Insomnia revisited

[KB3LAZ]

Much of my life insomnia is something that I have dealt with. Most of the time it was moderate to mild. Meaning I had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep once I did. Which lead to maybe 3 hours of sleep a night. This started at about the age of 10 and gradually got worse. When I was about 16 my insomnia became more severe which often lead to 36-70 hour days followed by 1-2 hours of sleep then the cycle would repeat. On rare occasion my mind and body would give in and I would sleep for 18-20+ hours solid and again the cycle would repeat.

Over the years I took various sleeping aids. Some worked, others did not. None of them worked for very long and the ones that did work made me feel like a zombie. However about 10 months ago out of the blue my insomnia disappeared completely, save the odd night here and there I had no trouble sleeping. But over the last week it would seem that I am falling into my old routine. The current stage being about 3 hours of sleep a night.

Often times I wonder if this is due to over thinking. Much of the time I sit around unable to clear my head. There are always random thoughts. As I said random yet the thought process is constant. As if I just cant clear my mind. Makes me wonder if this is what causes my sleeping problems. If this is the case I wonder why for almost a year I could clear my head and sleep easy but all of the sudden its back to little sleep, cloudy mind, and full of random senseless thoughts. Not worry, senseless.

Bah, idk. Maybe I just need a good whack to the head. =P

[kc7jty]

Valium works for me but gives me a slight hangover. My problem is taking a nap after dinner for an hour to hour & a half.

[KB3LAZ]

Valium works for me but gives me a slight hangover. My problem is taking a nap after dinner for an hour to hour & a half.

Ive tried the nap thing. Most of the time I cant nap because I think about waking up. :P If I do successfully nap then I cant sleep at night. One thing I have noticed is simply that I sleep better during the day than the night.

[suddenseer]

I had the same problem, even the onset age was almost the same. I was so bad at one time, I had to take a 5mg. Ambien with 2 shots of vodka on an empty stomach. I was drinking 2 pots of coffee a day, with my final cup about 3:00pm. I now only drink 2 small cups (one scoop in coffee maker) first thing in the morning. I drink water only the rest of the day. I am now getting sleepy, and tired around 8:00 pm. I take 5mg. of Melatonin to stay asleep. I do not even get up to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night anymore. I now sleep 6-8 hours on weeknights, and 9-10 hours on weekends. I have sleep apnea as well. I have a CPAP machine. You may want to have a sleep study done. That way, the doc can see patterns that disturb your sleep process.

[W3WN]

Trav, have you had a sleep study done? If not, it might be worth looking into.

Before I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, I spent a night with an oxygen sensing widget connected to a finger. The data from the widget told the doctor that I wasn't sleeping well at night (showing some of the same symptoms you describe) based on the recorded oxygen levels. That's why they went ahead with the sleep study.

Get yourself checked. Please.

After all, what's the worst they can do? Yank out your gall bladder?

[KG4CGC]

Yoga in morning after a light breakfest, stretching in the evening, deep breathing upon bedtime.

[W3WN]

And heavy breathing right after bed time. Well, at least after retiring to bed.

[KG4CGC]

And heavy breathing right after bed time. Well, at least after retiring to bed.

Do you take turns determining who's side of the bed gets the wet spot on any given night?

[KB3LAZ]

Hum thanks for the suggestions guys. My grandma had sleep apnea but that thought never crossed my mind. Ill look into it.

[W3WN]

Do you take turns determining who's side of the bed gets the wet spot on any given night?

A gentleman never tells.

Neither will I.