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Welbutrin made my insomnia worse so I didn't stay on it long. I think that insomnia may be one of the side effects as in many antidepressants.
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Hi Breaking the Ice…..I will be very interested in hearing about your experience with Trazadone. I've been reading a little about it. Most people say it helps them to sleep without side effects. I've been thinking of asking my doctor for a script. The only thing that is holding me back is that one of the possible side effects listed is urinary frequency. I'm already plagued with an overactive bladder so I don't know. I don't want that problem to be worse than it already is.
Please post again after you start taking it. Good luck.
Hi Martin
I did try Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and stayed with it for months. It just didn't work for me.Hi Gegatso…Welcome to Insomnia Land. Everyone here can totally understand what you're going through. I've given up talking to people who are not insomniacs. They just sort of look at you as if there's something abnormal going on. They offer advice like drinking warm milk. I wish I could offer some help with your problem. I can only tell you how well I understand. Your problem is very similar to mine. I usually fall asleep fairly quickly, but sleep for about an hour and have trouble going back to sleep. When I do go back to sleep,I'm awake again in another hour or two. 4:00 a.m. seems to be my final awakening for the day. Not a very good way to start the da. My insomnia is also due to anxiety which has been difficult if not impossible to overcome. I too have tried all the strategies for treating insomnia, and have been to a sleep specialist as well as a sleep therapist. Ambien doesn't even work well for me.
I've been taking large doses of Vitamin D3 with no improvement. What I've heard is that both Vitamin B complex and magnesium improves sleep. I now take both with no help at all. However, I have a friend who swears by Vitamin B and magnesium. She had a terrible time with insomnia and after taking both is sleeping like a baby. I guess what works for one doesn't necessarily work for the other. I do believe that anything is worth trying and I'm always looking for new miracles.
Jayinsf, I'm about 3 weeks into CBT now. I was starting to get discouraged, feeling that I was making no progress. My sleep therapist disagrees and analyzed my sleep logs that I presented when I first went to him to those that I have completed since. He said that i have made progress in all areas; that my sleep onset time has greatly improved, that I'm not waking up as many times as before, and that the time it takes me to get back to sleep has decreased. He did say that my type of insomnia (sleep maintenance insomnia) is the hardest to cure and that I need to give it time.
Thanks to all of you for your comments. You have all reinforced my feelings on this issue, as well as giving me some helpful information. Marina, I had never thought about what you said about the sleep specialist being a pulmonoloigst and naturally would be looking for lung/breathing issues. Yes, my sleep specialist is also a pulmonologist. Now I get it. I'm going to a CBT specialist next week and, of course, Ill be looking at sleep hygiene and sleep restriction. I also realize that I'll have to discuss personal problems that contribute to my sleeping problem. I'm ready for whatever comes up. Reading and watching TV in bed will have to cease. However, I don't really do that often, being well aware that the bed is supposed to be used only for sleep and sex.
What happens to me a lot is that I get really sleepy while watching TV sitting on the sofa. As soon as I turn off the TV, get into bed, I'm wide awake. Sleep restriction requires you to go to bed at a certain time even if you're sleepy before that. I'm afraid if I have to fight sleep, when I go to bed at my required time I'll never get to sleep. Also, my biggest problem is staying asleep. I awake several times, unable to get back to sleep. I can only hope that this type of therapy will somehow work for me.
Thanks again to all of you for your helpful comments. I hope everyone is able to get some sleep soon
Hi Margaret, Thanks for your response. I too am appalled by a lot of the things my sleep disorder specialist said. However, he didn't actually confuse sleep apnea with insomnia. He was just saying that because of the breathing problems, it could cause insomnia. When he realized that was not the case with me, he didn't offer any explanations of what could be really causing the insomnia. I didn't mention the best part yet. He said that Ambien is NOT addictive. My head is still spinning from that.
CBT stands for Cognitive Behavior Therapy which is something that's been used a lot lately for treatment of insomnia. Here's a link that describes the process much better than I can. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/insomnia-treatment/SL00013
There's a lot of other sites out there on the subject as well. If you're interested you can find a lot of info doing a google search. Let me know what you think.
Hi Daz…Thanks for sharing. I do suffer from anxiety and I'm so ready to try these suggestions. It is hard for me to determine which came first, the anxiety or the insomnia. I will be starting CBT in 2 weeks and hope that's the answer. I've tried everything else and nothing worked.
Hi Nikki. Welcome to Insomnia Land. Your insomnia story sounds like mine…3 or 4 hours sleep and sometimes none. I too have tried everything in the way of meds. I've had a sleep study and it turns out I also have sleep apnea. Unfortunately, now that I'm being treated for apnea, things have just gotten worst. My sleep doctor is of no help……just wants me to take ambient every night. His focus is on the apnea Mine is on the insomnia. I have an appointment to see a therapist to try cognitive behavior therapy. I've heard so many good things about that and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I'm willing to try just about anything but I don't want to be dependent on sleeping pills.
Hi Nicki Welcome. We all understand what you're going through. You've come to the right place.
Sleepless in KY
Hi Nicole…..I'm interested in learning the results of your sleep study when you have it. Our symptoms are so similiar. Waking up throughout the night is the story of my life. Yes, I do think that depression is part of my problem but for some reason I'm reluctant to take anti-depressants. When I looked up on the internet the med that was prescribed for me, it listed insomnia as one of the side effects I definitely won't take that one but I am trying to decide whether to ask for something else. I hope that the Cymbalta starts working for you. Good luck on the sleep study as well.
Martin, Thanks for this. I read your blogs and the UK article on CBT and find them very interesting. This is something I definitely want to explore.
Breaking the Ice, Thanks for providing that info. Also, you can get the testing kit from any compounding pharmacy. (I didn't know what a compounding pharmacy was until I stated hearing about adrenal fatigue). You'll find them in your phone book. They sell lots and lots of natural products. They usually have the testing kits with all the information you need to send to ZLabs. It cost about $120 and not covered by insurance. It's worth it if that's the problem. Sometimes you can find a doctor who will help but many traditional doctors don't believe that it is a real problem. Interesting because it has become really well known recently and many people have this problem. In my case, I was really disappointed that my cortisol levels were within the normal range.
Here's a link to some info about adrenal fatigue. http://www.highlysensitivebody.com/insomnia.html You can do a google search and find many more.
Xdunlapx, I hope this helps. Your situation with insomnia sounds so much like mine.
[Thanks for the welcome.
I've actually had insomnia to a lesser degree long before I retired. It's never been as severe as it is now. I thought I had problems when I woke up at 3:00 and it took a couple of hours to get back to sleep. Now, I often can't get to sleep at all. I have an appointment next week at a sleep center which I'm looking forward to. It took a while to get that appointment. No, I'm not familiar with behavior cognitive therapy but tell me about it. I'm ready to try anything.
Thanks for starting this forum. Knowing I'm not alone really helps.
