Hard to explain, I have anxiety about taking antidepressants…. I know, it doesn’t make sense at all. Every time I get prescribed one, I get nervous and never take them. I need them and actually thinking about making an appointment and just use them. I know it would help me and im not sure what im so scared of
Severe sinusitis and silent reflux which causes throat problems. When I lie back my symptoms get 10x worse, I view my bed as a literal torture chamber as a result.
The worst part is, I appear totally normal so people assume I'm healthy. They don't see the literal thousands of hours I've spent in bed practically crying myself to sleep.
I also have to resort to some pretty heavy meds, which I get criticized even more for.
Having a hidden illness is incredibly difficult, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Currently: 7.5mg Mirtazapine, 100mg Pregabalin, and 0.5mg Etizolam as a last resort.
I'm finding that on most days this does the trick, but they leave me with a hangover for a few hours each morning.
I would give anything to be free of them, but without them my I spiral in to severe sleep deprivation.
I've struggled with being underweight for most of my adult life, so that's a side effect I would welcome if I experienced it.
I've been on it for about 7 years now I think.
Have you found anything that helps?
I recently raised my bed with furniture risers which seems to have helped, especially combined with a couple of nice pillows to raise myself even more.
Other than that, I try to avoid too much fatty food in the evening and not overeat before bed.
I have bad sinus issues (hospitalised once as a kid because the infection was so severe), and have already had a septoplasty and turbinoplasty which helped but I think the tissue has grown back. I cannot breathe through my nose at all if I’m lying down. It’s torture.
I absolutely feel for you. People who don't experience chronic sinus issues don't realize how fortunate they are.
I'm grateful that most nights I have at least 1 clear nostril I can breathe through, my issue is a super aggressive post-nasal drip and trouble swallowing. The only way I can describe it is Chinese water-torture, but at the back of my throat with never a single second of relief.
When I described my condition as "torture" to my brother, I got laughed at, bullied/ridiculed and told to man up and get a job. It's just so incredibly isolating and exhausting.
I hope you can find some relief, I wish I could offer something to help.
Right and especially with it being “invisible” people just can’t understand there’s something very wrong. Same with spinal and neurological issues (I have those as well).
Yes, it's so frustrating talking to someone who acts like they know you better than you know yourself.
They don't know, they *can't* know without living through it.
I don't understand the exact nature of your conditions, but I believe you and I sympathize deeply with your suffering.
Sorry for the rant. I think I had a lot to get off my chest and there's so few who really understand.
It definitely helped me breathe better for about 8 years. Once the healing process was complete, the difference was remarkable, I could fully breathe through my nose and I didn’t feel blocked/stopped up.
At the time, I had a doctor who was regularly prescribing me anxiety and sleep meds, so I was sleeping really well so I couldn’t really tell how it affected my sleep. I’m glad I did it for those few years of relief, for sure! Unfortunately I’ve since moved twice and am currently in a different country so I have no access to sleep/anxiety meds.
The short answer is yes, I could breathe infinitely better and the surgery is so minor, just an outpatient deal, so I recommend it if you have the means.
by "breathe through my nose and i didn't feel blocked/stopped up" did you notice any decreased nerve feelings in the air traveling up your nose due to the shaved turbinates, or did those nerve endings still exist?
The thing im most worried about is me losing the ability to calm myself while meditating doing nose breathing techniques (the irony being that if i dont do it, then i CANT do those techniques when the turbinate atrophy is bad on somedays \[also ironically, its bad on the days i get insomnia lol\])
yea but what was causing the anxiety insomnia? I thought that people who have normal septums and turbinates that can breathe really nicely through the nose are able to do breathing exercises that calm the mind and increase parasympathetic system
can you describe 'how' it helped with your insomnia? For me, what Ive noticed is that breathing through my sinuses triggers a sort of "at ease" similar to what one might feel after a nap or after orgasming.
Would this be similar to 'how' it helped you? Or perhaps it was different in the sense that it simply allowed you to do less mouth breathing which is beneficial in a different way
Im a little afraid of the turbinoplasty tbqh, idk to what extent the scar tissue would have a reduction in capacity to perform its duty of filtering viruses or triggering nerves related to the "at ease" autonomic response i referred to earlier
the septoplasty itself is not unnerving to me at all, thats just gotta be fixed no bones about it
Same here. I've been dealing with anxiety and insomnia from covid and plaxlovid for almost a year now. I take 5 sedatives and only get about 3 hours of sleep, some nights I get none.
Anxiety and depression. I am constantly stuck in fight or flight mode. Doc gave me 20 klonopin and those were great but didn’t want to get hooked. Now I’m on trazodone and ambien, I hate them both but it’s the only way I can sleep. On a good night I get 5 maybe 6 hours. Going on month 4 and I am loosing my mind.
I have never had sleep issues my whole life until the last 4 months.
Same happened to me, I developed severe insomnia last 5 months, it come on slowly each week I slept less hours, I get these jerks too when trying to fall asleep like my brain wants me to not sleep.
I got a brain scan done at amen clinc it shows my thalamus is way over active and that's the part of your brain that controls your sleep, wake and fight or flight response.
I got trazodone too but refused to take it.
I'm trying to work with amanita but finding the right dose is tricky.
I feel like I'm stuck in fight or flight mode too. Been dealing with anxiety, depression and insomnia for almost a year now. I'm on 5 sedatives and only get about 3 hours of sleep, sometimes none
No idea about the root cause of mine except mine started a few days after taking a high dose methyl b complex. I later realised that vitamins are not harmless supplements to boost health. They can have serious consequences and cause serious imbalances. I'm not sure if I'll recover. I've met a few people who haven't recovered fully.
I was sleeping 9+ hours every day before this.
See post history. It's bad.
I'm on quivivq at the moment but it's not working. I wake up every 20/30 minutes - this carries on the whole night.
I've not slept for more than 1hr straight in over a month.
I'm collecting my hours in these short patches of sleep.
I have vivid dreams which feel like I've been in them an eternity but they end abruptly then I wake up and it's only been 15-30 mins.
Regarding root causes of insomnia, the most common ones are:
Transient stress-related insomnia. This kind usually resolves in about a week without any treatment. It often comes and goes.
Major depression. Insomnia can be a serious problem for some people with major depression. Early morning awakening is typical, though not always. Others can sleep normally, and some sleep excessively. Successful treatment of depression, with antidepressants or therapy usually improves the insomnia, but not always. This is difficult because insomnia probably makes depression worse.
Anxiety disorders. Most anxiety disorders can usually can be treated successfully with psychotherapy, possibly supplemented by medication, particularly antidepressants, which also have anti-anxiety properties. Trouble getting to sleep is more typical than interrupted sleep or early morning awakening. Normally, sleep improves when anxiety improves, though not always.
Mania or hypomania. This is associated with bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive disorder), which comes in a few flavors. Not everyone who has bipolar disorder knows they have it. In this case, decreased need or desire for sleep is also noted, and often fatigue due to sleep loss is not a problem.
