| Scared
: Posted by The LoNeLyGirL on May 01, 2003 at 21:19:14 |
I have been having an awful time. I was still up at 8:30 this morning and finally passed out until nearly noon. But now I cannot get back to sleep tonight and I am in a state of total panic. I am so terrified of what is going to happen to me the longer I'm awake. I don't want to lose my mind.
I try to remember what my mother used to tell me when she was alive. To think positive. To use the time and enjoy it. Write, do needle work, play games, watch favorite videos etc. But I am so afraid I'm going to lose my mind and I will no longer be able to enjoy these things. I keep thinking about all the things I'm going to miss when they haul my sleep deprived body off to the looney bin.
Every time I try to sleep I just lay there. Awake. It's miserable and I end up getting up. I just can't stand it. I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my mind. What's going to happen to me? ... |
| Why do I fight sleep? : Posted by fightssleep on April 23, 2003 at 08:25:05 |
I am starting to believe that I have some type of sleeping disorder. I do not have a problem falling asleep when I get into bed. My problem is that I continously stay up until 2-3 am for no good reason. I wake up at 7am and feel tired all day, often fighting sleep at work.
I am always extremely tired driving home (I have a long commute), and am exhausted when I get home. At this point everyday I tell myself that I am going to bed early tonight. But once I get my kids tucked in, I seem to get this second wind. I feel wide awake. Often I have to make myself go to bed at 3 am because I know that I have to be at work. After a couple weeks of really bad hours I will pass out after putting the kids to bed and get 12 hours of sleep. The next day I feel great and swear to that every night, but the cycle starts again.
I have had this problem as long as I can remember. I am not sure that I fit the classic case of insomnia because I think that I can go to sleep if I could force myself to get into bed. I guess for years I have carried the shame of thinking that I simply lack discipline, but I am starting to think that it is something medical or physical. Does anyone else out there have this problem? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks. |
| Had many nights with 0 hrs. sleep : Posted by Ted on April 21, 2003 at 20:16:15 |
I'm going to tell my story in the hope that it will help somebody else in a similar situation. Four and a half years ago I was very depressed and anxious, so much so that I wasn't able to sleep. (I won't get into why I was depressed and anxious.)
To make a long story short I let a primary care dr. talk me into seeing a psychiatrist. At the time, I thought psychiatrists talked people through their problems. But the psychiatrist wasn't interested in talking; his objective was to get me on psychiatric medications. I ended up going on several different drugs, one of which was Ativan (for sleep and anxiety) and Zyprexa, also for sleep. I was also taking some antidepressants etc. but I don't think they affected my sleep one way or another. The Ativan was a bad idea. This drug is VERY addicting! I kept having to increase the dose.
Finally, I realized that my addiction was just getting worse and I tried to taper off it. It took me almost 2 months to taper off it and it was very uncomfortable to say the least. My advice for somebody else: Do NOT get started on this drug! Getting off the antidepressants wasn't that difficult, but getting off the other sleep drug I was taking, Zyprexa, was a nightmare. The first time I tried getting off it, I just stopped taking it cold turkey. This did not work out. I ended up in a hospital.
The second time, I was smarter and slowly weaned myself off it. However, it took a long, long time, and at very low doses I started not sleeping again. I remember getting up to four nights in a row of ZERO hrs. sleep, and this was happening over several months. I finally got to the point that I was taking next to nothing (by cutting up the pill into smaller and smaller doses with a pill cutter, and by skipping some days). At that point I quit taking the Zyprexa altogether again. It was the best thing I could have done. Soon thereafter I got my normal sleep back and have been sleeping good ever since. The only thing I put in my body now is food.
My feeling about insomnia, at least in my case, is that it's caused by life situations that you've let bother you. Maybe, if not on a conscious level then on an unconscious level. I found two things that finally helped me to get my life back in order: prayer and talking to a sympathetic person (or in my case, persons, since I got a lot of help from attending some of the free self-help mental health groups). When I say prayer helps, I don't think it's necessary to join any particular religion. I don't belong to any particular church, nor do I follow any particular doctrine except my own sense of right and wrong. I just have a general belief, based on the fact that I was helped, that there is a God (or a power for good) who can help you with your problems. No matter what, you're going to have problems in life, but I've found that if you ask and you try to live your life according to your highest standards, you will be helped - with sleep problems, as well as with all of life's problems. |
| how to sleep? : Posted by wannasleep on April 16, 2003 at 21:23:13 |
I've always had problems with sleep disorders in one form or another. I used to sleep walk and sleep talk all the time up until a couple years ago, and have always had a constant problem with insomnia. I'm not depressed or anything like that either. Lately, the insomnia has been really bad. I'm not sure why it's so bad this time, but I've had to start taking Nyquil at night to get to sleep, after getting only about 10 minutes of sleep in almost 3 weeks without using medication. My mind just spins out thoughts no matter how hard I try to relax or ignore it. I can't help it, and my brain will keep thinking of a lot of random thoughts that keep me awake. I get really restless and stressed out at even the thought of going to bed. Being a high school senior struggling with physics and getting ready to move away to college ads a little more stress too.
I've tried everything, put together a good sleep program of things to do or not to do, never drink caffine, get lots of excercise in the morning (I own two of the world's most amazing horses and horses and dance has been my life since I was little)... the one time in the last three and a half weeks I did fall asleep without medication, I woke up less than 10 minutes later and instead of being happy I got sleep, I got mad at myself and stressed out cuz I had no idea how I got to sleep, and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't get back to sleep. I try not to go to bed until I'm sleepy either, but the problem is, I will be watching tv and then think I'm getting sleepy so I'll go up to bed, and as soon as I do I'm awake again. My bed is really comfy and my room is nice and dark and quiet.
Any tips on getting to sleep? Also, are there non addictive medicines out there that WON'T leave me feeling sleepy in the morning? Whenever I take over the counter stuff, I feel drowsy in the morning during school and my teachers get mad at me for 'not paying attention' in class. I try to, but it's hard especially when you don't get any sleep at all cuz it's hard to concentrate on any one thing. I am afraid to try prescription medicine tho, because I have heard so many bad things about it becoming addictive, and I was already addicted to another medication a long time ago, and that was a really hard habit to break and one I don't wanna get again!. |
