Persistent sleep disorders

[WAB]

Lately, I've been having two problems with sleep:

One, not so disturbing but probably unhealthy, is that I never remain asleep for more than three hours. Usually, I wake every one to two hours. I haven't slept for a steady eight hours in forever, but duration of sleep is becoming less and less. Sometimes I can return to sleep fairly easily, but a lot of the time, once I wake, I'm awake and alert for hours, and very often never go back to sleep. I know anxiety and depression are factors.

Two, very disturbing, is this habit my brain has of seeming to be afraid to sleep. I will be tired and very drowsy, but as soon as I nod off I wake with a great sense of alarm. This can occur for hours - nod off, wake with a rush of adrenaline and unidentifiable fear. If this happens long enough, I will get up and give up on sleep.

I've read about various types of sleep disorders, and told my doc about mine, but no meds or over-the-counter preparations work. In fact, most sleep agents make me squirrelly and jittery. Benadryl feels horrible. Was on Seroquel for a while, until it backfired and started to keep me awake and agitated.

Thought it might be interesting to have a sleep thread. Just want to say I'm amazed by people who say they sleep the whole night through without waking. I may have done that as a kid, but I've long forgotten what it feels like.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

After my bout with shingles, sleep was hard for me. I resorted to melatonin and valerian root capsules. It seems to help quite a bit for me. I now sleep like a cat. I get mine at Walmart.

 

[TSwizzle]

WAB, I've experienced similar to you. I wonder if sleeping solid for six, seven hours is the exception. I rarely sleep for more than four hours straight. But sometimes I wake up at 3:00am and am fully awake for two hours before drifting off back to sleep before the GD alarm goes off at 5:40am. I think anxiety prevents me from going back to sleep. But the one where I am dropping off to sleep and then suddenly jump awake with a startle and a feeling of fear is bad. I've not had that for a while and it was only for a couple of weeks. It must just be stuff going on in the head at times. Work is my biggest source of anxiety so when stressed at work I know my sleep is going to be affected. I see melatonin mentioned and I know a couple of people that swear by it. I've never tried it but I don't think I need it.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Same routine here, 3-4 hours down, 2-3 hours up, then 1-2 back down again. Problem is, most days that last precious 1-2 hours would need to be during working hours so I go without. I just finished my second bit of sleep on this wonderful rainy Sunday morning.
The only time in recent memory I slept well is when I was unemployed and had no source of anxiety. Slept every night from 2300 to 0600. But now that I’m employed and have to deal with my fellow humans again, I’m back to my old sleepless self.
I never bothered with any medication. I’ve heard mostly negative comments about them.
For me, relative poverty is the key to happiness. It’s a shame because I love my job and for the most part I am away from people while doing it. But even if there is no conflict going on, even if there is no potential for a conflict, I will create them in my head out of whole cloth, to be quickly dismissed of course (I’m not completely nuts), but the conflict generator is forever running. For now, as long as I’m working, a bit of weed is my only respite. A few hours of peace once or twice a week as a reward for making it to Friday yet again. So, I guess that’s my only medicine.
While I love my job, I don’t mind much losing it. I remember how broke and happy and well rested I was 2009-11.

 

[ZiprHead]

Melatonin did wonders for my sleep.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Melatonin did wonders for my sleep.

Yep. Lots of people use it. Doctors even recommend it.

I'm in the same club as most everyone here. Falling asleep has always been difficult unless I was absolutely physically exhausted. Sleeping a full 7-8 hours undisturbed hasn't happened in decades. I'm just a very light sleeper.

The bitch is having to function while sleep deprived. For me that's torture.

 

[JohnG]

Have you guys tried white noise? I have similar sleep problems, my mind starts racing at night, anxiety builds...

I downloaded an app a week ago that loops rain, waves, etc and it’s been working for me so far.

 

[Toni]

I've always needed a lot of sleep, but for a number of decades, I wasn't able to get the sleep I really do need. Small children, going back to school with small children, working various jobs and raising kids/going to school, parents dying, kids who want to stay up talking to the wee hours when they are past that age when you see them every day and then the last job when I got maybe 4-6 hrs a night. I got very run down to the point that when I finally left that job, I slept about 10-12 hours a night and sometimes more for a week or so after my last day. Sometimes, hormonal shifts have interfered (ask any peri- through post-menopausal woman and they'll tell you) and stress as well. The really killer was that job that kept me away from home a minimum of 12 hrs/day and often 14 and sometimes longer, and then either trying to get something done at home or stressing about being too tired to get something done at home just about did me in.

