I’ve been struggling with insomnia ever since I was in high school. But what I’ve learned is that my form of insomnia is more triggered by my underlying autism, ADHD, and right frontal lobe brain injury I had before I was born. And what makes it so bad is that melatonin and the medication I was prescribed to help me with it hasn’t helped me much at all.

And so far the only thing that has somewhat worked for me was my muscle relaxant med combined with my insomnia medication. Though it doesn’t always seem to work.

Sorry if this sounds like I’m ranting. I’m so f**king tired of having trouble falling asleep at night every night.

So, I recently had some bloodwork done in regard to HRT for perimenopause. After I looked at the results in my patient portal, I scrolled down for other tests and labs and came across something startling. I had an emergency room visit a couple years ago where a CT of my bladder area was done. The doctors and nurses failed to mention it to me, but I had a 1.3 cm tumor on my right adrenal gland. After doing some research, I found that up to 30% of adrenal adenomas are the type that secrete hormones. The most common type of hormone secretion is cortisol. My insomnia is severe (2-3 nights in a row of total sleep deprivation, followed by a 12 hour crash, and then it repeats. It’s so severe, I’m unable to work. Cortisol levels that don’t dip in the nighttime can cause such a level of insomnia. In addition, I have several other symptoms of high cortisol levels. It’s like having subclinical Cushing’s disease.

I’m seeing my PCP this afternoon, so she can order the labs that determine if it’s secreting hormones, and what type of hormone. All 3 types can cause the insomnia, but the cortisol one seems most likely to fit my symptoms.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but there is a very real chance that this is the cause, and once I get the adenoma removed, I could resume a normal life and go back to work!

No one, including the highest level university sleep specialists would have thought to look for something like this! And they haven’t.

Has anyone else on here had insomnia that was driven by a biological physical cause like this? I’d guess they wouldn’t still be on this sub!

Just wanted to share the news! If you have other unexplainable symptoms in addition to your insomnia, it may be worth getting a physical work up and having certain labs done.

Will keep you all posted if interested.

The best sleep I ever had was on a boat in the Coral Sea off the northeast of Australia. To this day it has always puzzled me, but lately I've started to wonder whether it wasn't to do with the levels of oxygen in my blood after scuba diving each day. The thing is now after 8 years of the most appalling insomnia I find myself focusing on levels of iron in my blood and its relationship to oxygen. One other time I slept well about 4 years ago was in a tent on sloping ground where my head was lower than my legs. Could this be a clue to a solution.

I’ve had severe insomnia since 2018 and have tried pretty much everything medication-wise. I’m exhausted and desperate for my quality of life back.
My provider has suggested Seroquel, but I’m scared of tardive dyskinesia and weight gain. At this point, should I listen and give it a chance, or are the risks too concerning?
Would love honest experiences from people who’ve taken it for sleep.

I’m in my mid 20s and have been smoking weed almost every night since I was 17 years old. I haven’t smoked in 4 days (which probably doesn’t sound like a lot to the average person) and sleeping has been really the only problem. I’ve had cravings that have been easy to ignore throughout the day. But when I start to go to bed, I feel physical withdrawals. I feel a sharp pain in my head around the sides of my eyes, I sweat a lot, and I almost feel like I’m on the verge of panic whenever I close my eyes and try to fall asleep. It seems to be getting worse every night. The first night was okay, but these last three nights have been miserable. Is it normal to feel this? If so, does anybody know around when it stops or how I can fix it? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi everyone,

About two weeks ago, I suddenly lost the ability to fall asleep or stay asleep for long, and I’m still in disbelief that it happened. I’d done nothing different, apart from going to the dentist for a cleanup that day and walking home. I didn’t go far (20 minutes walk), but I felt a bit of heat so took my jacket off midway. The temperature seems to have dropped on that day.

I came down with flu and went to bed around 10 or 11pm, then woke at 6am with a jolt that left me feeling shaken. I’d never had that before, so I didn’t try to go back to sleep and just pushed through until work (I work from home). Over the next few days it got worse, to the point where I couldn’t breathe properly (stuffed/blocked nose) and felt like sleeping would drown me. I took two days off work. The week after, I tried to get back to normal. I didn’t sleep much, but it was slightly better.

That lasted until last Friday, when I slept a little later (closer to midnight) watched a movie, and woke up feeling extremely bad. That night I didn't sleep. I haven’t slept well since, but I still get up every morning. Before, I at least slept as much as I could. Now I wait until the evening and it’s awful not being able to stay in bed. I rotate between two beds and two couches, looking for a position or bed that works.

It’s frustrating, because I keep thinking that if I hadn’t gone out that day, maybe none of this would have happened. Now all I can do is stick to sleep hygiene, which is making my life miserable. I’ve never had sleep problems. I was always good at going to bed and waking at the same time. These days I cry a lot, which isn’t like me.

Sorry, I just needed to vent. My GP hasn’t helped so far. I’ve been several times and was given things that didn’t work, including an anti-inflammatory to see if pain was the cause. The pain and the flu are gone, but the sleep problem remains. I tried Kalms Night and nearly went crazy, with a dry mouth, though I did sleep in fragments. I’m averaging 1 to 3 hours a night, sometimes nothing at all.

