[vasiladp]

Hi there,

I’m a 48 year old male who’s had issues with transient insomnia since my teens.

As I exercise and go outside daily, I am fairly fit. However, on occasion, I’ll have a bad night where I keep waking up. That bad night leads to another and to another, a la a domino effect. When the insomnia starts, no amount of exercise or medication will induce restful sleep. My insomnia seems to be very stubborn. Eventually I’ll get so tired and sleep well and it will subside for a while but then the transient insomnia starts again cyclically. I take Remeron nightly for sleep and usually that works. However, when I have the insomnia, no matter what I take, and this includes Zopiclone, Hydroxyzine, and Clonadine – my body simply won’t sleep even when it’s tired.

Can anyone shed any light on why this happens? Is it when insomnia starts that it causes hormonal and/other chemical changes that exacerbate it? Why is it so difficult to break transient insomnia? Can you recommend any medications that work well for you? Any other suggestions, natural or otherwise?

Kind regards,

Daniel Vasilaky

[hiker]

Hi Daniel, if I understand you correctly, “transient insomnia” means you sleep well for a while, maybe even an extended period, but it comes back.

I doubt there are many people who sleep wonderfully every night. Maybe caffeine or alcohol late at night, or a disturbing TV show, something going on at work, or who knows why, it just happens. You just don’t sleep that well that night.

How you react to that subpar sleep can play a part in how you sleep on subsequent nights. And you’ve already discovered that no sleep med will guarantee you will get back on track.

I had trouble with chronic insomnia for many years (whole lot of reasons, not pertinent here–doesn’t mean you will at all). But even now, like everybody I’ll have a poor night’s sleep. When I do, I try to step back and say, ‘well, I hope I sleep better tonight. But if I don’t, I’ve been here before, it won’t last forever.’ In other words, trying to not have so much riding on how well I sleep.

Trying harder improves chances of success in lots of things, but not sleep.

I know, easier said than done when you get on a nasty streak of bad sleep nights. True, though.

[Czor]

Thanks for posting about medication’s because they truly don’t last long term and they just drag the problem on and cause more anxiety to make you think that when you fell asleep if it was a medication so I can you know sleep without it. This week has been absolutely awful, I am doing the AWAKE. Exercises but really tired and have run out of things that I enjoy in the middle of the night so I’m not sure what else to try. I’m hoping that sleep drive kicks in I feel for you and so many of us that are dealing with this issue, I truly hope and pray that we will get passes soon

[Author]

Posts