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[countrybumpkin]

Knowing you have the medication helps enormously.  I slept ok last night usual waking every 3 hrs but thats normal for me. 

[CLKD]

Do you feel better now?

[countrybumpkin]

BAck to square one last night     Was awake till 4 am when I took one nytol tablet and finally went to sleep. I know its all in my head and this is following normal pattern in I have have one good night then some bad ones until eventually usually I get back to normal iffy sleep pattern.

I really need to find a way to not panic if I don't go to sleep within half an hour of going to bed. Thats it. sounds so easy yet so far has been impossible to overcome!

[Dana]

I did mention this in my previous post but I don't think you said if you are on HRT or not. If not please consider it because it was the only thing that solved my severe insomnia. You may have anxiety issues that are affecting your sleep but if hormones are also a factor that is going to make it worse.

[countrybumpkin]

I have been suffering with actute attacks like this since I was in my early 20's. I have had good years where I have only had it once or twice but some really bad years. I remember in my late 20's taking sleeping pills on and off for over 6 months.  Usually it passes in a couple of weeks.  I tend to obsessively worry about something until the next thing comes along and I am sure this is part of whatever is wrong with my head!
I am sure my friends death has been the trigger this time. Which is why I have agreed to psychology referral.

I am now 5 yrs post meno and the only thing I noticed its that I wake up more often in the night.  Sadly I have strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer so hrt is just not an option. Vagifem is as far as I can go!

Another nightmare night last night. Thought i would see if I could fall asleep myself but by4am I was still wide awake. I took a nytol tablet and slept for 4 hrs but as soon as i woke up I was hit with severe anxiety so no chance of further sleep.

I have been here so many times before and really do think I am losing my marbles when I am like this.  I know its the anxiety flooding my mind that is stopping me sleeping and can only hope that as in the past it burns itself out eventually.

[dazned]

Hi Countrybumkin,

Have you tried valerian ,it can be useful ?
Also try having a long soak in an Epsom salts bath before bedtime,if nothing else it really does relax muscles and adds minerals to your skin. Also no electronic devices 2 hours before bed,if reading in bed good old books ! I suffer with bad insomnia and for this reason refuse to have TV in bedroom.
Wishing you an answer to your prblem soon.

[countrybumpkin]

Dazned, glad I am not alone as in the middle of the night it feels like I am the only person awake in the world!  I am doing everything you say already.  I have tried valerian and melatonin in the past but the valerian gives me acid reflux which is a shame as I think if you take it regularly it really can help.
Do you get up and do things when you can't sleep or do you stay in bed? I find that if I get up and do anything this wakes me up even more although staying in bed at moment isn't working either! 
Do you have totally sleepless nights like I do or just sleep badly all the time? HOpe you don't mind me asking.

[dazned]

Sometimes if I cant sleep I put light on and read ,I dont usually get up,I know that they say get up and do something but like you I find that makes me wide awake ! 
I have experienced times where I literally have not slept at all,which has lasted for months on end and I used to get myself really het up about but now I just accept that's just how it goes sometimes and that nobody ever died from not sleeping 
At present it's just very,very interrupted sleep,continually tossing and turning all night long from one side of bed to another ,feel like I 've walked miles in morning ! It's for this reason DH and I have seperate rooms unfortunately,else he'd get no rest whatsoever ! I'm not worrying about anything or have anything on my mind particularly it's just that good sleep wont come . However we moved to a totally different part of UK in August so I am putting it down to that. Luckily I'm not working at present however even when I was it didnt seem to make much difference. I have started to go to bed later which does seem to help . It's really distressing though so I do empathize with you.

[CLKD]

You've had colds  Dazned? or does my brain deceve me ?

I round the radio on quietly beside the bed helped a lot.  I would pretend that I was ice-skating 

[dazned]

Yes we have both still got colds which I agree doesnt help but I wasn't sleeping well before they came.

Also Radio 4 is very good for helping you zone out,some of the voices are very soothing.

Were you a good skater CLKD ??   

I remember years ago having a Stephen King audio book called Thinner,the narrators voice was hypnotic ,I always fell asleep before the tape ran out ! 

[CLKD]

Oh yes, I was really good on the ice: smooth, never fell over, always in time with the music 

[Menomale]

I was suffering from bad insomnia for the last 6 months but this year I saw some improvement, I can sleep some hours and then have the adrenal surges that wake me but I can get to sleep again. I think I'm so mentally tired that my brain is giving up, but I also changed my routine and won't go to bed until I feel exhausted, yesterday I read 400 pages of a novel of medical terror... I slept well but woke up at 5 am with a panic attack...  nothing is perfect.

[countrybumpkin]

Dazned its good to read that you have had bad insomnia for a very long time and still alive and kicking. I could not believe it today I picked up a magazine and inside was an article about how lack of sleep causes everything from dementia to cancer! 

I know its stupid but the thought that keeps me awake is " what if I can never fall asleep without drugs ever again".  Last friday I slept well and was happy as larry on saturday thinking great I have cracked it then sat night was wide awake all night again. That put me back down into the worry pit.

The day I suddenly think " sod this I don't care if I sleep or not " I will go back to normal but its getting that mindset

[CLKD]

That's what worked for me in 1980 and I'm still here!  I get the odd nights when I can't get to sleep or when I wake and remain awake for hours but it isn't every night any more.  Have you tried relaxation from toes to neck, tensing the muscle groups all the way up the body then relaxing B4 moving to the next muscle group?

Or try wriggling your ears? something I haven't yet achieved but it re-focuses the mind 

[countrybumpkin]

Yes tried the tensing relaxing and it does relax you but again the brain is mightier than!!!   The power of the mind is quite scary.  The Dr's all say insomnia is psychological and I agree although hormones come into it as well.

I feel really guilty being in such a state when there are so many people ( like my late friends husband) who are suffering much more than I am but not in the state I am in. Can't say the guilt helps much