What to do if you're not tired at bedtime????

[[fi...]]

Ok...this isn't exactly an insomnia question but wasn't sure what other board to post under.

What do you do if you're not tired at your typical bedtime?

do you take your meds anyway? delay ?

get into bed anyway?

how does this jive with CBT - i gotta ask the sleep doctor.

the meds will make me dopey but if i'm not properly tired and i need to stay out of bed...

what do do i do?

 

has this happened to anyone ?

 

i felt sleepy today but i didn't nap - laid down as my eyes were tired but didn't sleep..

my sleep has been a problem since long before the zopiclone or ativan and i'm a natural night owl and convinced i've had DSPD my whole life (delayed sleep phase disorder)

i'm just loathe to take melatonin since i don't like how i feel on it..but maybe tonight i will need to??

 

am i alone in this? or does this come with the territory too?

 

thanks

firefly

So. I know we're all sleep deprived. Or most of us. So this question seems odd but do does not feeling tired when I'm normally in bed already an hour or two. (And I installed f.lux on my computer but maybe it's not enough?)

[[ne...]]

Hi firefly, I take my meds always at the same time each evening and just sit in a dark quiet room not doing anything until I am sleepy. THEN I get into bed.  Sometimes this takes an hour or two. This is in line with CBT-I.

 

Hope this helps!

xoxo

[[fi...]]

Hi firefly, I take my meds always at the same time each evening and just sit in a dark quiet room not doing anything until I am sleepy. THEN I get into bed.  Sometimes this takes an hour or two. This is in line with CBT-I.

 

Hope this helps!

xoxo

 

Ok.

that does help thanks

except your sitting in a dark quiet room means a room other than the bedroom? What if you don't have another room that's dark ? And you literally do nothing? just sit? are you allowed to read book? look at a picture book?  maybe stretch? listen to music? do anything? or are you supposed to literally do nothing?

 

I think i also have to figure out the right time to take the meds to time with falling asleep - which is only partially the meds for me...the other part is a brain that never falls asleep before midnight..(entire life no matter how tired i am or what meds you give me)

and a brain that doesn't get sleepy - i'm always exhausted but not sleepy - it's odd to distinguish but there's a difference.

but i'll figure it out

 

thanks

firefly

[[ne...]]

Hi firefly, I think you should get more info on the CBT-I to answer these questions. I've read two books, "Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Insomnia" and "The Effortless Sleep Method" but I guess there are many more out there. Just find one that works best for you.

 

The 'Tired But Wired' feeling is classic. Hope you'll be getting some respite and rest soon.

 

Also, sig? 

[[MT...]]

Firefly,

 

I have found through all of this that a flexible routine is good. During the times when I rarely slept, or only slept a couple of hours, I developed this nightly routine:

 

-TV (with blue light filtering glasses on until 9 or 10), then Imgur or funny web surfing for an hour or two. Then a hot, epsom salt bath. Then I'd listen to some relaxation exercise like the guided body scan, progressive muscle relaxation, sleep hypnosis or something similar. Then read until I felt it was worth trying to sleep but when I'd go to try I'd like there and practice some form of meditation.

 

My sleep is better now than it was so I'm not as rigid. I skip the bath and start reading around 10:30 or 11. Some nights I use a guided meditation if I'm in that wired place. Often that will make me more drowsy but at the least it will help me relax enough to have a calmer night.

 

I have a phrase I repeat to myself at night: "You can survive without sleep as long as you rest." It's a reminder that no matter what happens that night it will be OK. I can at least rest. I've gone many, many nights in a row without sleep, or just for a few minutes here and there. I didn't die, I didn't go insane. I was just miserable. And it very gradually in fits and starts improved. I still have some distance to travel but a decent chunk of that is from CFS.

 

Something I often get asked is how to pass time at night when you're not sleeping but you're too tired to do anything else. I go back and forth between relaxation exercises or meditation and imagery or imagination. For example, I'll try to remember everything I can, starting at the beginning, from a book I'm reading or have read, TV show or movie. I only do this with stuff that isn't upsetting-I don't read or watch scary or disturbing stuff usually. Sometimes I'll try to remember every detail of my day from when I got up or all of the details on a walk. Again, only pick a day or walk that wasn't upsetting. Or I'll imagine I have a time portal, space ship or I'm in the land of fairies and just let my imagination go. The trick is to have something else for your mind to do instead of playing the "I gotta fall asleep NOW" song over and over.

 

This *will* get better for you. Keep reminding yourself of that.

 

MT

[[fi...]]

Thanks MTFan,

I will bookmark this for when I know I will need it.

My question here though was more along the lines of ....i'm not wired....i'm not exhausted and wanting to sleep but can't.  Sometimes i just am not tired. I'm awake...and even calm.. - the way i should be in the a.m. if i had a normal sleep/wake cycle.  And then i think...do i take my meds? what do I do?

I know i have to develop a routine. And right now i'm stable enough i'm sleeping "good enough" (relative to the last five years) - i'm sure that will change as i start to taper - cause i only fall asleep because of medication.  I need somehow to figure out why i'm awake/calm/alert at the wrong time of day! and i was wondering what the bleep do i do ..i feel good..now i have to take meds that make me dopey? lol

i'm actually looking at two routes to help figure this out - one is the CBT sleep side, the other is maybe through an alternative practitioner - though i'm loathe to take any supplements if they end up suggesting that..

just the other night - i was feeling good!! (and i wanted to hold that ..had a rough couple of months))....and didn't know what to do...really didn't feel like doping myself out with benzos...just when i was feeling so good

so i came here asking ...out loud...

i do appreciate all the answers though

and in so much detail!! .  I know it will help me soon enough.

and i know about giving up 'trying' - after the last five years..i learned that's the only way to go...but i'm not sure i have been 'tested' as much as you...

so i appreciate your advice..

thank you

firefly

[[MT...]]

Hey Firefly.

 

Sorry I misunderstood your question. So are you tapering your benzo right now? It sounds like your body is ready for a lower dose. I think the more you can be on a (flexible) schedule the better. So it makes sense to me that you should take your meds at some standard time every night as you taper, follow good sleep hygiene CBT-i stuff.

 

As for the whys, I think most of us here have experienced this oddness of our brains seeming to have no clue about what nights are supposed to be. I feel like the whole circadian rhythm system is totally whacked. Through most of my recovery nights have felt no different than any other time of the day-not with drowsiness or any sense of winding down or anything. As time has passed sometimes it will feel to me like it's bedtime when it's morning, afternoon or early evening. Any capacity to feel drowsy is good news as far as I'm concerned.

 

I think it's all caused by how the benzos alter Gaba, glutamate and cortisol. As the body tries to find its new rhythm it's as if it loses the thread for a while. Then the thread/rhythm bounces all over the place randomly. The final stage seems to be more of a settling in of being alert at normal times and tired at normal times. We all seem to move through these stages but all at different paces. I hope your journey is as nontraumatic as possible. Remember you're not alone!

 

MT

[[fi...]]

thank you.

 

your explanation makes so much sense.  and jives with what i've been experiencing.

and i think will allow me to just roll with 'what is'...even if it's not perfect CBT (but i'm trying )

 

it's nice to know it's not 'just me' too