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.

Ok. Have just come back and read the thread.

I think you have summed up the reasons why you can't sleep MissChief. You poor thing - it sounds as if you are in turmoil.

Perhaps you are not in a place where you can make any life changing decisions yet?

All marriages go through bad patches. You have so much going on in your life and your head ATM, perhaps you should make a decision not to make a decision IYSWIM?

Do you think it would help to give the ADs a go? You can decide to take them for a year (which isn't long in the grand scheme of things), then reassess your life.

In the meantime, if you possibly can, treat yourself to a course of de-stressing aromatherapy massage.

You can get counselling through your GP - this might be useful to unpack and untangle your traumatic past.

I had a very traumatic childhood, and have suffered with depression. Only when I got to grips with the past, could I begin to deal with the difficulties I found impossible to cope with in the present.

It is ok to decide not to make any big, life changing decisions.

It is Ok to decide to deal with one thing at a time.

You climb a mountain with single steps, not a gigantic leap.

Hi, sorry you're having such an awful time. I have a tendency to wake v early and then be unable to get back to sleep for hours, going over and over minor worries in my head. It's almost like I can't shut up my internal dialogue.

What I have found is that if I do some really vigorous exercise during the day (perhaps in the morning, in view of what someone else said about no exercise after 2pm..) I always sleep better. A good run in the fresh air every day might help..?

If I really can't get back to sleep I put the World Service on really quietly, and as long as it's not a music show it always does the trick, and I am always strangely aware of world news the next day without quite remembering all the details.

my friend has had very good results with melatonin - available OTC in the states, dubai etc, think here you have to have it prescribed

Haven't read all thread but I suffer from insomnia due to extremely stressful life situations.Been like this for a lot of years now and will be until everything sorted.

I've found that taking a good quality calcium and vit D tablet in evening makes a huge difference as the brain needs calcium to sleep. I also recommend not eating simple sugars for dinner such as salads. Complex sugars in rice, potatoes, bread etc helps to keep blood away from brain as they are difficult to digest so this is helpful for sleep.
lavender can sometimes be unhelpful with insomnia so I'd avoid that and try chamomile and vetivert instead (essential oils) I use these in bath and even neat on my skin and it helps me a lot.
Self hypnosis cd's are also worth trying.
When I am awake and feeling really stressed in the early hours I imagine a scenario I'd like to be in eg walking down a beautiful path on my own and then I arrive at a wonderful spa where I'm the only guest and all the staff are lovely and I go for a steam and a sauna and a swim etc and I really imagine it in fine detail and it helps and I fall asleep. Try it!
Hope you get sorted soon. Insomnia is evil.

Misschief. Sorry to hear you are suffering.

I suffered badly a few months after the birth of my first dc. It went on for almost a year. Completely random and still can't fully explain it as dd was and is an excellent sleeper.

Same as you, nothing worked for me on the medication front or lavender hot milk etc etc.

Eventually got so exhausted dh had to take holiday from work and I managed to sleep during the day. I know all the advice says not to do this but after a few days of sleeping during the day (awake at night). I obviously felt more normal. I then found I could sleep longer stretches during the night.

Things improved further by going swimming a few times a week.

I second carb loading. Not good for the waist line but immensely helpful for nodding off.

And phenergan. It's an antihistamine. Also got on percription something called Atarax. This is also an antihistamine. Neither make you feel groggy on weakening and both help to keep you asleep for 6hrs plus no trouble. It's as if they help your mind to wind down enough for you to drop off and stay asleep.

I know you said you have tried everything available and before I say this I like to mention that I don't generally believe in homeopathy. But Nelsons Noctura strangely work where the strong stuff has failed.

And yes I am posting this at 3am but on this occassion my insomnia has a valid cause in the shape of my 4 month old DS bfing.

I am worried the insomnia may start again as it did with my dd but I know where I would start if it happens again.

doh. Old thread. Clearly need more sleep