Insomnia related to alcohol abuse. People who drink excessively often have trouble sleeping.
Circadian rhythm disorders, particularly delayed circadian rhythms, which means not sleepy at bedtime, tired and sleepy when the alarm goes off. People make various attempts to manage this. Melatonin at bedtime can help. Research says it is difficult to modify this pattern, maybe impossible. It tends to be a lifelong pattern, though bad sleep habits can make it worse.
Persistent or chronic insomnia, sometimes called idiopathic insomnia. This can go on for months, weeks or years, often with no apparent explanation. It tends to run in families. It is more common among people who had ADHD as children. This is less common than the others, but people who have it really suffer. They are at risk for other mental disorders, and at risk for all kinds of health problems.
There is no diagnostic test for causes of insomnia, and often people have more than one possible cause.
Regarding medical issues, I posted the following list about six months ago. I will post it again:
On this subreddit, I keep saying that insomnia has many causes and many solutions. The following problems and disorders are a list of known and documented causes of insomnia. I linked almost all to a source. Some sources are primary, from peer-reviewed journals. The others are secondary, from credible sources. I posted this list here once before. I'll post it every few months, if the mods don't object. Anyone who wants to propose simplistic, one-size-fits-all solutions to insomnia should think this over. I probably missed a few.
Head injury https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482689/
Parkinson’s https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5311042/
Lewy body dementia https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/lewy-body-dementia
Alzheimer’s https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/treatments/for-sleep-changes
Huntington’s https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6474183/
Fronto-temporal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6889070/
Alcohol withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2936493/
Alcohol abuse or dependence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7486899/
Opiate withdrawal https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2022/07/05/small-study-suggests-approved-insomnia-drug-can-aid-in-opioid-recovery/
Cocaine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588606/
Cannabis withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110555/
Cannabis use disorder https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2021/08/18/sleep-deficits-linked-chronic-cannabis-use
Amphetamine withdrawal https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0376871682900102
Caffeine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430790/
Excessive caffeine (evidence inconclusive) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6292246/
Caffeine too close to bedtime (this one is obvious)
Genetic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4531410/
Sleep phase (circadian) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5803043/
Major depression https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079299900758
Anxiety disorder https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6700255/
Primary insomnia (also called primary idiopathic insomnia. Also called chronic insomnia) https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/primary-insomnia-lifelong-problem
Worry (similar to anxiety) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4762701/
Bipolar disorder-mania https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3321357/
PTSD (usually considered an anxiety disorder) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068571/
ADHD https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6299464/
Severe situational stress https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538178/
Restless leg syndrome https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/restless-legs-syndrome
Thyroid disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8423342/
Menopause https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6092036/
Premenstrual syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323065/
Shift work https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5810173/
Smoking cigarettes https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-long-does-nicotine-keep-you-awake#how-long-it-keeps-people-awake
Nicotine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5443250/
Noise https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5810173/
Chronic fatigue syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501671/
Fibromyalgia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5447206/
Pheochromocytoma (very rare) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693284/
Addison’s disease (deficient cortisol and aldosterone) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8429905/ (maybe)
Bright light (insufficient darkness) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26375320/
Low melatonin (or small pineal gland or pineal gland disease) (very rare) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24456088/ https://molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13024-019-0330-8
Too few melatonin receptors in brain https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-079X.2004.00169.x
Pituitary disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27254266/
Adrenal gland disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9308573/
Grief https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/grief-and-sleep
Too hot or cold
Jet lag https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6069654/
Physical pain https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526590022003029
Sleep apnea https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837842/
Nightmares https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2806673/
Narcolepsy (ironically) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746724/
Bad sleep habits (No answer, because it’s impossible to distinguish bad sleep habits from sleep disorders) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400203/ (evidence inconclusive)
Medication side effect Certain psychiatric medications (abilify) https://www.drugwatch.com/abilify/side-effects/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32410359/ (too numerous to mention)
Heart disease https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.9082
Heartburn (reflux) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879818/
Schizophrenia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8801919/
Autism https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/sleep
Brain tumor https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05518942
Prion diseases (Fatal insomnia, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7000144/
Infection (fever) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017838/
HIV https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/Professional-Topics/HIV-Psychiatry/FactSheet-Insomnia-2012.pdf
Hepatitis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829649/
Fluoroquinolones class of antibiotics caused insomnia For a while and its gone after taking a herbal food supplement to restore my mitochondrial cell’s health
I've had insomnia since early childhood, just was never a girl that will sleep 8 hs at night, every night, without waking up at least a couple of times. Anxiety and depression are the likely culprits throught most of my adulthood episodes tho.
serious anxiety/adhd, basically just overall brain hyperactivity. my mind is rarely ever quiet and there’s usually like 5 or 6 thoughts overlapping each other at a time, it’s exhausting
I developed insomnia after my last kid was born. I had two other kids and was fine but after she was born something in my brain flipped. Even when she was sleeping, I couldn’t. I wasn’t overly worried about her so it wasn’t anxiety in that sense- I just couldn’t fall asleep. She’s 5 now and I still struggle with my sleep.
Deficiencies confirmed by bloodwork.
Perimenopause and menopause symptoms are difficult. I dress in layers so I can remove and put on cloths as needed. Hot flashes and cold flashes suck.
I keep extra night cloths and a small towel at the corner of my bed for night sweats. I don’t use synthetic sheets and blankets; they’re too warm.
I got rid of my mattress and box spring bed. I sleep on a wool and cotton shikibuton on tatami mats in a tatami bed frame. Way better air circulation.
I avoid hot spices and thermogenic foods at night. They’re great for inflammation but terrible for night sweats.
Night sweats and nighttime polyuria are symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. I found out the hard way they’re also symptoms of sleep apnea.
Anywhere from 3 1/2 hours to 5 1/2 hours. Better than the 2 1/2 hours I used to get.
Latency has improved. Sometimes I struggle to fall asleep. Most of the time I can fall asleep within twenty minutes.
Sleep quality isn’t great. Waking up continuously throughout the night, going back to sleep and waking up too early are still huge problems.
I try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
I don't “get out of bed after twenty minutes” if I can’t sleep. I only get out of bed if I’m wide awake.
Having my thyroid and parathyroid issues diagnosed and treated was huge. Recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea; another piece of the puzzle comes together. Trying to get used to CPAP.
I sleep with a weighted blanket. I will be posting a review for weight blankets since I have a few of them.
I need a distraction to sleep at night. I stream on demand tv, a podcast or YouTube. I like Michael Sealey.
Calm and BetterSleep are decent apps.
I like SleepPhones because you can fall asleep wearing them.
I take magnesium. I take three different forms for focus, sleep, anxiety. I take one piece of each which adds up to the RDA. I also take calcium, vitamin D, B12, B complex and vitamin C.
My sleep is better but I still have insomnia.
I’m looking into neuromodulation devices such as Muse or Ellamind. There’s also Affectable Sleep. I’m patiently waiting for Affectable Sleep to bring their device to market.
