Another night of insomnia!!!!!!!!!!!!

banslug

banslug

Cathlete
Just when I think I've gotten it figured out, I'm having another bout of insomnia. This time, instead of the usual 3:30am, it was 2:30!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Wide awake, just like that! Figured I may as well get some stuff done, so I'm doing school PTA stuff!

Now what? I've been getting to bed around 11pm and have slept thru till my alarm at 4:30am, for the last 10 days or so. Now this.

Gayle
 
Uggggh, Gayle, you sent it my way. I'd been doing pretty good lately but wide awake today at 3:30!!!
I know my butt's going to be dragging later on today!
 
Gayle, Dianna and all others here

I have been awake sine 3 am too!!!

I am sick and TIRED of insomnia :mad::mad:

So I will be exhausted by early afternoon. And of course we have track, t-ball and a party today!!!!

Give me strength!!!

ellie
 
I'm so sorry for those of you going through this. I have had intermittent bouts myself.

I find that if I actually get out of the bed and do something (get on the computer, eat a bowl of cereal) that makes me even more wide awake and it's impossible to go back to sleep. I always wake up about 2 or 3 am, every single night.... but what I try to do is not get up. I try to clear my mind of all thoughts and usually I can drop back off to sleep within 30 minutes.

Once you start having insomnia, you realize how important sleep is for our well being. I think it's tied to so many health issues. A good night's sleep is invaluable.

Good luck to those of you struggling with it!
 
Have you ladies ever tried Valerian capsules? They stink like an old sock, but they sure do work. I use the ones in the brown bottle with the yellow label from Walgreen (Natures Way? Natures Pride?) They make you relaxed and sleepy, and I always get a nice snooze. I use them for occasional bouts of insomnia. Take 2 with a glass of water, and they work in about a half hour. Not as potent as the prescription stuff, but no hungover fuzzy head in the morning either. Also, if you had to, you could function through them. That means if you get an ER phone call or the smoke alarm goes up, you can be up or drive, if you had to. If I haven't slept for a night or two, and can feel another sleepless night coming up, I take them. They are also good if you have minor/aches and pains (from Cathe?!? no!) and can't sleep bc of that. Give it a whirl.

Also, I don't take any other medications, so I'm not sure what they interact with, so you may want to check on that. I don't believe you are supposed to take it w/ St. John's Wort, but I'm not sure about any others.

Nan
 
Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to 'spread the wealth' this morning. Maybe we should all exchange phone numbers for these nights, since it seems this happens to us on the same nights! LOL

I ended up doing some PTA stuff on the PC till 4. Then I crawled back into bed and read my book till about 5:30, when my eyes started to get heavy again. I dozed till 7:30, when my alarm was set, so that will help. But the funny thing, really, is that when this happens and I DON'T get back to sleep at all, I'm NOT dragging at the end of the day. You would think I would, hugh?

Nan, I really don't like to medicate, even with OTC stuff. I just don't take anything if not absolutely necessary. But I WILL keep the name of that product in my medicine cabinet just in case it DOES become absolutely necessary! LOL Thanks for the input!

Now, off to baseball in the cold wet weather. YUCK!

Gayle
 
I don't know if this applies to you, but I always get this issue during TTOM (few days before its due). I am up at 3 AM, I try to stay in bed and usually after 2-3 hours I would fall a sleep again. Very very frustrating. Next day I feel the impact and feel so tired.
 
Gayle, I feel for you. Having just gone through the menapause insomnia stuff, I understand what you are going through. I was taking Estroven, and OTC herbal med and that seemed to help. I know you don't want to take anything, but how much longer can you continue like this? I know that Cathe is/was taking Melatonin for her insomnia. You might need a little help until your body slips back to a normal routine. :D Good luck and hopefully sleep tight!
 
I also tend to get this at certain times of the month. Getting up to do stuff also makes me feel more awake. They say that staring into the computer at night makes it worse, because the light from the screen makes your brain think it's daytime.

What seems to work okay for me is going into the family room and doing some yoga/stretches (I use a nightlight so I don't have to turn on the light), and then lying down on the couch. The change of scenery seems to help a bit. I end up dozing off after a little while. Then when I wake up again I move back to the bed if there's still more time to sleep.
 
Hi Gayle

Just though I'd throw in my two cents worth here too. I've had my troubles with insomnia also. I'm convinced with me anyway it was hormonal as I'm 54 and menopausal. This started about two years ago when the hormones were definitely wacky. I did take the prescription drug Ambien for 6 months and it helped tremendously in getting my sleep pattern back on track. I didn't want to believe me. I suffered with this problem for an entire year before I ever went to the doctor about it. What I do now is every night before bed I drink the herbal tea Tension Tamer by Celestial Seasonings and that usually does the trick. It tastes great too. When that doesn't work try the herbal supplement valerian. My heart goes out to you and everybody else out there who has this problem. Good luck!
 
