[somniaKai]

Hello I’m in some deep trouble that I cannot seem to fix. Basically for the last 5 years I was on a medication called olanzapine and had weaned off it. For a while I got depression, anxiety, etc but then it stabilized and I actually feel much better and crazy but crazy in a good way. Getting my mind back sorta crazy and not zombied out. Problem is after about 3 weeks of being completely off it I can no longer sleep good. I can lay there all night and literally not sleep at all. A few days ago I went about 2-3 days without sleep then all of a sudden I slept at about 7am to about 8pm. It seems I can only sleep when I don’t want to sleep which is during the day. I have tried purposely staying awake all night and all day until a good time the next night to fix my sleeping pattern but still can not sleep at night. I went to see my doctor to try and get sleep medication but he flat out said no because he reckons that I would then rely on it in order to sleep once I get off it and because I have substance abuse disorder.

Oh and while all this is happening my life had become sorta hecktic. I had to do a short course which I have no finished and now they expect me to look and get a job even though I can’t sleep good through a job agency I’m going through. How can they seriously expect me to go to job interviews and whatnot when I can’t even do something simple like sleep?

I’m actually starting to think the olanzapine damaged the part of my brain which controls sleep.

Any help would be good, thanks.

• This topic was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by somniaKai.

[Martin Reed]

How have you been getting on the past few weeks? It sounds as though you would benefit from implementing CBT-I techniques.

You mentioned that you have tried staying awake all night and all day but still cannot sleep at night. How long did you try this for? The fact of the matter is, if we stay awake for long enough, we will eventually fall asleep!

I think you would probably find it helpful to avoid sleeping during the day and to follow a regular (and appropriate) sleep window. This is part of a technique known as sleep restriction.

If you have high levels of sleep-related worry and anxiety then it’s likely you’ll need to implement additional CBT-I techniques — but sleep restriction would be a good first step.

I hope this helps.

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