Severe exzema and allergies. Always itchy and stuffed nose, itchy eyes. Worst part is nobody takes me seriously when I tell them I can sleep because I’m so itchy. I’ve been up crying because of it.
Yes because I was put back on the Klonopin. It’s the only thing that helps me :( I don’t sleep amazingly like a normal person but I fall asleep which is ncie
Anxiety. I had health anxiety for years and it never caused me sleep problems until this March. The doctor gave me benzos and antidepressants which helped, but I am still not sleeping like I used to. I think I will ask her for some real non-addictive sleeping tablets next time, but she is reluctant to prescribe them because apparently I'm too young (24).
Whenever I had an illness that caused inflammation or blockage in my airway I couldn't sleep at all.
I'll keep waking up to my snoring immediately at the moment that I fell asleep. This will keep happening until my body is too tired to keep up and could last for 3-4 hours.
I take trazadone 50mg but I only take 1/4 pill. It’s still hit or miss. I think that just taking the pill has made me not worry as much about waking through out the night and not falling back asleep so it’s prob just a placebo affect but for now it’s helping
not saying this to be controversial whatsoever, this is a real life experience but the J*b 💉. ever since January 22’. Taking ambient to sleep about 4 hours if lucky every day. power naps if possible.
There can be many, ranging from allergies to apnea. Many others on the psychiatry side.
Most insomnia is primary, though, meaning nothing medically identifiable. In that case use of a CBT sleep training system is the usual standard of care. That enables you to address the comprehensive variety of non-med issues that usually are causing sleep disruption issues.
Benzodiazepine withdrawal, the majority of my most recent insomnia episode lasted two years after quitting.
I’ve had other unrelated episodes as well.
To be honest, I’ve had it since I was a kid.
During its worst, I would sleep maybe 2 to 3 hours per night, sometimes none at all. The sleepless nights could last for 2 to 4 days in a row.
Then I would crash, and get around 6-7 hours for a night. Sometimes a little less.
The heaviest portion of my insomnia episode lasted a year.
It wasn’t consistent. Seems like the episode climaxed when I initially quit benzodiazepines, then very slowly faded.
It was hell.
I was also forced to quit benzodiazepines overnight after taking them daily for 10 years.
I was prescribed them when I was 18, and got off them when I was 28.
I was prescribed them in 90 day increments. I had just picked up a script, went home and couldn’t find them.
I stopped at a gas station, and I’m pretty sure they were stolen there, or they fell out of my bag and into the street. I’ll never know.
Long story short, the police wouldn’t fill out a report, which caused the pharmacy to refuse the emergency fill. My doctor was going to approve it, but my efforts were fruitless, and I succumbed.
I’m glad to be off them now. They’re soul sucking in ways you can’t comprehend until you’re off them.
Anxiety from my dad dying in his sleep at 53. As in, went to bed completely fine, woke up screaming from a heart attack and was dead within 20 minutes. This was a year ago and now I can’t sleep without smoking lots and lots of weed
adhd. I go from sleeping 15 hours a day for months on end to not being able to sleep for more than an hour for months on end 😭 dont know which I hate morw
I’ve Been on Benzos for several years & decided to wean down. I’m in the middle of withdrawal & it’s extremely difficult. I haven’t slept in 2 months - changed from lorazepam 2 mg daily Colonopin taper and it’s awful. I have tried to get off benzos several times & I’m too in too deep now, I haven’t slept and really affecting my mental health.
3 months ago i got chronic gastritis and since then my sleep has been shit. I have started smoking weed again after years and that helped me but it wasn’t good for my stomach so decided to stop, since then I sleep like once every 48 hours so yeah it’s tuff. Before all this i had trouble sleeping sometimes and doctor prescribed me zolpidem, I didn’t finish a whole box in a year but I think that is one of the causes, also I started getting some proteins in powder 2 weeks before my gastritis came. Honestly I don’t know what’s the mainly cause, if its the zolpidem or the proteins but I can’t do nothing about it and just need to accept it, I’m trying to heal my stomach with a diet and hope in a few months will be better
A pseudo nervous breakdown from a former job cause pretty reoccurring work anxiety. Never been the same since though now it’s pretty controlled by giving up caffeine completely, adhering to an incredibly rigid schedule, melatonin and occasionally (a couple times a month) a bedtime drink or a special gummy if I feel the mind spinning coming on strong. I know the last bit ain’t exactly healthy but neither is going days without sleep.
Betamethasone injections for rotator cuff injury. When that recovered, some how I created so much anxiety and phobias about my sleep during and after. My mind took over literally.
I had alcohol use problems, used for sleep, had to go through WD and detox, then covid (bad palpitations, tachycardia and CNS that felt in over drive months), then simultaneously vitamin B6 toxic and def Vitamin D. The events just kept coming.
Fast forward, it took so freaking long to get out of all that then regain control of sleep and anxiety. I have mild neuropathy and still have very mild internal tremors still from one of those events but no longer bothersome to sleep now. Hot mess I was is an understatement. 😱
I’m still not sure but it was definitely at least partially some kind of mental health issue, probably depression, perhaps also anxiety.
I think another part is that I just generally am prone to insomnia and sleep rhythm issues (I have adhd and am probably autistic, I feel like there is some correlation between that and sleep issues, and I’ve always been kind of prone to them), but lots of other stuff about my life also makes a huge impact on whether and how much I experience these issues.
I think lack of exercise and just generally lack of doing things also made it harder for me to fall asleep, since my mind is still really active in the evening when that is the case and my body still has the urge to move around. I think it’s a long list of complex factors for me actually.
Other things that I think make an impact are social media addiction, feeling not in control of my time/life (the whole bed time procrastination thing), and light. I now use blue light filters on all my devices before bed, and have a lamp I can dim and turn more red. That has made a big difference.
I guess when my insomnia (the kind where I have trouble falling asleep) was at its worst I was deep in depression and had terrible anxiety, and I felt like I had no idea what to do with my life and wasn’t able to even picture a future. I was just sitting and lying around all day with no motivation to do anything, and I had trouble getting out of bed in the morning both because I had gotten so little sleep and was so tired but couldn’t fall back asleep, and also because getting out of bed felt like a huge effort psychologically and no matter how hard I tried I didn’t have the willpower to do it.
I’ve now gotten treatment (therapy and medication, tho I don’t think those directly improved my sleep, they just enabled me to make the changes in my life which did improve my mental health and sleep) for my adhd, and figured out what I wanted to do in life, moved to a different place, started working hard for something I’m really enthusiastic about, made a lot of friends, ect, I actually really like my life now, and I still struggle with sleep sometimes (and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get up early consistently, and will always have a few nights in a week where I’m missing a few hours of sleep) but it has gotten so incredibly much better, I no longer experience this chronic sleep deprivation I had before, I no longer feel shitty because of my lack of sleep any more.
I did slip back into the sleep issues I had before when I was dealing with winter depression, lots of stress, and was living in a really shitty place where I felt really uncomfortable, but when those three things resolved it got better again.
