raise your hand if you are a sufferer *raises hand*

a. how bad is yours?
b. if you know why you have it, why?
c. what do you do to deal with it?

a. mine thankfully isn't 365 days a year, it seems to come in few months long spans every few years. but this go around is a bitch. last 7 days, 3 hr average per night of sleep
b. not sure exactly, stress i assume. have wretched dreams that just sometimes make sleep not even worth attempting. tho most of the time i'm just wide awake.
c. last episode, took ambien. worked fine but didn't like the side effects. and unfortunately i have an addictive personality so i'd prefer to steer clear of temptations. and it doesn't work on dreams. this time, i'm just letting sleep come when it comes. have nixed caffeine and what not. i may break down tonight and try pills again since i have a big meeting tomrrow.

will return in a few hours to check ur responses. fine if this is moved to the lounge... i just hate posting in there for some reason. pls to give me ideas on how to sleep.

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 4:24 PM. Reason : er]

8/30/2009 4:22:44 PM

beer works.

8/30/2009 4:25:36 PM

nope

8/30/2009 4:27:38 PM

I'm not sure if I have insomnia or not...

I don't get tired for days on end. In most situations I'll stay awake for about 48 hours and then sleep for around 6 hours. This has been going on for about 5 months now.

8/30/2009 4:31:00 PM

hmm prolly should have posted this around 3am

^dunno all the technojargon re sleep disorders, but i'd say if you don't have it, you have something pretty damn close


[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 4:34 PM. Reason : ^]

8/30/2009 4:31:20 PM

if you wanted to chat you could have just sent a pm

8/30/2009 4:44:48 PM

Queti, I used to have insomnia pretty bad as well.

When I couldn't sleep, I didn't fight it, but that lead to further problems such as depression, inability to focus, and lack of attention span when it's really important.

Admittedly, I got to a point where I would hear words from a lecture, but not be able to form sentences.

For the short run, I would try melatonin and use it when the sun goes down.

In the long run, you can use your addictive personality for you by recharging when appropriate. Eating properly and exercising regularly will get your body to the proper nutrients you need and help fix whatever is causing you not to sleep. Exercise also strains your limits if done properly. You'll find that exercise will help you get more resilient to stress. Not to mention that getting a little sore will help with getting a little more tired before sleep. A little bit of a strict schedule will help.

Let me know if you've tried this though.

8/30/2009 5:16:14 PM

i dont have any advice but i miss you!

8/30/2009 5:22:12 PM

I have chronic pain issues, so it is hard for me to sleep, but I do not suffer from insomnia. I usually use a muscle relaxer or sleep aid (Ambien) to help me sleep if I need to. Ambien is kind of weird though. Sometimes, it does not work very well for me...like it'll take 5 hrs to work! Eek! And then other times, it will take just 10 min! How strange. Good luck!

8/30/2009 5:22:35 PM

a) yes i had it; it was pretty bad. i could only sleep 1-3 hours a night for like 6 months.
b) stress/life events
c) i got ambien but i never took it. i started anxiety medicine and that seemed to help the insomnia (since i think i wasn't sleeping from anxiety)

now i have the opposite problem. i feel like i could sleep all day everyday. i went to the doctor and was pretty anemic so i started taking iron but so far i don't really feel like a difference in my fatigue level.

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 5:34 PM. Reason : .]

8/30/2009 5:30:51 PM

^^^^thanks. i've tried most of that, to varying degrees of success. i exercise probably 4-5x per week. and i try to maintain a healthy diet. i'm thinking of starting yoga again, as it was helpful last time around. haven't tried melatonin in a while; may give it a shot.

reading tends to help out, at least it relaxes me enough so that i can nap.

i think most of it is simply the way stress manifests itself for me, and most of my stress is job related. i'm lucky in that i don't have any chronic depression/person to person anxiety issues (of course at the moment). my job is VERY stressful right now and i'm traveling constantly (this week will make 5 weeks out of 6 that i'm out of town).

^^^ miss you too!

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 5:38 PM. Reason : er]

8/30/2009 5:38:01 PM

1. it's pretty bad...i have a hard time getting to sleep...but even if i get to sleep i'll be awake by 4 every morning

2. too much on my mind...just when i get past one issue another one arises to take it's place...and even when i sleep my dreams are very disturbing and violent...so i often wake up more tired than i was when i went to sleep or wake up in a panic

3. i go to my parents' house on the weekend and for some reason i can usually sleep those 2 nights...it has become an escape from me...no phone, no internet, no bullshit from my everyday life that keeps me up tight...that...and my dog

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 5:46 PM. Reason : jkh]

8/30/2009 5:45:51 PM

Yoga is great stuff actually. I remember trying it for the first time thinking it was a piece of cake and that was not the case at all.

But I did sleep very well that night on the day I that I took it.

