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Anyone dealt with long term insomnia? I swear it is going to drive me to insanity. Slept 2.5 hours last night. Didn't sleep more than 5 hours any night in the last week.
Chronic insomnia?
- Thread starter wmheel1287
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Five or six hours of actual sleep would be about my average for the last forty years. I almost never sleep more than seven. Even in those stretches I wake up a couple of times, sometimes for a drink of water and fall back asleep and sometimes for thirty minutes or more up to the rest of the night. As long as it's not four or less for three or more days, I do fine. It would work better if I napped but they throw me so badly out of sync, I hate them. I feel like I have to start my day again. I may take a half dozen a year. Don't know if this is insomnia or that I just don't need the sleep.
donbosco
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I'm kind of like finesse in my sleep rhythms. Fairly often now I go to bed by 10 but when I do I'm often up during the night. I like that time frankly and write a good deal then. I nap a bit but most times it seems that don't have a schedule that permits such a thing. I'm the guy that teaches the evening classes and for that reason never has an 8 o'clock which suits me but in these times that does stretch me somewhat.
It strikes me as ironic that so often these days I am rising at about the same time that for some 25 years as a bartender was my normal bedtime...i.e., 4:30 to 5:00 am.
There must be something genetic because my daughter has very similar rhythms and has since an infant.
Is it driving me insane?
Might be.
It strikes me as ironic that so often these days I am rising at about the same time that for some 25 years as a bartender was my normal bedtime...i.e., 4:30 to 5:00 am.
There must be something genetic because my daughter has very similar rhythms and has since an infant.
Is it driving me insane?
Might be.
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I have not. I had developed a pretty big benadryl habit and have thankfully gotten rid of that. It got to the point that I was still taking large doses of it to have bad sleep. Currently my sleep is no worse than when I stopped taking it. I may ask the doctor about Trazadone. I'm terrified of Ambien because my partner tried it once and hallucinated so badly I thought I would have to call 911.
tarheelbillie
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5 hours would be great. 3 to 4 here.
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3.5-4 has been about the average lately. I slept 5 hours Friday night and Saturday night thinking "ok, good trend going". Then last night 2.5 hours and wide ass awake since 2am. I finally gave up at 5 and went to the gym.
I tried benadryl for a sleep aid once. I slept like a baby. I woke up every hour whining. Turns out I'm one of the lucky few who have the opposite reaction.
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My sleep is often interrupted every 3 or 4 hrs with the need to take a piss ( I'm on a diuretic for blood pressure )
On very rare occasions I get 7 or 8 hrs. I love those nights
On very rare occasions I get 7 or 8 hrs. I love those nights
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Oh I could sleep a lot more if I didn't have to pissMy sleep is often interrupted every 3 or 4 hrs with the need to take a piss ( I'm on a diuretic for blood pressure )
On very rare occasions I get 7 or 8 hrs. I love those nights
I Take a mild diuretic but since I take it about 6 in the morning, it doesn't bother me much at night. I generally piss because I'm awake than wake up to piss.
tallheel95
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Definitely avoid long term use of Ambien and Benadryl (particularly as there are associations with dementia). Trazodone, Belsomra or Quviviq are good options. Also CBT-I has been helpful for some.
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I also used to take Benadryl and am glad to have gotten off of it. Trazadone is nothing like Ambien and is safe and not habit forming. It’s actually a repurposed (failed) antidepressant. My wife and her sister (physician) both also take it. I make a point to not take it one day/week and I sleep much lighter on those days. Ask your Doc about it.
gtyellowjacket
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What helped me was listening to podcasts during the night. My problem was I would get to sleep, sleep for a few hours and then wake up but my mind would be going a million miles a minute thinking about different stuff I needed to do the next day or whatever. That prevented me from getting back to sleep. Now, I put a podcast on with a sleep timer and usually I'm back asleep in 5 to 10 minutes, and can stay asleep for a couple more hours. I wake up a couple times a night but I get back to sleep fairly quickly with this method.
