Insomnia

[girlladywoman]

This is really difficult to describe but I've never experienced it until the past few months. In my life I've had times where I can't fall asleep and times where I've fallen asleep but woken up in the night unable to get to sleep. But the past month or so I've been feeling sleep, falling asleep and then not long after (up to an hour) just opening my eyes as if I've not been asleep and without the sleepiness. But I then het tired again and do the same. Over and over in the night. It's the waking up that's weird bc it's as if I haven't even been to sleep or felt the drowsy part where I know I am falling asleep.

Bump

Have you been to see your GP? I have had some problems sleeping when my anxiety is bad. I sometimes struggle to fall asleep or keep waking up like you describe.

When I am like this my GP has prescribed tablets which I have found work pretty well as a short term help until my anxiety is more under control and I can sleep better again.

This is literally me! I had awful pregnancy insomnia and was hopeful it would improve once baby arrived but no! I am getting about 1-4 hours of very broken sleep a night and a night here and there with no sleep whatsoever.. but when I lay down to unwind in bed it’s like I don’t get that tired drowsy feeling or feel myself drift I just wake up aroused not remembering falling asleep and feeling like I haven’t been asleep but wide awake! It’s awful.. have things improved for you? Xx

Nope - still the same. It's so weird to get all
Sleepy and fall asleep and then just wake up?!

What's your coffee/caffeine intake like? And wine?

I CANNOT have either coffee, tea or red wine after midday or it affects my sleep like this. Beware some herbal teas like green tea also contain caffeine. As does coke etc.

I drink two coffees first thing in the morning. Any tea in the day (one max) is decaf. Wine does affect it but when I haven't had alcohol for a long long time it is still the same

Have you got anything causing you major stress at the minute? I’m thinking my problem is hormonal as I’ve just had a baby 6 weeks ago and I occasionally have the same problem during pms week , would you have any reason for your hormones to be out of balance at the moment?

How old are you? If you are in your 40s you could be peri-menopausal and your dropping hormone levels could be impacting your sleep. HRT can help some people although sadly not me. I've had to resort to a very low dose of antidepressant mirtazapine.

Another thing to consider is histamine intolerance - this is something that you can be born with but definitely gets worse with perimenopause and menopause. If you are middle aged, you may remember migraine sufferers being told to avoid trigger foods like cheese, chocolate and citrus - I think that this is the reason why. Certain high histamine foods eg eggs, aged or preserved meats, fish, many cheeses, chocolate, any leftovers or slow-cooked foods and seemingly innocuous foods like spinach, tomatoes, citrus, peppers, teas, legumes, aubergines, avocados and strawberries can trigger a range of weird and wonderful symptoms including insomnia. All foods contain histamine though and a further complicating fact is some foods, whilst being low histamine, can trigger the release of histamine from other foods consumed. Some people have difficulty breaking down the histamine as they are genetically poor producers of an enzyme called DAO. It might be worth keeping a food diary to see if you are worse after eating certain foods - pizza and quiches were killers for me. Also, alcohol is a histamine releaser so I've had to give up drinking. It's taken me years to discover what was causing my insomnia. A naturopath or nutritionist may be able to help you to manage the symptoms and widen the range of foods you can eat. See www.healthline.com/health/histamine-intolerance and www.drtinapeers.com/histamine-intolerance

I've definitely become worse since my 3 COVID jabs as I think I also carry a gene that means my mast cells are over-reactive and they release histamine too and the COVID jabs have repeatedly triggered my mast cells. This is called mast cell activation syndrome. See ukmasto.org/about-mcd/mast-cell-activation-syndrome-mcas/#gsc.tab=0. Good luck with finding an answer.

Hi I am 38. I've had long covid so maybe that's not helping. I'll keep a good diary