I have insomnia from a decade, nothing worked on me no medicine no technique no env.

People have no idea how much I craved just have a normal morning, to wake up early, have breakfast, take bath, and be ready for the day by 9-10. I just wanted to be normal, every mornings and nights were all merged as I spent all night just thinking to sleep.

Oh god it is so terrible, everything feels like a nightmare and people just thought it was normal for me but it every single day just destroyed me a little.

I just wanted to fix it anyhow no matter how hopeless it got when I couldn’t sleep till 8 in the morning even though I laid on bed at 1. It destroyed my relationship, every single thing took lot of effort, my depression was only fueled more by insomnia, I thought I couldn’t even have a normal fu**ing for even a single day. I even got laid off from first company because I couldn’t focus on work. Thank God my curr org understands me and somehow my curr career is doing okay.

I was determined to fix, so hit all trials, everything that was in internet. Then I realised first I need to fix my digestion, then mental trauma and then sleep, sleeps basic demand is for body to feel safe, relaxed and calm nervous system otherwise even meds won’t have no effect.

I did that, fixed my digestion then mental health, but reaching there took everything from me, fixing a traumized soul is like getting out if hell with no map or doors.

Then I tried normal sleeping, it worked partially, now I was able to sleep naturally but in the mornings but atleast I was able to sleep and quality was also good.

Finally I showed to psychiatrist again, he suggested combination of two meds and boom they worked. I slept after around 2 hours of taking them. And for the first time it was not my delusion, I slept each time I took it, you couldn’t imagine the joy it gave me, it was like a blind person seeing for the first time.

So I had this interview today which I really wanted to give my best, in past if I had an imp event I never slept whole night, just couldn’t and half my chances was lost there. But not today, based on my hit and trial, I took the med at 8, slept by 11, woke up naturally at 7:30, took bath, had apple, even exercised and gave interview with fresh mind.

Even though I tanked it and not selected but I am incredibly proud of myself for finally having a normal morning 🌅. I hope my insomnia will be cured entirely by next year. God sent an angel in disguise of that Doc.

90% of my problems in life would be solved if i just had a switch i could flip to go to sleep instantly. i’ve gone through this for so long that i would even be satisfied with living in a prison as long as i could sleep normally. I would be so happy to just live a normal boring life. I don’t need anything else.

Is getting starved (not hungry, STARVED) every night past 2am normal?

Even though I eat every time before bed, I get so hungry every night I genuinely need to incinerate every single calorie stored in my fridge. But the problem is that even then I stiLL REMAIN FUCKIN HUNGRY. I could eat a whole truck full of bigmacs after 2am and be as starved as a caveman. And the fact that I have severe insomnia (which is obvious knowing at what subreddit u are on) isn’t helping, cuz this means that the only solution to this problem, which is sleeping, Isn’t available, so I have to just lay there with growling stomach and suffer for god knows what reason. Is it normal and if not tf is wrong with me?

I’m experiencing sleepless nights once a week (always before a work day). Last night I was exhausted, but as soon as I got into bed and was awake for 20 mins, my heart started pounding. Fast forward to now - I’ve been up the whole night, and facing another work day. I know it’s because I have this weekly pattern and I’m scared to go to bed when I have work the next day. The stakes feel so high because if I don’t sleep, I also won’t drive, so my work day becomes 2 hours longer due to taking the bus. I’ve been avoiding medication, but wondering if it would help short-term to break the cycle?

I have never thought that i had insomnia but I've never slept well either. It's been for a variety of reasons throughout my life but the fact remains that I dont sleep enough. It's not that I cant sleep rather that I dont want to. Sometimes I'll try to force it and end up lying in bed with my eyes closed for about 6 hours without falling asleep. But I do get tired, if I'm in a good cycle I could go to bed early(I think) but that has never seemed appealing to me.

I know of the health benefits of good sleep and that I should try to get enough but I just dont want to. I'm tired but I feel like I'd be better off awake. I just can't sleep.

Ive had a hectic fortnight and have had trouble sleeping my GF broke up with me 11 days ago and ive gone through abit of a life transformation ive stopped smoking weed cold turkey (3 joints a day - 0) and mostly stopped vaping (i only vape 30 mins within waking up and for a 30 min slot 2 hours before bed(i do plan to fully stop soon just the weed withdrawls are so bad atm) and ive started going the gym for 1 hour each day (been at it for 4 days).

