Insomnia friends - I will sleep well tonight because I have told my unconscious I will- Part II

[madmouse]

Help we left it too late the old thread is full!!! Hope we all find this one!!!

Hi kibbutz it's from Dr. Mercola - an american brand. Here is a link to a UK supplier Melatonin sleep spray

I have found it to be quite effective, but at £25 for a 25ml bottle - it don't come cheap!

Thinking of you madmouse. If you find the right moment I think it might be a good thing to tell him what happened. May release the burden on you a bit, but it's not the sort of thing you can just come out and say.

sorry kibbutz I think you can find it cheaper than that, have a shop around there seems to be lots of other places offering discounts.

A good night for me, yay!

The sun is shining and all feels good,

How is everyone else today?

Had a chat with DH last night, he thinks we should start TTC-ing even with me on a v. low dose of mirtazapine.

Glad you had a good night GetDown:) So did I actually. I was awake quite early (about 6.am) but felt ok, so have just been for a lovely run. The sun is shining here too.

I hope everyone else has had a good night.

I'm feeling quite excited at the moment as I'm going to be starting an art course in October for three hours on a Thursday morning. It means changing my work days but it can be done. I haven't painted for years so really looking forward to it:)

Hi ladies, thanks for the info about the sleep spray :) I'll wait to see if it helps anyone else first, as money is too tight at the minute. I actually slept last night from 3am right through till midday! First time in 4 years I've slept through a night. Mind you I feel absolutely exhausted today and a bit spaced out! Mustn't complain though :)
Hope everyone is feeling ok..... fingers crossed for sleep xx

Hi!
Right, not sure if this is the right place, but it is 6am (I live abroad) and I have not slept at all.:( I tried everything from reading, watching crap documentaries on telly, drinking camomile but no luck.
I struggle with anxiety disorder, and had quite aggressive panic attacks the last couple of weeks. The doctor prescribed me sertraline, which I started in very low dose three days ago. It's probably the side effect, but I just wish it didn't make me feel even more anxious about how I'm going to cope tomorrow, well later today... DS is 11 months and teething...:(

Hi there euphrosyne sorry that no one was here for you.

I've had nights like that too, where I have been awake till 6am. It is hideous,

Hope you managed to get a few hours in the end.

Sertraline can cause insomnia but I believe it usually wears off after a couple of weeks.

Hope you are ok?

Thanks GetDown!
I did not get any sleep in the end, I feel exhausted but not sleepy at all...
It's the first time it's happened and freaked me out a bit.
I'm ok now, I think I will wear myself out completely by this evening and manage to get some sleep tonight.
Fingers crossed :)

Hi euphrosyne - Ive had that side effect in the past when starting ad's - it does tend to wear off though x

Hi all
Had been sleeping much better but had a bad one last night - I get off to sleep fine but wake in the night usually after 3-5 hours (due to DD waking or toilet or just wake up) and sometimes I can get back to sleep quite quickly and sometimes it takes ages. If I start to get frustrated then I know that I'm on to a loser!
Oh well, I'm pretty shattered now but had a really busy morning out and only 9 hours til it's bedtime again!
DP complaining that I give him a running commentary in the night of how much I have or haven't slept!
Euphrosyne - I think sertraline is quite an activating AD. If it doesn't settle down after a couple of weeks then you could always try a different type of AD, a more sedating one. Personally my GP won't prescribe me the other type, so I'm not taking ADs. Also I don't really feel depressed just anxious and completely fine a lot of the time.
My DD is nearly 10 months so very close in age to yours . She is teething too, fun isn't it !

I know just what you mean ephhrosyne - feeling exhausted but not sleepy. It's the pits. No one seems to understand if you try to explain... they all just say "oh if you get tired enough, you'll sleep" - err, no.

It's a shame you;ve been given an activating AD. I take mirtazapine, which really helped my sleep. More useful for people who suffer insomnia, agitation and anxiety (like me) rather than lethargy, excess sleeping etc.

Hi arcadia - sorry to hear you had a bad one.

Like you, I find it hard to get off again if I've woken in the night. DD woke up at 3 last night for the loo. She was asleep again as soon as her head hit the pillow. Me, on the other hand, took 1.5 hours to get to sleep again! Grr.

Hope you are not feeling too bad today. You are right that if you start getting frustrated as you lie there, it always makes it worse.

Thank you all!

GetDown it's the AD I used to take. I was absolutely fine with it, although I took alprazoram for a month when I first started and did not feel any side effects. I stopped them when I got pregnant. I need to start them again, but without alprazolam because I'm BFing. I guess the first few weeks are going to be tough

DP complaining that I give him a running commentary in the night of how much I have or haven't slept!
Same here arcadia :)

Did you find you got insomnia when you stopped them?

I want to try for another baby soon, and have struggled to get off them completely.

I am now considering getting pregnant and continuing to take a small dose, as much of the literature suggests the risk is small.

Presumably it's ok during b/feeding then?