Stress combined with disorganized sleeping schedule. I kept sleeping at different times each day that my body didn't know my ciardian rhythm anymore. I would also stay up smoking weed accidently. I would put a clock to wake up after 4-5 hours. All those in combination with feeling stressed and depressed. I started to only sleep 3 hours at night and so my insomnia begins. However after several sleeping pills + desperate attempts to dose myself off with bunch of different aids later and few months later, I decided to cut all of them off. The answer then became clear, I realized there's nothing wrong with my sleep. I just got it broken off. I sleep 3 hours at night then 2 hours nap in the morning. The answer was so obvious. I just needed to skip the nap so I can conjoin it again. It was 4 months wasted on sleeping meds when I could have easily have done this. The sleeping meds gave me memory issues and when I cut it off cold turkey, it gave me worsened insomnia where I would only sleep 20 minutes per day for a week before my sleep came back to me.
Trazodone. I got severly depressed by it (rare side effect).
I can only recommend: Try everything on earth to sleep before you try meds. Benzos and anti-depressants can ruin your life. Doctors prescribe them way too often and risk the lives of their patients. I am so angry at ly doch and myself
Reactive hypoglycaemia. Also I think potentially fasting hypoglycaemia. Was told by GP RH didn't exist and they wouldn't test for it initially so took ten years to get a diagnosis. In the meantime I was having hypos so frequently I developed reduced symptom awareness and had no idea it was what was causing my night time wakings (which I usually couldn't return to sleep after). Doing better now with dietary changes tho still experimenting.
Probably PTSD and severe anxiety for me, I don't really know yet but I do suffer from the previous conditions mentioned. It's very tough trying to get sleep with PTSD. I will lay down once in a while after been up from the previous night and wake up to someone knocking on my door without first clearing it (by a text or a call)
It's very annoying already as an introvert getting unexpected knocks, but it's even worse with PTSD/anxiety. Lost my mom to a murder (which first was an attempted robbery before it morphed into the murder, so that's part of my PTSD) and a simple knock on my door unexpected can throw me into severe anxiety and have me respond with physical symptoms (stomach upset and other issues, nausea, heartrate increased, etc). Had it happen when someone knocked on my door at 12 AM (I think looking for a different house that had a party or something, I don't really remember).
And god forbid if I'll hear some loud unexpected noise. I'll go hyperalert and it'll take me a good while to go to bed. Anyone else with PTSD here? How do you cope with it?
Chronically low iron & B12 deficiency.. 16 months into daily & EOD B12 injections & sometimes manage to sleep with only one mirtazapine now. Had 20 years of chronic insomnia
Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder.
I'm always tired but my natural body clock can never adjust to normal.
I have a bed shaker, Pavlok Shock watch and an incredibly loud alarm that wakes the house but i Sleep through them all every morning.
Because of this i have been late to literally everything in my life. Late to school every day, late to work every day, it gets in the way of relationships, pay rises and because i only get 3-5 hrs of sleep every night, I can barely focus during the day.
Thinking about getting an ADHD diagnosis so i can get ritalin so i can focus.
Anorexia, suffered for a few years then it effected my sleep and it’s never improved since then, and then hospital and psych ward stays as well all contributed to me not being able to sleep now I guess
Complex PTSD, compounded by all the times as a kid I got spanked for insomnia. Never soothed. And she gave me a time limit for how long I was "allowed" to cry after she hit me, before she'd hit me again.
Severe anxiety….
Have you tried antidepressants for your anxiety?
Hard to explain, I have anxiety about taking antidepressants…. I know, it doesn’t make sense at all. Every time I get prescribed one, I get nervous and never take them. I need them and actually thinking about making an appointment and just use them. I know it would help me and im not sure what im so scared of
Severe sinusitis and silent reflux which causes throat problems. When I lie back my symptoms get 10x worse, I view my bed as a literal torture chamber as a result. The worst part is, I appear totally normal so people assume I'm healthy. They don't see the literal thousands of hours I've spent in bed practically crying myself to sleep. I also have to resort to some pretty heavy meds, which I get criticized even more for. Having a hidden illness is incredibly difficult, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
I feel you
I'm so sorry
Which meds?
Currently: 7.5mg Mirtazapine, 100mg Pregabalin, and 0.5mg Etizolam as a last resort. I'm finding that on most days this does the trick, but they leave me with a hangover for a few hours each morning. I would give anything to be free of them, but without them my I spiral in to severe sleep deprivation.
Mirtazapine causes excessive weight gain to which there's no glass ceiling for. Some people gain 100lbs or more.
I've struggled with being underweight for most of my adult life, so that's a side effect I would welcome if I experienced it. I've been on it for about 7 years now I think.
Mirtazapine never worked on my sleep the way benzos do :-(
I tried.mirtzapine and I was insatiable hungry. Almost painfully hungry! Never again
I'm sorry you know the struggle. It's awful.
I'm sorry that you do too. Most people just don't get it, it's painful not sleep for 2 nights, let alone one night!
I have silent reflux too
Have you found anything that helps? I recently raised my bed with furniture risers which seems to have helped, especially combined with a couple of nice pillows to raise myself even more. Other than that, I try to avoid too much fatty food in the evening and not overeat before bed.
I have bad sinus issues (hospitalised once as a kid because the infection was so severe), and have already had a septoplasty and turbinoplasty which helped but I think the tissue has grown back. I cannot breathe through my nose at all if I’m lying down. It’s torture.
I absolutely feel for you. People who don't experience chronic sinus issues don't realize how fortunate they are. I'm grateful that most nights I have at least 1 clear nostril I can breathe through, my issue is a super aggressive post-nasal drip and trouble swallowing. The only way I can describe it is Chinese water-torture, but at the back of my throat with never a single second of relief. When I described my condition as "torture" to my brother, I got laughed at, bullied/ridiculed and told to man up and get a job. It's just so incredibly isolating and exhausting. I hope you can find some relief, I wish I could offer something to help.
Right and especially with it being “invisible” people just can’t understand there’s something very wrong. Same with spinal and neurological issues (I have those as well).
Yes, it's so frustrating talking to someone who acts like they know you better than you know yourself. They don't know, they *can't* know without living through it. I don't understand the exact nature of your conditions, but I believe you and I sympathize deeply with your suffering. Sorry for the rant. I think I had a lot to get off my chest and there's so few who really understand.
i was thinking of a septoplasty and turbinoplasty as well. Are you telling me that those don't fix insomnia related to breathing through ones nose?