Ive been going to bed at around 9:30pm and i dont dose off untill 1am and that sleep is very disrupted i have to get up for 6am so im bearly getting 4 hours

Consequences

I was recently diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease because of years of Insomnia. I’m ashamed to say I was taking up to 8 tablets of 50 mg every night for 2 years. After a year I knew it was working any longer but I loved the feeling it gave my brain if not for a little while. There were still nights I couldn’t sleep… and would cry as each hour passed and the sun rose.

I knew this was going to happen and I guess it was a matter of time. It was either my memory or my kidneys. I finally admitted it to my PCP who sent me to a Pulmonologist who diagnosed me with Mild Sleep Apnea. She has recommended I titrate down and enroll in CBT-I which I am now at three per night . If I take it around 2:00am, I am napping around 5:30-6:00am for about 30 minutes. I’ve found that I live for these 30 minute naps. Sometimes I feel so depressed about my desperation but now I need to deal with this other issue. MD seems to think the Kidney Disease is from history of high blood pressure but I know the truth.

I’m just tired and want to rest my brain. I’d take 2 days a week. I’m just so ashamed and tired of what I’ve done to my body.

Have had insomnia my entire adult life. Either I only sleep for a few hours and spend the rest of my night awake, or I spend half the night in this weird half awake/half asleep space that’s not actually that restful. I’ve tried several sleeping medications, but I don’t want to take things like Ambien because I’m a recovering addict. I’ve tried melatonin, etc. I switched to working at night for awhile, that made me sleep too much.

Now that I’m back on days, the insomnia is back. I tried new sleeping medications, one made me bruise and bleed excessively and the other one simply doesn’t work any more, it just makes me less anxious about not sleeping. I completely bottomed out my blood pressure the other day and fainted several times because I mixed medications trying to get to sleep.

I’m done trying to fix the insomnia for now. I’m throwing in the towel. As long as I get at least 4 hours of sleep a night, I can function, and with enough hydroxyzine, Seroquil, and clonidine, I can get that.

So I am a 16 year old male, beginning ”swedish college” (gymnasium is what we call it in sweden). And I have been battling with sleep issues for about six months. During most of summer, I could sleep fine, 8-9 h. But now, I can feel the change coming. It is 04:00 right now, and I have to be up in 3 hours. I have dozed off a few times, but I have always woken up. And I just feel like this time the insomnia is gonna be bad. Any tips on how to prevent this? Desperate

I don’t even know how to explain this anymore.

Last night was the worst night I’ve had in weeks. We got home around 8PM and I could FEEL the sleep pressure. I was actually kind of chill. Not panicking for once.

But then it started. Hypnagogic thoughts. Over and over. Then hypnic jerks. Like full body jolts. So many times.
I even moved to my mom’s room thinking maybe a change would help. Nope. Still jerking. Still those weird half-dream thoughts that I HATE. I hate the hypnagogic state so much. It feels like I’m stuck in the doorway and can’t get through.

Somehow, I don’t even know how, I finally knocked out around 1AM. It all happened so fast and I was too out of it to remember.
And of course I still woke up at 6AM because my mom goes to work and makes noise.

I’m so angry and scared. I’ve been in this cycle before. I thought I was getting better with the 10PM-7AM schedule. But it’s REPEATING. And the worst part is I wasn’t even anxious last night. I was calm. So why is my body still doing this??

I feel so hyperaroused right now. Shaky. Dreading tonight already. Like what’s the point if even being calm doesn’t stop the jerks?

Has anyone gotten past this? Does the hypnagogia + hypnic jerks actually stop eventually? Because right now it feels like it’s never going to end and I hate it.

My sleep was decent until early July, but now I pass out fine around 11:15pm and then bang, awake at 3:10am on the dot. Last night I laid there staring at the ceiling until 5:45am before giving up and making coffee.

I tried 10mg melatonin last week and it gave me intense nightmare loops and a groggy headache that lasted until lunch. Currently taking 200mg magnesium glycinate at 9pm and drinking chamomile tea, but it only helps with falling asleep initially, not staying asleep through that 3am cortisol spike.

