sleeplessness for three nights now

[JadeOrchidSong]

This suddenly started: For the last three nights, I couldn't fall asleep and only slept one hour each night between 6am and 7am.

I dread another night without sleep. Please help. Do you have good remedies or advice for me? I am 43 years old. I have experienced hotflashes for a few months now and my period cycles are shorter than before. I know I am going through perimenopause. I can deal with hotflashes better than insomnia.

Thank you for your help.

I did search this forum for related threads but didn't find much.

J

[Impish]

See your Dr. Seriously. Sleep deprivation is Hell.

[jcgonczi]

The same thing happened to me about a year ago. It was very annoying because, as my husband says, sleeping is my core competence in life. After trying every over the counter / natural remedy I could learn about, my gave in and started taking ambien (per doctor). I hate that I have to take it, but as the previous poster stated, sleep deprivation is hell. So much so the Chinese used to use it as torture (what does that say about motherhood?). Sad to say, a year later and nothing has changed. If you come up with a miracle cure please share! Good luck.

[Garga]

sleep deprivation is hell. So much so the Chinese used to use it as torture

 

 

Used to? Only the Chinese?

 

Still used. Been used by everyone! It's very effective in making you a weepy miserable mess and you'll tell everything.

 

Poor OP. I hope someone has some suggestions. All I would know to do would be to call a doc. The only other thing I know about is melatonin.

Edited November 5, 2010 by Garga

[JadeOrchidSong]

Used to? Only the Chinese?

 

Still used. Been used by everyone! It's very effective in making you a weepy miserable mess and you'll tell everything.

 

Poor OP. I hope someone has some suggestions. All I would know to do would be to call a doc. The only other thing I know about is melatonin.

I did take melatonin last night after two hours wide awake in bed. It made me drowsy for a minute or two and then I was back to wide eyed wakefulness.

 

Anyone else, please?

 

I talked to a lady the same age as me who mentioned she also has sleep problem. She says that she sleeps 4 hours a night now. She also mentions that exercise 30 minutes a day helps. I climb 700 to 900 stairs or jump rope or kick feathered hacksack over half an hour a day. Just now I climbed 960 stairs.

My period came yesterday. I wonder if that has anything to do with it, but I usually don't have noticeable uneasiness before period.

[jcgonczi]

Used to? Only the Chinese?

 

Sorry! Didn't mean it as misinformation or a history lesson. Just meant it as an example of how horrible sleep deprivation is.

[Parrothead]

I did take melatonin last night after two hours wide awake in bed. It made me drowsy for a minute or two and then I was back to wide eyed wakefulness.

 

Anyone else, please?

 

I talked to a lady the same age as me who mentioned she also has sleep problem. She says that she sleeps 4 hours a night now. She also mentions that exercise 30 minutes a day helps. I climb 700 to 900 stairs or jump rope or kick feathered hacksack over half an hour a day. Just now I climbed 960 stairs.

My period came yesterday. I wonder if that has anything to do with it, but I usually don't have noticeable uneasiness before period.

Okay, you can check my insomnia blog for a few ideas. I've been living with chronic insomnia for about 20 years now. Some things I do:

 

 

• take one Benedryl

• take one dose of liquid Nyquil (not on the same night I take the Benedryl)

• drink a glass of warm milk

• relaxation mantra

 

 

The more you worry about not sleeping the more you tend not to sleep. I cant take OTC sleep remedies because they cause my restless legs syndrome to act up. Tylenol PM may help or a Unisom.

 

Good luck

[2cents]

My cure: glass of warm milk and reading Moby Dick (zzzzzz) ;)

[EKS]

The sudden onset is a bit concerning. Are you taking any medication? I took Lexapro (an antidepressant) for three weeks and stopped because it did to me what you are describing.

 

Natural progesterone is supposed to help with the sleep problems of perimenopause. And magnesium before bed.