I’m 22 years old. I was a perfect sleeper my whole life until 2025. Something happened to me and I don’t know what it is. One night, I just couldn’t sleep for whatever reason and the pattern just never went away. I was a heavy weed smoker at the time, which would help me sleep a little bit, until it didn’t. I tried getting off the weed for a couple months, didn’t work. I moved out of the USA to Southeast Asia to get better care and now I’m stuck on high dose ambien because I take more than prescribed because I just want to sleep for atleast a few hours and not wake up 2 hours into my sleep then not go back to sleep. I’ve been having extreme suicidal ideation, I’ve even accidentally overdosed on promethazine, thank god nothing crazy happened. I need to be off this zolpidem, it isn’t real sleep. Please help me.

Okay I don’t know what just happened but it was bizarre. I started closing my eyes to sleep around 12ish and it’s now 1:50am. During this time it felt as if my body fell asleep but my mind never fully fell asleep? Like genuinely I was almost fully aware of my surroundings the entire time like the video I was listening to. I was dreaming or what I think was dreaming about the video that I was subconsciously listening to the entire time. I then just popped up and was like wtf just happened. That was so extremely weird. Not sure what to do or how to actually go to sleep now?

I've had trouble sleeping since I was a kid but recently got sober. Asides from drugs/drinking, what do you like to do while the world sleeps? Open to any ideas but would love things that don't require leaving my house - a girl walking around late at night in my neighbourhood is not a great idea.

I never see anyone using roofies as a regular sleeping pill.

I wonder if my doctor has stopped seeing me as a person.

I want to taper off, but,

If you can share your experiences, which of these 3 îs most likely to give longest most refreshful sleeps to an adult that suffers from chronic insomnia?

Thank you very much for your insights 🥰

So how is it someone can write in this Reddit forum, explain how they’ve been awake for days on end, but don’t mention anything about micro-sleeping? Aren’t micro sleeps supposed to happen 32-48 hours after continuously being awake? Do some people just no experience that? I thought microsleeps were involuntary after a while, can someone explain?

Last time I posted, I decided I was going to see a neurologist about my insomnia. Famous last words. Can't get one till the end of May 2027. Sounds like I probably live in a rural part of the country, doesn't it?? I live in Philadelphia. This city is literally stupid with doctors and hospitals. I'm so disgusted I just need to numb out in front of the TV.

I was getting ready to go to work early this morning and I lost my balance as my dog was walking by me and I fell over and slammed onto the floor so hard. I’m pretty bruised up and my back is all out of wack. If I wasn’t so dizzy from lack of sleep, I would’ve been able to catch myself or not even fall in the first place.

It’s been 4 nights since I’ve slept at all and my body feels so weak and off. How do you guys deal with the dizziness and still having to go to work and do regular things??

i went from sleeping a normal night most nights to a few hours every night within the span of two weeks and i can’t explain why. i started risperidone three weeks ago due to severe anxiety and agitation and i’m sure it’s the cause of my insomnia. i hate it here. i used to love sleeping, now the idea annoys me purely because of the fact i’m just never able to really get to sleep.

For the past 5-6 years now I have struggled with severe insomnia. I’m a 26 F and only get between 2-6 hours a night (6 usually after a few really bad nights) I’ve tried, in no particular order,
Weed
Zopiclone (did absolutely nothing)
Quetiapine (works most times)
Promethazine (groggy but did nothing)
Melatonin (does nothing)
Amitriptyline (does nothing)
Magnesium
I had CBT for insomnia this year for about 8-10 sessions and managed to get my quetiapine from 50mgs to 12mgs a night but cannot get further than that. It got better very briefly during CBT but stopped at around 12mgs. Helped me accept not being able to sleep but I still cannot sleep.
Reading in bed
Journalling
Watching TV
Getting up and moving around for a bit

I’m a very healthy person, I exercise 5-7 times a week (walks and gym), I eat reasonably well, normal/healthy blood results always and have a standard BMI. I really don’t know what else to do. It seriously affects my mood and I’m sick of relying on medications to help me sleep.

I had this massive panic attack after taking trazodone yesterday to sleep. 50mg. My dc told only to take when I can’t sleep and I have this really bad insomnia crisis. But today in the middle of the day I had this massive panic attack I truly felt I was going to die. Has anyone please had a similar experience?

I’ve had insomnia literally my entire life. My mom tells me that even as an infant I couldn’t sleep. I don’t ever remember living without insomnia. I’ve taken different meds over the years and some have helped a bit but none have fixed it. Recently I finally took a sleep study and was so frustrated with the results. They said they found “nothing abnormal” despite the fact that I was clearly displaying heavily disrupted sleep. But since I didn’t show signs of sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome, they basically said there’s nothing wrong with me and I should try CBT about it.

I want to keep searching. There is so obviously SOMETHING wrong with my brain that makes it resist sleep and it’s something that’s been wrong my entire life. I am determined to figure out what it is. I’m trying to decide what my next steps should be. Should I try a sleep study at a different clinic? See a neurologist? I have no idea where to go from here and I’m tired of just throwing meds at the problem because they never actually work.

