f*$*ing insomnia, blighting all our lives, not had more than 3 hrs a night for months, I'm at breaking point

[MissChief]

tried sleep hygiene basics - bath, lavender, good bed, no caffeine etc etc, tried all natural sleeping pills, been to GP for proper sleeping pilss - they don't work on me. I@m now truly and absolutely shattered and almost incapable of getitng through the day. been like this for months. seeing GP next week but wtf can they do for me now?
can't sleep, can't rest, can't think straighth, can't remember anything, can
t' have civil converaaiton with dh, can't tolerate my kids' noise. It's ruinign my life. If anyone reocmmends lavender pillows/sprays, valerian, bananas, meditation.I shall scream. signed off work atm anyway but due back very soon, god knows how.
needed to vent.

tell them to give you something besides temazapam.

there are other drugs out there, but they're expensive, of course.

i get a supply of ambien CR and that's really what works for me.

temazapam/diazapam do NOT put me to sleep.

new to this, waht is ambien ct or whatever it is? a stonrger tabelt? don't really want to get addicted.

I've been to hell and back with insomnia. I even got referred to a sleep cinic.....

They tried me with CBT which I can post about on here if you want. It is basically very strict sleep hygiene.

What orked for me is 25mg amitriptiline at night (about 7.30. Sleep really well most nights now. I used to be ill all the time from lack of sleep, but I haven't been ill for ages now, not even a cold.

I found a sleep diary I had kept for the sleep clinic a few weeks ago. I just couldn't believe how awful it was with no sleep. I had completely forgotten!

When I say I had it bad, I had it really bad, weeks on end with hardly any sleep. Some people will say don't resort to tablets. But for me it has improved my health no end resorting to them.

No caffiene, exercise or sex after 2.00pm is supposed to help according to sleep clinic. Not much of a life though eh?
HT xx

Fizz- what did the sleep clinic invovle? Did you have to stay there, if so for how long?
What sort of tests/investigations did they do?

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They didn't really have any answers either, apart from concluding that I had insomnia.....Wow...

I went for 2 seperate nights. They wire all sorts of stuff to your head and legs, then you sleep for a night in pitch dark.

Then they record you, and tell you how you slept. The first time I went they told me to try the CBT route, which didn't really work and also I found it just to hard to do.

Then they told me to take zopiclone every 3rd night, and that was aload of crap as well. I don't think anyone has any answers, that is why it is so frustrating. I have also tried trazadone, but it didn't have much effect for me

Gp said not reay to refer me yet to a sleepclinic, been given ADs instead, we shall see am rather loathe to take.
Pruners- thnaks, that would be helpful, could I mail you or cd you post the contacts on here?! Thanks (again?!) for your help and local knowledge.

Whilst I understand you are loathe to take them, if they make you sleep at night, your quality of life will improve vastly.

If you don't take them what is the alternative? Sleepclinic a big waste of time in my opinion. They didn't really do anything constructive for me, apart from to confirm I had insomnia

I used to not want to follow the tablet route as well, but feel like a different person with a decent kip almost every night. Benefits of this really outweigh any worries about tablets

I've been going for accupuncture for sleep problems and it definitely helps me. Not in the same boat as you, but, at times, gone to bed at midnight, awake at 3, got up at 3.30 and had cup of tea/sudoku etc - feel about ready to go back to sleep about 6am when everyone gets up... Accupuncture has made this less likely to happen, and when I do wake up at 3, more likely to be able to go back to sleep after a little while rather than having to get up. Might be worth trying - at least you wouldn't be worried about putting chemicals into your system.

I have had acupuncture for different reasons and one wonderful 'side effect' was that I sleep like a baby. This coming from someone who sleeps about 1hr at a time, has been truly amazing and saved both my sanity and that of my DH.
Unfortunately now my DD seems to have inherited my bl'#@y insomnia so I'm back to square one. When she is older I will definately take her to see my practioner.

I hope this helps.[smile

sorry cross post mistlethrush!

misschief, feel so strongly for you, know exactly how you feel. have had bad insomnia over the years, worst was during my 1st pregnancy. COULD NOT SLEEP, no matter how tired I was, went to gp who gave me sleeping pills under duress, i was triumphant, went home thinking it was all going to be better, and....

Nope. Not a sausage.

What has helped? I hope this random list of things don't make you want to hurl the computer across the room (I never forget going to see the midwife in tears, explaining how i just couldn't sleep, how I didn't know how i could carry on, etc, etc, etc... and she said "have you tried a cup of warm milk before you go to bed?" THUMP!!!!!)

