Insomnia sucks...

[essbee]

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Excercise, no alcohol, changing your diet?

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Diazepam. Worked for me!

Glass of (warm) milk before you go to bed?

I am suffering from insomnia (38 wks pg - hardly surprising really!!) and it often works for me.

Reading - do you stick the light on and read until you are ready to drop off? I do, if I am still awake more than 1 and a half hours after going to bed. I find if I read for an hour that's usually enough for me to drop off to sleep and sleep pretty well - otherwise I could be tossing and turning for another few hours.

I am a bit of a veteran(sp) and have found some help bathing with vetiver aromatherapy oil,and yoga (although I really ahve got out of the habit and find it hard to get back into)
Recently I tried acupunture and it has helped and even more importantly it makes me feel a lot more full of energy regardless of how I have slept. The big drawback and the reason I have stopped is the cost. I think you can get it on the nhs in some exceptional circumstances - it may be worth asking your gp as insomnia is a slow torture. Good luck also try and cut back on caffiene .

I haven't slept well since having children (13yrs see other thread, but I haven't killed it so should be OK here!)
What has helped is having the radio on very very quietly, world service is best, and you can use headphones - it seems to help you drift off somehow. (also all the old stuff like having a routine and sticking to it, giving yourself 15mins and if you're not asleep by then get up and do something repetitive like a jigsaw - there was a chap on R4 from the nuffield sleep centre - key into google to get website and ideas - which gives a summary)
Good luck

Was listening with interest to a prog on Radio 4 about insomnia recently as I am frequently awake until 5-6am.... the sleep institute is about to make a clinical recommnedation that chronic insomnia is treated with CBT rather than medication... apparently it had a 85% success rate and with those not cured, a huge improvement... it took on average 6 CBT sessions... cost effective compared to life time of treatments it costs about 250 quid if you pay yourself.... I am currently looking into finding a CBT therapist === reckon it will save me a fortune on lavender oil in the long term!!

Are you an insomniac because you can't stop worrying about things, or do you just not feel sleepy enough, and can't help but think about worrisome things because you're bored lying there for hours? Is it lifelong or something that's happened in recent months/weeks/years?

also conventional medicine says you should not read/watch TV in bed -- ie only go to bed when you want to sleep... if you can not sleep, get up and out of your bed and read away from bed and return when sleepy so you don't set up too many associations with not sleeping in bed...

food you need tryptophan to sleep found in bananas turkey and lettuce!!

read this -- discussion on insomnia and CBT

From that CBT page:

"If unable to sleep (e.g., within 20 min), get out of bed and go to another room and return to bed only when sleep is imminent "

man, I would never get to sleep at all, even if I'm feeling like I can barely keep my eyes open, I rarely fall asleep in less than 20 minutes!

Or, this one:

"Maintain a regular sleep schedule, particularly a strict arising time every morning regardless of the amount of sleep the night before "

Grrr... people are individuals. I have to get my sleep when I can (when my body/brain will let me), if I didn't have lie-ins when my body will let me catch up my long term sleep deprivation would be much worse than it is.

These pages are not written for people with small children causing many night-time disruptions.

"Avoid daytime napping"

This is the only one I kind of agree with. For me (and my DD, actually).

Hi essbee

Suffered chronic insomnia a couple of years ago which was linked to depression. I still have occasional bad nights but nothing like before which was horrendous. I tried herbal teas, Nytol and other over the counter remedies (which my GP insists are all useless; basically they contain anti-histomines which only knock you out for a short time), yoga, relaxation tapes, baths, milky drinks, changing my bed time, etc. I found that ultimately it only got better when when I took a combination of anti-depressants and sleeping tablets. I'm not suggesting that you are depressed, but if your sleeping problems stem from any kind of anxiety, a light dose of some types of anti-depressants could be useful, for eg, Amitriptyline, which can be taken as and when in small doses and can just be enough to relax you enough to go to sleep. I also took Zoplicone; I know you said that this didn't work, but did your GP try increasing the dose? This helped with me, and even though I took it for several months (my sleeping habits had got that bad), when I stopped taking it, I had no side effects.

Good luck.

Have you tried yoga? At the end of the class they do a relaxation and i think most teachers say 'calming' words - everyone nearly always nods off - don't know how you could transfer it to the bedroom, but may help??? (maybe on a tape). Sorry if this is no help, have only ever had insomina myself in late pregnancy

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Have you tried relaxation tapes? I had a trouble a while ago sleeping, I listened to one side of that and slept like a log.

Also, I use a lavender and chamomile linen spray, I spray this over the bed sheets and pillowcases and it smells divine.

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Here you go essbee, what i would recommend is do some of the things that you usually do, a long soak, warm drink, no tele for an hour before bed etc, lay in bed make sure there are NO distractions whatsoever, used headphones, and lie with your legs uncrossed either on your stomach or back and just listen to his voice, its fab Complete Relaxation

Essbee , acupuncture does not hurt at all honestly . It is wierd because it is incredibly relaxing . Like you say the funding may be a problem but it is worth asking. MrsBubsDeVere I am thinking of getting that tape, it sounds good.

can i suggest meditation? it might help to relax and clear your mind...

I used 'calms' after I had a brekdown when my grandad died when I was just 14. They worked for me. Hope you feel better soon x x x.

Essbee
Yes, I used it to help me sleep.

I ment a breakdown, I think they are a herbal thing - it was something that my mum found.

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