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[purplenanny]

Oh janeymc, you have suffered such awful losses and trauma.
It is not surprising you don't sleep well.
Have you ever seen anyone who could help you talk through it all?
Are you struggling with this on your own or do you have family or good friend?
Sending care and hugs. PN x x

[pink crystal]

I am new to this forum.  Am taking Ambien CR 12.50 mg every night to sleep and have been doing so now for the last 5 months.  Must say it doesn't always do the trick and am sometimes awake till past midnight.  Would absolutely love love love NOT to have to take it but just can't seem to get to sleep otherwise, at all or would then fall asleep to awake in the early hours of the morning.  I take the contraceptive pill more for the hormonal assistance and regulation of my menstruation (as it was happening every 2 weeks or so before) than for contraception.  Would also love to not have to do this but will continue on for the time being.  I have everything to be thankful for but feel so utterly sad and miserable a lot of the time.  Am pleased to come across others "like me" on this blog. 

[Taz2]

Hi Pink Crystal

Taz x 

[oldsheep]

Hi Pink Crystal, just wondered if you knew that Ambien/Zolpidem has about a 2 hour half life, so it could be that you don't get many hours' sleep on it (think some people do).
It often gets prescribed with a low dose of diazepam to keep you asleep.
Have you tried sedative anti histamines at all? I tried them, but they give me startlingly violent nightmares which defeats the point of sleeping.

good luck with your sleep. Hope it settles down.

[Janeymode]

Poor sleeping is a new one for me.

I take a tablet at night for back pain (Nortriptyline) and that initially sends me off to sleep pretty quickly but I wake often to what I thought was the night sweats...I've tried all kinds to help...laying a towel under me, sleeping in loose cotton clothing, no clothing, a cotton sheet under the duvet and a lighter duvet...nothing helped until I was put on Norethisterone...that appears to have stopped all night sweats (added bonus)

I've found that a regular night time routine helps...a nice bath/shower...fresh bed linen and earplugs...sounds simple but it works for me...the main thing I do is turn the clock around so I can't see the time...waking up to a blaring green 3.25 am just makes things worse...lavender helps a lot too...a sachet of lavender inside my pillowcase really does help me...if I can't sleep I get up until I can...it messes about with my body clock but I can't lie there awake.
     

[mumziz]

I have been suffering with insomnia for a few weeks now. Herbal sleeping tablets don't seem to be doing anything. I end up nodding off about 8pm in front if tv. Don't really want to take prescription sleeping tablets. Can anyone give me tips on what I can do for a good night's sleep?

[sammy]

I have always been a really good sleeper - never any problems.  I am at the start of the menopause, but have not yet had many hot flushes or sweats,  however my big problem has been with sleeping.

I go to bed and then start to settle but I get really panicky and anxious and can't get to sleep - all kinds of things start to go through my head and it can take ages to get off to sleep.  Then I wake up two or three hours later and it all starts again.  Sometimes I just get up but sometimes I can't face it. Also, when I am asleep I have recurrent nightmares - mostly about my ex husband and the trauma I went through when we split up nearly 10 years ago(it was really awful - he left three weeks before Christmas, a week later my Mum died suddenly and then the week after that on Christmas Eve my sister died suddenly  - I had two very young children and at Mum's funeral the toddler jumped off her sisters bunk beds and broke her arms)

I am so terribly tired.  I have arthritis and the pain and stiffness is much worse the more tired I get.  I am going to see the Doctor tomorrow morning and I am scared that she will just give me sleeping tablets, which I don't want.  I can't have HRT because I have a heart valve problem and am waiting for an operation to correct it

I also seem to  get upset really easily - if I see something sad on TV, or a disabled person, or an old person struggling to get along I just start crying and I feel almost unbearably sad.

is any of this "normal" during the menopause?  I have had problems with irregular and heavy bleeding, but have had hysteroscopy and biopsies and all was normal so they say it is just hormones and fibroids.

Sorry to sound so down - I am just so fed up with feeling scared and tired all the time.

I have all your symptoms.  All of them!  It is like i lost the filter that separates my wmotions from the outsode world.  I get upset at all kinds of things that never would have affected me before.  I cannot sleep thru the night.  I worry all the time ( mostly about my health).

[Dorothy]

This won't be much help to those with partners unless you can sleep in headphones, but I have some story audiobooks and I have found listening to one of them as I go to sleep really helpful.  I pick stories I know well that are fairly gentle in nature (James Herriot, Jane Austen, E F Benson) and seem to drop off after the first 3 or 4 tracks.  I don't listen to new CDs in this way in case I stay awake listening for the end.  But once I've heard them a couple of times, they keep my mind just occupied enough to stop it buzzing with other things and as I already know where the story is going, I find I just drift off without realising it.  Occasionally it doesn't work, then I just sit up and read till I can't keep my eyes open.  Again, familiar books so nothing new to keep me awake.