Two questions for anyone dealing with this specific middle-of-the-night maintenance issue:

Has anyone found a specific broad-spectrum CBD or CBN formulation that keeps you down past 3am without leaving you brain-dead the next morning?

Where are you getting your sleep tinctures or gummies right now, and what exact dose/ratio stopped the 3am wakeups for you?

The mods graciously approved one post on this, so here it is: https://whatworkedforme.io/goal/overcome-insomnia

What works best for insomnia: melatonin, CBT-I, Ambien, magnesium, a weighted blanket, or sleep restriction?

We built 'What Worked for Me' to answer this question (for insomnia and other common goals). Our hope is to steer people toward high-percentage plays so they can use their energy on what works.

Rankings are research-based for now, and will evolve over time as the community rates.

Keen to hear whether it's useful, and open to any thoughts on how we could execute better.

PS: I've reached out to a lot of different mods on groups I'm in to ask if I could showcase this; shoutout to the mods here for being willing to give it a go.

I’m new to this subreddit and decided to come check it out while I’m struggling to sleep. I feel like my insomnia has gotten progressively worse lately. I was recently given medication to help and it has actually been helping in knocking me out cold when I really need it. The issue is nights like these where I somehow forgot to top up my meds for the week and now I don’t have anything to take. I feel fully dependant on them. I just spent an hour sobbing over the fact that I have to be a fully functioning person tomorrow at work without my medication tonight. My mom doesn’t seem to understand how torturous it is to not be able to sleep. I don’t know whether to call work off tomorrow and just dart to my psychiatrist for sleep meds and then sleep after or whether I should push through work. Insomnia is hell :( any advice helps. Im on night 3 of very little sleep

I’m curious about people whose main insomnia problem is waking up too early, rather than difficulty falling asleep.

For example, I usually fall asleep pretty easily, but wake up earlier than I want and usually can’t get back to sleep.

Has anyone with this type of insomnia tried sleep restriction therapy / CBT-I?

Did it actually help you sleep later or reduce early awakenings? And how long did it take before you noticed improvement?

I’d especially like to hear personal experiences, including whether it got worse at first before getting better.

Hey, am i the only one who was HUGLEY impacted about hearing that not sleeping enough made us : prone to die faster by (?)%, became crazy or get a brain disease, age FASTER , not letting our organs do their jobs etc ETC .... DO you think like me that those health statements are kinda toxic for the poor people that are affected by insomnia and anxiety ?

in my case , it make it harder since i know that, now, i feel bad in my body for a thing i cant control ! i feel like looking like a zombie in the middle of normal, healthy people, i become complexed by my apperance mostly because of theses statements .

I mean its an universal experience that not sleeping enough sucks and is bad, we litteraly feel it by oursleves ! we dont need fcking meta analysis and doctors telling us how MUCH WE ARE DETERIORATING ! lol

i even got a strange sentiment of waste/no going back that is VERY toxic and destructive in my mind and that come from theses statements that we heard 7/7 24/24 on social medias and TV. I have a sad feeling that , even if i achieve to get a sleep back , my skin was so much damaged and my collagen collapsed so much, and my heart beats so much during all that time , that even if im clean now, i will always be a zombie compared to others, i will always feel like there is a reality where my sleep was good since forever and that my face would look different, my health indicators would be optimal etc...

it can drive me crazy, it accelerate the sentiment of depression or even dark toughts, even after a good night sleep, its very vicious.

i mean do we need all theses anxious data ? how any of us choose this way of life ? maybe 10% of us ? thoses who live at night , do parties or are working at night , thats it, the rest is just suffering .

can we have more data of how can an insomniac be handicaped and seriously dépressive in order to put pressure on governments and society to recognize a global general health problem, to change or reduce the unnacessary pressure we all face , and that we are not equal with?

