[Mags]

ive been suffering from insomnia for over 11 years now. On olanzapine 5mg, 10 and currently 2.5mg (last 4 years). I’ve already built up the tolerance so not sleeping well on it at all but don’t want to increase the dosage. Sometimes I get zero hours sleep (at least once a week), other times 4-5h sometimes 7-10. Trying to wean myself off medication but I fail badly each time I reduce the dosage so then don’t try for a long time. I’m so anxious about not sleeping and worried it will eventually kill me. I’m hoping to find lots of tips and positive feedback from anyone that managed to overcome their insomnia.

[Ingeborg]

Yes my insomnia is also very severe the past 5months. Most nites I do not sleep at all. See my note about years of insomnia.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Mags. First, let me tell you that there is hope for you and you are still capable of natural sleep. I have worked with people who lived with insomnia for over 30 years and managed to improve their sleep (without pills) within a few months.

As you mentioned, many people who struggle with sleep have high levels of anxiety surrounding sleep. This is completely normal and happens because we become conditioned that the bed is a place of stress and wakefulness rather than relaxation and sleep. As we become more worried about sleep, sleep becomes worse, and this leads to more worries about sleep.

The majority of people who have overcome their insomnia will have used cognitive and behavioral techniques to improve their sleep. These techniques work by addressing the root cause of most cases of insomnia — typically, incorrect and/or inappropriate thoughts and behaviors related to sleep. When these thoughts and behaviors are addressed, anxiety and worry about sleep begins to fall, and this leads to sleep improving. As sleep improves, worry falls further and sleep continues to improve (the exact opposite of the negative cycle associated with insomnia). Have you looked into CBT-I by any chance?

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