So, I ended up with bad sleep habits or poor sleep hygiene in the sleep world jargon. What I have found to be absolutely key is routine--and I hate routine. But no matter what else is going on, I need to stop looking at computer screens or phone screens and maybe even television at least a couple of hours before I go to bed. Ideally, not after dinner which is ideally no later than 7 p.m. and earlier is better. Ideally, I take a nice relaxing bath and read a bit in bed. Also, having a window cracked even on really cold nights does help. It also helps if I've spent some time outside, puttering in the yard at some point in the day.

You may intuit by the repeated use of the word: ideally that I don't always hit my ideal. But I try and if I find I'm having a real problem (several nights in a row this past week), then I make a big point of returning to my routine. It really helps.

Also worth checking out is to see if you might have sleep apnea. If you are sleeping with someone or even sharing quarters, they are likely to tell you YES AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE GET THAT CHECKED OUT BEFORE I LOSE MY MIND. Sleep apnea is very serious. One of my friends lost her husband to it, when he was only in his early 40's. So: please, check that out.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Good call on getting the sleep apnea checked out. I know I suffer from that, waking up breathless and terrified, but if I watch my diet and don't sleep on my back it doesn't happen. But it is terrifying when it does happen, which is when I'm sick with a cold or the flu, and it makes you not want to fall asleep again because it was so frightening.

I should pick up some valerian root and melatonin just to see if they help.

Older people typically do not sleep like kids anymore. If I can sleep for several hours and have vivid dreams then I feel like I'm being successful.

 

[Toni]

Good call on getting the sleep apnea checked out. I know I suffer from that, waking up breathless and terrified, but if I watch my diet and don't sleep on my back it doesn't happen. But it is terrifying when it does happen, which is when I'm sick with a cold or the flu, and it makes you not want to fall asleep again because it was so frightening.

I should pick up some valerian root and melatonin just to see if they help.

Older people typically do not sleep like kids anymore. If I can sleep for several hours and have vivid dreams then I feel like I'm being successful.

Ok, if you know it happens sometimes, I almost guarantee you that it happens other times and you don't realize it. Even if it's just 'sometimes' YOU NEED TO GET IT CHECK OUT PROFESSIONALLY as soon as possible given the pandemic. I really mean it. Please..

Seriously for a while if my husband wasn't actually talking to me AND making sense, I knew he wasn't really awake. No, he didn't have apnea every night but often enough that I was genuinely frightened for him---and horribly sleep deprived. He feels so much better now. No, he doesn't like to wear the mask and was afraid it would interfere with our love life, but it slips on and off easier than a bra so.....

 

[J842P]

Lately, I've been having two problems with sleep:

One, not so disturbing but probably unhealthy, is that I never remain asleep for more than three hours. Usually, I wake every one to two hours. I haven't slept for a steady eight hours in forever, but duration of sleep is becoming less and less. Sometimes I can return to sleep fairly easily, but a lot of the time, once I wake, I'm awake and alert for hours, and very often never go back to sleep. I know anxiety and depression are factors.

Two, very disturbing, is this habit my brain has of seeming to be afraid to sleep. I will be tired and very drowsy, but as soon as I nod off I wake with a great sense of alarm. This can occur for hours - nod off, wake with a rush of adrenaline and unidentifiable fear. If this happens long enough, I will get up and give up on sleep.

I've read about various types of sleep disorders, and told my doc about mine, but no meds or over-the-counter preparations work. In fact, most sleep agents make me squirrelly and jittery. Benadryl feels horrible. Was on Seroquel for a while, until it backfired and started to keep me awake and agitated.

Thought it might be interesting to have a sleep thread. Just want to say I'm amazed by people who say they sleep the whole night through without waking. I may have done that as a kid, but I've long forgotten what it feels like.

This sounds like text-book anxiety issues. This is often very problematic because it becomes a feed-back loop, bad sleep leads to anxiety, and anxiety leads to bad sleep. I wish I had good advice for you, but often, sleep issues can be very hard to deal with (especially with advice on an internet forum).

Personally, I can relate. I am almost certain I suffer from delayed sleep phase syndrome. Which basically means I cannot fall asleep at times people would consider normal. So, I usually don't feel tired until at least 2-3am (often later), unless I've had little to no sleep in the previous 24-48 hours. I've had this since as long as I can remember. I recall staying awake into very late at night in my room as a child in total darkness.

