SEVERE insomniacs emergency hangout

[[Si...]]

I only slept about 2 hours last night. Just tired of this bs.

 

I only got 2 hours of sleep last night also and I'm still taking meds that are supposed to knock a rhino on its ass.  This is incredibly stressful especially since I won't be seeing my withdrawal pdoc for another 3 weeks.  I think I'm going to buy a pair of running shoes and try the Couch To 5K program and see if that helps.

 

Really really sorry about that LIK. My baseline is very very slowly improving I think. I have on average been getting 4-6 hours most nights. I had 5 0 hour nights last month. My worst night this month was a 2-3 hour night last Wednesday. Honestly getting anything over 0 is a somewhat win, even though a standard 6-8 would be most welcome. How's everyone else doing?

[[MT...]]

So glad you're seeing some improvement Siggy. My sleep is back and forth some. I had a really long night Thursday but I went into it sleep deprived and physically exhausted. Then I had to pay for it by getting very little sleep the next night. Some of it is from some GI issues that are hitting me in the middle of the night but I've been much worse off in the past. It's easier to believe this will all pass....just not for many months.

[[Si...]]

So glad you're seeing some improvement Siggy. My sleep is back and forth some. I had a really long night Thursday but I went into it sleep deprived and physically exhausted. Then I had to pay for it by getting very little sleep the next night. Some of it is from some GI issues that are hitting me in the middle of the night but I've been much worse off in the past. It's easier to believe this will all pass....just not for many months.

 

Hang in there MT! Hopefully we'll all see great improvement soon.

[[Sh...]]

Well, my wonderful five-day window ended abruptly, with another 0 sleep night last night -- so disappointing!

[[Si...]]

Well, my wonderful five-day window ended abruptly, with another 0 sleep night last night -- so disappointing!

 

We all hate when windows go away. I've been in a wave for a week and a half. That's after about two decent weeks if a window. My new symptom is constant headache with some jitters and agitation. While I had this before it would come and go. Now it's there when I wake up and when I go to bed. I'm just hoping this means my brain is healing. Hope tonight is better for you.

[[Li...]]

Another night of 2 hours of sleep for me.  I fell asleep in my reclining chair accidentally for 2 hours.  When I got up and moved over to my bed, I couldn't fall asleep.  I tried to just lay there and rest but didn't get any more sleep.  I don't feel hypomanic like I did yesterday surprisingly.  However, now I have back pain so I'm not even going to be able to run unless the pain goes away soon.

[[Sh...]]

LIC - That seems to be a common complaint: being able to nod off in front of the TV, but then becoming wide awake as soon as heading to bed. At least you managed a couple hours though; I've only managed small snatches of sleep that way on occasion. I hope you get to go on your run. I just forced myself to spend 2+ hours at the gym (yoga class, bike, little bit of weights, and sauna).

 

Thanks, Siggy. I start a new work assignment tomorrow after taking 3 weeks off, so anxiety over that maybe that's at least partially at the root of my troubles last night. Thinking I may resort to taking some Remeron tonight to up my chances of sleeping before heading back to work.

[[Li...]]

LIC - That seems to be a common complaint: being able to nod off in front of the TV, but then becoming wide awake as soon as heading to bed. At least you managed a couple hours though; I've only managed small snatches of sleep that way on occasion. I hope you get to go on your run. I just forced myself to spend 2+ hours at the gym (yoga class, bike, little bit of weights, and sauna).

 

Thanks, Siggy. I start a new work assignment tomorrow after taking 3 weeks off, so anxiety over that maybe that's at least partially at the root of my troubles last night. Thinking I may resort to taking some Remeron tonight to up my chances of sleeping before heading back to work.

 

Ugh, it's after 5:00 AM and I don't even feel tired yet and I have to go to "group therapy."    I wasn't able to get over to the mall to get the proper running shoes.  Hopefully I will today.  I also need to find a decent gym.  Prices seemed to keep going up and up and the equipment at these places isn't even good.  The lowest price I've seen so far is $60/month and they love to upsell you with personal training and all sorts of supplements.  I'm seeing prices on treadmills for under $800 and I wonder if it would be worth getting one.  There's not much room left in my home to fit one though.  Anyhow, I hope everyone continues to improve and get some good sleep.

