Is there any point speaking to GP about my insomnia?

[sourdoughfan]

So long story short I had a hyperthyroidism a few months ago which has led to sleep issues. I’m now on the right dosage and my levels are fine however I’ve been left with terrible insomnia from it all. I’ve tried absolutely everything but nothing is working. Literally lying in bed awake for majority of the night. It’s really starting to affect my daily life now, especially with 3 kids to look after. I’m wondering whether to contact the gp or not. I know they’re extremely unlikely to give me anything to take so I’m not sure what else they could do? Has anyone been to their gp with insomnia before?

Are you peri age? Have you tried magnesium glycinate and a good sleep routine?

Hi there I was prescribed Zopicone for a few months. It can cause addiction though. I had terrible withdrawal symptoms for a week when it was time to come off it. It served me reasonably well though. I needed to focus and lack of sleep was affecting my focus.

I also had hypnotherapy for something else and it did wonders. There are still some nights when I am struggling to sleep. I downloaded a few relaxation hypnotherapy recordings off the Internet. I chose the one I fancy and I usually manage to doze off

I hope it helps

I have found pink noise helps me get to sleep. And being more active in an evening.

If my brain gets too busy and won’t let me sleep I was told a trick that does help. You go through the alphabet saying a girls name for each letter, so Annabelle, Barbara, Carol etc.

Half an anti histamine helps a lot.

My GP prescribed low dose Amitriptyline which works. Also listening to the podcast ‘Nothing Much Happens’ which was recommended on here.

My mum does the alphabet thing mentioned above but that would stimulate my brain too much!

My doctor would never prescribe sleeping pills. Things that helped. Cetirizine (anti histamine) at night; reflexology (this cured a terrible bout of insomnia once and I'd really recommend it); audiobook to drown out the mental chatter - I am a side sleeper and listen to Agatha Christie and pg wodehouse audiobooks on YouTube using a single earbud; a sad lamp in the morning to reset your body clock, a sleep routine which includes a hot shower. Hope you get some sleep soon.

You could ask to try Melatonin. I take one Amitriptyline at night. There are more long term things than Zopiclone. So yes, depending on your GP, it might be worth going.

I take zopiclone once or twice a week depending on the need. I’ve been on on for it a year but on and off it periodically for 18 years. With many years in between not at all.
see your gp, mine are great and have no issue prescribing me it as long as I stick to the no more than twice a week.
Im also in menopause and just started progesterone and am sleeping like a baby last three nights since starting

They May give you a sleeping tablet for a few days to try and break the cycle of insomnia, which could work. Try to avoid Amitriptyline if
you can, more recent studies are showing this isn’t good for you at all and can cause a myriad of other problems down the road.
I have had awful bouts of insomnia, I try not to lie in bed for hours and sometimes find if I go downstairs and have a warm drink and sit for a few minutes I can go back to bed and drop off. If you go abroad you could buy some melatonin over the counter which could help, I always buy some when in France or Spain.

Thank you for all of the replies. I’m going to try taking magnesium threonate and glycinate before bed tonight to see if that helps. I don’t particularly want a a prescription of pills, just a couple to get at least one full nights sleep to help reset my body, but I know some gps are reluctant to give any out.

I was told to try this when I was doing an online insomnia course (Sleepio) but it didn’t work for me. If I couldn’t find an answer, it wound me up and kept me awake!

What works for me is a progressive muscle relaxation/deep breathing technique. Starting at your feet, tense up each body part in turn (feet/lower legs/thighs etc) breathing in to a count of 5, then relax the same muscles, breathing out for a count of 5. By the time I’ve got to my shoulders and arms, I’m usually half asleep again.

Try headspace sleep casts. I’m now in a two week course of zopiclone because my insomnia was so bad I felt “wired” all day. I’d gone beyond, tired, sleepy, knackered, exahseted, burnout to wired. It was awful.

because you have a clear cause go may be more willing to prescribe .
you say it’s “affecting daily life” which is a important to let the GP know.

other things that may work are Phenergen, nytol, night nurse are OTC melatonin and Kirkland night aid from US and amitriptyline from GP

I found headspace was so good for the feeling wired a loved the ones by eve.

Yes that’s exactly how I’d describe how I’m feeling now “wired”. I feel wired in the day and when I go to bed I still feel wired. I’ve tried to the Costco sleep aids but they make me feel so awful the next day. Worse than when I haven’t slept tbh. I’ve also tried melatonin which doesn’t seem to do much either. It’s like my body has completely forgotten how to drift off 😩.

I have been on melatonin for 6 months but it hasn't worked. Like others have said, a good antihistamine or benylin night cough mixture works quite well.

There’s a new(ish) sleep medication called available on prescription called Daridorexant. It isn’t addictive like some of the other sleep medications. Failing that try some liquid piriton or promethazine (sominex).

My husband was like you and magnesium has been sleep changing! He takes one tablet that has three types of magnesium in it. Good luck. Xx

Hi OP 👋 I had full blown, literally total insomnia for nearly a week after a head injury and post concussion syndrome (this was a decade ago). I literally didn't sleep at all, probably as a result of the inflammation caused by the concussion, alongside the anxiety adding to it even more.

My GP was kind and sympathetic, but polydrugged me and gave me a horrible cocktail of different medication, including benzos, sleeping pills, antidepressants and then a terrible off label antipsychotic that gave me a permanent neurological involuntary movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia. It did make me finally sleep, but at a terrible cost of course to my overall health. 😪💔

I hope you find something to help you. Please note, my story isn't in any way meant to worry you, just to give you my own perspective.

Also, apparently there's been interesting research recently into how having a shower in the dark may help those with insomnia

Total sympathies here - i have terrible perimenopause related sleep - I wake up at 3am and that’s it. One thing that helps sometimes: I think about ‘my personal history of (random thing)’ to help drift off. Eg buttons (mum’s quality street tin full, coat sent from Hong Kong with wooden toggle buttons, friend who had button phobia etc etc). I don’t concentrate too much, just let things come to mind. It can be anything eg people called Sue, swimming, perfume etc etc

My GP prescribed me 10 mg Promethazine for insomnia and I found it helps without feeling groggy the next day.