Chronic insomnia

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offmenut

offmenut

Striker
I've struggled with this for over a year now - the stress of knowing I can't get to sleep!
I've no other worries, my only worry is sleeping!
It seems to have got worse the last few months, as previously I used to be able to sleep ok ish every other night, but now I hardly sleep at all, which is effecting my job, and now my parenting (I'm often too tired and irritable) and also my relationship (again, tired/irritable).
I've been doing a sleep diary after finally going to the doctors again to properly moan about it (they did nothing at all when I first went around 6 months ago) .
Has anyone else had any experience with this?
I've got a few books, don't know if anyone could suggest any thing which helped them
Change their lives?
I'm considering hypnotherapy - just wondered if anyone had tried this aswell?
Open to all sorts of suggestions!
(I do sleep when pissed, but don't want to turn into having to drink every night to fall asleep !)
 


How does a sleep diary work?

If you're lying there for hours trying to sleep how do you know what time you eventually fell asleep?
 
offmenut said:
I've struggled with this for over a year now - the stress of knowing I can't get to sleep!
I've no other worries, my only worry is sleeping!
It seems to have got worse the last few months, as previously I used to be able to sleep ok ish every other night, but now I hardly sleep at all, which is effecting my job, and now my parenting (I'm often too tired and irritable) and also my relationship (again, tired/irritable).
I've been doing a sleep diary after finally going to the doctors again to properly moan about it (they did nothing at all when I first went around 6 months ago) .
Has anyone else had any experience with this?
I've got a few books, don't know if anyone could suggest any thing which helped them
Change their lives?
I'm considering hypnotherapy - just wondered if anyone had tried this aswell?
Open to all sorts of suggestions!
(I do sleep when pissed, but don't want to turn into having to drink every night to fall asleep !)
Click to expand...

your job is stressful and I'd suggest its hard for you to switch off/wind down - go the docs and he will give you sleeping pills, alternatively try 5htp from holland and barrett, only thing is dont take them too near to bedtime or you'll get very lucid dreams. Also you might want to try horlicks now you're 50 ;)
 
Bishop Mackem said:
How does a sleep diary work?

If you're lying there for hours trying to sleep how do you know what time you eventually fell asleep?
Click to expand...
Just been told to write one
What i have to do is if I can't sleep, leave the room and try and relax (I read a bit) than when I've calmed down a bit go back to bed. I keep doing this process, sometimes till around 5am so I sort of know when I've got to sleep (it's not wholly accurate but you get a rough idea)
 
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lordy said:
your job is stressful and I'd suggest its hard for you to switch off/wind down - go the docs and he will give you sleeping pills, alternatively try 5htp from holland and barrett, only thing is dont take them too near to bedtime or you'll get very lucid dreams. Also you might want to try horlicks now you're 50 ;)
Click to expand...
Whats 5htp?
 
I work shifts, and stressing about sleep is the worst thing in the world, thinking you HAVE to be asleep at a certain time means you never get to sleep. There are some good natural herbal remedies out there.
 
lordy said:
your job is stressful and I'd suggest its hard for you to switch off/wind down - go the docs and he will give you sleeping pills, alternatively try 5htp from holland and barrett, only thing is dont take them too near to bedtime or you'll get very lucid dreams. Also you might want to try horlicks now you're 50 ;)
Click to expand...
Can't take sleeping pills due to work marra. Can't be drowsy like. But maybe on my days off, however I've always been told they're a last resort .
I'm sure pills would come up on a D and A test?

snipes said:
I work shifts, and stressing about sleep is the worst thing in the world, thinking you HAVE to be asleep at a certain time means you never get to sleep. There are some good natural herbal remedies out there.
Click to expand...
Aye , I do 2 mornings, 2 afternoons 2 nights - That's how it started - struggling to sleep before early morning shift. Now it's all the f***ing time !
 
offmenut said:
Nar.
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Apologies for making light of your predicament, I couldn't resist. On a serious note. I worked with a fella years ago who had the same trouble sleeping and he went down the hypnotherapy route and it seemed to working for him until he started to get anxious about a family problem and he had a relapse. Don't go down the drink route, the Doctor drummed that into him as it leads to dependency issues. I only knew him for a short while so I don't know how it all turned out, wish I could help you more. Good luck in your quest.
 
offmenut said:
Can't take sleeping pills due to work marra. Can't be drowsy like. But maybe on my days off, however I've always been told they're a last resort .
I'm sure pills would come up on a D and A test?


Aye , I do 2 mornings, 2 afternoons 2 nights - That's how it started - struggling to sleep before early morning shift. Now it's all the f***ing time !
Click to expand...
"Clock watching" on early shifts is a pretty common affliction as people are stressed about sleeping in and are unable to relax enough to sleep. Maybe there's a shift workers forum or something similar on the net where you might be able to pick up some tips. Just knowing there are many like you may help you in some way.
 
The brain is a powerful funny little thing...thinking about not sleeping is the problem, sounds daft I know but it's true. If you think to yourself you can't swallow & try swallowing you'll struggle to it's weird.

I'm insomniac too & just kind of roll with it now, like someone above suggested switch off TV, tablets etc wrote bed, don't have coffee after 5pm, try a nice warm bath just before bed, lavender scent stuff for on your pillow, listen to relaxation sounds on your phone via headphones (plenty on YouTube). The ex mrs used to play a thing called womb sounds to help soothe the bairn, now she can't sleep without then, try listening to them on youtube too, when she used to play it for the bairn it used to knock me out too.

Good luck pal
 
Live In Hope said:
Whats 5htp?
Click to expand...

Similar to, but not exactly the same as serotonin. If you're on any form of anti-depressant, it isn't recommended you use it with 5htp.


offmenut said:
Can't take sleeping pills due to work marra. Can't be drowsy like. But maybe on my days off, however I've always been told they're a last resort .
I'm sure pills would come up on a D and A test?


Aye , I do 2 mornings, 2 afternoons 2 nights - That's how it started - struggling to sleep before early morning shift. Now it's all the f***ing time !
Click to expand...

Completely depends what they screen for. Since sleeping tablet are often abused, or linked to abuse, I'd imagine they do look for them, but if it's on prescription, you can just show them the doctor's note, can't you?
 
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