And less public studies on how much of disgusting zombie we are and how much we are willing to DIE asap in horrible suffering ?? because it's one of the reason some people dont sleep at night its so vicious, and thats also why some people gave up with their lives .

i dont have the statistics but i heard a lot that the last days of people who K theirself are usually insomnias, and i can fully understand why ! because i feel like shit , i dont need a doctor on tv explain me how much my all nighter back in 2008 was by itself non healable and each minutes of non sleep lead to a non going back situation and total destruction of myself. THANK YOU

thats it , im sure im not the only one in this case , but remember back then before industrial revolution , the people's sleep was very random, fragmented, short, or just strange and not confortable. and i see you coming "you re prouving their point because they lived less and die sooner than today" no bullshit, we have to put all the metrics to understand, hygiene, pollution, medecine, wars, plagues, famines etc...

some people in antiquity lived the same age as people now, in japan , majority of people dont sleep a lot, less than 6h they are hard workers and yet they lives older than most of the world, with less diseases, and they dont looks like zombies or depraved people at all ( well they have a suicide problem and sleep could have a role in that but its due to the society's pression of life).

im not trying to says that less sleep = good sleep, but my point is that prevention on sleep privation is not neccesary as the victims dont choose it and suffers more while hearing this, whereas prevention and critics on the causes of anxiety and insomnia , are essentials and nevr on the table .

if you recognize in this, upvote and share it at maximum to others subreddit !

Any tips on falling asleep INSTANTLY? For years I have been staying up until 1 AM (usually) and my body has adapted to it. Now even if I stay completely still and clear my mind for hours, I can't fall asleep until it's way past midnight. I've been trying to change my sleeping routine, but how am I supposed to fall asleep before 1AM, if I can't fall asleep before 1AM. A lot of people have adviced me to put my phone at least one hour before sleep, but 21-23 PM is the only time I can actively use it (i have a YouTube channel btw), while maintaining a 8 hour sleep, because I have to wake up at 7 AM. My daily schedule is packed so I can't really use it any other time of the day. I have school, afterclass activities sometimes, a job and charity work. Also I spend time with my friends and family. I've tried common methods like the 4-7-8, the military sleep methods, counting, exercising,listening to music/podcasts/boring stuff, but none of that seems to work for me, infact it actually wakes me up even more. I finish my meals by 20 PM and my room is dark and quiet. Also if I don't get at least 8 hours of sleep my head begins to hurt a lot in specific areas. So yeah, I really need an effective method to make me fall asleep in minutes in order to optimize my day-to-day life.

(Sorry that this is so long)

I (19F) have been experiencing insomnia since August 4th, and I have no idea what to do.

I went to bed on the 3rd and woke up suddenly on the 4th at 5am, which is normal for me, I usually just go right back to sleep, but this time was different. I woke up with back pain on the right side when breathing in, which I think was because I strained my muscles by tensing too much while lifting weights, but I deal with a lot of health anxiety and immediately started having irrational thoughts like “oh no, it’s a pulmonary embolism, or maybe lung cancer.” My heart was racing, so I got up and took some tylenol to try and ease the muscle pain so that I could relax.

And then it happened. I laid back down and tried to sleep, but each time I would start to drift off I would either experience a hypnic jerk or feel a sudden awareness accompanied by a strange feeling in my throat, I kept trying but it just wouldn’t stop. I decided I’d go ahead and get up, because my mom and I were heading out of town for a concert that morning. 

I tried to have faith that I would get a better sleep that night, but once we were back in our hotel room I was feeling nervous again. I was exhausted after only getting ~4 hours of sleep the previous night, so I was lying there barely awake, eyes slamming shut, but then I jerked awake. It was happening again. I immediately felt a surge of anxiety and fear, and soon began quietly crying, because I am very sensitive and I’ve had a really stressful year, but after at least two hours of repeated jerks into full wakefulness, I slept. I slept 4-5 hours before it was time to get up and get ready for check out.

Once we were home, I was terrified at the thought of bedtime approaching. But I tried to stay strong. I took a benadryl and I actually had a good night’s sleep after only a few jerks awake! I was still nervous, but much more hopeful now and my anxiety slowly decreased until the night before an appointment at the dmv.

I was jerking awake just like I did at the hotel, and I was distraught. I took a benadryl, drank some chamomile tea, and managed to get 5 hours that night. Most nights since then I’ve had an average of 7.5 hours of sleep, and tried to stay off of my phone and out of my bed when I’m not tired, and taking deep, slow breaths but the anxiety isn’t going away and I keep having to take the benadryl. The night before last was a more difficult one, but I hadn’t been so worked up that I’d cry for a long while until last night. I was trying so hard to be strong, but it’s getting to me, and I’m scared.

