[Cloudy]

I am a 57 year old female, and I have had bouts of insomnia for many years but last year and in the last 4 months it has become chronic. I have an anxiety disorder, and I was under a great deal of work stress due to managers leaving and being left alone to cope with the workload. I would go to bed and I couldn’t shut off my mind. Worry about the job and also stress about not sleeping would consume my thoughts. I gave notice and survived on adrenalin and little sleep. I did try sleeping pills a few times but found that they worked for a few nights and then once I tried to wean myself off them, I couldn’t sleep. I have also used 1/4 Restavit (over the counter med) which isn’t recommended or effective for long term use.

During the time I was working I started having constant heart palpitations, but after an ECG, ultrasound and test on the treadmill, my cardiologist confirmed my heart is fine. There is an option to have a 24 hr holter monitor, which I haven’t taken up.

Since leaving my work a month ago – currently not working – I am still struggling with sleep and I have started having brain fog and feeling hung over especially in the morning. I believe I have nervous system overload as although I no longer have the work stress, I am still unable to get more than 3 or so hours sleep a night. A sleep doctor recommended getting up early and going for a walk first thing every morning to catch the morning light, even if you haven’t slept. I am finding this very difficult to stick to as I feel so exhausted and foggy in the morning. He suggested I try this first before trying a sleep study.

Has anyone had a similar experience and what would you recommend?

• This topic was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Cloudy.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Cloudy and welcome to the forum. First, let me say that what you are experiencing sounds really difficult. I also do not see anything unique or unusual in your experience — it sounds as though you are a bit stuck and tangled up in the insomnia struggle.

Many people find that leaving their jobs or doing less with their lives doesn’t get rid of their insomnia. In fact, I know lots of people who slept really well until they retired — and that was when their insomnia showed up! With that being said, your job sounded really difficult and leaving that environment, regardless of how you were sleeping, was probably the right choice to make!

Ultimately, insomnia is kept alive from the focus and attention we give it. And that’s why it’s so easy to get stuck — we are naturally going to give a problem more of our focus and attention, right?

And yet, the more we try to fix it, the more we try to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen, the more difficult it all becomes. If we stop working or engage in fewer activities, the influence of sleep can become more concentrated as all the other stuff that makes up our lives and once diluted it a little gets removed.

With this in mind, going out for a walk each morning might be a helpful way to add an action to your life that gives you the opportunity to expand your focus a little. Some form of movement might also help shake of some of that early morning exhaustion and fogginess, too. It’s not going to magically delete insomnia from your life, but it might just start to dilute its power and influence a little.

We can’t control sleep but we can control our actions — and, ultimately, it’s our actions that determine the level of power and influence sleep, insomnia, and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that come with insomnia, have over our lives.

I hope there’s something useful here and I wish you all the best.

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