am without fail then I can't get back to sleep.
I don't have screens in my room. I use a smart alarm clock to play rain sounds and wake me up in a morning.
It's not too hot or too cold.
I have a weighted blanket
I do need a new mattress and it's on my list to buy but I can't get one until the end of August as I don't have £200 spare right now.
I've tried chamomile tea
I've tried meditation
I've tried sleep pillow sprays
I've tried crystals (I know but I'm desperate)
I've tried hypnosis
I've tried counting sheep
I've tried everything. I don't even read in bed any more in case it was over stimulating my brain. I just lie there and try to sleep.
Please give me tips, hacks, anything at all to help me to sleep. I'm so exhausted 😩

I use CBD tincture. Dragonfly 500 mg from Amazon, subscribe and save.

Thank you. I've been meaning to try CBD.

I use the Calm app stories. But I have very specific ones I like.

Magnesium,I buy them from Boots,take 2 at night.

I've tried the calm app, no good unfortunately.
I already take magnesium for restless legs. It does help with that though at least. It's kind of a cruel irony that I can't walk without aids yet I get restless legs.

I second magnesium. I do try to eat magnesium rich foods as well as taking a low dose with calcium in tablet form. I top up occasionally with a magnesium spray.

Sorry just saw you already tried it. Hope you find something that works soon x

I see CBD has been suggested.

In a similar vein, I was going to say that, if you live in a jurisdiction where cannabis is legal or decriminalised, a small amount of that would work a treat (vapourised or perhaps eaten in a muffin or something - presumably you do not wish to smoke).

If cannabis is not legal or decriminalised where you live, well, its works just the same anyway lol.

As an aside, I have always found ~20 units of alcohol makes for a very deep and sound sleep, although that is hardly sustainable haha!

Unfortunately I don't think alcohol every night is sustainable, especially as I only drink at Christmas, I'd be very very drunk 😅
I wouldn't know where to turn to buy cannabis to be honest. I'm very sheltered.

My last resort is Night Nurse, the drowsy one. Brilliant stuff.

Sleep With Me podcast
Going to bed later
Melatonin
giving up and taking nytol

I use antihistamines (cetrizine hydrochloride 10mg), I cut the tablet in half and I find it really effective. But it can make me groggy the next day if I haven't slept enough

My GP said the stuff over the counter could interact negatively with my meds I'm taking so ill have to speak to a pharmacist I think.
Antihistamines are a good shout. I'll try those too.

I started wearing an eye mask to bed and my quality of sleep has vastly improved. I get to sleep more quickly as well.

Going to bed later, I thought I 'should' go to bed at 10, would fall asleep and be wide awake from 2-4 at least, and doze until the alarm at 6. Now I try and stretch it to 11/1130 and generally sleep until the alarm or when the fucking birds start

Go back to your GP and ask about trying Amyltripine tablets.

Dan Jones sleep stories on YouTube. They work amazingly for me

You can buy that minus the paracetamol from Boots.

OTC meds like Nytol are anti histamine. I think it’s very effective for helping you drift back to sleep if you wake up. However it’s also pretty effective for simply having by the bed just in case.

I used to waken in the small hours and lie there fretting about how tired I was going to be next day. I then changed the narrative to, ‘oh nice, still five hours until I need to get up, I can just relax.’ It made a big difference. I also have noticed that simply pretending to be asleep is nearly as restful as the real thing. You need to get really comfortable and then state still. Lovely.

With disability & insomnia, I'd look into B12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia. My DD went from 2 hours sleep on a good night to 6 hours after her first B12 injection (with cofactor vitamins) & by the time she'd finished her 2 week loading dose, she was sleeping a normal 8/9 hours probably for the first time ever. It also got her out of a wheelchair in under 2 weeks.
I'll pop back with a good website for reliable information on this deficiency

Here you go, the linked Facebook group was a godsend to us in getting a diagnosis & treatment with an initially difficult GP...

www.b12deficiency.info/signs-and-symptoms/

Have you tried blue light blocking glasses? I used some for a while, putting them on about 7pm and they made a HUGE difference to my quality of sleep.

I've just had my bloods done today so hopefully anything like b12/aneamia will show on that.

I'm already on 50mg Amitryptiline for my pain.

I didn't realise nytol etc was just antihistamines. That's cool. Shouldn't interact with my meds then.

At this point I'm willing to try sticking my big toe in my ear and locking a strangers armpit if I thought it would help.

I asked about melatonin. Apparently only a psychiatrist can prescribe that but my psychiatrist says she can only prescribe zopiclone.

& this website might be useful for checking your meds against interactions with any herbals. It was given to me by a senior hospital pharmacist as one they use. I personally find GPS often don't know too much about medications they prescribe & make a blanket, don't take anything else, to cover themselves, which is fair enough if they don't actually know what can be harmful.

www.drugs.com/uk/

I found magnesium lotion far more effective than pills.

This might sound stupid but are you actually tired and worn out? If you're disabled then you're likely to be less active and therefore less worn out, despite being in pain (the irony is unreal, I know). In the same way you'd wear out a toddler by making them run around the garden instead of watching TV so they sleep at bed time, you might need to implement the same thing. You won't sleep well if you're not physically tired (even if you're mentally and emotionally exhausted).