^Did the violent dreams give you night terrors? I remember going through those

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 5:48 PM. Reason : a]

8/30/2009 5:46:34 PM

bttt for all the night people.

no where remotely close to tired, despite only 2 hrs last night...and i have to catch a stupidly early train down to dc tomorrow. tomorrow will be miserable. gah.

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 10:18 PM. Reason : since i posted this topic a little early ]

8/30/2009 10:18:30 PM

Quote :

"so i often wake up more tired than i was when i went to sleep or wake up in a panic"

ugh i have had violent dreams/night terrors w/ my insomnia. seriously. anti-anxiety medicine pretty much cured this too, so far. i've had a couple, but no where near the amount i was having (like, every single night when i FINALLY got to sleep).

waking up in a panic sucks. that happened to me this morning at 4am then i was awake from 4 - 7. then i finally went back to sleep.

8/30/2009 11:00:37 PM

What are the dreams about?

8/30/2009 11:03:49 PM

mine are about...dead people, murderers, really bad things happening to people i love, fires, etc

8/30/2009 11:05:21 PM

^ similar here. i am blessed and cursed with near cinimatic quality dreams - full color, sounds, music, everything, sometimes 1st person POV, sometimes 3rd, sometimes swapping. which means i have freaking fantastic dreams, when i'm not in queti-insomniac mode. but when i am, holy jesus, they are like stepping into a horror film

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:11 PM. Reason : er]

8/30/2009 11:07:28 PM

I have insomnia when I sleep by myself, which is every night these days. Never have a prob when I have a boyfriend. Now I have to drink a glass of wine every night just to go to sleep.

8/30/2009 11:07:56 PM

^^Yeah, I think I know what you mean.

When I first got back on my first tour, I had dreams of mortars and people screaming and I'm running through the desert. For some reason, I knew my family was there and I was trying to get to them and they're screaming for help, and I could never find them.

It was at a time where my brother was considering the military.

What helps me, is that I stay up for about 15 minutes and just think or do something else, and then the dreams won't continue where they left off.

Maybe it's the same, maybe not... I don't know

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:08 PM. Reason : a]

8/30/2009 11:08:32 PM

i used to be really bad. i'd sleep about once every 60 or so hours... granted i'd sleep for like 18 hours and then wake up and rinse and repeat, but man that fucked with my body.

8/30/2009 11:08:34 PM

i don't have insomnia per se, but i basically procrastinate on going to sleep every night.

my wife goes to bed around 9:30, and i *plan* on going to bed by 11, but then i'm either fucking around on TWW, watching TV/movie, reading, or otherwise not going to bed... for no reason. eventually i get to bed by 1a.m., but then i'm dog tired the next day.

and i repeat the same shit all week.

8/30/2009 11:10:30 PM

Quote :

"^Did the violent dreams give you night terrors? I remember going through those"

i've had night terrors a few times but usually they've occurred when i was having a disturbing dream and wake up with another person beside me...because i'm not used to sleeping with anyone

i once threw my college roommate across the room because she jumped on me to wake me up in the morning after i had been living by myself the entire summer....but i was in the middle of a weird dream when she did it...i'm usually just in a panic


i can't ever remember waking up with night terrors because of a violent dream....because it's usually me that's being violent in these dreams...so then i just wake up confused and upset

8/30/2009 11:10:51 PM

^Have you ever attacked a partner next to you while you're sleeping? Have they ever complained about that sort of thing?

8/30/2009 11:13:48 PM

ill prolly be up ill 4 am tonight.
if i knew why i wouldnt have the problem
drink sometimes take pills

8/30/2009 11:14:30 PM

i started screaming my face off at someone laying beside me once during a night terror


i really just don't think he knew how to handle it...but i was terrified so i didn't really care what his feelings were about the ordeal

i don't think i actually attacked him though

i don't think i've attacked anyone except the girl that jumped on me

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:16 PM. Reason : dsklfj]

8/30/2009 11:16:02 PM

Xanax helps me, but I don't like to take it. Will wake up every hour on the hour tonight. this is the only reason I want a boyfriend now.

8/30/2009 11:16:32 PM

boyfriend= sleep aid?

8/30/2009 11:17:34 PM

^^^drinking doesn't work for me at all. it will knock me out ok, but it wears off too soon, and i end up waking up. i'm debating on caving and taking my ambien

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:18 PM. Reason : er]

8/30/2009 11:17:41 PM

I haven't been able to sleep alone since my house was robbed more than two years ago. So, yes, bf is a sleep aid.

8/30/2009 11:19:18 PM

were you at home when it happened?

8/30/2009 11:20:45 PM

LivinProof78,

It sounded similar to someone I knew once had those same symptoms, but attacked his partner in his sleep. It's fight or flight really when you feel cornered. Where you would scream to intimidate or run off the bed right into a wall. But attacking in your sleep can insinuate feelings of being trapped and somehow trying to fight your way out because you can't run.