Back Flower Remedy "Oak" (for exhaustion due to chronic sleeplessness)
Listening to the World Service/R4 (sometimes bored into sleep submission)
Rescue Remedy Night Time formula
Coffea (homeopathic remedy for over active mind, take during the day, before you go to bed, and when you wake up at night).

Sounds also as though you have some anxiety/depression issues (of which insomnia is commonly associated), and I was doing some research into this myself earlier this winter, as I think I get SAD. I found this and wondered if it might be something you would be interested in trying? It is available in the UK as well.....

Have had acupuncture in the past too (not as treatment for insomnia) and found I slept much better as well, but don't know if it can tackle it specifically. Eventually, with the pg insomnia I mentioned earlier, I took absolutely EVERYTHING I was allowed to take at once, and things did get a bit better (herbal remedies, homeopathic and bach flowers).... really hope you get some sleep soon, it is completely crippling and you don't feel human in your current state. Good luck.

(Sorry, put the link on the wrong "this".... duh!)

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thanks all, really comforting - dh had enoujgh and my ps rather unsympathetic to say the least, think i'm exaggerating how bad it is. Abnway, been postitive and have called the hypnotheripst, pruners, great help, thanks!

Am I Normal?, a Radio4 programme, covered insomnia last night -- about what is insomnia & what isn't. I thought it was useful, anyway. You could hunt down their Listen Again feature.

THanks, am listening to it now.

Hello- I had insomnia after DS was born, nothing like as bad as yours but it was making my life miserable. Hypnotherapy really worked for me- it was expensive but just one session sorted me out. Good luck x

thanks, am waiting to hear abck on the hynotherapy - am really hopeful about it as had heard good things.

Misschief did you try hynotherapy and if so any luck

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear you are having such problems sleeping but just wanted to let you know that you can try another natural way. That's what I did when I was pregnant with my first baby and it really helped I wouldn't sleep for nights on end and it would drive me crazy. I couldn't concentrate at work, I couldn't enjoy being with friends and family, I lived on caffeine just to get me through the day. It was survival, not really life...and then I found a new natural way to sleep again. It is truly wonderful - I have my life back again. You can read more here...tinyurl.com/6jo57l. Good luck and best wishes, Sarahxx

Hi
I am new here. I recognise all of this. I have suffered with Insomnia all adult life as does my Mum and my sister...sister probably worse than me and after days of no sleep..hateful and misery. It is torture!

Like you have done the routine thing and was also addicted to temazepam for a while...a shit to come off so do not want to go there again.

A bit of hope...a combination of things have worked for me...it hasnt gone completely...there are still nights when I do the whole shebang and can be up with helicopter head all night BUT it is now roughly one night every ten days wheras less than a year ago it was most nights surviving on 3 hours and occasionally catching up with a whole night. I have never slept sound enough to dream..I rarely dream.

For me it is about head stuff. I started keeping a sleep diary...caffeine (still havnt kicked that one but not in the eves anymore), relaxing lights, relaxing bath and magazine,sex, laptop and tv out of bedroom etc...all a little bit helpful but not much...stuff on your mind...the biggy for me ...had counselling and saw GP, asked to be referred to psychiatrist and diagnosed with bipolar II in feb this year (insomnia a big part of this condition for others...looked up insomnia on mentalhealthforum.net)...am dealing with the core stuff ...the underlying stuff. For me never knew if insomnia was a symptom of depression or depression was a symptom of insomnia.

As well as this I take 25mg of phenergan in tablet form every night...it does work and unlike others does not leave you hung over in the morning so am still able to do the school run, a little not with it, but by 9am am bushy tailed.

I also separated from my husband of 25 years in April. A long story and for me the stress before the separation and our realtionship not being right for soo long was worse than the actual separation time. Have since met lovely man, its not perfect either and long distance but on the nights I do sleep with him I feel safe and secure and loved and I have the best nights sleep EVER and trhe next day feel fantastic, like a different person.

Make what you will of all this cos its going to be different for evweryone isnt it but for me it is almost certainlt a psychological thing. My bpII and insomnia are not going to go away completely, maybe never, but by making my environment...left family home with children and rent lovely cottage...and life..as calm and stress free as possible I feel I am giving myself the best chance. One doctore said to me that Insomnia is torture and they used it during the war for exactly that. with no sleep everything seems ten tmes worse, I was always having little bumps in my car, snapping at folk and crying a lot. I am sure yours isnt BPII but for anyoone else out there who thinks they might be and these books look at sleep as a part of depression I found these books excellent..the Worry Cure and An Unquiet Mind.

Sorry this is so long

Haven't read the whole thread - in a rush I'm afraid, but massage is very good for a whole host of problems including insomnia. You need to find a good therapist and have a course of at least 6 weeks.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but are you stressed/worrying about something - even subconciously?