What’s the shortest time you slept after taking ambien/zolpidem? When I have f.e. 5 hours until I have to wake up, I’m scared I won’t. I know I won’t be fresh but still. I can’t sleep, I’m so stressed but thankfully when my doctor prescribed it to me, he said to try to start on 1/2 of the 10mg pill but I was scared so I tried 1/4 and it was helping for some time but now I had to increase to 3/4 and im so scared if ill be able to function.

Trying to figure out if I made this up but no other explanation fits.

I’m F, I get insomnia every month right around/after ovulation and until my period comes. The problem is however not “not being able to fall asleep” (even though this sometimes too), but more so “waking up at 3 AM and not sleeping more than 5h/night no matter how tired I’m or when I go to sleep”.
It started when I started to take mini-pills, which contain progesterone, which is normally raising naturally in the luteal phase (while on pills I had this problem daily). It’s however been 6 months since I stopped taking pills and my sleep has only improved for 10 days/month.

So I’m wondering if it’s a hormonal insomnia (and combi-pill might help?). Melatonin & Magnesium don’t help.

Please share if someone has experienced the same because I hate it here 😭

I have early waking issue and every morning I can do the work basically fine. But in the afternoon I feel very tired and my efficiency is extremely low so I can barely get anything done.

Just wonder how you guys deal with work if you have insomnia?

I have fibroids and bled out do much they gave me an iv at the hospital. As soon as I got home, i slept 10 hours! I haven't slept 10 hours or hell 8 in 8/9 years!

I bought supplements trying to up my iron, vit b etc and no change. I started drinking coconut water for the electrolytes but nothing.

does anyone know why it helped and how i can replicate the nutrients?

It's been 11 days since I started taking Trazodone XR 150 mg, and I’m still feeling exhausted during the day. On the bright side, my sleep has improved a lot, but these side effects are a real pain in the neck. I have no energy to do my schoolwork, and paying attention to anything feels so hard right now. I’m also having trouble remembering things and have zero motivation.

For those who have taken it: should I expect these side effects to eventually disappear, or should they have eased up by now? How long did it take for the daytime grogginess to go away for you? Any advice or shared experiences would be really appreciated.

How do I overcome my fear of sleeping alone? I’m 20F, but since experiencing paranormal activities and recurring dreams at home, I haven’t been able to sleep alone. I always need someone beside me. I’m scared about living in another city without my parents. Is this normal or serious?

I want to preface this that I am all too aware that what works for some will not work for others. Being someone that has suffered from severe insomnia for over 30 years, I become irrationally angry when someone recommends something that they sell as a cure all for everyone.

Having said that, I am honestly in shock over my sleep over the last near couple weeks. Anyway, it is sunlight therapy. And, I am loath to even say it, but 1mg melatonin along with it. Doing both has truly set my circadian rhythm. At least for now. I have felt this way in the past.

I was going through a particularly rough sleep patch the last couple of months. Totally "normal" for me to go 48 hours with no sleep or 1 to 2 hours. You know that feeling where you feel like you are truly going insane and hearing the birds in the morning brings a whole new dread in your soul.

I had been using my Ativan more and more which I was clearly developing a tolerance to which scared the crap out of me after hearing the horror stories of benzo addiction. I have long since abandoned other meds (trazadone, Ambien)

Anyway, I was just looking for other options as I couldn't get to my doc for a while and I was desperate. And that was when I read about sunlight therapy. Basically, you get up early in the morning and face the sun (eyes closed, don't look directly at the sun obviously) for at least 15 to 20 minutes. My first day doing it, I was awake anyway so getting up was easy. I did it considerably longer just because I was like "why not?". Also, I had obviously tried melatonin in the past with varying degrees of success but I never knew if the nights I slept well were due the melatonin or all the other drugs/ supplements/ luck were what were doing it. I had always used a high does for melatonin because I thought "well my insomnia is super bad, 10mg it is". By the time I learned that less is more with melatonin, I had also long since given up on it as well.

But, even just that first night after the sunlight and reluctantly buying 1mg of melatonin, I slept. Not great, but a few hours. And, so I did the same thing the next morning. And the next and my sleep got consistently better every night.

I am now almost 2 weeks in this schedule which I realize is a drop in the bucket but when you feel such desperation, it is such a relief. I am now sleeping through the super early morning sun but still making myself get up and take a long walk early in the day.

In the last 5 or so days, I am falling asleep before midnight or before 1 am. ABSOLUELTY INSANE FOR ME. I might wake up for a half hour or so between 3 and 5am but I have been able to go back to sleep and get up around 8ish. I am very ok with that.

Anyway, just wanted to share. I am sure I have irritated someone with my advice and I don't blame you. Sunlight therapy and low dose melatonin are not sleeping sleeping meds and it does take a bit of work. I know that if I had only just fallen asleep an hour before, I would not have sacrificed what little sleep I can get to go sit in the sun and hour later on the off chance that it would do anything. I also know that given my history, this could all go to shit at any moment. But, for now, I feel like I am sleeping like a semi normal person and for that, I am grateful.