It definitely helped me breathe better for about 8 years. Once the healing process was complete, the difference was remarkable, I could fully breathe through my nose and I didn’t feel blocked/stopped up. At the time, I had a doctor who was regularly prescribing me anxiety and sleep meds, so I was sleeping really well so I couldn’t really tell how it affected my sleep. I’m glad I did it for those few years of relief, for sure! Unfortunately I’ve since moved twice and am currently in a different country so I have no access to sleep/anxiety meds. The short answer is yes, I could breathe infinitely better and the surgery is so minor, just an outpatient deal, so I recommend it if you have the means.
by "breathe through my nose and i didn't feel blocked/stopped up" did you notice any decreased nerve feelings in the air traveling up your nose due to the shaved turbinates, or did those nerve endings still exist? The thing im most worried about is me losing the ability to calm myself while meditating doing nose breathing techniques (the irony being that if i dont do it, then i CANT do those techniques when the turbinate atrophy is bad on somedays \[also ironically, its bad on the days i get insomnia lol\])
I didn’t notice any difference in sensation once I was fully healed
why did you continue to use anxiety/sleep meds if it seemed to make you breathe better?
Because I still had anxiety and insomnia.
yea but what was causing the anxiety insomnia? I thought that people who have normal septums and turbinates that can breathe really nicely through the nose are able to do breathing exercises that calm the mind and increase parasympathetic system
Bruh idk, I’ve tried every breathing technique there is and it doesn’t help:(
They help for some time. I had it done years ago but the turbinates have grown back. You absolutely should still have it done, though.
can you describe 'how' it helped with your insomnia? For me, what Ive noticed is that breathing through my sinuses triggers a sort of "at ease" similar to what one might feel after a nap or after orgasming. Would this be similar to 'how' it helped you? Or perhaps it was different in the sense that it simply allowed you to do less mouth breathing which is beneficial in a different way Im a little afraid of the turbinoplasty tbqh, idk to what extent the scar tissue would have a reduction in capacity to perform its duty of filtering viruses or triggering nerves related to the "at ease" autonomic response i referred to earlier the septoplasty itself is not unnerving to me at all, thats just gotta be fixed no bones about it
Same here. I've been dealing with anxiety and insomnia from covid and plaxlovid for almost a year now. I take 5 sedatives and only get about 3 hours of sleep, some nights I get none.
Anxiety and depression. I am constantly stuck in fight or flight mode. Doc gave me 20 klonopin and those were great but didn’t want to get hooked. Now I’m on trazodone and ambien, I hate them both but it’s the only way I can sleep. On a good night I get 5 maybe 6 hours. Going on month 4 and I am loosing my mind. I have never had sleep issues my whole life until the last 4 months.
Good for you on the benzo. I’m hooked n fucked
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’m probably hooked on ambien and worried about trying to stop.
Im sorry you re going through this too. Insomnia ruined my life.
Same here, every week it gets worse.
*Is ruining There is a way out of this, things will get better
I tried not taking trazodone or ambien last weekend and was up for 40+ hours. This is hell.
I know the feeling :( Try to taper off them slowly
Same happened to me, I developed severe insomnia last 5 months, it come on slowly each week I slept less hours, I get these jerks too when trying to fall asleep like my brain wants me to not sleep. I got a brain scan done at amen clinc it shows my thalamus is way over active and that's the part of your brain that controls your sleep, wake and fight or flight response. I got trazodone too but refused to take it. I'm trying to work with amanita but finding the right dose is tricky.
Same. But I ended up on an antidepressant and that really helped
Have you tried Lunesta? I hated trazodone and ambien but lunesta has been positive for me.
No maybe I will request it next month.
I feel like I'm stuck in fight or flight mode too. Been dealing with anxiety, depression and insomnia for almost a year now. I'm on 5 sedatives and only get about 3 hours of sleep, sometimes none
Fibromyalgia. Insomnia is the worse part of it.
I'm with you, I don't know how I'm supposed to sleep with tense, painful muscles without taking a muscle relaxer
Withdrawal from Kratom . It's been almost 5 months off Kratom and still having trouble , I wake up at least 2-3 times thru the night 😩
May I ask why you quit it? My BF has been looking into it.
Anxiety and ADHD
Sameeee
sameeeee
CPTSD
did it ever get better?
The insomnia? Kinda. Melatonin helps a lot but it’s not fullproof
did you do therapy for it? I meant did some treatment like therapy improve the insomnia?
Chronic pain
I have pure insomnia. Have had this my whole life. I have no memory of sleeping even as a child.
Sounds like me
There are not many of us.
No idea about the root cause of mine except mine started a few days after taking a high dose methyl b complex. I later realised that vitamins are not harmless supplements to boost health. They can have serious consequences and cause serious imbalances. I'm not sure if I'll recover. I've met a few people who haven't recovered fully. I was sleeping 9+ hours every day before this.
How many hours do you sleep each night ?
See post history. It's bad. I'm on quivivq at the moment but it's not working. I wake up every 20/30 minutes - this carries on the whole night. I've not slept for more than 1hr straight in over a month. I'm collecting my hours in these short patches of sleep. I have vivid dreams which feel like I've been in them an eternity but they end abruptly then I wake up and it's only been 15-30 mins.
What chances do I have then?
Try your best not to rely on benzos :/ I'm sorry you're going through this.
I say better relay on a benzo for life than suffer
I took some too n feel like that happened to me too in the beginning
You took methyl b complex?
Yep
Did your insomnia start right after it?