Thanks you two. Just managed to get an hour's snooze this afternoon whilst DP took DD out to the playground. It is getting easier now we can 'do' things with her. I took her to one of those soft play places this morning, after the car boot sale where I got some fantastic bargains!, and she loved it. She's just about old enough now that she can crawl a bit - backwards only though! I chatted to some nice parents and even bumped into an old work colleague that I'd lost touch with so it was good.

I think I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night because DP said yesterday it was time I started getting up early on weekday mornings now (he's been letting me sleep in til 8) . He's right in a way, as I need to prepare for getting up for work again in a few weeks. HOwever it really makes a difference to my anxiety to know that I have that extra time in the morning so even if I am awake in the night I can catch up a bit, but obviously sounds like I'm just lazy and want to lie in all the time .

Euphroysne well done for continuing to breastfeed . Unfortunately I had to give up at 3 weeks as I had to take a sleeping pill as literally could not sleep at all and DD was losing weight, I think as a result of me being so stressed out .

GetDown glad you're on more of an even keel again now. I think the low dose is a good idea, I think you will be fine. I honestly don't think you have to fear a repeat of what happened to you before. You will be so well prepared this time. You can breastfeed with sertraline. Also it is worth you knowing maybe that amitriptyline (which helps you sleep like mirtazapine does) can also be used when breastfeeding. At least, someone I know is taking it and she is breastfeeding. Maybe worth finding out about it.

thanks arcadia - I did think about maybe switching to amytriptyline, but I read some scary study where they found increase risk of limb abnormalities I think it was subsequently disproved, but it still made me want to steer clear. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, and all that.

GetDown no, I did not have any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever when I stopped them during pregnancy. I was sleeping very peacefully until about the 30th week. My anxiety was triggered big time at birth and in the last 11 months it's getting gradually worse. But I'll beat it again

arcadia good luck with adjusting to getting up earlier. You will manage alright

Thanks euphrosyne getting up earlier is actually supposed to be the best cure for insomnia. Let's see! .

Getdown I meant maybe for during breastfeeding not pregnancy - surely it doesn't cause limb abnormalities after they've been born?!

Sorry arcadia somehow I misread your post as switching to amytriptyline from pregnancy onwards. That would indeed be weird to cause limb abnormalities once the baby is born!!!

It comforts me slightly to know that there are other ADs out there that could help me sleep though. Should I ever need to switch for some reason.

euphrosyne really hoping for a better night for you tonight.

Hi everyone, I am back!!!! I slept really well in Asterdam - had a lovely, lovely weekend and my stress levels went from about eight out of ten to zero (but back again now we're back home). Tomorrow is going to be hard as men are due to start bathroom and bedrooms on top floor at 7.30am and will be here every day for two-three weeks. And I mustn't forget to get cats from cattery...

V. tired now. Goede nacht zzz

Hi Becky I'm really pleased you had a lovely time in Amsterdam amd slept so well:)

Hope your cats haven't missed you too much. How many do you have? I have one cat, a chocolate Burmese and the last time he went to a cattery he came back with a bit of a tummy bless him!

Hope you have a good night tonight.

Goede nacht en welterusten Becky

Hi all - welcome to new people

Well, I've told me dad and stepmum about the abuse tonight and they responded so well I'm gad I told. Dad's not beating himself up, just said he wishes he'd known back then. They are glad I told them. I'm exhausted...

More later xx

Hi Madmouse, just a quickie to say I'm really pleased that your dad responded so well. That should make a big difference to your healing x

Madmouse dank u veel! Ik heb goed geslapen.

Orangeflutie we have two cats: Liquorice and Aki. Liquorice is seventeen years old and a real old lady, Aki is just 18 months and a bit of a minx.

Madmouse I am pleased you told your dad and stepmum and they responded well. It must feel as if a weight has lifted.

Hope everyone is ok today xxx I feel shattered but I slept well. Happy tired :)

Hi all I had a good night, woke a bit too early but managed to get back to sleep.

Hope everyone else had a good night x

Madmouse I'm glad things went well for you at the weekend.

Becky my cat is about 2 now and is called Colin.

I'd better go now as need to get dds to school and me to work. Monday again [sigh]

Hi all,
Hope we are all ok today?

Pretty rubbish night for me I had SundayNight-Itus. I realised just before going to bed that because DH?s car has broken down, I would have to do the nursery run, which I always find really stressful in the mornings. DH normally takes her in the morning and I pick her up in the afternoon. However, I have to do both ways today.

Think that was buzzing round my head. Also I was doing my scrapbooking till 10:30pm ? I find it really compulsive, and stupidly I didn?t have my usual hour or so wind down before bed. So all-in-all a recipe for a bad night.

Still awake at 1:30am. I start thinking ?oh no, I?ve got work in the morning, got to get up early and rush about to do the nursery run etc. etc.? So in the end I took half a zopiclone . Think I got about 5 hours in the end, which I suppose could be worse.

But it?s so frustrating! Arrived at work this morning feeling stressed and frazzled, before the day had even started!