[Sahamamama]

Sleepy Time Extra (herbal tea) with Valerian

 

A warm bath

 

A back rub (someone who loves you)

 

Be sure you're warm enough, but not overly warm -- it's the temperature fluctuations that don't help

 

Don't nap during the day, if you can avoid it

 

The time change is coming this weekend, anyway, so everyone is going to be off-track for a bit.

 

HTH.

[JadeOrchidSong]

My cure: glass of warm milk and reading Moby Dick (zzzzzz) ;)

I like this one! :lol:

[unsinkable]

This suddenly started: For the last three nights, I couldn't fall asleep and only slept one hour each night between 6am and 7am.

I dread another night without sleep. Please help. Do you have good remedies or advice for me? I am 43 years old. I have experienced hotflashes for a few months now and my period cycles are shorter than before. I know I am going through perimenopause. I can deal with hotflashes better than insomnia.

Thank you for your help.

I did search this forum for related threads but didn't find much.

J

 

Well, if you were Catholic, I'd say to say a rosary.

 

The repetative nature of it helps. But sometimes I get myself so worked up about not sleeping, I forget to pray.

 

Everyone else has great advice. I've used a OTC sleep aid. It is the stuff in tylenol PM without the tylenol.

 

:grouphug:

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will take a warm bath tonight:001_smile:

I asked a few friends to pray for me and I took a walk and climed 960 stairs while my friend took my two boys over to her house. I had a nice dinner with my dh. Then last night I took one melatonin and fell asleep without much difficulty. I had lots of dreams and woke up multiple times but was able to sleep enough that I felt rested today and did another 960 stairs in the morning and biked for 20 minutes in the afternoon. I felt totally relaxed. If I can't sleep tonight, I will drink warm milk and read 1 kings because I just finished 2 Samuel until I fall asleep.

 

The only thing I have added to my diet is 1 or 2 tablespoons of flax seeds. Does flax seed cause insomnia? I haven't searched about this yet.

 

Also as I mentioned earlier, my period came the day after my first sleepless night. That can be another possible culprit?

 

I hope it is over.

[Sahamamama]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will take a warm bath tonight:001_smile:

I asked a few friends to pray for me and I took a walk and climed 960 stairs while my friend took my two boys over to her house. I had a nice dinner with my dh. Then last night I took one melatonin and fell asleep without much difficulty. I had lots of dreams and woke up multiple times but was able to sleep enough that I felt rested today and did another 960 stairs in the morning and biked for 20 minutes in the afternoon. I felt totally relaxed. If I can't sleep tonight, I will drink warm milk and read 1 kings because I just finished 2 Samuel until I fall asleep.

 

The only thing I have added to my diet is 1 or 2 tablespoons of flax seeds. Does flax seed cause insomnia? I haven't searched about this yet.

 

Also as I mentioned earlier, my period came the day after my first sleepless night. That can be another possible culprit?

 

I hope it is over.

 

How are you, OP? Did all that stair climbing help? :001_huh: That's a lot of stairs.

 

As far as that time of the month, sometimes the surging hormones can keep a woman awake, yes.

 

I don't know about flax. If anything, I would think it might help you to sleep, since it's supposed to combat inflammation/joint pain. :confused: Clueless here.

 

Hope you are feeling better. Insomnia is not fun, I know, but if you find your pattern -- your "formula" for sleep -- then you can get at least most of the sleep you need. It creeps up on me every now and then (again), but I've learned over the years how to fight it back down.

 

1. Prayer.

2. Calm evenings, calm worship music.

3. Herbal tea (Sleepy Time Extra, knocks me out like a freight train).

4. My husband's wonderful back rub and/or foot massage (Sorry, ladies, he's mine). :001_wub:

5. Drink lots of water during the day. I don't know why this helps me, but it does.

6. Turn the computer completely OFF at night (no temptations to get on it, just to get some alone time).

7. Rest as much as possible IN BED, even if I'm not sleeping. IOW, I try not to get up if I can't get to sleep right away. OTOH, after about an hour of lying there, if I'm not asleep, I do get up and read something boring, like world history, LOL.

