Anyone with chronic insomnia?

[maslex]

Just went to the "sleep study" doctor. Husband wanted me to be seen and go for a sleep study. Anyhow, the doctor said I have chronic insomnia and basically told me that I have to "switch up" what I do when I wake up during the night to break the pattern.

What other things has your doctor recommened?

 

[DLgal]

So, interestingly, humans are pre-wired for biphasic sleep. Middle of the night wakings are common. You can read a lot of articles about this online.

My recommendation is to go to bed every night at 9pm, no matter what. When you wake up at 3am or whatever, get out of bed and go sit somewhere dimly lit and read. When you are sleepy again, go back to bed. Make sure your room is as dark and cold as possible.

Hopefully you get in enough hours of sleep (at least 7) by going to bed earlier. You need less sleep as you age and as long as you are getting at least 7 hours, even broken up, you're fine. It's a myth that you have to sleep 8 straight hours to get a good night's sleep. A sleep cycle is 90 minutes. As long as you get in at least 4-5 of those a night, you're good.

It also helps immensely to eliminate ALL caffeine, don't drink any alcohol within 4 hours of bedtime, and don't exercise within 4 hours of bedtime. Taking a hot shower immediately before bed helps as well. As your body cools down, it naturally helps you fall asleep.

Your wakings are largely due to hormones, particularly cortisol. Eliminating as many stressors as possible will go a long way to helping you get better quality sleep.

I have chronic insomnia as well, but it comes in waves and I have periods where I sleep fine.

 

[HeatherC]

Try Magnesium Glycinate a few hours before bed. Also try eating a little protein before bed. Apparently that stabilizes blood sugar so it doesn’t drop and wake you up around 2 or 3am so you can’t get back to sleep. Insomnia stinks!!

 

[DLgal]

Try Magnesium Glycinate a few hours before bed. Also try eating a little protein before bed. Apparently that stabilizes blood sugar so it doesn’t drop and wake you up around 2 or 3am so you can’t get back to sleep. Insomnia stinks!!

Peanut butter is a great bedtime snack.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Stay off of 'blue light' devices (computers, cell phnes, tablets) a couple hours before bedtime.

 

[JoeA]

I found that going to another room and laying down helps me go back to sleep. If I don't read a few chapters from my current book, I will use the Relax Melodies sleep app lately as an alternative. They have stories, sounds, meditations, etc. I usually pop in the Air Pods so I don't bother my wife, or if I am in the guest room I just use an external speaker laying on the bed next to me. What is nice about this app is you can design your own "mix" of sounds. For example, you can select and play a mix of ocean waves, thunder, rain, a crackling fire and whale sounds in the back ground.

I also found that Harry Potter 1-3 does a great job of putting me back to sleep! Seriously, the John Williams sound track is very soothing!

If I start fidgeting, scrolling through news or feeds, etc then all bets are off...I am up for the day no matter what time it is. A few weeks ago I got into a groove where I would go to bed at 9:00 pm and wake up at 11:30. Now that was brutal after 3 or 4 days!

I feel your pain...good luck!

 

[BayouQueen]

I follow the "first sleep" and "second sleep" idea that @DLgal discusses up there at post #2. It works well, as long as you don't have to be anywhere early in the morning.

When I reached middle age, I started aways waking up around 3 a.m. -- would toss and turn and just finally wake up exhausted. Now my routine is to get out of bed when I wake up at three, have a cup of coffee and a light snack and just do my thing -- watch TV, pay bills, do online stuff -- whatever I want. At around quarter to five, I put in ear plugs, put on an eye mask, and I fall asleep really quickly and stay that way until I wake up, naturally refreshed --usually at about 8:30.

Weird, huh? But it works for me. Oddly, the coffee seems to relax my body -- perhaps by increasing circulation to relax my legs. The very light snack (usually peanut butter) seems to stabilize my blood sugar in a good way.

Insomnia is a real pain. I hope you find something that works for you, OP.

 

[DLgal]

Stay off of 'blue light' devices (computers, cell phnes, tablets) a couple hours before bedtime.

Or just turn on the eye shield feature. Mine is on a timer from 7pm to 7am every day.

 

[prairie_girl]

I’ve had chronic insomnia for about seven or eight years now. I was first put on a sleeping pill that helped..until it didn’t. My issue is that once I wake up, I’m up for the day. Doesn’t matter if I’d only fallen asleep an hour before, I could not fall back asleep. My brain just went from 1-100 instantly.

