Insomnia before work

[Figgy2387]

On and off over the past 6 years I’ve had chronic insomnia.
It all started when I had a stressful period at work and I couldn’t sleep for a few nights. This culminated in extreme tiredness and anxiety and then a fear of not sleeping. I’ve carried this fear throughout life, despite the initial trigger passing, and now I suffer with sleep anxiety and insomnia whenever I have work the next day. When the pressure is off and I’m not working, I can sleep.
it’s really getting in the way of my life and I’m making career decisions based on my insomnia. Has anyone experienced anything similar and found a way to cope? I’ve seen a therapist and done reading and have had periods when it’s died down a bit (such as working from home) but the fear still lingers and I am scared it will be with me for life! If I know I have work the next day, I’ll spend all day worrying about not sleeping and then getting into a spiral. It sounds so ridiculous but it happens and feels so awful that I dread it and the cycle continues.

I felt that way when I was caring for my MIL and she never slept.

The best thing I can do now is listen to audio books. Don’t try to sleep it just happens.

I am the exact same. The only thing that helps me is to take half a sleeping tablet the night before and have an early night. I take the tablet at about 8pm and go to sleep about 9:30. They make me so sleepy that I don’t even think about not being able to sleep, I just close my eyes and drift off. They aren’t prescription, just Phenergan. Then I wake up between 6 and 7. So that I’m not groggy the next day I just take half a tablet and it works well enough to send me to sleep but it’s not too much where I can’t get up in the morning. Then I don’t have anxiety about it because I think “I’m taking a sleeping pill tonight so will be able to sleep” I only go into the office twice a week though, so appreciate you might not want to do that if you have to go into work every day

Thank you @Helpmeup 🙏 I’m glad to hear it’s not just me. It’s debilitating and I wish my brain could just forget it and behave like it used to before this fear and anxiety began! I have taken sleeping pills on and off and do find phenergan helps sometimes. I try not to take anything as don’t want to get addicted and believe I ‘shouldn’t’ which isn’t always helpful. It’s such a lonely experience and dread to think how I’d be if I had to go back to full time work in the office.

Watch videos of empathy bliss on YouTube. They have uploaded videos of hypnosis as well. I listen to that it helped me. The psychologist is good

I’m the same too, it’s awful and I’m having CBT for it (and other issues) at the moment. Everything you’ve said I could have written myself, so I understand. The only way I’ve found to solve it is to take something on the nights before I work (I work four days a week.) I generally take Piriton or Phenergan some nights and then take melatonin and valerian the other nights. For me that’s been enough to break the cycle and reduce the anxiety. Also, ‘sleep coach school’ on YouTube is helpful.

Yes this is me too. Worst I ever had it was not sleeping for 3 nights in a row due to work stress, I really thought I was going to die. Op if you want to go down the tablets route I can't stop you but I personally would be very cautious to do this long term. There are ways to help yourself but unfortunately they can take quite a long time and require ongoing help. CBT worked quite well for me in understanding my triggers and how to manage them. Also doing all that boring stuff like reducing alcohol and caffeine ( and chocolate too which really pissed, me off.) insomnia is the cruelist thing and I totally empathise, as there is nothing quite so brutal as lying awake all night, hearing the world wake up then having to go to work on no sleep. I hope you find something that works for you.

@Geogaddi thank you. I am very cautious of pills but do find them helpful to break the cycle or at times when I’m extremely anxious. I’ve spent a lot of money on therapy and it does help to an extent but the fear always lingers, I’d say it’s almost like ptsd. Can I ask what you do to manage triggers and how you cope during times when you can’t sleep?
I totally empathise with that feeling of being awake all night and hearing the world wake. It’s such a lonelly and depressing experience.

I have this. I take a zopiclone now once a week for that first night back to work: I sleep well on all other nights which is frustrating. I’ve had this on and off for years but it’s been particularly bad this year

The only thing that found worked was retiring. Mind you, I was 69 by the time I could.

Worrying about not sleeping is the main cause. Insomnia really does drain the joy out of life. I sometimes soak about 10 chamomile tea bags for an hour and make sure I have just milk and lettuce in the afternoon. I really sympathise with you and hope you find a solution to this awful problem.

I also have had the same problem as you for a number of years and tried everything. It’s so, so difficult to live with, and I completely sympathise! I discovered The Sleep Coach School on YouTube and it has been life changing - although not overnight and I still experience “speed bumps”, it’s has completely changed how I perceive/cope with insomnia. It does run programmes and apps you can join, but I have found listening to the info on YouTube enough and there is a wealth of content on there. It’s also on Spotify. I hope this helps.

Podcasts. I listen through the night but I never get to the end of one. It bumps the brain away from thinking about sleeep. For me it has to be the spoken word with an interesting enough narrative but not too stimulating. Something like The Rest is History or In Our Time.

Well done for finding this channel. I found it too. No amount of sleep efforts help like lavender, sleep teas etc. The phrase I love is, I'm nothing to do with sleep, my body will do what it wants. It takes the pressure off.

I’m the same OP 2 years into chronic insomnia but 7 years in to insomnia -
making me feel dreadful and living half a life. I feel like I send son much time asleep or trying to sleep or nap (yes I know the lecture about napping)

husband goes to bed at 10 and wakes up at 6 having 8 solid hours sleep.

Ive just started HRT as I am peri and thought this would be the panacea. It isn’t.

i will try the suggestions on here.

have you tried to come to terms with in the sense of bi phasic sleep and reminding your self you are safe and well? I tend not to have anxious thoughts but obviously as with everyone I do.

I go back to work after 6 weeks of summer holidays tomorrow!

i had an awful cold earlier in the year and had night nurse which did knock me out! The ingredient in that is phenegren so may try that.

I’m not sure why you are averse to medication?

Hi op.

I've tried lots of things over the years and I still suffer. I usually find what helps the most is to go to bed a bit early and try and get a calm and relaxed setting in place. I'll try and read a book for a bit. Unfortunately if I have something at work that's making me anxious i tent to spiral. I'm learning that I do tend to catastophise at night. Understanding your thoughts patterns can help. For example, I've learnt that I hate not feeling in control of a situation and so I'm learning to let go of that and accept that. I learnt this through a bit of CBT. I still suffer though and it's usually because of something so small and insignificant. It breaks my heart to think of the hours I've wasted in my life worrying about things no one else cares about. That's something i.remind myself about when it gets bad. And yes it can be so lonely. I hope you find something that helps you.