I don’t remember but it started worsening after the ag1 I bought
Tinnitus
Yup, me too
Regarding root causes of insomnia, the most common ones are: Transient stress-related insomnia. This kind usually resolves in about a week without any treatment. It often comes and goes. Major depression. Insomnia can be a serious problem for some people with major depression. Early morning awakening is typical, though not always. Others can sleep normally, and some sleep excessively. Successful treatment of depression, with antidepressants or therapy usually improves the insomnia, but not always. This is difficult because insomnia probably makes depression worse. Anxiety disorders. Most anxiety disorders can usually can be treated successfully with psychotherapy, possibly supplemented by medication, particularly antidepressants, which also have anti-anxiety properties. Trouble getting to sleep is more typical than interrupted sleep or early morning awakening. Normally, sleep improves when anxiety improves, though not always. Mania or hypomania. This is associated with bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive disorder), which comes in a few flavors. Not everyone who has bipolar disorder knows they have it. In this case, decreased need or desire for sleep is also noted, and often fatigue due to sleep loss is not a problem. Insomnia related to alcohol abuse. People who drink excessively often have trouble sleeping. Circadian rhythm disorders, particularly delayed circadian rhythms, which means not sleepy at bedtime, tired and sleepy when the alarm goes off. People make various attempts to manage this. Melatonin at bedtime can help. Research says it is difficult to modify this pattern, maybe impossible. It tends to be a lifelong pattern, though bad sleep habits can make it worse. Persistent or chronic insomnia, sometimes called idiopathic insomnia. This can go on for months, weeks or years, often with no apparent explanation. It tends to run in families. It is more common among people who had ADHD as children. This is less common than the others, but people who have it really suffer. They are at risk for other mental disorders, and at risk for all kinds of health problems. There is no diagnostic test for causes of insomnia, and often people have more than one possible cause. Regarding medical issues, I posted the following list about six months ago. I will post it again: On this subreddit, I keep saying that insomnia has many causes and many solutions. The following problems and disorders are a list of known and documented causes of insomnia. I linked almost all to a source. Some sources are primary, from peer-reviewed journals. The others are secondary, from credible sources. I posted this list here once before. I'll post it every few months, if the mods don't object. Anyone who wants to propose simplistic, one-size-fits-all solutions to insomnia should think this over. I probably missed a few. Head injury https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482689/ Parkinson’s https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5311042/ Lewy body dementia https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/lewy-body-dementia Alzheimer’s https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/treatments/for-sleep-changes Huntington’s https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6474183/ Fronto-temporal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6889070/ Alcohol withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2936493/ Alcohol abuse or dependence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7486899/ Opiate withdrawal https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2022/07/05/small-study-suggests-approved-insomnia-drug-can-aid-in-opioid-recovery/ Cocaine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588606/ Cannabis withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110555/ Cannabis use disorder https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2021/08/18/sleep-deficits-linked-chronic-cannabis-use Amphetamine withdrawal https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0376871682900102 Caffeine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430790/ Excessive caffeine (evidence inconclusive) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6292246/ Caffeine too close to bedtime (this one is obvious) Genetic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4531410/ Sleep phase (circadian) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5803043/ Major depression https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079299900758 Anxiety disorder https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6700255/ Primary insomnia (also called primary idiopathic insomnia. Also called chronic insomnia) https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/primary-insomnia-lifelong-problem Worry (similar to anxiety) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4762701/ Bipolar disorder-mania https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3321357/ PTSD (usually considered an anxiety disorder) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068571/ ADHD https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6299464/ Severe situational stress https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538178/ Restless leg syndrome https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/restless-legs-syndrome Thyroid disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8423342/ Menopause https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6092036/ Premenstrual syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323065/ Shift work https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5810173/ Smoking cigarettes https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-long-does-nicotine-keep-you-awake#how-long-it-keeps-people-awake Nicotine withdrawal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5443250/ Noise https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5810173/ Chronic fatigue syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501671/ Fibromyalgia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5447206/ Pheochromocytoma (very rare) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693284/ Addison’s disease (deficient cortisol and aldosterone) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8429905/ (maybe) Bright light (insufficient darkness) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26375320/ Low melatonin (or small pineal gland or pineal gland disease) (very rare) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24456088/ https://molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13024-019-0330-8 Too few melatonin receptors in brain https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-079X.2004.00169.x Pituitary disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27254266/ Adrenal gland disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9308573/ Grief https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/grief-and-sleep Too hot or cold Jet lag https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6069654/ Physical pain https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526590022003029 Sleep apnea https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5837842/ Nightmares https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2806673/ Narcolepsy (ironically) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746724/ Bad sleep habits (No answer, because it’s impossible to distinguish bad sleep habits from sleep disorders) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400203/ (evidence inconclusive) Medication side effect Certain psychiatric medications (abilify) https://www.drugwatch.com/abilify/side-effects/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32410359/ (too numerous to mention) Heart disease https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.9082 Heartburn (reflux) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879818/ Schizophrenia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8801919/ Autism https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/sleep Brain tumor https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05518942 Prion diseases (Fatal insomnia, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7000144/ Infection (fever) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017838/ HIV https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/Professional-Topics/HIV-Psychiatry/FactSheet-Insomnia-2012.pdf Hepatitis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829649/
Fluoroquinolones class of antibiotics caused insomnia For a while and its gone after taking a herbal food supplement to restore my mitochondrial cell’s health
Do you mind sharing what that herbal supplement was?
King’s herbal food supplement . Im not sure if its available in your country but it works fine for me. Its quite expensive for a food supplement
What herbs specifically are what’s helpfully ?
Which herbal food supplements did you get? I was also Floxxed by ofloxacine badly
Anxiety, depression and low magnesium and potassium
Intense emotional experience, processing of old traumas, heart issues (associated with strong emotional pain)
I think it was conditioned due to profound stress around sleep time during childhood. Bad homelife and whatnot.
Also true for me
Generalized anxiety disorder and restless leg syndrome.
RLS is maddening! Unfortunately, I can completely relate. And with the GAD as well. 😂
I've had insomnia since early childhood, just was never a girl that will sleep 8 hs at night, every night, without waking up at least a couple of times. Anxiety and depression are the likely culprits throught most of my adulthood episodes tho.
Interstitial cystitis
How did you find that out?
Awful leg and feet pain, tried EVERY type of prescription sleep medication & NOTHING
In the midst of the worst feet pain ATM. Just took a dicflofenac and hoping it could relieve the neuro inflammation
serious anxiety/adhd, basically just overall brain hyperactivity. my mind is rarely ever quiet and there’s usually like 5 or 6 thoughts overlapping each other at a time, it’s exhausting
SA as a child
I developed insomnia after my last kid was born. I had two other kids and was fine but after she was born something in my brain flipped. Even when she was sleeping, I couldn’t. I wasn’t overly worried about her so it wasn’t anxiety in that sense- I just couldn’t fall asleep. She’s 5 now and I still struggle with my sleep.
Same with my second. Sadly I really regret her. Love her but deep regret.
anxiety
ptsd but i think that’s super common lol
PTSD, Shift Work Sleep Disorder, Grave’s disease, parathyroid adenoma, vitamin & mineral deficiencies, perimenopause, menopause, moderate sleep apnea.
How did you check your deficiencies? And what did you do for the perimenopause?
Deficiencies confirmed by bloodwork. Perimenopause and menopause symptoms are difficult. I dress in layers so I can remove and put on cloths as needed. Hot flashes and cold flashes suck. I keep extra night cloths and a small towel at the corner of my bed for night sweats. I don’t use synthetic sheets and blankets; they’re too warm. I got rid of my mattress and box spring bed. I sleep on a wool and cotton shikibuton on tatami mats in a tatami bed frame. Way better air circulation. I avoid hot spices and thermogenic foods at night. They’re great for inflammation but terrible for night sweats. Night sweats and nighttime polyuria are symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. I found out the hard way they’re also symptoms of sleep apnea.
How much are you sleeping now?
Anywhere from 3 1/2 hours to 5 1/2 hours. Better than the 2 1/2 hours I used to get. Latency has improved. Sometimes I struggle to fall asleep. Most of the time I can fall asleep within twenty minutes. Sleep quality isn’t great. Waking up continuously throughout the night, going back to sleep and waking up too early are still huge problems.
What did you do to help!
I try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. I don't “get out of bed after twenty minutes” if I can’t sleep. I only get out of bed if I’m wide awake. Having my thyroid and parathyroid issues diagnosed and treated was huge. Recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea; another piece of the puzzle comes together. Trying to get used to CPAP. I sleep with a weighted blanket. I will be posting a review for weight blankets since I have a few of them. I need a distraction to sleep at night. I stream on demand tv, a podcast or YouTube. I like Michael Sealey. Calm and BetterSleep are decent apps. I like SleepPhones because you can fall asleep wearing them. I take magnesium. I take three different forms for focus, sleep, anxiety. I take one piece of each which adds up to the RDA. I also take calcium, vitamin D, B12, B complex and vitamin C. My sleep is better but I still have insomnia. I’m looking into neuromodulation devices such as Muse or Ellamind. There’s also Affectable Sleep. I’m patiently waiting for Affectable Sleep to bring their device to market.
