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My really big problem with sleep loss is fatigue. If you give in to it, the insomnia just gets worse….but that's not so easy to do…to just keep going despite the fatigue. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to deal with the fatigue? That's been my real roadblock to getting past this…just getting so tired that I am less active. I'm doing better but it's still a problem for me.
You seem to be moving in the right direction. I am slowly learning this truth about being able to function with less sleep. I've worried about it and feared getting too little sleep for years but you are right. We can manage on less sleep. You're also right to try to not only cut back but to ultimately eliminate drugs used for sleep. They've resulted in even more trouble for me.
I've come to the conclusion that, as I've been told, the medications that we take to help with our insomnia can diminish the quality of our sleep and leave us not really feeling so good the next day, even though the meds have helped us to get sleep. The quality of the sleep we get is very important and I always feel better when I get sleep without meds….even if it's less.
I'm really struggling with anxiety about not getting enough sleep, which keeps me returning to the use of meds (in my case, Xanax), but the Xanax keeps causing me to develop a tolerance where I need even more and as a result, I have another problem to contend with. My goal, and I'm slowly seeing the reality of drug use for insomnia, is that it just adds another problem to an already existing one, so I want to, one way or another, stop using meds and rely on more practical means of dealing with insomnia.
I tried the advance training course but due to a problem with ADD decided that I needed to address that problem before I could benefit from the sleep training course. I've seen a sleep disorders therapist and was told that the ADD issue needs to be my priority because it interferes with everything else.
A simple limiting of your activity level after retiring can cause you to have more trouble sleeping. I'm trying to overcome the fatigue that comes with the insomnia in order to increase my activity level. I read recently that increased activity levels lead to more energy which makes anyone feel more energetic and, consequently, feel more like being even more active. It might take awhile for this to help in a person with chronic insomnia but eventually it's supposed to help.
Getting outside in the sun and breathing fresh air for a period of time, like while taking a walk, seems to help me even more than the exercise itself. Just getting started with these things seems to be the real challenge. Once you've crossed that hurdle, it's a matter of maintaining the activity. Fresh outdoor walks have done more for me than anything. My own problem has been just getting started and maintaining the activity. I was diagnosed with a form of ADD and establishing and maintaining habits is my challenge but the outdoor walks have definitely done more for me than anything.
Georgina is an inspiration. It took me a long time to get back to saying anything because I've been going through so much but physical exercise like Georgina's swimming makes a big difference. Drugs are not the answer. The fatigue has been leaving me so tired that I was always inactive, which made the insomnia worse. I had to find a website that got me to moving and I've even hired a personal therapist to help me to get off of Xanax as a sleep aid. Drugs lead to a vicious cycle, dependence and sometimes addictrion……just more problems.
I have a lot to do and I hope that improved physical activity will help.