This is shitty, but at least if I am able to get the opportunity to sleep, I have no problem falling asleep (past a certain time) and staying asleep.

 

[Toni]

Lately, I've been having two problems with sleep:

One, not so disturbing but probably unhealthy, is that I never remain asleep for more than three hours. Usually, I wake every one to two hours. I haven't slept for a steady eight hours in forever, but duration of sleep is becoming less and less. Sometimes I can return to sleep fairly easily, but a lot of the time, once I wake, I'm awake and alert for hours, and very often never go back to sleep. I know anxiety and depression are factors.

Two, very disturbing, is this habit my brain has of seeming to be afraid to sleep. I will be tired and very drowsy, but as soon as I nod off I wake with a great sense of alarm. This can occur for hours - nod off, wake with a rush of adrenaline and unidentifiable fear. If this happens long enough, I will get up and give up on sleep.

I've read about various types of sleep disorders, and told my doc about mine, but no meds or over-the-counter preparations work. In fact, most sleep agents make me squirrelly and jittery. Benadryl feels horrible. Was on Seroquel for a while, until it backfired and started to keep me awake and agitated.

Thought it might be interesting to have a sleep thread. Just want to say I'm amazed by people who say they sleep the whole night through without waking. I may have done that as a kid, but I've long forgotten what it feels like.

This sounds like text-book anxiety issues. This is often very problematic because it becomes a feed-back loop, bad sleep leads to anxiety, and anxiety leads to bad sleep. I wish I had good advice for you, but often, sleep issues can be very hard to deal with (especially with advice on an internet forum).

Personally, I can relate. I am almost certain I suffer from delayed sleep phase syndrome. Which basically means I cannot fall asleep at times people would consider normal. So, I usually don't feel tired until at least 2-3am (often later), unless I've had little to no sleep in the previous 24-48 hours. I've had this since as long as I can remember. I recall staying awake into very late at night in my room as a child in total darkness.

This is shitty, but at least if I am able to get the opportunity to sleep, I have no problem falling asleep (past a certain time) and staying asleep.

It could also be sleep apnea. My husband used to startle/jerk awake just as he was falling . The fear of falling asleep makes me think that it's apnea or some other breathing disorder.

 

[J842P]

Lately, I've been having two problems with sleep:

One, not so disturbing but probably unhealthy, is that I never remain asleep for more than three hours. Usually, I wake every one to two hours. I haven't slept for a steady eight hours in forever, but duration of sleep is becoming less and less. Sometimes I can return to sleep fairly easily, but a lot of the time, once I wake, I'm awake and alert for hours, and very often never go back to sleep. I know anxiety and depression are factors.

Two, very disturbing, is this habit my brain has of seeming to be afraid to sleep. I will be tired and very drowsy, but as soon as I nod off I wake with a great sense of alarm. This can occur for hours - nod off, wake with a rush of adrenaline and unidentifiable fear. If this happens long enough, I will get up and give up on sleep.

I've read about various types of sleep disorders, and told my doc about mine, but no meds or over-the-counter preparations work. In fact, most sleep agents make me squirrelly and jittery. Benadryl feels horrible. Was on Seroquel for a while, until it backfired and started to keep me awake and agitated.

Thought it might be interesting to have a sleep thread. Just want to say I'm amazed by people who say they sleep the whole night through without waking. I may have done that as a kid, but I've long forgotten what it feels like.

This sounds like text-book anxiety issues. This is often very problematic because it becomes a feed-back loop, bad sleep leads to anxiety, and anxiety leads to bad sleep. I wish I had good advice for you, but often, sleep issues can be very hard to deal with (especially with advice on an internet forum).

Personally, I can relate. I am almost certain I suffer from delayed sleep phase syndrome. Which basically means I cannot fall asleep at times people would consider normal. So, I usually don't feel tired until at least 2-3am (often later), unless I've had little to no sleep in the previous 24-48 hours. I've had this since as long as I can remember. I recall staying awake into very late at night in my room as a child in total darkness.

This is shitty, but at least if I am able to get the opportunity to sleep, I have no problem falling asleep (past a certain time) and staying asleep.

It could also be sleep apnea. My husband used to startle/jerk awake just as he was falling . The fear of falling asleep makes me think that it's apnea or some other breathing disorder.

Definitely a possibility.