[Rita]

I have seen a friend struggle with Insomnia early this year, they recovered quickly within a month. I never imagined to see myself in the same kind of situation, Since last month I experienced it, it all started with a simple nose blockage. The Doctor gave me some sleeping pills instead of nose medicine. I made it clear to her that I am scared of pills and I would like to take very low dose medicine. She even advised I can cut the medicine to half if I’m scared. I did just that and tried the pills for 7days. All I wanted was to sleep naturally. I wanted to stop the medicine as soon as possible. So I tried to sleep by myself it was hard, I thought I’m addicted. I went to another Dr after two sleepless nights to ask if he can help me sleep without sleeping pills, This time he said I have to take the pills until I go back to my home country(6 months that is) I got anxiety immediately, the thought of using sleeping pills for such a long time terrified me. I thought I was stuck with insomnia forever. I regret taking sleeping pills. I began to catastrophize. I heard stories of a certain guy with a sleep condition and cannot sleep at all for all his life. That how I saw my situation. I got the pills anyway this time it was anti anxiety pills thinking if i get rid of anxiety then i will be ok. I took the anti-anxiety meds for just 3 days and began to cut them to half so that I stop in a week. When I stopped I felt better it all felt like a dream. 4 days later I relapsed . I had panic attacks everything scared me, I felt crazy or I am loosing my mind. After trying everything recommended in CBT-i, warm baths, essential oils, relaxation techniques, etc. I drastically felt my body failed, I failed all the self help techniques when anxiety and panic came. Its been 5days now back on sleeping pills and I’m wondering will I ever be normal again? I am scared.

[Ryan]

Hi Rita, I see my story in your story very much. You haven’t forgotten how to sleep, you just have anxiety and that is treatable, so good news!

Whats normal is that nearly everyone has had seasons like this in their life. You are not going crazy, you are perfectly fine, you are just going through a season.

I also had pill anxiety and I finally talked with a therapist about it. What I learned is that it’s perfectly fine to just say ‘this is the season I’m in right now and that’s ok’.

My doctor prescribed amitriptyline 50 mg at bedtime and gabapentin 300 mg at around 9 pm. Both of these are great medications that are used off label to treat anxiety and insomnia. Since I do not like pills or the idea of being dependent on them, I used these temporarily for about a year before titrating down off them. I went from 50 mg to 25 mg to 10 mg, etc. It was very easy to come off of and now I’m sleeping fine without it.

I’m def not telling you what to do, just what worked for me.

All of Martins information is spot on and CBT-i treats the anxiety if you don’t want to do the medicine route at all.

Hope this finds you well

[Martin Reed]

What a wonderfully supportive post — thank you for that, @Ryan!

Welcome to the forum, @Rita. First of all, allow me to share that you are not alone. Others are experiencing sleep disruption and all the difficult thoughts that come with it alongside you. That burden and struggle is shared.

You mentioned that you’ve tried CBT-I. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

It sounds as though a lot of your struggle might be coming from your completely understandable attempts to fight or avoid nighttime wakefulness and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that often come with it. Since you can’t control any of that stuff, that might be setting you up for a struggle. I wonder if there might be an alternative approach to explore?

In terms of panic attacks, that’s not my area of expertise. However, I have read the book DARE by Barry McDonagh — and would recommend it. It’s also been recommended by a number of others here in the forum.

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Author]

Posts