INSOMNIA Someone help!!!!!

[hayleybootes]

I just can't sleep no matter how hard I try, I have tried every thing but nothing works, I'm fed up of being awake through the night, I just need a good nights sleep!! I'm not uncomfortable, i'm not stressed and I'm not worrying about when the baby comes so why can't I just get a little sleep, someone please help me!!!!!

Poor you. I have started suffering from insominia last June and for no apparant reason. Like u I wasn't stressed/depressed/worried about anything. It just happened one night and then I think the fear of it happening again was what did it. I ended up on sleeping pills but came off them 4 wks later as docs don't give you any longer than that.

Me and DP ended up sleeping seperately and still are!!

I tried warm baths/no caffeine/reading etc.

Nothing works because I worried about it all the time. I would panic thinking how tired I was going to be for work and that makes it worse. I am 29 wks pregnant now too. Since sleeping on my own I managed to stop the fear of not getting to sleep and have been much better for about 4 months now but I tried sleeping with DP again and couldn't do it cos all I do is listen to him breathing and I can't fall asleep. We are hoping that when baby comes we will just be too tired and will fall back into the routine of sleeping together.

Things I was told to try that do help:

If you sre still awake 20 mins after you get into bed, get up and do something mundane. Don't do anything that will get anything done like cleaning/ironing etc. Read the backs of shampoo bottles or tinned food in cupboards.

Don't nap after 3 pm

Don't read to get yourself to sleep/watch tv as this actually stimulates you.

No caffeine/food later in evening

Create a positive bedtime routine to wind yourself down and get used to going to bed to fall asleep, not to read/watch TV etc.

Try and imagine every bit of your body falling asleep from your toes upwards.

Some of these things help.

I should add just being pregnant though, it can be that your baby is awake and therefore your metabolism is on the go when you want to be asleep so pregnancy related insomnia just can't be helped.

All in all try not to stress about not sleeping as it will only make you worse, I used to cry my eyes out in frustration but after a while I just used to accept that I wasn't going to get much sleep and that it's not the end of the world and ususally I would fall asleep more quickley.

My doctor said most people suffer from insomnia for a short time and it ususally goes again. It's very rare for it to last long.

Hope you get some rest, I really do sympathise.

Hi hayley.

I suffered from exactly the same thing with both my pregnancies so I know what you are going through. I got off pretty lightly as far as pregnancy symptoms go but this is the one that got me.

Is it affecting you every single night? It affected me about 5 nights out of 7 and I would start off in bed with DH, drop off easily for an hour or two and then be wide awake from 2am onwards. I tried lavender oil sprays on my pillow but that didn't work. I don't like milky drinks and baths at bedtime just make me too hot. Both my pregnancies where through the summer anyway, one of them with record breaking temps so that was a joy! I am sure being hot doesn't help so don't have too many clothes or covers on the bed if you can help it.

I am very fortunate that we have a spare room as I used to take myself off in there and read. If we hadn't I would have made myself a bed on the sofa I think. I didn't try and fight the insomnia because getting upset about it just makes it worse. I also figured that whilst I was lying down and reading at least my body was getting a rest even if my mind wasn't. Sometimes I would nod off again and sometimes I wouldn't but thinking about it and trying to sleep don't help.

For me, getting up and pottering didn't work as you can't fall asleep when you are upright so lying in bed reading was my best bet. I read an awful lot of books and in the end quite enjoyed the peace and quiet of a good read when everything was so peaceful.

You will be able to sleep again when the baby is born because you will be so tired and you won't have to deal with the hormones so there is an end to it. Good luck

Thank you, i'm just fed up of feeling so tired and being so grouchy to my husband. I'm so jealous when he's lying there sleeping!! I get extreme migraines when I don't get enough sleep so I try so hard but it's every night now, I think I just need to accept it now!! x

I really feel for you. I suffer from it throughout my pregnancies.

One thing that sometimes worked for me was taking a pencil and paper to bed. If i started tossing and turning and thinking about too much stuff, I'd write down everything that was on my mind (kind of like a list) and that sometimes helped me to clear my mind and relax.

Oh- and no caffine at all and no drinks after 7pm at night.

I totally understand how you feel. I've suffered from insomnia on and off for about 5 years. Usually i use sleeping pills for about a week and they seem to reset my body clock and i go back to normal. It is so hard not to stress about it but when you're lying there at 5 am thinking you've got to get up at 7 am it's very difficult not to feel stressed. I'm 9 weeks pregnant and up until last week have had no probs sleeping. I've now had two episodes and i'm starting to panic i'm going to suffer from it throughout the pregnancy. Obviously don't want to take sleeping pills in case they harm the baby.

The one thing i do find helps is to completely exhaust yourself, so no naps, set the alarm early etc. Hard to do when you have the pregnancy tiredness but worth a try.

Hayley - I distinctly remember being tempted to put a pillow over DH head when he was sleeping (and snoring) and I was wide awake. It just isn't fair, is it?

Best thing you can do go with it. Don't try so hard and just rest.

Just a last thought - have you tried relaxation CD's? Don't listen to it with the aim of getting to sleep but just use it to still your mind and body. It is quite common to fall asleep listening to them but if you listen to them thinking that is what is going to happen you might end up defeating the object and become more wound up than before if it doesn't happen.

Yes I've had it too, on and off, throughout my pregnancy. The one thing I once read which I find really helpful, is that in almost all cases of insomnia, people do sleep more than they think they do, just very very lightly

Hi Hayley.

I also have suffered with insomnia on and off for the past 5 years or so. I'm now 29 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

Are you getting to sleep okay in the first place and then waking up during the night? Or just having difficulty dropping off at all?

I am no expert but having suffered with both of these, I would suggest that the first type is more pregnancy-related than the second. At the moment, I can drop off fairly quickly but then will awaken sometime between 2am and 4am, sometimes drifting back into a very light sleep (having lots of funny dreams) and sometimes not getting back to sleep at all. I do think it is hormone related to a large extent as a few ladies in my pre-natal yoga class seem to suffer in this way too.

However given I have vast experience of insomnia generally, the best advice I can give you is to relax and wind down as much as possible before bed, maybe with some gentle yoga stretches to take away any muscle tension. Have you tried lots of deep breathing whilst in bed? It almost takes your mind off "trying" to get to sleep and helps to relax you. "Alternate nostril" breathing is also good and something I learned at yoga (put your right thumb over your right nostril and breath in deeply through your left nostril. Then put your right ring finger over your left nostril and breath out through your right nostril - sounds weird but it is really relaxing, and again gives you something other than sleep to focus on).

Otherwise just try not to think about it all too much or stress about it - I know easier said than done, but your body will eventually sleep soundly when it needs it.

Like the others, I too in the past have literally been so exhausted through lack of sleep that I have been unable to do anything but cry...still happens from time to time but trying to remain positive really does help. And remember that insomnia can't harm you in the long term (and can't harm your baby at all).