I average about 3 hours sleep a night. The main blockage appears to be my inability to switch off. Tried: listening to music, watching telly, doing nothing for a couple of hours before bed, tried doing loads of exercise, I have been prescribed amitriptrline by the GP 2 years ago, nothing it has helped me at all.
Does anybody else struggle this way and does anybody have any ideas to help.
Meh! Happy New Year...no doubt the bike will be out in the morning... fire it up early, and enjoy
I have always struggled with insomnia. Trying to get to sleep is all too often like walking into an ambush. I can almost feel my subconscious mind just waiting for me to turn off all distractions so that is has my full attention when it blasts me with criticism over every mistake I have made in my life.
As I get older, my subconscious just seems to get more ammunition & the problem worsens. The only real solution I have found is to stay up until I am so tired that I can fall asleep almost immediately. Leaving a Radio or TV on in the background helps as well, but that can be counter productive as it tends to keep you awake unless the content is extremely dull.
I bought a clock that could play 'White Noise MP3s' which used to help a lot, but stopped using it a few years ago when I got my cat, because she didnt seem to like it. Thinking about it though, I might try using it again soon as it was very helpful & she is less easily spooked now that she is older.
Currently I sleep around 3-5 hours on average, which isn't really enough but I seem to have adapted to it. I rarely remember dreams any more, but managed to effectively immunise myself against recurring nightmares as a kid by teaching myself lucid dreaming. I am always aware in dreams that it isn't real & can just force myself to wake up when anything bad happens. Manipulation is much trickier, because dreams are like soap bubbles & the more conscious control you execute, the greater the likelihood the reality bubble will burst & you just wake up anyway.
Positive lucid dreams can be fun though, especially when you can spot where your subconscious got the ideas from & laugh at the script. Sadly I rarely get to experience lucid dreams much nowadays, as they are dependent on having a good sleep pattern. Aside from nightmares, the dreams you remember are generally the ones before you are ready to wake up anyway, after having had enough sleep. If you are constantly sleep deprived, you spend proportionately more of the time in deeper sleep where you are oblivious to everything. I used to lucid dream quite a lot in my twenties before my insomnia really started to set in & it still feels strange that some of my most vivid memories are of things that I know never really happened.
Today's sleep. I've woken up worn out.
Went to bed 1:40am, woke at 5:40am from nightmares part 1, toilet the straight back to sleep, woke at 8:40am from nightmares part 2.
Nightmares part 1: I was travelling with my sister and we were trying to reach Manchester, first by foot to catch a bus, this was absolute exhausting chaos, then travelling by bus to a train station. At the train station, even more chaos. Massive crowds, inadequate information and we missed the late night train by ten minutes.
Nightmares part 2: I was trying to break someone out of jail.
I have been having very vivid dreams and nightmares recently. I am fascinated by the way in which reality and fantasy get mixed up. Nightmares can be so terrifying that it takes me a long while to calm down once awake. I also get woken up by silly things (leaving the heating on my mistake) and by the dog who sometimes needs to be let out, but sometimes just needs a cuddle. She is a very anxious creature, like me. I hope that over time, we can help each other to relax.
My classic recurring nightmare is of being on a scaffolding like structure or high ladder which is collapsing, whilst having to negotiate some kind of impossible barrier. I am terrified of heights in real life and it does not need sophisticated interpretation to work out the meaning! Do you have a recurring dream or theme for nightmares?
Fascinating reading.
Perhaps reading is one useful use of ones time in the gaps between the sleeps.
6:30am and still awake.
I woke up at 5:30am from a series of interconnected nightmares about walking home through back streets in the snow. While taking photographs. The past and present were all mixed up with different places I used to live at.
BTW there is no snow here.
In the past people had two sleeps per night. Doing so might be useful to some people:
http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/
Have you tried melatonin gummies? They just help your mind switch off they work for some people.
