[SandyL]

I am currently going through one of worst bout of insomnia I have ever had. I went on vacation last week and my sleep was severely disturbed. I could not get comfortable in the bed and didn’t sleep for a total of 4 nights. I was up and down all night. The longest was two days in a row. I was having horrible sleep anxiety and even panicked at night. When I first got home, I slept for a couple of nights because I was so tired. Now the insomnia has come back, and I have barely slept for three nights. My normal insomnia is about 4 hours of sleep and then I wake up and can’t sleep. I am not certain now how to get to sleep since I am so anxious about sleeping and am having a lot of anxiety symptoms like a racing heart, chills and nausea so I can’t get to sleep at all. I have just got a prescription for a temporary sleeping medication to get some relief and to be able to function at work, but I know that is not a long-term solution.

• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by SandyL.

[SandyL]

I still am not sleeping. I have tried several sleep aids and nothing seems to help. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am feeling very desperate at this point.

[hiker]

Hi SandyL, it sounds like you are going through it right now. A few preliminaries, which you may have already considered, but here goes….

—Racing heart could be caused by the sleep anxiety, but chills and nausea? Maybe see about a general physical exam to rule out anything else?

—Changes in normal routine, even positives like a vacation, can affect sleep.

—Unfortunately you are right about sleep meds. Although one thing doctors do actually know something about in the insomnia field is sleep apnea. A sleep study can measure whether that is driving the insomnia. Severe apnea can mean virtually no sleep at all because of breathing problems.

———————————

If all that gets ruled out, the good news is that you have pinpointed the issue of sleep anxiety. As you probably know, this means that even without any external stresses in your life, you can’t sleep because you’re worried that you can’t sleep. A hamster wheel if there ever was one.

Please consider reading other posts, where at the very least you will see you are far from alone. It is helpful to read the Success Stories as well—as long as you know that setbacks are often part of the mix. Setbacks don’t have to be a total bummer, once you realize they are temporary.

For me, it comes down to thoughts swirling like a tornado, where I am at the mercy of whatever pops into my head. I have to remind myself that I am more than my thoughts. All sorts of analogies here….one is that thoughts are like people walking by your house. You don’t have to race out of the house and accompany them (which would look kind of weird anyway). Instead, know those people are on their own journey. Yes, you notice them for a bit, but on their own they will drift on past.

There is a huge difference between:

1. I need to sleep so badly. My life is going down the drain, I can’t stand this anymore; and

2. I’m having the thought that I need to sleep so badly, and that my life is going down the drain, and that I can’t stand this anymore.

If you are really hammered by insomnia, it can be hard to see the difference. True though.

[Author]

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