Insomnia!

Help! I need help! I can't sleep! All of a sudden, about a month ago I had almost a week's worth of insomnia. It's a good thing I was on vacation because I was exhausted. Now, it's back. Usually only valium will put me down. My doc is a little shy to prescribe a benzodiazepine or controlled substance because of the risk of tolerance and addiction. I tried Trazadone as well, which worked for awhile, but I'm having refractory insomnia to that now. I just started taking some Melatonin but no results yet?

Any suggestions?

Find the cause of your insomnia, rather than trying to drug yourself out of the symptoms.

reply to post by Cosmic911


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Des

holy cow! i was gonna suggest a warm cup of camomile tea and a good book!!!
except for valium, i havent even heard of the other drugs you mentioned!
are you sure you really want to 'zombify' yourself like that??
try the health food/naturalist store. they can recommend a few different things i'm sure.
take a look at your diet and your lifestyle. that may have something to do with it.
good luck
peace

Veteran insomniac here. These are the things that have helped me.

1. Bed is only for sleep and sex.

2. No naps, don't eat more than three hours until bedtime, cut out caffeine.

3. No exercising at least two hours before bed.

4. Go to bed and wake up the same time each day.

5. Meditation before bed can help relax you.

6. If you don't fall asleep within thirty minutes, move to another location to sleep. Like the couch or guest bed.

7. A glass of warm milk with a tablespoon of honey can help, but it tastes nasty.

Do a google search for "sleep hygiene" for more suggestions.

Good luck!

Just accept that you are experiencing insomnia. It was that easy for me and I hope it can be for you as well. It might seem like a hippy way to approach the situation, and maybe it is, but I never once had to resort to chemicals. I'll try to explain what I mean:

In adding a check list of do's and dont's, you end up cementing the fact that you won't sleep unless you have them all covered. Same goes for medication, natural or otherwise. "I can't sleep unless I have my xyz" - that reinforces insomnia, and doesn't cure it.

Lie in bed, and when you feel like 'its one of those nights, and I can't sleep', then just acknowledge it without any judgement or any need to fix anything. Realise that it is just your brain which is burping up a previous routine, or stagnant thought about yourself. When I noticed how true that was for me, I fell asleep instantly, every night.

What I'm trying to say, is that most often than not, it is the worry over being an insomniac that keeps one awake.
I honeslty wish you a good night's sleep and the rest you deserve

Insomnia from time to time in my life just happens. Homeopathic or natural solutions if your going that route are best. I would avoid the prescribed stuff.

I personally just roll with it. Get up, read for a bit, come on to ATS, write an e-mail to a friend, etc. I have found that while unpleasant I will not die if I don't sleep. Sooner or later I will sleep.

There are serious physical conditions that include sleeplessness, and can have dire consequences, it does not sound like your Dr. is concerned at this point. There have been some good suggestions here so far. Good luck to you!

reply to post by adrift


I truly loved your response. Every word you spoke rang true. Thank you for the great post.

What I'm trying to say, is that most often than not, it is the worry over being an insomniac that keeps one awake.

Only someone who truly has experienced real insomnia knows this is true.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
Veteran insomniac here. These are the things that have helped me.

1. Bed is only for sleep and sex.

2. No naps, don't eat more than three hours until bedtime, cut out caffeine.

3. No exercising at least two hours before bed.

4. Go to bed and wake up the same time each day.

5. Meditation before bed can help relax you.

6. If you don't fall asleep within thirty minutes, move to another location to sleep. Like the couch or guest bed.

7. A glass of warm milk with a tablespoon of honey can help, but it tastes nasty.

Do a google search for "sleep hygiene" for more suggestions.

Good luck!

Fanstastic ideas! I'll be referring to this at night! Thank you very much! Very productive ideas. My schedule seems to be all over the place so a routine time to go to bed would problably be the best.

reply to post by Destinyone


Thanks, Des. I will try this! Know where to get it?

Originally posted by Rendier
Find the cause of your insomnia, rather than trying to drug yourself out of the symptoms.

Probably some of the best advice. Fortunately, I'm working on it. It's a process. There is no over-night cure, however, and mitigating the cause, while dealing with the cause is exhausting. Thanks for the reply!