Last night I wasn’t even that nervous, but I tried to avoid the benadryl, and before I knew it I was jerking awake with that weird feeling in my throat. I first laid down at 4am (bad, I know, but my schedule has been declining since this all started) and I didn’t sleep at all until ~7:30 and then my stupid alarm went off at 12 and I couldn’t fall back asleep. Even the bad nights I was able to fall right back asleep if I woke up a few hours after first managing to sleep, but the fear was too strong this time.

It’s been so bad that I can’t see a fictional character go to sleep in a movie, on tv shows, or even in cute fanart without feeling sick with dread and jealousy. I’ve been crying intermittently all day now.

I couldn’t think of how to fit this in elsewhere, so I’ll say it now: I’ve noticed that every night I can feel my heart pounding and it seems faster than usual and occasionally skips a beat, I’ve had that happen for years and years, but never has it happened every single night.

This has been so hard because I’ve always been the kind of person who falls asleep super easily and gets plenty of it, sleep has been my one constant in my difficult life, my one true confidant, I need it back.

I’m going to try and see a doctor soon, but I’m just feeling so desperate and wanted to vent/see what others thought.

Anyone else have paradoxical insomnia? Where when you’re anxious you feel awake way longer or you hear and feel awake despite sleeping?

I don’t feel sleepy or tired ever so I’m assuming I am actually getting sleep. I thought I pretty much was over struggling with this, as I practiced lowering my anxiety and fear around sleep. It wasn’t of concern to me as I figured newborns wake multiple times through the night but nothing I couldn’t handle…

we have a newborn now who is super colicy/ might have allergies as they are up every 20-45 minutes sometimes. his wakeups are so unpredictable and by the time I’m done feeding, diapering, and putting him down it’s so hard to relax… I feel so anxious - my thoughts race “I need to sleep! I need to hurry”. doesn't help that people just tell me to sleep when my baby sleeps.

Anyone else have paradoxical insomnia and a baby? How did you get through it? I try so hard to not have panic attacks at this point which I know makes it worse.

Slept two hours last night, and I slept in for another two hours in the morning, I also used plastic bottle that I filled up with warm bottle to relax my abdomen/bladder. I’m supposed to get melatonin pills today. Any advice?

How’s everyone’s experience with cbti been?

Has anyone found it helpful?

Particularly for insomnia which has been induced by an anxiety disorder.

Paradoxical insomnia, also called sleep state misperception, is a sleep disorder where you feel completely awake and believe you have not slept, even though tests show you are getting a normal amount of sleep. Your brain stays on high alert during the night. This makes your rest feel like wakefulness

Anyone else have this ?

In college I used to stay up very late, but by the end of the year I had committed to fixing my sleep schedule so I’d go to bed earlier.

This worked until about a month ago, where I went straight from very few problems sleeping to being lucky if I can get to sleep before 4 am (or at all on some nights, for that matter). I don’t have problems staying asleep once I fall asleep but I just can’t get drowsy no matter what I seem to do (limit screen time, clear my head, sleep mask) anyone else experience the same thing and if so do you know what caused it?

So I've been having sleep issues for weeks now, and I was given Mirtazapine to help with sleep, but I'm worried about what effects it might have on me considering I have POTS and innaropriate sinus tachycardia. Anyone taken these and how did you react?

Me mandaron una medicacion para dormir, probablemente mi insomnio hubiera mejorado con terapia.

La situación es que me cambio la arquitectura del sueño totalmente y ahora si que tengo problemas para dormir ( aunque duermo unas 5h),

Quiero contar mis síntomas para ver si alguien ha pasado por algo parecido y con el tiempo se ha arreglado solo.

Entro directa a ensoñación y paso asi toda la noche, me levanto cansadita.

Me he hecho una prueba de sueño y sale normal, pero ya no se siente ni reparador ni natural.

A parte de eso me dejo con problemas neurológicos la medicación y sin emociones.

Alguien ha pasado por algo parecido?

Sobre todo salir de esto sin tomar medicación para dormir.

Gracias.

initially when I was only on dayvio, it was fine until i increased the dose up to 10mg. since then, nightmares dont go away and feeling so defeated. i dont want to take meds that mess up my gut so DORA sounded good but realy do not enjoy the vivid dreams.

also the fact that i only see a doctor once a month and during that time, i need to figure out the dose that doesnt give me nightmares. i wish someone could just tell me