Cant sleep

AmbreSolaire

Hi hoping someone can help me with this. Ive had problems with sleeping my whole life. The last two weeks ive been having a particularly bad dose of insomnia. On Monday I managed a few hours sleep, Tuesday I went to bed at half 11 and woke up at 12.50, I couldnt get back to sleep. Wednesday I went to bed at 11.30 and didnt sleep the entire night, I managed to fall asleep at about 6.30am and got in 3 and a half hours before work, last night I was so exhausted I couldnt stay awake so went to bed about 9.45pm and woke up at 2am, I couldnt get back to sleep and have been awake since. Ive work in a few hours.
When I was in University I missed allot of time because of being unable to sleep, it was so bad I would hallucinate through out the day from lack of sleep, its always the same pattern, I will have anything from a few days to a month of being able to sleep normally - 11.30pm - 8.00am then all of a sudden I will stop sleeping and the insomnia lasts for weeks or months. The thing is though if I was to sleep during the day, anytime after 6am,I can sleep undisturbed for 8 - 10 hours and wakeup feeling really refreshed. Ive always been like this, when I was 14 I had such a bad dose of insomnia I developed big bags and wrinkles under my eyes, they went away when my sleep returned. The difference is when I was younger I could easily function on very little sleep, now im older an all nighter really effects me, I cant concentrate, I zone out continuously, my speech is slow and slurred. I teach part time and ive had occasions where my students have asked if I was hungover or asked me if I didnt sleep the night before so its really obvious and effecting my job.
Ive been to different gp's and therapists over the years but they were useless, they told me to try lavender sprays and herbal tablets. Ive tried all this but they dont work. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Garrett81

AmbreSolaire wrote: »

Hi hoping someone can help me with this. Ive had problems with sleeping my whole life. The last two weeks ive been having a particularly bad dose of insomnia. On Monday I managed a few hours sleep, Tuesday I went to bed at half 11 and woke up at 12.50, I couldnt get back to sleep. Wednesday I went to bed at 11.30 and didnt sleep the entire night, I managed to fall asleep at about 6.30am and got in 3 and a half hours before work, last night I was so exhausted I couldnt stay awake so went to bed about 9.45pm and woke up at 2am, I couldnt get back to sleep and have been awake since. Ive work in a few hours.
When I was in University I missed allot of time because of being unable to sleep, it was so bad I would hallucinate through out the day from lack of sleep, its always the same pattern, I will have anything from a few days to a month of being able to sleep normally - 11.30pm - 8.00am then all of a sudden I will stop sleeping and the insomnia lasts for weeks or months. The thing is though if I was to sleep during the day, anytime after 6am,I can sleep undisturbed for 8 - 10 hours and wakeup feeling really refreshed. Ive always been like this, when I was 14 I had such a bad dose of insomnia I developed big bags and wrinkles under my eyes, they went away when my sleep returned. The difference is when I was younger I could easily function on very little sleep, now im older an all nighter really effects me, I cant concentrate, I zone out continuously, my speech is slow and slurred. I teach part time and ive had occasions where my students have asked if I was hungover or asked me if I didnt sleep the night before so its really obvious and effecting my job.
Ive been to different gp's and therapists over the years but they were useless, they told me to try lavender sprays and herbal tablets. Ive tried all this but they dont work. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hello

Must be tough , mindfulness while lying in bed is excellent particularly doing a body scan. Reason why ? There is a lot of energy in the mind especially for some at night time. A body scan directs that energy straight from your mind in to you body, making the body very relaxed which in turn triggers the mind to sleep. I would suggest going to a class or go to YouTube and look for “Helen body scan “ there is a 20min and 45min guided meditation, but jus use this as a guide and do the body scan without having to use a guided meditation because you would have to wake up and put away phone/headphones etc. It works for me, give it a try and best of luck.

beans

I was going to suggest getting 3mg melatonin capsules from ebay, but they appear to be hard to find there now, which is worrying. There used to be loads of brands listed, now you have to go digging.

I've used melatonin for years to get over periods where sleep came slowly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Puritans-Pride-Melatonin-3-mg-120-Tablets-Natural-Sleep-Improve-UnisexMadeinUSA-/320862768874

silverharp

OP I assume you have tackled all the low hanging fruit , don't watch tv or have the computer on close to bedtime, watch your diet, alcohol no napping etc?

I remember hearing about someone doing a sort of reset by staying up one night , next day going for 4 hours to the time you have to wake up and backing it up 15min per night after that.

Hotblack Desiato

When you have a bad night's sleep, don't try to make up for it by going to bed earlier the next night, you're in effect jet-lagging yourself. Have a set bedtime and stick to it. It's also best to try to stick to similar bedtimes / get up times at the weekend as during the week. If you're going to bed at different times a lot your body won't know if it's coming or going.

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Fakediamond

Magnesium is good for aiding sleep, I find the spray good, takes a few days to kick in. Never take a daytime nap, it wrecks your sleep pattern and try and keep to roughly the same bedtime and wake up time every day, including weekends, no lie-ins (sorry). It really is about developing good habits and sticking to them.

gaynorvader

I have similar issues. Here are a few things that I found to help. No silver bullet cure as of yet.
- Exercise: doesn't have to be intense, even a 20-30 minute walk before bed can help.
- Regular sleep schedule: Don't stay up late at the weekends, try to go to bed at your usual time
- Instead of tossing and turning, get up and change locations: If you've been trying to get to sleep for over 2 hours, try going to another room and reading for 20 mins before trying to sleep again
- Eat closer to your bedtime: I found if I ate too early in the evening it was making it harder to get to sleep
- Drink plenty of water: I found I slept better if I'd had 2+ litres of water
- Have some soft background music playing: Not sure if this'll work for you, but I found having the same album playing each night helps me sleep more soundly. If I don't have it for whatever reason, I sleep very poorly.

Hope something here helps

HelgaWard

Have you tried Yoga? It psychically tires you out, which I find helps me sleep better. Teacher usually go through some meditative breathing exercises at the start and end of each class and I find if I do these when trying to get to sleep or back to sleep, they really help. I find it best to go to a class, but if you can't make one, there are loads of videos on YouTube. Even do a search for yoga to help you sleep and you'll get suitable matches. There's apps available too.