8. Get outside in the morning. Again, I don't know why even just going outside (even if I just sit) in the morning seems to reset my "clock" better than any other time of day, but it does always help. My kids are this way, too. We just take them outside every morning after a time change, and they're "reset" like a clock. Amazing. I think I read about this in a baby book years ago. It seems to also work for children and adults.

9. If I'm hungry at night, I eat a snack before bed. I know, I know, bad diet habit. But I KNOW I will NOT sleep if I am hungry, so what's more destructive to good health?

10. For me, as a Christian, there have been times when I've had to claim my inheritance in the Lord, KWIM? Here are some Bible verses that can help build your faith in God's desire to give you peaceful, healthful, restful, blessed sleep:

 

http://cureyourinsomnia.blogspot.com/2008/06/sleepy-bible-verses.html

 

HTH. I have been praying for you. Let us know how you are. :bigear:

[Parrothead]

7. Rest as much as possible IN BED, even if I'm not sleeping. IOW, I try not to get up if I can't get to sleep right away. OTOH, after about an hour of lying there, if I'm not asleep, I do get up and read something boring, like world history, LOL.

Just a word of caution, the experts recommend not lying in bed for long periods of time. If you are not asleep withing 30 minutes it is best to get up. Don't read in bed, don't watch TV. The only activities someone suffering from insomnia should do in bed are sleep and teA.

[JadeOrchidSong]

How are you, OP? Did all that stair climbing help? :001_huh: That's a lot of stairs.

 

As far as that time of the month, sometimes the surging hormones can keep a woman awake, yes.

 

I don't know about flax. If anything, I would think it might help you to sleep, since it's supposed to combat inflammation/joint pain. :confused: Clueless here.

 

Hope you are feeling better. Insomnia is not fun, I know, but if you find your pattern -- your "formula" for sleep -- then you can get at least most of the sleep you need. It creeps up on me every now and then (again), but I've learned over the years how to fight it back down.

 

1. Prayer.

2. Calm evenings, calm worship music.

3. Herbal tea (Sleepy Time Extra, knocks me out like a freight train).

4. My husband's wonderful back rub and/or foot massage (Sorry, ladies, he's mine). :001_wub:

5. Drink lots of water during the day. I don't know why this helps me, but it does.

6. Turn the computer completely OFF at night (no temptations to get on it, just to get some alone time).

7. Rest as much as possible IN BED, even if I'm not sleeping. IOW, I try not to get up if I can't get to sleep right away. OTOH, after about an hour of lying there, if I'm not asleep, I do get up and read something boring, like world history, LOL.

8. Get outside in the morning. Again, I don't know why even just going outside (even if I just sit) in the morning seems to reset my "clock" better than any other time of day, but it does always help. My kids are this way, too. We just take them outside every morning after a time change, and they're "reset" like a clock. Amazing. I think I read about this in a baby book years ago. It seems to also work for children and adults.

9. If I'm hungry at night, I eat a snack before bed. I know, I know, bad diet habit. But I KNOW I will NOT sleep if I am hungry, so what's more destructive to good health?

10. For me, as a Christian, there have been times when I've had to claim my inheritance in the Lord, KWIM? Here are some Bible verses that can help build your faith in God's desire to give you peaceful, healthful, restful, blessed sleep:

 

http://cureyourinsomnia.blogspot.com/2008/06/sleepy-bible-verses.html

 

HTH. I have been praying for you. Let us know how you are. :bigear:

Thanks a lot!

I did do stairs again on Sunday morning. It is my alone time to exercise and pray. I find it very good for making my body feel flexible and my legs and backs strong.

I have slept well for the last two nights. I read aloud Red Sails to Capri to the kids and usually I lie down with them for a while and get drowsy listening to Anne of Green Gables and the kids' sleep music. So I just get up and go to my own bed.

I would like to try that herbal tea. Where do you buy yours?

I really hope that this will not happen again even though I know it might. I will be more watchful before my next period and see if it is related to that time of month.

Thanks for the sleepy verses. I will read them to help me sleep.

Blessings,

J