Desperately need to sleep!

[stirling]

Hi,
I'm really stuck in a rut with my sleep. It's so disturbed and broken, I'm exhausted.

A couple of years ago I was virtually forced to take that awful drug Amitriptaline for a year to supposedly treat headaches, which it didn't even at the highest dose. All it did was knock me out and make me gain an enormous amount of weight. Once I weened myself off I discovered a new problem :troubled sleep. And it's remained so for years.
I get to sleep OK but the slightest noise,, sound, partner shifting in bed, someone using the loo wakes me and I can't sleep again. Add to that my horrendous ongoing bladder issues which mean that on a good day I go to the 2-3 times a night, on flare days up to 9.

Ive tried every type of ear plug including the waxy silicone ones, (they hurt) and I still hear sounds.
Is there a truly comfortable (preferably over the ear rather than into the ear canal) plug, I'm not coming up with anything on Google that's different...
Or something else I could try?
Any suggestions?
I used to have perfect sleep all my life before the Amitriptaline.. :(
Thank you

Hi. I feel for you, not sleeping properly is not nice. Have you spoken to your gp? Sometimes sleep problems become a habit, maybe a short course of sleeping pills would help break the cycle.

I struggle majorly with my sleep, unhelpful as I have a toddler and really really need it. I’ve tried everything and the only thing that I’ve found to work is listening to a ‘sleep hypnosis’ track on YouTube. No idea how it works, but it has never failed yet, I’ve never made it to the end. I’ll link it here for you to give it a go. I also wake at the slightest noise, so listening to this helps block out anything that might make me stir. I hope it helps! Not sleeping is absolutely hideous.

YABU @stirling....to have slept on Amitriptyline....(sobbing) it's so shit ... I was still in agony and didn't sleep!!!! 😥.. all joking aside ...you need a restart!
You are not suffering the pain anymore? You could try routines, like bed later but exercise in the day. Follow chemical route again.

My son does sleep so I wake lots and struggle to go off..... I use podcasts. Diverts my brain and helps me not focus in on all the shit things in life that I worry about the second I close my eyes.
I feel for you Stirling !

Under pillow speaker. Something like seaside sounds on it.

Reset with some melatonin- 3 mg from biovea seems to work for me. I also creep and sleep in another room if dp snores too much. Does mean I sometimes am on the sofa but if I sleep better I don’t care

Thanks for the suggestions and the link.. Going to try to research now.
Anyone know of any good sound blockers /ear plugs that do not hurt?

Are you having any treatment for your bladder issues?
I'm a terrible sleeper, here's a list of things that help and may be worth a try?

1. no liquids after 7pm (I drink 2l of water through the day though)
2. blackout dark room - can get blinds that Velcro to the window frame for total darkness
3. Sleephones (flat fabric headphones in a soft headband worth the cost of wireless if you can stretch to it) and an audiobook - preferably one I know with a simple plot that's not too exciting. Audible is your friend.
4. a white noise machine if the audiobooks/headphones don't do it for you, inexpensive on amazon

Hope you find something that works for you, interrupted sleep is so dreadful.

The only thing that's made a difference to my frequent peeing is Sertraline , which I'm prescribed because of anxiety. I sleep very much better on it.

I don't think there are any earplugs that will totally block sounds. The issue is going back to sleep as it is natural to wake a number of times at night but most people go back to sleep right away and don't remember being awake.

I too have this problem at the moment. Wake between 3 and 4am and won't go back to sleep for 1 or 2 hours and then it's time to get up.

Don't know if there is a miracle cure but do know that the more anxious we get about our bad sleeping habits the worse it gets. Problem is it's hard not to be anxious about it when it has such a negative impact on our every day life

Thanks again everyone. hoppipopla so good of you to list all the suggestions, it's been two years and two urologists are none the wiser about my bladder pain. Various theories ranging from IC to squamous metaplasia...
The sleep phones sound good, where are they from?
Toofle is that drug Sertraline similar to Amitriptaline? Does it cause weight gain?

Thanks again all

@stirling you can get the sleepphones from

www.sleepphones.co.uk

You can also get them from amazon but they seem to be slightly more expensive on there.
I sincerely hope you find something to help. Broken sleep is awful.

I don't know if it's similar to Amitryptiline. I've lost some weight actually, but that could be because I'm calmer. I know someone who's on a low dose of another drug , Duloxetane I think, specifically to calm her bladder. She hasn't mentioned any side effects and she doesn't look any different!

I took duloxetine and couldn't sleep, woke up several times a night and struggled to get back to sleep.

Thanks again.
I'll certainly bear it in mind but I'm going to try the melatonin first when it arrives...

Op I hear you, I suffer from terrible insomnia when I'm having a flare up ( I have fibromyalgia ) and have tried everything under the sun.

I've been prescribed sleeping tablets a few times, just for 2/3 weeks to get myself back into a rythhm. I get Zopiclone 3.5mg which are the lowest dose and take an hour before I want to sleep. They work!

I normally try everything before getting them though and what helps me is YouTube! There are literally millions of videos to aid sleep and they work. A particular favourite of mine is Michael Sealey, he has many different videos on sleep problems.
If I'm sleeping well I just put on a video in the background which is normally rain/storm/thunder music. I have no clue what it does to me but it's so relaxing and I drift off peacefully.

One last thing I've started using is an eye mask, I've slept noticeably better with it on though I gave dp a fright when he came in the room and saw my face as it's an owl one

Good luck

Ah thank you Zoflorabore. It really is a nightmare isn't it? I'm willing to try the eye mask, will look out for one.
Thank you for the tip re sleeping tablets

You're welcome :)

if you really feel like you need some help then they are bloody good. A lot of doctors worry that patients will become dependent and/or addicted to them.
I am the first to admit that I have quite an addictive personality and I had no problems with them.
The longest I took them for was 3 months at the beginning of last year and stopped with no issues.

If you see your doctor and explain how badly the lack of sleep is affecting you then I'm sure they would prescribe them for you. In the past with my various ailments I have researched different medications myself and have even suggested x/y/z to the doctor who has agreed with me as he knows I have a long term chronic condition and am well read on it.
Melatonin is also great. We get it in Spain over the counter, it's freely available in the U.S too in huge bottles but isn't commercially available here though of course you can get it. It works very fast.

II too was prescribed zopiclone and yes they work in getting you to sleep but they didn't stop me waking up at 3 or 4 am and also I notice that it didn't help with the quality of sleep. They are addictive and they do make you feel quite rubbish when you do wake up. They also gave me very dry mouth which then triggered excessive salivating.

I know à few people who resorted to them and years later are incapable of sleep without them. In the end poor sleep is an indicator of another issue so trying to tackle this is best. However I do agree that having a sleeping pill available as an emergency does help. I find that nytol (not the herbal one) works just as well though.