INSOMNIA HELP! Please tell me there is a cure. I cannot live like this

[cruisemum1]

I have suffered bouts of insomnia on and off for a years but never as prolonged as this. Usually just a couple of nights in a row but now this has been going on for months. i am the living dead - dragging myself around, going through the motions, trying to look after a home, dh and two lo's. I have tried valerian (worked for a while), nytol - occasionalloy works and hypnosis cd on my i-pod, works sometimes. But I am getting depressed at the thought that I could be like this forever. PLEASE HELP ME!

Have you tried the proper Nytol not the herbal stuff?

WOrks for me if I take 2 about 9pm I am dead to the world at 10.

Or get up and read or watch TV that works too.

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Are you having a late cup of tea or coffee? i won't have one after 7, as it makes a big difference to me.

When I was desperate I went to my GP who prescribed temazepam without making a fuss. It helped enormously and now I'd say I'm a fairly good sleeper. Even if I wake up in the early morning, say 2am, I can usually get back to sleep now after a while, which I just could not do when my insomnia was at its worst.

thanks all, i will reply after school run

is diazipan any use?

I'm a terrible sleeper but I can't be doing with drugs just in case.
I also worry and stress about work. Tonight going to be bad as I have to get up at 4.50am never sleep well if I know I have to get up early. Things that work for me
No tea after 7pm
exercise of course
room right temp no heating on window slightly open.
Bedsocks on or under pillow for cold feet. Light summer duvet, 2 blankets to cope with any temp of my body or room. I sometimes have cold feet and my body is sweating
If I wake up worried and can't get back to sleep I put a pillow headphone under my pillow and listen to radio 4 or 7 DAB makes me think of story not my worry.
Might help

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Thanks all -
MadamC - i do have the proper nytol but I only take one even though they are two a night. That way if I don't sleep at least I don't feel dreadful the next day having taking two iyswim
Christiana - I have heard of this before but I don't have the energy! I'd resort to that once I ahve exhausted (pardon the pun) all other options
mooseloose _ I never drink caffiene after around 3pm but thanks
eekareindeer - I may go back to quacks for that. She did prescribe me an antidepressant last time but I only took two and then gave up. I defo need something
starbear - thanks for input - really useful tips. I also get really hot and sweaty when i wake. This is defo stress related as I feel generally anxious too - bloody horrid innit!

I suffered terribly from insomnia for years and tried loads of non druggie different things; hypnosis, autogenic therapy, etc. Nothing worked, Doctor gave me anti depressents - did nothing. Finally we decided on a course of sleeping pills, and after a while they started working, and I started sleeping... and sleeping... and sleeping! It was wonderful and I recommend it! I was on sleeping pills for quite a long time, but now haven't taken any for nearly 2 years and sleep fine.

mommyhasaheadache. that sounds wonderful. I honestly don't think i can continue at this level of exhaustion. I look awful, feel dreadful and am close to breaking point. I will call the doc today! I don't want sleeping pills but i do want to sleep!!!!!!

was it diff to get off them? Which were they? My doc game me a/d's too but i took them two nights in a row with no discernible difference

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christiana - thank you. I have no doubt it would work and also that i couldn't feel worse than i do now. i do not have depression (other than that caused by my insomnia!) but i did lose my Dad to cancer in April of last year and as he had a long, slow illness this is where my current bout of insomnia began with waking daily in the ridiculous hours of the morning.

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I take a herbal remedy that combines valerian and hops, which has definitely helped in the past. Have found that proper sleeping pills do make me sleep, but I feel almost hung over in the morning and not at all rested....

(am feeling not very helpful, sorry!)