Thanks, everybody! I just find this all funny (as in ironic-funny, not ha-ha funny) because I don't consider it 'a problem'. Does that make sense??? I don't crash and burn the next day. This only happens once a week at most, and I have no other side effects from this happening. I'm HOPING it remains that way. I talked to my mom and I remember she was always getting up early like that, every day! At least for me, it's not EVERY day! lol

Anyway, thanks for all the input. I'll keep you posted on my next occurrence! :D

Gayle
 
I've had this happen on plenty of occasions as well. I tried prescriptions to help me stay asleep but I always had unpleasant side effects. Sometimes I'll take Natural Calm before bed just to help me get a little more rest overall. Celestial Seasonings also has a tea called Sleepytime Extra which has valerian in it. I still seem groggy with that in the morning, though. Sometimes just going to bed later is helpful. My husband has suggested that he could just hit me with a frying pan and maybe that would help me sleep all night lol.
 
For those taking, or considering taking, melatonin, I did hear a dr. on the radio talking about how melatonin use will mess up your metabolism and can make your sleep problems worse. The thing is, your body produces melatonin, so when you start supplementing, your body quits making it, and you just get into this bad spiral. I do not have personal experience with this -- just heard it on the radio, as I said.

That said, when I had my awful poison oak last summer, they had me taking simply sleep (which is Tylenol PM without the tylenol portion) -- it's an antihistamine. I have kept taking 1/4 of the regular dose every night since, and I've never slept so well. I still wake up, but most of the time I can fall back asleep pretty easily. I know a lot of people are against taking stuff, so I'm not trying to push it, but.... if you do have bad sleep problems and are willing to take something, I think this is a pretty harmless way to go.

Ok, you probably think I'm crazy now..... (If you didn't already!).

-Beth
 
Don't know if it will help anyone else, but I've been working on improving my sleep consistency for two months now. I get stressed and that wakes me up at 2-3 in the morning. I use my GoWearFit to help check on how well different strategies work. The online report shows when I'm waking up and when I'm sleeping more soundly, so that I don't have to just guess as to what is working. In my case, getting up for an hour helps if I'm fixated on specific unfinished tasks. If it's general stress or just being wound up, I'm finding that it helps to turn on a soothing radio voice that is talking about something interesting, but not too stimulating - usually I pick a favorite older podcast. And strength training at night is definitely much more relaxing to me than cardio!

It's been fascinating to me to watch the difference in sleep patterns when I have a radio voice in my ear rather than just music. It seems to be a much more consistent sleep, and my wakefulness has gone 'way down.
 
just a thought...

I want to encourage you ladies with insomnia with this article I found online. If you are a fan of Wayne Dyer or just want to understand why you find yourself waking up around the same time every night, then check this out...

http://wholebalance.blogspot.com/2007/02/dont-go-back-to-sleep.html

God may be trying to get your attention at the time when your heart is most open to receive and the most undistracted. I have found this to be true for myself and my insomnia, and now I don't mind insomnia so much.
 
You are not alone,

Went to bed at 11:00pm and stayed there untile now at 2:20am. Why did I waste my time in bed when I could have been talking to you gals all this time?

I'm just playing around with the computer until I feel sleepy.

Janie
 
Jodelle, very interesting. My best friend said pretty much this same thing to me yesterday...that Somebody is trying to tell me something and that I should just lay there awake and think. interesting, hugh???

Janie, I think the same thing sometimes....instead of tossing and turning and getting frustrated, DO SOMETHING productive! lol But I promised myself never to bring my laptop to bed with me!!! :):D;)

Last night, went to bed at 11, woke up sometime in the middle of the night, but I didn't even want to check the clock! LOL I didn't hit the bathroom either, and fell back to sleep till my 5:30am alarm went off. ONE NIGHT DOWN! LOL

Funny story quick....yesterday Beth suggested Simply Sleep. I went to the store and put it in my cart, but when I got to the check out, I left it with the cashier. I just don't medicate. And I couldn't even bring myself to BUY it just yet. Good thing my kids and I have never had anything more severe than a slight headache or low grade fever! :D We'll see how it goes.

Gayle
 
Progesterone cream

Helped with my insomnia! I started using it again because I was having hot flashes! Hope it helps!
 
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