OCD and can't sleep.

[Fligflaag]

I haven't been diagnosed with OCD but have been told that it's what I probably have and am waiting for treatment.

What I'm struggling with at the moment is ruminating all night long and not getting any sleep. Last night I had an hour's sleep. I replay all of the days conversations on my head over and over and over. I'm absolutely sick of it.

It's not this bad every night but I'm still loosing sleep most nights. I've had to call in sick today.

Another OCD insomniac here…it is awful at times. The best thing for me is taking sertraline (which I have at nighttime) as it means I’m not getting worked up all night being unable to sleep, only to then vomit in the morning because of the anxiety from the night before.

Sertraline really was a game changer. It will never go away fully, but it will calm the noise a lot, and I’m used to very little sleep now.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this too! It really is awful. The constant looking for clues I've done something wrong is just exhausting on top of the lack of sleep.

I have been on sertraline before but I didn't like the side effects. I suppose I should look into it again because I'm driving myself mad.

Yeah the side effects are awful at first, but they do settle long term. I’ve been on it for at least a decade and honestly it’s the only time I’ve actually felt like I had some real control.

There are also different things like CBT you’ll be able to try, doesn’t work for me, but I know people who would swear by it, definitely worth giving it a go.

It is awful when it twists up your mind, my trick is to just accept the lack of sleep, but do something. So I will read or I will doom scroll, not great to do, but far better than being stuck with the intrusive thoughts kicking you while you’re down.

Good luck with it, feel free to tag me if you are ever totally stuck in the early hours and unable to relax, I’ll not be much help but I’ll definitely be awake.

If this persists for a longer time then do get a treatment or management as soon as possible. Keep you sleep patterns regulated otherwise you will feel much more disturbed.

That sounds absolutely exhausting, especially when your mind just won’t switch off at night. Hopefully you can get some support while you’re waiting for treatment, because regularly losing sleep like this can really take it out of you. Don’t feel guilty about taking a day off when you’ve barely slept.

Do box breathing for a good 20 minutes when you get into bed.

Sorry you are going through this op.

How is your sleep routine up to the point of going to bed?

Do you take time without screens and have a winding down period of an hour or so? Is your bedroom calm and quiet? How is your diet and exercise?

Could you do something with your hands like knitting or crochet before bed or when you can’t sleep? Have you tried white noise or listening to podcasts?

How about journalling? Could you write all of your more repetitive worries down and get them out of your head and on to the page?

Sorry if these are things you have already tackled and obviously they don’t need answering on here.

Good luck 💐