Chronic insomnia, please help

[Grockle]

I can't remember the last time I slept properly. I'm on ADs & have zopiclone but even with that, I wake up several times a night. I was up for over an hour last night. And woke up several times on top of that. It's a lifelong problem - I remember being 7 and not understanding how everyone else seemed to be able to close their eyes and sleep.

I've tried sleep hygiene, various meds, lavender oil, massage, no caffeine etc but nothing helps and I don't know what to do. I'm so tired I can barely move and I feel so sick, I can't eat. I have to be able to function properly - I need to go to work, look after DS etc. I don't know how to manage it. There must be something that will help?

Can you die from exhaustion? I feel like this is slowly killing me

Just to add, even medium-length use of valium (diazepam) can be very, very addictive and cause tolerance to boot - hence GPs reluctant, rightly, to prescribe more than a few days' worth. There are better things to take - valium withdrawals are notoriously horrible, and take forever.

I find codeine keeps me awake (as per when I take codeine based cough medicines, or have a migraine - only times I take the stuff), but Piriton does make me sleep much better. And is not addictive - at least, not physically!

Insomnia is a horrible condition, and I feel for all of you who are suffering with it to this extent - mine is nothing in comparison. Do sleep clinics help? At least some support with it would be good, because feeling isolated with lack of sleep is not a good combination....

Never been offered sleep clinic haven't heard of this for insomnia but worth looking into to whether its available on nhs

anxiety medication has always been more effective for me than night sedation anyway. When my sleeping pills werent working my doctor told me it was because they couldnt override adrenaline.

I found fluanxol (mild antipsychotic) worked really well for a while. Didnt make me sleepy, but getting tired wasnt the issue anyway, but taking them stopped me panicking about everything all day, which in turn helped me sleep at night.
Its good if you can find natural methods of reducing anxiety of course, but nothing else worked for me except medication

Boffin's advice does help me nod off but only when I am having fairly 'normal' sleeping patterns. I don't drink caffeine, I have a physically challenging job and exercise as well, I don't drink alcohol, my bedroom is dark, quiet and only used for sleeping - no watching tv etc & I eat a fairly healthy diet until I am so exhausted I cannot eat.

I don't think anyone wants to rely on medication but it can help when things are very bad to the point of illness. I really don't want sleeping tablets as a long-term solution - I want to get into bed, relax, fall asleep and not wake up til the morning. Obviously, it's never going to be perfect but a few nights of decent sleep make the world of difference. I've been on quetiapine in the past. Sertraline makes me suicidal and various other ADs have not helped.

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions.

I know it may sound trite but your body needs the correct ingredients to make the neuro transmitters to help you sleep. The main one is tryptophan to make seratonin converted to melatonin. You can get tryptophan off the internet at revital.com. Foods high in tryptophan include bananas, brazil and walnuts, poultry etc. Its worth a try. Also plenty of Vit C, B vits, folic acid is important, omega oils etc etc.
Also no caffine or alcohol, same bed time each night, no naps!

Hi Grockle,

Had the same problem since a child too. I currently take:
1 melatonin (2 hours before bed)
1 mirtazipine (15mg, ! hour before bed)
This makes me drowsy. Then I drink 2 cups of strong chamomile tea (I use TeaPigs, v v highly recommended).

Then IF needed 2 zolpidem (which I have found far more effective than zopiclone).But z-drugs create such an artificial sleep that you're much more likely to wake up mid way through the night and not get back to sleep.

Sleeplessnss is the worst thing in the world and I totally sympathise. There are so many of us with it, I used to think I was the only one. What dose of Mirtazipine are you taking? Because I think the lower the dose the greater the sedative effect (if my cod science makes any sense).

My mother takes amitriptiline (not the right spelling) and I know that keeps her asleep.

Also, try the book Overcoming Insomnia. I was sceptical at first but it had some pretty good tips. The best one was to stop trying to sleep, instead TRY to stay awake and fill your night with reading / becoming an expert on something / extra work, anything. Only go to bed when you're so drowsy you can't do anything else, and remember that IF YOU GO TO BED LATE YOUR QUALITY OF SLEEP WILL BE BETTER because your body will move more quickly into deep, restorative phase 3 & 4 sleep. So you'll still feel as refreshed.

Good luck and take heart, all the best people are bad sleepers. Just google notable insomniacs and you'll see a list of the century's greatest authors ..
x

I took dosulepin for a couple of years, a tricyclic AD that's also sedating. A dose of 75mg or above might help you. I know mirtazapine also helps sleep but IMO it's not quite so reliable. I found dosulepin really helped me with sleep as before I would go to sleep initially but then be awake from about 2 onwards and not able to get back off again. NWThreeMum has also mentioned amitripytiline which is in the same family.

At the moment I'm not taking ADs but have been taking Vits D3, omega 3 fish oil and magnesium which seem to be helping with both my mood and sleep.

Hope this is of some help.

Hi, I'm sorry I haven't read the full thread, my thoughts are with everyone who is dealing with this. I wanted to recommend a relaxation CD called BrainSync by a lady named Kelly Howell, the CDs are targeted at specific brainwaves, and have an enhanced vibration to assist sleep. I do know what sleepless nights are like, and I do know prozac, setraline and diazepam (not all at once though...) and I do know that because I wasn't functioning well without my sleep that I had to try something completely different. godo luck to everyone xx

THIS is a good book by a former insomniac.

I take sleeping pills occasionally (temazepam) and otc sominex (or similar with same diphenhydramine chloride in it) and they help.

But I do think there is a psychological side to it. Are you truly happy with everything about yourself and your life (well, probably no one would say yes to these). Are their niggling issues which you repress rather than face?
I realised I was an expert represser of emotions, due to my childhood, and I think that is the, or one of the, underlying causes of my insomnia. These situations in life where you get a ping of anxiety but just put it to the back of your mind instead of trying to deal with it. Or it's there but you are so good at repressing that you aren't aware of it, but it surfaces during sleep.

I'm not sure what the answer is but perhaps some counselling would help but that is so expensive. Meditation would help to calm the anxiousness so that should help too.

I have read alot of self help books to try to understand myself better and my sleeping is pretty good now 6 hours a night usually. Though any excitement in my life can mess that up - grrrrrrrr.

Desperate for advice. I’ve been on and off zopiclone for a year. Sometimes not needing it for months then going through rough mental health stages and needing it more. I’m on sertraline and it seemed to help but I’ve had a really bad upset lately and needed the zopiclone again. Problem is I’ve been taking 7.5mg 5 nights a week on and off but I have suddenly developed a tolerance. I stupidly took 10mg just to sleep last night. Now I have spiralled. Sleep anxiety is back and I’m terrified I will beset sleep again without the zopiclone but they no longer work. I take 2 mg melatonin. Any advice please? I’ve come off them before and I’m determined to get my sleep back to normal again but I’m terrified and have kids and just want to sleep again