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I am one of those that had mentioned ‘real insomnia’ on here and for me this is a very personal perspective.
I am so used to sleeping for only 5-6 hrs (15 years) that is had become the norm for me and I don’t consider these bad nights, but I undoubtedly have chronic insomnia.
Sure I don’t feel especially great most days but I can function and have a life on this amount of sleep. Guess I am lucky in this respect as it seems many would suffer far more than me on this amount of sleep
What kills me are the zero hour sleep nights, my ‘real insomnia’. I have had lots of these over the last few months and I have never felt anything other than horrible the following day…..the difference between 4hr and 0hr is massive to me. far more than the difference between 4hr and 8hr (mind you I can’t remember the last time I got 8hr kip)….that said, my dads wife has more zero hours nights than me and she says she always feels ok after them! Madness!
All the above highlights is how we are all different and if you feel like sleep, or lack of it, is impacting your life then you undoubtedly have insomnia.
Ask them what they plan to do if you visit them before making a decision.
The only help I ever got from doctors or psychiatrists was them handing me some medication or a sheet of paper with basic sleep hygine tips.
IMO they are mostly clueless when it comes to insomnia…..I remember one telling me in a very patronising manner that my insomnia was being fuelled by going to bed a 22:00…..this apparently is too early for an adult!
Although CBT-I didn’t cure my insomnia I think this is always the best first option – after that it’s drugs or getting someone that will spend time and effort into looking into any possible physiological issues causing it, good luck with the later. In the UK you could spend years going down that route unless you paid privately.
I had 10 zopiclones sitting idle for months…..I am really against using hypnotics as it is never a long term solution but am going to use them in situations like last night.
I plan to use them no more than twice a week from now on….need to research if that will lead to dependance and also if my gp will prescribe 8 pills a month.
Of course the idea is that if I know I have a ‘back up’ my anxiety will be reduced and I won’t need them.
Good advice Daf and worth a try……..although I tried Mirtazapine and it did nothing for me 🙁
It works on the histamine receptors and is like a more powerful version of the OTC rememdies that target this part of the brain.
I totally agree about the 15-20 min rule. When I tried CBT-I I think that did me more harm than good and I soon stopped it. I was laid in bed wondering how much longer of the 20 mins I had left! Not conducive to getting some sleep….
are you still sleeping straight through from 10:30 to 03:00 – 03:45 or do you now wake later in the morning?
I researched this and came to the conclusion that apart from the obvious i.e. caffeine, eat large meals late at night, spicy foods late at night etc what you eat is not really going to impact your sleep that much.
That said a good, clean diet is not going to harm your sleep….
Steve is correct but one work of caution, doctors often try to taper of these drugs too fast as they don’t have a clue about the dangers of doing it too fast! Even experienced psychiatrists often try to do it too fast.
Google how to taper off benzos (you aren’t using a benzo but the same principle applies to the anti-pshychotics) and make sure you it very slowly if you decide to take this course of action.
Good luck….
If you feel that bad that suicide is serious option then take the drug IMO…as long as you let yourself know what you are letting yourself in for…it won’t be a long term solution.
If you take this sort of drug for years it will mess you brain up big style.
It’s an anti psychotic and should not be used as treatment for insomnia IMO , certainly not unless all other hypnotics such as the Z drugs or Benzos have been tried…. Your choice though.
This is a heavy duty drug…
My last two posts make no sense in terms of the earlier discussion as they were posted this morning (uk time) and ‘held’ awaiting moderation… No idea why but thought I would explain 🙂
Don’t stop it cold turkey as it can be dangerous and at the very least you’ll get horrible withdrawl symtoms if you do that….even on a low dose.
Google how to taper off benzos for advice…. Good luck.
You may already know this but Benzos such as valium lose their effectiveness over time and you then have to take more to get the same effect….and then there is the withdrawl to deal with 🙁
You can get other benzos more specific for sleep such as Xanax or Lorazepam but imo you really don’t want to go down the path any long term benzo use but especially these two due to their short half life’s. In fact people often switch to valium when trying to come off these two Benzos…
I made another post after my other one but it is awaiting moderation?
Anyway you are clearly now dependant on the valium and like all benzos they lose their effectiveness over time and you have t take more to get the same benefiy. It’s a zero sum game as eventually you’ll have to stop and your insomnia will more than likely be even worse than now.
You can get ones more aimed at sleep like xanax and lorazepam but getting off these is very, very, very difficult and harder than detoxing from valium.
If I were you I’d taper off the valium VERY slowly…