My doctor took me off them earlier this year and I was not happy about it. He wanted me to take melatonin instead. I was very skeptical and hated making the switch, but I trusted him. It took a while but I am sleeping ok with melatonin. I take 15mgs a night and it’s important to take it about 4-5 hours before you want to go to bed. It is not fast acting.

 

[Southernmiss]

I'm also at a place in my life where I often have insomnia.

I take extra magnesium. And get some exercise.

I also find that I need to stay up until 10:30 or so to sleep until at least 5.

Dh stays up late and often when he comes to bed, it wakes me up and I'm awake until 3 or 4 and have to be up by 6:30.

Ugh!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Or just turn on the eye shield feature. Mine is on a timer from 7pm to 7am every day.

Mine also, same hours.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Thanks to a pre-existing condition and the treatments It requires, I have the opposite: chronic narcolepsy. I literally sheep 14-16 hours a day. It's a real crux

 

[bsmcneil]

I do - emanating from a bunch of things. It's been a problem since, literally, 3rd grade (I'm now 38). Siiiigh.

 

[ProfDrPenelope]

I’ve been dealing with terrible insomnia ever since the start of the pandemic. I’ve found that if I go to sleep with something playing on my headphones, it blocks the intrusive thoughts that keep my mind racing and I’m able to zone out and go to sleep. I recently stumbled upon a channel on YouTube called Theme Park Dreamscapes and it’s been an absolute godsend. The ones with the ocean waves just knock me out. It looks like a relatively new channel so I hope they post more videos soon.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I’ve been dealing with terrible insomnia ever since the start of the pandemic. I’ve found that if I go to sleep with something playing on my headphones, it blocks the intrusive thoughts that keep my mind racing and I’m able to zone out and go to sleep. I recently stumbled upon a channel on YouTube called Theme Park Dreamscapes and it’s been an absolute godsend. The ones with the ocean waves just knock me out. It looks like a relatively new channel so I hope they post more videos soon.

Welcome to the dis, Dr. P.

 

[prairie_girl]

Thanks to a pre-existing condition and the treatments It requires, I have the opposite: chronic narcolepsy. I literally sheep 14-16 hours a day. It's a real crux

I’ll trade you some of my awake in exchange for some of your sleep. Between us, we could be two sleep happy people lol

 

[RamblingMad]

I was told Zyrtec for Zzzzs. Along with don't eat after 8p. And get 30 minutes of cardio in every day. That's pretty much working for me.

 

[Jennasis]

I've gone back to trying melatonin but it gives me CRAZY and VIVID dreams...like go to bed with a bucket of popcorn and a large soda cause we off to the movies type dreams! So I get "sleep" but it isn't restfull.

 

[TCRAIG]

I’ve had problems sleeping for decades - usually go to bed @2am, wake at 4 and then wide awake til @6:30 and then doze for an hour til it’s time for work (WFH). If I go to bed any earlier - say 10pm, I’ll wake at midnight and that’s it - no more sleep for me. I’ve tried Melatonin, different pillows, etc. to no avail. I recently retired and things were getting a bit better but I’m back to my 2 hours a night again…however, last week I bought a small camping pillow from Columbia outlet store and I’ve been sleeping all the way thru til 7am!

 

[nw6675]

I follow the "first sleep" and "second sleep" idea that @DLgal discusses up there at post #2. It works well, as long as you don't have to be anywhere early in the morning.

When I reached middle age, I started aways waking up around 3 a.m. -- would toss and turn and just finally wake up exhausted. Now my routine is to get out of bed when I wake up at three, have a cup of coffee and a light snack and just do my thing -- watch TV, pay bills, do online stuff -- whatever I want. At around quarter to five, I put in ear plugs, put on an eye mask, and I fall asleep really quickly and stay that way until I wake up, naturally refreshed --usually at about 8:30.

Weird, huh? But it works for me. Oddly, the coffee seems to relax my body -- perhaps by increasing circulation to relax my legs. The very light snack (usually peanut butter) seems to stabilize my blood sugar in a good way.

Insomnia is a real pain. I hope you find something that works for you, OP.

It is 3:45 AM and I am doing the same. Drinking a cup of coffee puts me back to sleep. I have tried at least six rx sleep meds (on Ambian now) and none work.

Thank goodness I don't have to be anywhere in the mornings. I honestly do not know how peoole survive who have to go into work after being up all night.