[Yorkiemom]

I have been fighting with insomnia for about 3 years and am a light sleeper since retiring. Getting to sleep has been my greatest obstacle. My health of late has necessitated my getting a pacemaker, which is working out well, but the medicine I am taking makes me wonder if it is contributing to my insomnia.

I have sleep apnea but the apnea doesn’t appear to be the source of my sleep problem because the nurse practitioner looked at the date on the sim chip from my CPAP machine and announced that the apnea is well under control.

They have given me a prescription for Ambien, which I have taken before, but I have been trying to utilize Melatonin or Valerian Root instead but have had mixed results with the homeopathic relaxant.

I would appreciate your experiences and advice because this is becoming a pain!

Thank you in advance.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum. First of all, it’s quite common for sleep to become a bit more disrupted upon retirement, often because more time becomes available for sleep and more time becomes available for rest and relaxation! Without the obligation to get up for work, and without the daily routine that employment provides, sleep can suffer.

Ambien, melatonin, and valerian Root are not effective long-term treatment options for chronic insomnia. I think that you would find it very helpful to implement cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help get your sleep back on track.

When do you currently go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed to start your day in the morning, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night? Are you taking daytime naps?

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