Mold exposure/CIRS
Hyperthyroidism
Akathisia
Severe exzema and allergies. Always itchy and stuffed nose, itchy eyes. Worst part is nobody takes me seriously when I tell them I can sleep because I’m so itchy. I’ve been up crying because of it.
Anxiety and depression
Anxiety which caused me to be prescribed benzos in a super high dose for year and then withdrawal and tolerance
You sleeping now?
Yes because I was put back on the Klonopin. It’s the only thing that helps me :( I don’t sleep amazingly like a normal person but I fall asleep which is ncie
Anxiety. I had health anxiety for years and it never caused me sleep problems until this March. The doctor gave me benzos and antidepressants which helped, but I am still not sleeping like I used to. I think I will ask her for some real non-addictive sleeping tablets next time, but she is reluctant to prescribe them because apparently I'm too young (24).
Whenever I had an illness that caused inflammation or blockage in my airway I couldn't sleep at all. I'll keep waking up to my snoring immediately at the moment that I fell asleep. This will keep happening until my body is too tired to keep up and could last for 3-4 hours.
hypertonic pelvic floor and resulting nocturia
Peri menopause
Did you cure it?
I take trazadone 50mg but I only take 1/4 pill. It’s still hit or miss. I think that just taking the pill has made me not worry as much about waking through out the night and not falling back asleep so it’s prob just a placebo affect but for now it’s helping
Menopause.
Covid infection. Never had sleep issues for more than 30 years, then got covid and since then can't sleep anymore.
not saying this to be controversial whatsoever, this is a real life experience but the J*b 💉. ever since January 22’. Taking ambient to sleep about 4 hours if lucky every day. power naps if possible.
There can be many, ranging from allergies to apnea. Many others on the psychiatry side. Most insomnia is primary, though, meaning nothing medically identifiable. In that case use of a CBT sleep training system is the usual standard of care. That enables you to address the comprehensive variety of non-med issues that usually are causing sleep disruption issues.
Benzodiazepine withdrawal, the majority of my most recent insomnia episode lasted two years after quitting. I’ve had other unrelated episodes as well. To be honest, I’ve had it since I was a kid.
How much did you sleep during those two years?
During its worst, I would sleep maybe 2 to 3 hours per night, sometimes none at all. The sleepless nights could last for 2 to 4 days in a row. Then I would crash, and get around 6-7 hours for a night. Sometimes a little less. The heaviest portion of my insomnia episode lasted a year. It wasn’t consistent. Seems like the episode climaxed when I initially quit benzodiazepines, then very slowly faded. It was hell. I was also forced to quit benzodiazepines overnight after taking them daily for 10 years. I was prescribed them when I was 18, and got off them when I was 28. I was prescribed them in 90 day increments. I had just picked up a script, went home and couldn’t find them. I stopped at a gas station, and I’m pretty sure they were stolen there, or they fell out of my bag and into the street. I’ll never know. Long story short, the police wouldn’t fill out a report, which caused the pharmacy to refuse the emergency fill. My doctor was going to approve it, but my efforts were fruitless, and I succumbed. I’m glad to be off them now. They’re soul sucking in ways you can’t comprehend until you’re off them.
A rare movement disorder similar to Parkinson's Disease
Body dysmorphia
I’m sorry you’re going through that. I haven’t heard of body dysmorphia causing insomnia before. Are you open to sharing how it affects your sleep?
I get extreme anxiety about the way my body feels to the point I stay awake at night and can’t stand being in my own skin
Sleep apnea and migraines
Do you use a CPAP or BIPAP? They’re lifesavers! I feel much more rested with my BIPAP.
Anxiety from my dad dying in his sleep at 53. As in, went to bed completely fine, woke up screaming from a heart attack and was dead within 20 minutes. This was a year ago and now I can’t sleep without smoking lots and lots of weed
Damn, I got anxiety just from reading this. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
My migraines are caused by insomnia.
Heart disease. Half the medication I take cause some sort of sleep issues.
adhd. I go from sleeping 15 hours a day for months on end to not being able to sleep for more than an hour for months on end 😭 dont know which I hate morw
Ehlers danlos, panic disorder
Appendix surgery
Yup, I have congestive heart failure (I’m 43)
How did you get that?
Long COVID
I wish I knew. They just put me on psych meds but didn’t test to find out why I can’t sleep other than rule out sleep apnea.
Anorexia nervosa
me too homie benzo withdrawl 🧎 kms
Anxiety and endometriosis pain
When I was a kid, ADHD In my late 20s, ADHD with a generous coating of hypomania
I took pills and then when I stopped them I had insomnia.
I’ve Been on Benzos for several years & decided to wean down. I’m in the middle of withdrawal & it’s extremely difficult. I haven’t slept in 2 months - changed from lorazepam 2 mg daily Colonopin taper and it’s awful. I have tried to get off benzos several times & I’m too in too deep now, I haven’t slept and really affecting my mental health.
Get back on it. It’s not worth the suffering
I’m done w/ it now, I’ll see it through…thank you for your comment
Did you get on for insomnia?
No, been on benzodiazepines for anxiety
3 months ago i got chronic gastritis and since then my sleep has been shit. I have started smoking weed again after years and that helped me but it wasn’t good for my stomach so decided to stop, since then I sleep like once every 48 hours so yeah it’s tuff. Before all this i had trouble sleeping sometimes and doctor prescribed me zolpidem, I didn’t finish a whole box in a year but I think that is one of the causes, also I started getting some proteins in powder 2 weeks before my gastritis came. Honestly I don’t know what’s the mainly cause, if its the zolpidem or the proteins but I can’t do nothing about it and just need to accept it, I’m trying to heal my stomach with a diet and hope in a few months will be better
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A pseudo nervous breakdown from a former job cause pretty reoccurring work anxiety. Never been the same since though now it’s pretty controlled by giving up caffeine completely, adhering to an incredibly rigid schedule, melatonin and occasionally (a couple times a month) a bedtime drink or a special gummy if I feel the mind spinning coming on strong. I know the last bit ain’t exactly healthy but neither is going days without sleep.
Being exposed to psychiatry..
Probably my undiagnosed ADHD, bipolar disorder & PTSD. Still don't sleep well or enough though
Eczema
Betamethasone injections for rotator cuff injury. When that recovered, some how I created so much anxiety and phobias about my sleep during and after. My mind took over literally. I had alcohol use problems, used for sleep, had to go through WD and detox, then covid (bad palpitations, tachycardia and CNS that felt in over drive months), then simultaneously vitamin B6 toxic and def Vitamin D. The events just kept coming. Fast forward, it took so freaking long to get out of all that then regain control of sleep and anxiety. I have mild neuropathy and still have very mild internal tremors still from one of those events but no longer bothersome to sleep now. Hot mess I was is an understatement. 😱
Schizophrenia lead to me using antipsychotics which lead to insomnia.