I use an ear bud so that my wife doesn't hear it. I also use a sleep mask which helps me get to sleep because my wife is usually on her phone.
And I very, very rarely drink. I'm down to about once a month. When I do drink, I get to sleep very easily but I wake up the next day not feeling refreshed. I used to take melatonin and had the same problem.
I use an ear bud so that my wife doesn't hear it. I also use a sleep mask which helps me get to sleep because my wife is usually on her phone.
And I very, very rarely drink. I'm down to about once a month. When I do drink, I get to sleep very easily but I wake up the next day not feeling refreshed. I used to take melatonin and had the same problem.
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Different people react to zolpidem (Ambien) differently. I've used zolpidem for 20+ years. It changed my life. I stopped using it for a while and after a small adjustment period I was sleeping OK. I guess the source of my insomnia was gone by then. But when I got a CPAP I had trouble going back to sleep when I woke up during the night. So I started taking zolpidem again and have never looked back. Now that I'm old they only give me the 5mg version but it works. Don't exclude Ambien as a solution based on someone else's experience.
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I've had intermittent insomnia since i was 12 years old.
Mine is mostly related to stress/anxiety and I've been fortunate to largely manage it without medication.
For me, having a solid nighttime routine is super important, as has been avoiding evening caffeine as I've gotten older.
The worst part for me is that any significant life changes inevitably mean that I'll have a period of sustained insomnia. And that it's often when I need to be at my best I'm struggling with sleep.
But I do feel fortunate that I've largely been able to manage it with lifestyle adjustments instead of medication. While various medications work well for a lot of folks, I've also heard a lot of nightmare stories about insomnia meds.
Mine is mostly related to stress/anxiety and I've been fortunate to largely manage it without medication.
For me, having a solid nighttime routine is super important, as has been avoiding evening caffeine as I've gotten older.
The worst part for me is that any significant life changes inevitably mean that I'll have a period of sustained insomnia. And that it's often when I need to be at my best I'm struggling with sleep.
But I do feel fortunate that I've largely been able to manage it with lifestyle adjustments instead of medication. While various medications work well for a lot of folks, I've also heard a lot of nightmare stories about insomnia meds.
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I'm right there with you op. I have this weird thing in that I can be watching something or reading something and start nodding off from being sleepy/tired for a couple of minutes and then fail being able to get to sleep immediately after that despite still felling extremely sleepy/tired.
My hours (night owl) have always been pretty bad, but it was because I didn't require more than 4-5 hours to function fine throughout the day. But now I'm lucky to get that and if I do, it's in 2 hour chunks at best.
My hours (night owl) have always been pretty bad, but it was because I didn't require more than 4-5 hours to function fine throughout the day. But now I'm lucky to get that and if I do, it's in 2 hour chunks at best.
I'm a very light sleeper, so it is easy for me to be woken up or kept up. My rare insomnia bouts are triggered due to sleep-anxiety itself, so i get into a self-perpetuating loop of awareness of being still awake fueling some loathing or worry.
Mine can be easily triggered by new places or new circumstances which are tough for a light sleeper - my in-laws is the worst... and 2 nites of bad sleep is enough to trigger some sleepless nites.
20 yrs ago ,after two weeks of getting like 3 hrs a nite, a sleep doc (neuro) told me my options were to meditate so much that the anxiety wouldn't disrupt me or try 5 nites of ambien or lunesta as a "reset" to get me back into an 11-7 habit AND to prove to myself that i'm not actually doomed to a lifetime of limited sleep.
A dozen times i've had to do this reset, usually alternating ambien and lunesta, but often a few nites is enough. And sometimes i'll take ambien or lunesta preventatively, like first nite of camping i'll try to go without, if the entire night is sleepless then i'll just pop a pill on nite 2 rather than flounder. Confidence in the ability to reset helps me just "deal" with episodes when i'm sleepless for 3 or 4 nites at home due to stress or kiddo or ____.
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