My insomnia is out of control... I am like afraid of my bed!

[[...]]

I never fall asleep on couches but it's been happening ALL the time lately.  I think I have this fear of going into my bed and not being able to sleep... so I end up in this insanley exhausted state on my couch watching TV and fall asleep (and i can never sleep to TV).

 

It is almost 8 am and i am still awake from yesterday when i woke up at 3 PM (i am on vacation)... but I am EXHAUSTED...and I was all day.  I am so tired that I am almost too tired to sleep....(does this make ANY sense to anyone).  I also keep stuffing my face full of carbs  -  yogurt, pudding, biscotti... wtf... GO TO BED!

 

I have a weird restlessnes about me and a refusal to go into my bed and relax.  This started around 1.5 mg I think... it's not getting any better. 

 

What is my problem?  I just need to turn off the computer and GO IN THE BED!!!  But I refuse to do it. I will watch every last Tivo-ed show and post on every last internet message board until I pass out on the couch...

 

I can't understand myself.    Anyone have any thoughts? 

[[ru...]]

Hmm, maybe if you can sleep on the couch and you're on vacation, you should sleep on the couch. As a kid we didn't have heat in my bedroom and each winter I slept on the couch in the den. In front of a fire in the fireplace too. I loved it. 

 

It's possible your circadian rhythm has gone wonky. Try staying awake until 5 pm today and 7pm tomorrow and see if it resets itself.  You can also rearrange your bedroom so your bed's in a different place. That might help.  Whatever you do, give yourself permission to sleep wherever you want to.

 

Good luck!

 

rufus

[[el...]]

You know what I did? I had such a severe sleep phobia last summer, after I got out of the hosp. That the minute I got home, the thought of sleeping in my room sent me into fits of terror. It held such horrible memories. So I switched bedrooms!! I happened to have a spare, which helps, lol.

But it worked. Even though I still had some sleep problems for a while, they werent' engrained in that room, and now I am fine. I sleep fine. 

[[si...]]

i always sleep better when i am not at home.

 

i used to have two beds and sometimes i would sleep in a different bed room and fall asleep ok.

 

if you can't sleep try staying up all day - get a fixed routine - you really can turn off the t-v you really can turn off the puter - just stop the world when you feel like that and dare yourself to do it - bet you can.

 

it helps if i have the heat turned way down before going to bed - that forces me to go to bed and cover up - it is easier to sleep if you have to bury yourself under covers.

[[Al...]]

I use the same tactic to help me sleep! If i am reall chilly and I wrap myself in the down comforter I am much more likely to sleep. Also, no caffiene at all ever in my diet and very very little refined sugars.

[[pl...]]

the answer to getting a good nights sleep is actually pretty simple.  i had terrible insomnia for about 20 years and most doctors responded with either a sleeping pill or a benzo.  this is how many of us got into this terrible mess.  one doctor who was a sleep specialist asked all the right questions and simply said " your sleep cycle is totally out of whack".  he was right.

 

after 7 years on different benzos, otc pills, etc. i wasn't able to sleep UNTIL all the pills were gone and i went to bed at the same time every night.  it took awhile but my mind and body eventually gave in to sleep.  i still have some trouble but basically, this is working.  the sleep cycle is pretty basic.  fool around with it and you're doomed.  this is just my opinion (and my doctors) but i truly believe it is that simple.  when man was created, his body was programmed to get up at first light and go to sleep when his work for the day was completed and night set in.  fool around with this and there is trouble.  sleep meds were created millions of years later.  think about it.

 

joan

[[si...]]

jack you need to break the cycle of no sleep.

 

i would suggest some benadryl - some tylenol PM - just go to the store and check out sleep stuff.

 

when you are able - buy some GABA powder - it will knock you out - but unless you are buy a health food store you most likely will not find it.

 

sleep supplements stop working after a few days - so you need to use them only when you need to.

 

good luck and keep us posted.

[[ge...]]

Hi Jack,

 

Your sleep problems seem to have begun at a similar dose to mine. I am at 29 mg of Valium (equal to about 1.5 mg of Klonopin) and I cannot seem to get my zzz's. I tried relaxation tapes, watched a movie, lay in bed and nothing happened. The worst thing is getting up in the morning after a virtually sleepless night feeling all out of sorts and tired. Sleep is very important to healing, but it often eludes us. I used to be helped by relaxation tapes, but lately, since I was diagnosed with babesia, which causes excessive perspiration, I am having more trouble sleeping. I refused the treatment, since it consists of a medication which can be worse than the disease, and both of my docs said the medication for babesia "could kill me." During the day, I worry about this, but at night, I am just tired, and yet too wired to fall asleep. I tried Benadryl, relaxation tapes, etc. etc. and nothing seems to help. Tomorrow night, I might be so tired, I'll just crash. For me, staying up longer sometimes allows me to get some sleep, but tonight is a difficult one. I sleep better when my husband is home, but he goes to NJ to take care of his 90-year-old Mom on weekends, and sometimes I am less likely to sleep when he is away.  I wish I could offer you some suggestions, but right now, nothing is working for me either. I know the body is meant to sleep, so eventually, we all crash somehow, but, like you, I have developed a phobia of my bed, and this is just impeding my recovery. I am tapering like a turtle, so it's not as though I taper quickly. It's just that the peeing and sweating is preventing me from sleeping. Sigh.  Hope you had a better night than I did!

 

Love,

Genie 

[[si...]]

hi jack - sleep is a problem i have no permanent solution - i will try to find a sleep forum when i am not away from home.  i will also address this in therapy - but i will not get back on drugs.

[[br...]]

Oh Jack I totally feel for you.  I have severe insomnia as well and afraid of my own bedroom. However the werid part is that I wasn't on any meds at the time. I was suffering from severe fatigue for a year after being put on steroids for only 6 days last year.  I never felt the same afterwards. Plus my family is so mean to me and they stress me out so much. I think the stress is what caused my insomnia.  Anyway I started sleeping on the couch in the living room because I was so afraid of my bed. But then I would get woken up like 3-4 times in the middle of the night or just as I was falling asleep because my family would make nosie in the kitchen and wake me. I was a nervous wreck because of the situtation and that's when I started taking Klonopin.  I still only get 3-5 hours of sleep.

 

I'm going to a sleep clinic right now but they haven't tested me because they assume my problem is anxiety related so they are doing cognitive therapy with me.  All they have done is give me reading material and I hope next session I can work on the part of not being afraid of sleeping in my bed. If I find some answers I will pass it along to you.

 

Oh one thing that has helped me at one point and you might want to give it a try is to take a walk around the block in the morning between 8-10 because the sunight hitting your eyes will help trigger the melatonin levels and help with the sleep cycle. It did help me at one point but I do have other health issues that are contributing to the insomnia. Perhaps it might help you. It's worth a shot.

[[si...]]

getting natural sun light is very good and important.

 

i find getting up at 5 or 4 a.m. works a couple of days a week other times it stresses me.

 

a sleep clinic sounds like a very good idea.