Or! Maybe I'm way off the mark.

8/30/2009 11:20:56 PM

i sleep terrible with a partner

8/30/2009 11:21:32 PM

shit were you home at the time?

8/30/2009 11:21:42 PM

^^ i used to be like that. i hated sharing a bed with someone even a boyfriend. but now i LOVE it. i've just gotten used to it i guess. i sleep so much better when someone else is there. except when they snore. then i hit them in the ribs or kick their shins

but i have earplugs now so that helps a lot


my violent/scary dreams are so irrational. even when i wake up i'm like too scared to move or sometimes i have trouble waking up from them. i don't know how to describe it but its like i know i'm dreaming and i need to just wake up and turn on the light but i CANT i like cannot move. and then when i wake up in a panic i'm like sweating and too scared to move. then finally i move and turn on the light and like last night i went back to sleep with the light on because i was still scared even though i know it wasn't real.

8/30/2009 11:23:53 PM

I have it something awful. I take zolpidem sparingly, and work out a LOT which helps.

But it's still really tough, I'm naturally on a 30-36hr day.

8/30/2009 11:24:46 PM

No, I wasn't at home when it happened, but the crime was so pervy that I don't like to be alone in my bedroom. The guys (neighbor's kids) broke in through my bedroom window, took all of my bras and panties, took a couple of my dresses and stole all the blinds in the house. And that's all they took.

It made me worry that maybe they'd been peeping on me all along. And I still get freaked out about creepy neighbors.

8/30/2009 11:25:35 PM

yeah...the last time it happened i dreamed someone was laying on top of me with a pillow over my face trying to kill me...

when i startled partially awake the person i was with had his arms around me and my face was buried in a pillow....so i thought it was real for that instant and i completely flipped out...


i was screaming uncontrollably and he was doing everything he could to wake me up completely and calm me down

8/30/2009 11:26:37 PM

^^It's a security issue.

You could get a tazer and develop an exit plan just in case.

Home alarm system.

Or just take your time with this until you're back to ok again.



[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:31 PM. Reason : a]

8/30/2009 11:29:12 PM

lucy - ah jesus i don't blame you. that's super creepy. i'm impressed that you actually stayed in your place. i would have had to move. or buy LOTS of guns. or both.

i remember back when i was living in raleigh there was a sicko rapist around. he'd creep into girls rooms and just stand over them watching them sleep and then when they'd wake up, he rape them. he attacked a girl at an apt complex not too far from mine. my apt was on the bottom floor and of course we had glass sliding doors. i freaking flipped out. i brought my very large dog to my apt from my parents', had a small armory in my bedroom, and didn't sleep worth a lick for months

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:31 PM. Reason : er]

8/30/2009 11:30:20 PM

AHHHHH why did i just read that!

8/30/2009 11:31:10 PM

ah shit sry

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:32 PM. Reason : he was caught and is in prison still]

8/30/2009 11:31:59 PM

I can teach you all to make a tazer out of a disposable camera.

8/30/2009 11:34:41 PM

^^ ok well that makes me feel better

8/30/2009 11:37:21 PM

I remember hearing about that rapist. So freaking scary. I would have moved after that as well. A lot of student apartment complexes in Raleigh had such cheap door locks. They were surprisingly easy to break in to.

And I moved in with my bf at the time immediately after that, with 4 months left on the lease. I just slept at his house every night and couldn't sleep if he left town. We broke up in February. The only thing I miss is the sleep.

I don't know that I'd feel safer with a gun. I know that as a single girl living alone, I am a bit of a target as it is. Living with a man made me feel like less of a target.

8/30/2009 11:37:39 PM

^ and at my apt complex we had several guys from various branches of the military. they were super nice and took turns watching our complex at night for a while. kchaddwlawhatever - don't read. they did this because a couple of times people saw a dude creeping through our wooded area at night. they weren't going to take a chance it was the same guy.

i just have a .357 in the drawer by my bed, a few shotguns loaded and stashed around the house, an alarm system, and of course my husband.

then again most of that isn't due to my somewhat irrational insecurities... we live in a very nice area that happens to border a really cruddy one in our town. so we unfortunately, get crackheads and gang members driving through our street to get to theirs. so, better armed than not.


[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 11:44 PM. Reason : fux]

8/30/2009 11:39:28 PM

haha this thread is 10/10 in my humble opinion

8/30/2009 11:45:20 PM

i own a gun because i live in a county area patrolled by sheriff's there's little chance they could get to me in time to make a difference so i gotta have something to defend till they get there.

8/30/2009 11:48:03 PM

^^ahem, should i ask why?

OK away from scary, sleep preventing crap and back to what actually helps us sleep...

8/30/2009 11:50:26 PM

illegal drugs help me sleep

8/30/2009 11:51:39 PM