Posted , 7 users are following.
hi. no matter what i try, i cant fall asleep. i lay down restfully and slow down my breathing and everything. so far i have gotten zero sleep not even an hour for weeks. has anybody else been in my shoes and got out of it?
1 like, 9 replies
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lo65763 wei41271
Posted
as far as what ive been told by several doctors (sleep doctors, neurologist that specializes in sleep, and a couple of therapist that specialize in sleep) is that you ARE actually sleeping, but maybe not getting any (or little) deep sleep. also, when this happens its usually sleep state misperception
wei41271 lo65763
Posted
im conscious and awake and am doing it all night. if i wanted to move a finger i would be able to. this could still be classified as sleep?
lo65763 wei41271
Posted
taths exactly what i told them, and aparently yes, you can still be in light sleep and be doing this...also they said that sometimes ppl w severe misperception (cause by anxiety and hypervigilance) feel like they havent slept but actually they have several "micro arousals" so it feels like youre not sleeping. i know that this doesnt give you any relief (im on the same boat), but know that youre getting a liiiiitle sleep. by the way, how did your issue develope? had taht happened to you before you started to worry about sleep? im trying to see if there are any patterns regarding this cause it seems like a lot of ppl who first start off fearig they will never be able to sleep and go a fee days in a row w no sleep, end up having the same issue.
tasha7908 wei41271
Posted
have you tried any form of medication yet? (anti-anxiety medication) have you tested your thyroid or gotten cortisol testing? i'm trying to get my cortisol levels tested, as high cortisol can cause insomnia.
lily65668 wei41271
Posted
Google Sleep State Misperception. I had the same thing when I was young. Would wake up exhausted, totally convinced I hadn't had a single wink of sleep, only to be told by partners or roommates that I'd had multiple periods of sleep, and had even snored.
mary75226 lily65668
Posted
would you be able to share how you recovered from this?
lily65668 mary75226
Posted
Well, I just kind of lived with it. Once I realised I was actually sleeping quite a bit, the anxiety about sleep diminished and I started to sleep a little better.
However, I continued to have some degree of sleep anxiety for the rest of my working life. I suppose it started in childhood but it really kicked off in my mid-20s, when I worked an impossible experimental shift system (as a nurse) for more than a year. After that, I battled sleep anxiety on and off for the next 40 years. I only started sleeping well again after I retired from paid employment at age 66.
I coped with it by reasoning that it wasn't actually doing me any harm, even though I often felt tired. After all, parents of young children often go through years of sleepless nights, don't they? My hunch that it wouldn't harm me physically turned out to be true. I'm 75 now, with normal blood pressure, no signs of heart disease and generally in excellent health. So I'm living proof that some of the horror stories you hear about poor sleep aren't true!
I also helped myself out by careful use of very small doses of OTC antihistamines. However, if you want to try antihistamines, DON'T TAKE THEM EVERY NIGHT. Just like prescription sleeping pills, you can quickly develop tolerance to them. You'll have to keep increasing the dose, then they won't work at all. I used to take a tiny dose for a maximum of three nights in a row, just to restore my confidence that I could sleep, then tough it out for a week to ten days before repeating the cycle. I never developed tolerance. I rarely need them now, but they still work on the very few "nervous" nights - like before a journey or giving a presentation in my voluntary job.
If you do want to try antihistamines occasionally, remember to ask the pharmacist for one of the older types, that make you more sleepy. The newer generations have had some of the sedative properties designed out of them. And don't take them immediately before bed. Antihistamines, especially in low dose, take at least an hour to make you feel sleepy, and the effect isn't very strong. If you take them at bedtime you'll still be awake an hour later wondering why you're not asleep, then you'll get so anxious they won't work at all.
This is all I can offer. I don't think we "nervous sleepers" ever recover entirely, we just learn to manage it.
The other option is to go to a sleep clinic. These weren't available where I was living when I was young, so I never went to one. They would probably be able to establish that you're suffering from sleep state misperception and actually sleeping quite a bit, which might reassure you.
christine66659 wei41271
Posted
me last year..then i was awake 36 hrs sleeping 12..in other words alternate nights
.then in september of last year sleeping everynight with the occasional hold out night...from january this year i have slept 6/7/8 hrs a night..sometimes broken sometimes not..it takes a good year or two to recover i would say..please dont stop enjoying life..insomnia held me prisoner for six mths..wouldnt go out anxiety was sky high...one day i just got up and thought sod this im making it worse..overtime it got better and better..my anxiety levels dropped..and my low mood lifted..it is the fear of not sleeping that makes insomnia worse....i used to write and talk to people over that period last year when it was horrific..i never used meds either..really helped me.good luck
lily65668 christine66659
Posted
I think that's the right way to approach the problem, Christine. Anxiety is almost always at the root of sleep problems, one way or another. We can only address it once we acknowledge it.
I'm speaking as one who had poor sleep for 40 years, often waking convinced I hadn't slept all night. That belief was invariably dashed by roommates and partners, who would tell me I'd slept - and even snored - for short periods throughout these nights. Hence my reference to Sleep State Misperception.
In my own case, I eventually took the approach that since my lack of sleep wasn't harming me, even though it was making me very tired, it was simply something I would have to learn to live with. I managed to do this for 40 years, until I retired from paid employment at the age of 66 - at which point I started sleeping soundly. So there's obviously something to be said for retirement!
It's worth noting that the long years of disturbed sleep haven't impacted on my health at all. I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where everyone gets a very thorough health check once a year, including blood tests for just about everything. (My report always runs to three pages.) And my health is still fine at age 75.
People tend to overestimate the amount of sleep required to remain healthy, which in turn promotes sleep anxiety.
Keep up the good work!