[christine9774]

Hi, my name is Christine and I've been battling insomnia for what feels like forever, but has really most likely been about 3 solid years. I was never a good sleeper anyway, but then life decided to throw me some curveballs and now I can't even seem to sleep. Hence the posting at 4:55 am. I've tried the sominex, the tylenol pm, and I'm on ambien now, but most nights it doesn't seem to do anything to help. And now that the sun is coming up I've got the added bonus of the chirping birds right outside my window to help keep me up. 😮

Anyway, I just wanted to throw out my little hello, I'm so happy to have somewhere to come to at this time of night/morning and belong.

[MarinaFournier]

Welcome to the world of Folks Who Understand. I'm up now because I pretty well slept the day away, and I really can't get any more behind on my email than I already am.

What curveballs did you get thrown?

I have always been a poor sleeper, too, and when I was in my third trimester ages ago, it was even worse, because I could never get comfortable. The next year, I learned the difference between not being able to sleep, and actively being kept from it. Last year, we had birds out on the tree right next to our bedroom window (which needs elimination for more than one reason) who started at 9pm and kept it up all bloody night until about 4 am. Didn't they read the Survival Manual for Songbirds, which tells them to hide at night, so as to be safer from predators? Even my husband, a much better sleeper than I am, was annoyed by them when he was trying to sleep.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to our merry band of insomniacs, Christine. Thanks for joining us and introducing yourself. Are you finding your physician is generally helpful when dealing with your insomnia, or do they just stick you on new meds each time? I would be interested to know if you've sought the advice of a sleep specialist or other doctor who you found supportive.

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[christine9774]

Thank you for such a nice welcome!

I'll tackle the easy question first – I've only seen my regular physician about my insomnia, and he's somewhat helpful. All he really does is write a prescription for ambien and send me on my way. Part of my insomnia problem is anxiety and depression that kind of gets better for awhile then hits me, and he won't really do anything further for the insomnia until I go to a therapist. But right now I don't have insurance so I can't afford it – so it's all one big crazy cosmic joke of a never ending cycle.

My curveballs, my story I guess, is like everybody else these days. I worked for a title company and when the real estate market crashed I got laid off. That was about two and a half years ago and I haven't been able to find another job yet. That is a huge part of all of my problems. Luckily though I could live back home with my parents to save money and it's kept me going this far.

That and those darn birds! 😀

This spring we cut down a tree that was right outside my bedroom window, but I swear they are even louder now. I try putting music on to drown them out but I'm afraid of waking up the rest of the house so I never get it loud enough. Ugh!

[Tommy ToXen]

Welcome to Insomnia Land, Christine 🙂

My GP has referred me to a sleep clinic, could you not ask your GP about your options in that way?

As for your bird problem, dress up as a cat and dance around their tree going “ooga booga booga!” and they should fly away.

[UliHarp]

Welcome to Insomnia Land! I hope you find everything you're looking for here in the forums.

When I was a child and growing up, I wasn't so much a poor sleeper as I was night owl. As I got older it seemed to slowly transform from simply staying up late to staying up all night, and then to just staying up regardless of time. How exactly my insomnia started is a bit of a blur to me, but from what I remember, I kept to my room every night writing or drawing until sunrise and by the time I got to school that day I would start counting down the hours until I could go home and try to take a nap before my parents would come home from work. (Which held for a while, until I couldn't make myself fall asleep for naps and just spiraled into progressively worse bouts of plain not sleeping.) Nowadays I work from home and I don't have to worry about my backwards sleep schedule, but I still have insomnia. It's cemented over the years: no matter what life changes come about, it always comes back.

[Author]

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