[[Si...]]

Sorry you're still having problems. I never joined a gym for the reasons you stated. Plus I just don't like being around people. That and the time it takes to get to and from the gym.

[[ba...]]

im happy i slept very wel last night i had a bad stressfull day yesterday i still  slept like 7 hours without waking up

[[MT...]]

Hooray that you got some sleep, Babyangel.

 

For 2.5 years I monitored my sleep with logs and the fitbit. For about a week I've been going fitbit free and with all of the clocks turned. So I don't know what time I go to sleep or how long before I have to get up until an alarm goes off. When I can't sleep or I wake up I read without checking the time. What I'm finding is that instead of ruminating about how little or much sleep I get I'm just tending to what needs come up. When I'm tired I take care of myself. When I feel like I can push some I do. I thought I was helping myself with all of that monitoring but at least for now, I'm doing better without it.

 

I hope sleep comes to all of you and we all experience a full recovery of insomnia soon.

[[Li...]]

I was having a good period where I got an average of 5 hours of sleep per night and even a night where I got 7 hours of sleep.  I wasn't able to sleep at all last night.  The zero hours of sleep has hit me hard.  Surprisingly there's no hypomania but my irritability is through the roof.  Just when I thought I was getting better this insomnia crap happens all over again.  I've still got around 2 weeks left until I see the withdrawal knowledgeable pdoc.  How is everyone else doing?

[[Co...]]

I was having a good period where I got an average of 5 hours of sleep per night and even a night where I got 7 hours of sleep.  I wasn't able to sleep at all last night.  The zero hours of sleep has hit me hard.  Surprisingly there's no hypomania but my irritability is through the roof.  Just when I thought I was getting better this insomnia crap happens all over again.  I've still got around 2 weeks left until I see the withdrawal knowledgeable pdoc.  How is everyone else doing?

 

Hug! It sucks.

 

I'm in a bad wave for a long time, in a lot of pain so it affects my sleep. I worry a lot and I'm angry a lot. (it's benzo related because I do not have a real cause of this)

[[Si...]]

It's still up and down for me but seems to very slowly be getting better. Most nights now averaging 4-6 hours. Some days a little more and some days a little less. The nights of no sleep are what just destroy me. I had 5 sleepless nights last month and 2 so far this month. One of which was the night before last (Monday night). I slept 7-1/2 last night and feel decent today. Some skin burning and slight head pressure. Hope everyone here is improving!

[[MT...]]

Siggy, I'm so glad you're seeing some progress with your sleep. It sounds like most of us are partly cloudy with a big chance of insomnia. I've been in a wave the past few weeks with sleep deteriorating. I'm not wide awake at night but doing a lot of nights of just microsleep. So. Tired. I think we can all agree that zero sleep nights are the worst. Sleep sure takes a long time to improve.

[[Sh...]]

This whole summer I've been going through a rough stretch also, with at least a couple of 0 sleep nights per week, especially on the nights going med-free. Maybe with the change of seasons on the horizon, things will get better for all of us.

[[sn...]]

Hello buddies-

 

I am back in severe insomniac land and have slept horribly the past month. Due to the lack of sleep  while my son was getting his molars and my dog dying of cancer, I've spiraled back into horrible insomnia.  I've been averaging 3-4 hours of broken sleep at night.  I've also had new hormone/thyroid/adrenal issues so that has played a part in it.

 

Throughout last month I took slivers of ambien to just get to sleep...I did this over a period of two weeks.  I know I can't take anymore so I'm going to go the AD route and start Remeron tonight. 

 

It's a vicious cycle with the hormones because of the imbalance causing insomnia, but without sleep it's impossible for hormones to be balanced.  One thing that has helped  is I just recently started taking dessicated adrenal gland and that has helped my cortisol rushes at night as well as help me stay calm enough to get to sleep.  I'm reaching that desperation point because I've been feeling really ill during the day and have to get some kind of rest.

 

So here I go with the remeron.  I know some of you are taking or have taken it.  Any luck w/ it?  I'm hoping to just take it a few nights to get a few solid hours in so I can function like a normal human being. 

 

 

 

[[MT...]]

I'm sorry you're getting slammed Sniogra. I hope the remeron is helpful. Let us know.

