[Chris26]

Hi there!

My name is Chris and I’m 36 (male) from EU… develop insomnia about 5-6 years ago! It’s getting worse with each year… :/ So trying to find solution!

How it started!

I’ve never been that type of  “to fall a sleep in 5-15min” like normal persons. But at least I got restful sleep during the night.

So how it started. At first it was like waking up 5am, 4am, 3am etc… ended up with  ZERO sleep for some 24-48h. I am sure that it’s not stress related, more like medical condition in body! (something is terribly wrong)

Tried sleep meds – got max 2h of non restless sleep and awake again.

Tried benzos, antidepressants – nothing helped. Just got the side effects additionally and that’s it.

Days, months were going and somehow I managed to get some sleep during the night. But this sleep is totally nonrestful and light. I feel that I do not enter the stage where body “restarts”/recovers. Get dreams sometimes, but it’s different like it was before. I remember that I was sleeping and my pillow was wet all the time because saliva coming out of my mouth when body is totally relaxed in deep stage sleep.  So I am totally exhausted, walking and acting like a ZOMBIE. I’ve developed muscle ache, twitching, ticks all over my body, extremities tremors from exhaustion, like muscle atrophy, bone aches, swollen feeling in my joints, long and short term memory problems, forgetting elementary things you used to know very well from school, university…, balancing problems, speech problems, weird feelings in my brain (zaps, fluid leaking sensations, aches). Have this feeling that I’ve decline in my brain-work, it’s getting worse. Have numbness in my body that come on goes, pins and needles, sweating, brain fog, light and sound sensitivity, feeling you are walking and failing in to hole, dry skin, red rashes come and go, kidney stones, sinus arrhythmia, … I can go on and on with 100’s of symptoms.

I’m desperate – nothing helps, have tried I guess everything. Meds, sleep techs, sleep hygiene, alcohol etc. By the way, strange thing about the alcohol… in the past alco used to make me feel happy, funny, relaxed etc, then now it’s with out any positive effects, just makes you more brain foggy.

All these years there was no night like it was before Insomnia, with restful sleep.

Thanks god that my blood pressure and HR doesn’t skyrockets. BP is OK, my heart rate has increased a bit for these years from 59-70bpm, but I guess, have to just deal with it :/ result of my insomnia.

Did the blood tests, MRI scans, EEG, etc…  results come back +/- borderlines. Remember tick bite and bulls eyes rush afterwards but Lyme tests came back “-“. I know that it’s hard to diagnose it accurate… So it could be related.

 

What do you think guys?!

 

 

Thanks
BR

Chris

 

[Chris26]

My theory is some kind of neurotransmitter imbalance, fatal insomnia, hormones, Pituitary Gland, unknown bacteria which are living in my body.

[ahliarae]

Hi Chris,

First of all, I’m so sorry you have been facing this. Insomnia is aweful and really scary. I’m working through it too, so I honeslty can’t offer any advice since I’m still in the thick of it. But I can say that you are truly not alone.

I have personally been learning that my insomnia is realted to anxiety (even though it really didn’t feel like it was). I even had to leave my job because I wasn’t even safe to drive anymore, and could hardly even sit up in a chair all day, let alone be productive. It feels like my whole body is just falling apart. Even though I don’t have the other signs of anxiety, I learned that the insomnia is the manifestation of my anxiety, and that anxiety can truly be that terribly life changingly bad.

I’m rooting for ya! Just know that you are not alone, even when it feels like the whole world is sound asleep.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Chris and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with sleep.

First of all, let me reassure you that falling asleep in five to 15 minutes isn’t actually all that normal! Most good sleepers will fall asleep anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes at the start of the night. I feel this is important to point out because many people with insomnia put undue pressure on themselves to fall asleep within a certain amount of time and this just isn’t helpful!

I actually recorded a short video about this:

Falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and not waking during the night isn’t normal!

You mention that you have tried everything — have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)?

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

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