Oh my goodness, I really feel for you!!! Temazepam really does work if you are suffering from some anxiety, especially if it's over the sleep itself - it's wonderful stuff! Doesn't knock you out at all - just makes you feel pretty normal and relaxed and you dont wake up feeling "funny". I've been an insomniac for years, going through bouts of a week or two at a time and tend to be a sleep-stresser - will worry about the actual insomina all the time which makes it worse of course, and as somebody else mentioned, if I know I need to get up early or if DH is out and I know I'll be woken up when he gets in, I wont be able to fall asleep. And then when it starts getting to say 1 or 2 am in the morning I start thinking "OMG, only 5 hours till I have to get up..." and so on, until it really IS time to get up and I haven't actually slept at all - horrible!!! I was prescribed it some years ago when I was also going through a terrible 6 month patch and it sorted me out completely! Sometimes you just need something to break the cycle - I still have my bouts but it's never been as bad as that time. GO AND GET IT!

Stop all stimulants (coffee, tea, alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate etc etc) all day all the time. Drink 2/3 litres of cold water and herbal tea (but not mint) every day instead. Stop all work and eating two hours before bedtime, take a warm bath, get into pyjamas and read a book (no TV or radio or internet or telephone) until bed time.

christiana - i don't feel like i am depressed. Of course i do miss my Dad - he was wonderful and he died a slow, horrible, torturous death which impacted on us all. Maybe there is something in that but day to day I don't feel like I am grieving iyswim. I do have couple of glasses of red in hte evening - I'll finish this bottle then give it a rest and see if that helps. I don't exercise as such but I am constantly on the go as I have an 11 year old and a 2 yo! Thank you for your words
orangina - i have valerian root capsules which sometimes work - sounds similar to what you wre taking - thankyou
Snooch - another advocate of sleeping pills. I am really erring towards that direction as I really do need to sort myself out as this is intolerable. You sound like me with your sleep neurosis! dh is not hte most agreaable with regards to his sleep patterns and that defo has an effect on me. I worry that if i take temazipan then i still won#t sleep and then will feel dreadful (more dreadfu}
BonsoirAnna - all stimulants??!! eeurgh but thanks

Paul Mckenna has a new book on how to get to sleep. Worth a try?

jalopy I used to have a tape to help with memory when I was studying and it worked wonders in helping me relax and then sleep. Killed two birds with one stone I've lost the tape but I use the radio instead now,cheaper and very interesting if I'm not asleep. Still not sure about drugs (side effects etc..)

I have used Valerian in the past, but definitely feel it is better when combined with hops (can buy it from a decent health food shop or pharmacy...)

Good luck!

(ps: I find the world service on late night radio 4 has bored me to sleep more than once....)

Cruisemum1 not being able to sleep even on sleeping pills was my main concern and also the reason I didn't want to try them initially. I was also worried that I'd become too mentally dependent on them and not be able to sleep without them - so being back to square one! Take it from me when I say that I have tried various kinds from Valium to Immovane, and never have I ever NOT been able to sleep on any of them - the doctor and I eventually settled on Temazepam as it's gentler and more natural feeling than the other stuff, and the most important thing for me was that I didn't feel totally zoned out when I got up in the morning either. Trust me, you WILL sleep! I was prescribed 30 of them but only took them continually for a week until I felt more human, then just kept the rest in case of "emergency"!

starbear - shame the tape for improving your memory could not lead you to where you left it!!
orangina - i will look up the combination pill and see how that goes
snooch - you sound just like me! the sleep deprivation is becoming a monster in my mind. I am comforted by teh fact that you could sleep despite your concern about not beinhg able to. I will ring the docs tomorrow -DEFO and for tonight try to get throuhg on Valerian and my ipod relaxation thingy.
Thanks all sweet dreams

Your doctor should be able to prescribe a limited course of sleeping pills for you, to let you get into a "routine" of sleeping at night. After you've finished the pills, sticking to a routine of when you go to bed and when you get up should be a lot easier.

All the things that others have suggested about having a relaxing night-time routine and stopping all phone/computer etc activity a while before bed will help, too. As will making like a toddler and not drinking liquids in the evening, so you don't wake needing the loo!