[[Sh...]]

Sniogra - I hope the Remeron works for you. It's the one medication that's helped me the most with sleep, although not if I take it every night. You may have to experiment to find the right dose for you. At various times, I've taken 3.75, 7.5, and 15 mg. The dessicated adrenal gland sounds interesting -- there's something I haven't tried. Where do you buy that?

[[sn...]]

Thanks MTFan I appreciate it. Shirah- My Func. Med doc gives it to me. The brand is Standard Process.  It's one supplement that I can actually tell a difference when I take it.  You have to be careful because it's not meant for long term use or in high doses.  In fact, I just took half of one when I got home from work and it calmed me down enough to take a brief nap. I've been up since 1:30 this morning.

 

I'll keep you posted on the adrenal glandular because I do feel like it could be beneficial to some of you.  A year ago when I had horrible insomnia (before benzo use), the glandular helped me get my sleep back. We are all probably suffering from adrenal fatigue.  Himalayan salt and vitamin c is also crucial. 

 

Do you think I should start w/ 15 mg of remeron tonight? Or should I just halve it and see if that dosage works?

[[Si...]]

Sorry a lot of you are still having problems! I'm still having problems too, but slightly improved. Had five 0 hour nights last month and two so far this month. Both of which were last week. The amount of sleep is still a problem too with it usually bring 4-6 hours. Which is much better than none. I'm just hoping that it keeps improving more and more where I have no more 0 nights. Really hoping it gets better for everybody really. I'm nearing 16 months off.

[[Sh...]]

Sniogra - Sorry for the delayed reply...Hopefully you found a Remeron dosage that works OK for you already. If not, what I'd suggest is beginning with just 3.75 mg about a 1/2 hour before bed, and keeping another 3.75 by your bedside in case the first dose does nothing, but hopefully you won't need it.

 

Siggy - I seem to be following behind you (seems like I'm now where you were about a month ago, with more frequent 0 sleep nights), so am hoping I can repeat your progress with fewer and fewer of those as times goes on.

 

By the way, I tried some pot smoking the last two nights as an experiment, which did seem to get me relaxed enough to fall asleep. But I don't want to make a habit of it...maybe just as an occasional relief.

[[sn...]]

Thanks Shirah-

 

I took 7.5 two nights ago and it knocked me out.  I was in bed from 10-9 am.  I kept trying to get up but was so drowsy I couldn't.  Dealt w/ the heavy drowsiness until about 3 pm yesterday afternoon. 

 

So last night I took 3.75 and went right to sleep...deep sleep until 1:30 am and then off and on sleep until 8.  Still drowsy today but not as bad.  If it's possible to cut a crumb off tonight I'm going to try that.  To be honest, I am shocked that this med is working.  I feel refreshed today and so much better. 

 

Good to hear you found something to relax you to sleep...you should ask your IFM about adrenal glandular as an option as well. 

 

Siggy- what was your vitamin d level? I found out I was low too and just started supplementing.  I was wondering if you feel like it's helping your sleep in any way???

[[Sh...]]

Sniogra - I'm glad you got some relief. The first time I tried Remeron, it was also 7.5 mg, and the exact same thing happened to me: slept until late in the AM and then could barely get out of bed, felt so groggy. And it took until late afternoon to subside. But that was a one-time thing. For me, its effect diminishes pretty quickly. Now, if I take it two nights in a row, it barely does anything the second night. So I try not to take it more than every other night, or preferably much less often than that...I'll look into that adrenal thing, thanks.

[[Si...]]

My vit D was 25. The doctor put me on a dose of 50000 iu's once every two weeks. I'm not sure if it's helping or not much. I started sleeping nearly every day beginning in July, which was a few weeks before I started the vit d. Of course I've had those 0 hour nights which are the worst and a few 2-3 hour nights. If I can even just maintain a 4-6 hour night I'd be able to cope better. Part of the torture is not knowing if I'm going to sleep each night. Something I totally took for granted before this debacle. That and my crazy weird head symptoms are my worst symptoms to deal with. If not for those two things, I think I'd be between 85-95 better. Other than that it's mostly some minor skin burning and depression that comes from not sleeping and feeling like crap all the time.

 

Glad the remeron worked for you Sniogra.