My daughter only sleeps for about 3- 5 hours a night and not all at once she went through a stage not long ago where she wasn't even getting that it was making her Ill after begging the gp and her nurse for help and getting nowhere I took the advice of another parent at a support group and tried them. She slept all night and did not get the horrible nightmares that she normally suffers. We used them for a week and it was the best she had slept in her life! We took her off them as obviously it is not a prescription so I worry about long term use but she has now settled on 7 hours which is fine. When she slips again we will definitely use them again
Yes I have a similar problem, often skipping nights of sleep entirely (tonight being one of them) as I am simply too ‘on edge’ to fall asleep no matter how tired I feel. I have also tried the things you have mentioned, along with more boring things such as cross stitch, colouring and sudoku in the early hours of the morning as I thought they’d be sure to send me to sleep, but no such luck!
What I have realised over time is that my insomnia is often anxiety related, so addressing outstanding worries before bed can help sometimes e.g. if I need to send a particular email, have certain things to be put away/got out for the next day, can’t remember if I locked the doors etc. these can all be done quickly before bed. The other things I turn to are:
1. I take long walks (2-3hrs) in the late night/early morning because I find it stops me becoming increasingly stressed at my inability to fall asleep, it burns off any adrenaline that is keeping me awake, it physically tires me and it makes me feel more sleepy due to the darkness.
2. I meditate, which I can use to help me fall asleep though this usually only gives you a short, deep sleep, so it’s no good if you want a whole nights sleep. It can be very useful however when you’re totally sleep deprived but have to be awake/alert for something regardless, because I find it can quickly refresh me and give me the energy I need in the short term.
3. I occasionally use sleeping tablets. Promethazine and temazepam/diazepam did nothing for me, but I’ve found that zopiclone or lorazepam can help me provided that I am tired/settled enough to truly try to sleep in the first instance. I also wouldn’t rely on these drugs frequently as they do have side effects and your body quickly becomes used to them, making them less effective. But if really desperate for sleep, they can be helpful.
4. This isn’t really such a healthy idea, but sometimes I deliberately force myself to stay awake all night and the following day, as opposed to sleeping a few hours as you describe, because I know that I will then get more sleep the following night and I try to use this to reset my sleep/wake times. Sometimes this works for a longer period and sometimes it doesn’t, but desperation can lead me to try anything at times!
The only other thing I’ve heard suggested for sleep other than the usual sleep hygiene advice is prescribed melatonin, but I don’t have any personal experience with that, so I don’t know how helpful it is/on what grounds it would be prescribed.
PPS Also, you might try some of the herbal teas containing 'knockout' herbs and plants like valerian and skullcap. Just a small cup, though, otherwise you'll have to get up in the night...
PS I've also found that the use of alcohol to help me to sleep is a bad idea. It isn't proper sleep. Then, if I wake up (which I probably will - dehydrated and needing the loo), my head starts racing twice as fast to catch up on the stuff that's been numbed by the booze!
Sorry to hear you're getting so little sleep.
I've had issues with sleep all through my life, but have found it has been getting better in the last 5 years as my stress levels and general mental health has improved.
Like @Martian Tom says, one of the things I've found most helpful is to write in a journal any thoughts/feelings that are bothering me. Then they are "out" of my head for the time-being and I can deal with them after I've slept.
The other main thing I've found helpful is to look at what I,m eating at night. I don't know if you have any food sensitivities or intolerances? I'm super sensitive to caffeine and dairy (they make my heart pound and my thoughts speed up). So I try not to eat/drink these things too often and not have them after morning so my body has time to recover by night-time.
Hope you find something that helps.
I also am one of the hardcore insomniacs on this site. My current sleeping pattern is from 2am to 8am. Then I dozed off in the evening for about 30min.
I try every thing . Reading , watching TV ,listening to music, YouTube.
When sleep comes it comes, .Eventually.
My main advice is avoid keeping yourself awake. Sleep when you can. If you feel sleepy at 6pm and it's safe to do so. Go to bed and sleep.
