Insomnia

[curlyclaz13]

Help ! I am 14+5 and really struggling with sleep, I am so tired I don't know how I am getting through work. Any suggestions of tricks I can try to help me sleep ? I have a lavender scented massage bar I am using at night ot try and help and I do sleep for a coulple of hours then I am awake for ages and mange another hour or two until the alarm goes off. This has been happening for a couple of weeks, on my days off I seem to sleep better and have a snooze in the afternoons ( I have done this for years though!) I am considering asking to go home early but I can not really afford more time off unpaid as I have already had 9 hours off this month.

Hi Curly,

So sorry for your predicament. I'm just writing to sympathise really, I'm with you on the insomnia boat (16wks) and I know that I had the same thing all the way through my pregnancy with my son. It's really hard. Fortunately (although it doesn't feel like that) I'm signed off with morning sickness just now, so I can sometimes grab a few naps in the morning which helps.

I've not managed to find anything that works (although - sorry if this is TMI -I do sometimes resort to 'self pleasure' but as with the lavendar bars, it only ever buys me a few hours, not a whole night.

On the plus side, I would say that I was probably one of the few new mums that felt I got more sleep once I had a newborn than I did when I was pregnant. For months after we got my son home, I'd fall asleep almost before my head hits the pillow - insomnia just wasn't an option.

They do always suggest things like, walks before bedtime, warm baths, reading a book etc, but I've not found anything that works in the wee small hours when I wake up.

Just wanted to let you know, you're not alone!

No advice but your not alone. I'm 12 wks and have woken up every night sometime between 12am and 2 and stay awake till 5am. It's really not nice and I'm shattered. Wake up with nausea just to top it off!

Just 5 weeks and suffering. I seem to sleep for a few hours then be awake for a few hours and carry on that way but when I am sleeping it's not a full deep sleep just a light dozing kind of sleep. I read it's to do with hormones, and I am susceptible to insomnia at the best of times. Unfortunately it gives you a lot of time to wander in your thoughts over to the dark side (had a mmc earlier this year) which then seems to result in horrible dreams when I finally do get into a deep sleep around 5am :(

Have you considered trying hypnotherapy? I only used the birth prep one but never failed to send me off to sleep. At least it'll give you something productive to do in he middle of the night!
Hope it gets better soon.

thanks for the replies. tonight's effort is a lovely lush twilight bath which is very lavender scented and a warm cup of vanilla milk.

Ive been the same for the last few weeks im 12 weeks now and its really hard work keeping goin during the day at work feel like a zombie usually wake around 4 and thats me till getting up time at 7....but was listening to an interview wit dr zita west on the radio a few days ago and she suggested the following (this was the main question from the pg ladies that rang the show)

1. Drink a warm milky drink b4 going to bed or eat a banana an hr bed as it induces the sleepy part of ur brain
2. Hve something lite to eat a few hrs b4 bed like ceral as sometimes hunger mite wake u up
3. Relaxation techniques...bath or read a nice easy book nothing too exiciting!!
4. Go to bed a little bit latter if u can keep urself awake and cut out naps during the day

so im trying the hot drink (horlicks) and a bowl of cereal as i am always starving when i wake and im happy to report ive started to sleep through! Hope u find something helpfull in all that speel!!!!

banana & chicken have tryptophan (serotonin precursor - brain sleep chemical) and apparently kiwi is good too. Eat these foods an hour or so before bedtime.

hypnotherapy helped me to relax enough to sleep in my first pregnancy. Speak to your gp if it becomes hard to bear. Good luck...at least there will be mumsnetters on in the wee small hours to keep you company.

that was a better night still woke for around an hour and woke an hour before my alarm.
can not say I wake up hungry but might try kiwi I hate banana!

Ugggh, been up since 4am, 3rd night in a row. Only 7 weeks too. Also FoofFighter, have the same as you - mc in August and waking up in the middle of the night isn't the best psychologically.

My workmates now all swear by bananas for insomnia so I'm going to try that today. Anyone else had any luck with them yet?

Last night was the worst night I've had so far, I've even just been through to try and nap a little but nope, I feel as if I have been mainlining Costa Coffee, wired.