BTW, I always find it harder to sleep when there is a full moon.  Bizarre.  Does anyone else have this problem?  Nothing to do with the light as my curtains are drawn.

[Sarai]

Sleep oh my. I have been a poor sleeper for years now. taking ages to get off and so needing loads of loo visits. If I could get off 2 loo visits a night were the norm but now, well I may take an hour to get off then wake what seems like very hour, have to go to lo, though I don't think its the need that wakes me. I have a cool room, light clothes, lavender spray all around, I look at the nice pages of Yours magazine before turning off the light. I've turned the clock away. No internet in bed, no tv. I find myself half dreaming half thinking about what cure I could buy, or would the doc send me to a sleep clinic. I really does not help depression at all.

[Poppysnanny]

I've not had a full night's sleep for over two years now - all since the night sweats started.  I see every hour on the clock and if I'm lucky I sometimes doze in between sweats but never for more than 30 - 40 minutes.  I long for my bed at night but then can't wait for morning.  The last week has been especially awful - three nights with no sleep at all - have given up an all three occasions and got out of bed because I disturb my husband.  Last night was a bit better - I managed to stay in bed all night save for one get up to take paracetamol and ibuprofen - I remember still being awake at 4.30 am but then the next thing I knew the alarm clock woke me at 6.00 am, I can't remember the last time I have woken to the alarm. 

I make so many mistakes at work and feel like I am in a zombie like state all of the time, even driving is becoming a worry - had a couple of near misses this week that were both my fault either because I wasn't concentrating or wasn't fast enough to react.  It's getting to the point now that I am questioning how much longer I can actually continue in my current job.

My GP prescribed tamazepam about six months ago but I only took them for less than a week because I felt so dreadful the next day.  I've cut out all caffeine and have stopped reading, using electronic devices and watching TV in the evenings thinking that this would help but it doesn't. 

I take nightime Kalms an hour before bedtime but they don't have any effect at all, I just keep taking them and hope that they will help psychologically!!  Other remedies for hot sweats don't help either and I can't have HRT.  I have recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and suffer pain and stiffness in the night, however I don't think that it's bad enough to stop me from sleeping if the hot sweats weren't keeping me awake.  When will this end?

[pepperminty]

Hi , I have had insomnia for 4 years now, and feel like a zombie most days. I have on occasion been unable to string even the most simple sentence together.
Things that have helped are :

When I am hot going to bed with 4 ice packs from the freezer wrapped in tea towels. Not perfect, but one on my feet and the others dotted about helps.

A hypnosis tape by Paul McKenna- I can help you sleep relaxes me

Mindfulness meditation in evenings (even if it's only 10 mins )

CBT course through NHS

Accepting it and trying not to get angry (really difficult as you feel your life is ruined some days and you are so exhausted you don't know what day it is )
x

[Jude65]

I've been useing night nurse and it really helps to relax me..

[Sunnydays]

About 2 weeks ago I slept through the night for 4 consecutive nights. Bliss! I was a new woman. Sadly not lasted! Not sure if it was new hrt that did it, but I'm not sleeping like that now grrrr
 It was once suggested never to look at the clock when waking in the night - ok it doesn't help the sleeping but I do find if I look at the time, it makes it even harder to get back to sleep.

[Night_Owl]

My sleep has been poor for the last 9 years or so, with whole nights of not sleeping when my periods first stopped and my life went into total disarray.

One thing I've found helps somewhat is Magnesium + B6 supplements (Solgar) -   Magnesium Taurate apparently has the best absorption - the ones I've mentioned are Magnesium Oxide and purportedly the least well absorbed, but I find them to be okay.  We're all different and what works for one won't for another, however still maybe worth a try.  I take just before lights out.

[babyjane]

I have had bouts of insomnia for the last 5-6 years and it usually happens in the summer months when it is not properly dark, is hot at night and there are more noises outside which I can hear because the bedroom windows are open.  Also my husband has developed intermittent snoring.  A couple of months ago I was waking every 2 hours (I confess to looking at the clock to see how much sleep I have had).

I started going into the spare back bedroom if I wake up shortly after going to bed and I sleep much better there as it is darker, quieter and I can have the window open and a lightweight summer duvet on the bed. There is also more room as it is a 4ft small double bed in there.

However the last 2 nights I have had my shower at bedtime due to needing to be up failrly early because of people coming in the morning and I slept right through both nights.  I don't know if it is a co incidence because the weather is cooler but I am going to try having my shower at bedtime for a few more nights.  It also helps me be up and dressed at a reasonable time in the mornings too