[Scishter84]

Hello everyone, new to the forums so thanks for any help in advance.

So, I am 36/m and have suffered from insomnia for about 20+ years. I have gone weeks before on only a couple of hours of sleep every other night but have gotten into a slightly better routine now (but on rotating night shifts).

Previously I had great success with my insomnia through an anti anxiety medication (10+ hours of sleep per night plus lots of lucid dreaming and unfortunately some sleep paralysis) but since then I have struggled again with sleep often taking several hours to fall asleep.

I do drink an energy drink or two on my days I work but even before this and when I’ve stopped them for weeks it hasn’t affected my sleep. No other caffeine or products which could cause issues.

So, recently I purchased some melatonin online as I have heard some good stuff about this and day 1 – Amazing. 5mg and i was asleep within 20 minutes and slept all night with some pretty vivid dreams. Unfortunately day 2 – nothing. Back to sleepless nights. Day 3 out of curiosity I doubled the dose to 10mg which again had no affect.

Do I continue with the melatonin as it did help the first night but nothing the following two nights? I’m unsure if it takes time to build up in the system or if night one was a massive coincidence.

FYI I have tried everything so far except taking something like this. Listening to sleep.music, meditation, face mask, light filtering glasses, no screentime two hours before bed and nothing appears to help.

Thanks again
Brendan

[Scott]

Hi Brendan!

Welcome to the forum! Since there’s no pill that is helpful with our thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate sleep disruption, what you experienced the first night of taking melatonin was your natural ability to sleep. I remember having insomnia for months and bought every supplement and “sleep aid” on the shelf and Internet hoping it would solve my poor sleep. As you experienced, I had similar results – first night was good sleep but failed results thereafter. The greater we try to “fix” our sleep, the more difficult it is to sleep because sleep responds negatively towards our efforts. Instead of experimenting with a lot of bedtime routines, what if you just carried on with your life as if you didn’t have insomnia (continue to watch tv, listen to a podcast, didn’t wear blue light glasses, etc)? What do you think would happen if you did nothing and just went to bed when you’re actually sleepy (not tired – there’s a difference)? It’s helpful to avoid anything that might increase anxiety about sleep before going to bed so conducting the behaviors you outlined above will certainly draw even more attention to your insomnia.

Hope that helps,
Scott J

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