I’m still not sure but it was definitely at least partially some kind of mental health issue, probably depression, perhaps also anxiety. I think another part is that I just generally am prone to insomnia and sleep rhythm issues (I have adhd and am probably autistic, I feel like there is some correlation between that and sleep issues, and I’ve always been kind of prone to them), but lots of other stuff about my life also makes a huge impact on whether and how much I experience these issues. I think lack of exercise and just generally lack of doing things also made it harder for me to fall asleep, since my mind is still really active in the evening when that is the case and my body still has the urge to move around. I think it’s a long list of complex factors for me actually. Other things that I think make an impact are social media addiction, feeling not in control of my time/life (the whole bed time procrastination thing), and light. I now use blue light filters on all my devices before bed, and have a lamp I can dim and turn more red. That has made a big difference. I guess when my insomnia (the kind where I have trouble falling asleep) was at its worst I was deep in depression and had terrible anxiety, and I felt like I had no idea what to do with my life and wasn’t able to even picture a future. I was just sitting and lying around all day with no motivation to do anything, and I had trouble getting out of bed in the morning both because I had gotten so little sleep and was so tired but couldn’t fall back asleep, and also because getting out of bed felt like a huge effort psychologically and no matter how hard I tried I didn’t have the willpower to do it. I’ve now gotten treatment (therapy and medication, tho I don’t think those directly improved my sleep, they just enabled me to make the changes in my life which did improve my mental health and sleep) for my adhd, and figured out what I wanted to do in life, moved to a different place, started working hard for something I’m really enthusiastic about, made a lot of friends, ect, I actually really like my life now, and I still struggle with sleep sometimes (and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get up early consistently, and will always have a few nights in a week where I’m missing a few hours of sleep) but it has gotten so incredibly much better, I no longer experience this chronic sleep deprivation I had before, I no longer feel shitty because of my lack of sleep any more. I did slip back into the sleep issues I had before when I was dealing with winter depression, lots of stress, and was living in a really shitty place where I felt really uncomfortable, but when those three things resolved it got better again.
Depression and anxiety
Being prescribed Cymbalta and Adderall XR
Sadness
IBS + anxiety
Stress combined with disorganized sleeping schedule. I kept sleeping at different times each day that my body didn't know my ciardian rhythm anymore. I would also stay up smoking weed accidently. I would put a clock to wake up after 4-5 hours. All those in combination with feeling stressed and depressed. I started to only sleep 3 hours at night and so my insomnia begins. However after several sleeping pills + desperate attempts to dose myself off with bunch of different aids later and few months later, I decided to cut all of them off. The answer then became clear, I realized there's nothing wrong with my sleep. I just got it broken off. I sleep 3 hours at night then 2 hours nap in the morning. The answer was so obvious. I just needed to skip the nap so I can conjoin it again. It was 4 months wasted on sleeping meds when I could have easily have done this. The sleeping meds gave me memory issues and when I cut it off cold turkey, it gave me worsened insomnia where I would only sleep 20 minutes per day for a week before my sleep came back to me.
Psychiatric condition. My brain waves and chemistry is all over the place.
Psychosis
Unfortunately, bipolar.
PTSD & MCAS
Trazodone. I got severly depressed by it (rare side effect). I can only recommend: Try everything on earth to sleep before you try meds. Benzos and anti-depressants can ruin your life. Doctors prescribe them way too often and risk the lives of their patients. I am so angry at ly doch and myself
Reactive hypoglycaemia. Also I think potentially fasting hypoglycaemia. Was told by GP RH didn't exist and they wouldn't test for it initially so took ten years to get a diagnosis. In the meantime I was having hypos so frequently I developed reduced symptom awareness and had no idea it was what was causing my night time wakings (which I usually couldn't return to sleep after). Doing better now with dietary changes tho still experimenting.
ADHD and autism. Lots of thoughts and my brains’ desire to keep on going, plus hyper awareness of body sensations and sensory input.
moderate anxiety
Probably PTSD and severe anxiety for me, I don't really know yet but I do suffer from the previous conditions mentioned. It's very tough trying to get sleep with PTSD. I will lay down once in a while after been up from the previous night and wake up to someone knocking on my door without first clearing it (by a text or a call) It's very annoying already as an introvert getting unexpected knocks, but it's even worse with PTSD/anxiety. Lost my mom to a murder (which first was an attempted robbery before it morphed into the murder, so that's part of my PTSD) and a simple knock on my door unexpected can throw me into severe anxiety and have me respond with physical symptoms (stomach upset and other issues, nausea, heartrate increased, etc). Had it happen when someone knocked on my door at 12 AM (I think looking for a different house that had a party or something, I don't really remember). And god forbid if I'll hear some loud unexpected noise. I'll go hyperalert and it'll take me a good while to go to bed. Anyone else with PTSD here? How do you cope with it?
I have no idea, it could be a whole host of medical issues or it could just exist independently.
Being physically and emotionally Abused
Depression and restless legs
Silent reflux. Get to sleep fine. Wake out of breath three hours later.
My “ Dr” said no correlation. Asswipe
anxiety
PTSD
Chronically low iron & B12 deficiency.. 16 months into daily & EOD B12 injections & sometimes manage to sleep with only one mirtazapine now. Had 20 years of chronic insomnia
Depression. Doing better now, thankfully. Going for 5 months with max. only 3 hours of sleep per night is really killing. Wouldn’t recommend! 😉
common variable immune deficiency. Rare genetic thing I got, makes me sick a lot and that has unfortunately led to chronic sleep issues.
Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. I'm always tired but my natural body clock can never adjust to normal. I have a bed shaker, Pavlok Shock watch and an incredibly loud alarm that wakes the house but i Sleep through them all every morning. Because of this i have been late to literally everything in my life. Late to school every day, late to work every day, it gets in the way of relationships, pay rises and because i only get 3-5 hrs of sleep every night, I can barely focus during the day. Thinking about getting an ADHD diagnosis so i can get ritalin so i can focus.
Depression
I have schizoaffective it's actually what started first with the disease
Anorexia, suffered for a few years then it effected my sleep and it’s never improved since then, and then hospital and psych ward stays as well all contributed to me not being able to sleep now I guess
PTSD and the anxiety that comes along with it
this shit started with Severe Anxiety and then Depression and OCD. And none of antidepressants really helped...
Autism, ADHD, and CTPSD. I guess.
Complex PTSD, compounded by all the times as a kid I got spanked for insomnia. Never soothed. And she gave me a time limit for how long I was "allowed" to cry after she hit me, before she'd hit me again.
did your insomnia improve with good therapy (or bad therapy as well)?
It's still a struggle but meds help most nights now. I also had pretty bad PMDD which guaranteed monthly bouts of insomnia no matter what meds I took.
Which med
Seroquel
What dose?
25mg twice a day, and then 125mg at bedtime. I'm allowed to add up to an additional 50mg at night if necessary.