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Insomnia , anxiety, or something else :(?

Posted , 8 users are following.

karlip0
karlip0

For the past two weeks I been having sleep problems. It started with sleeping 4-5hours and then for two days I slept 0 hours. After many days of this on going battle I went to the doctor. One of the nurses joking around said, "let's hope it's not sporadic fatal insomnia". I was terrified when she said that since I suffer from anxiety. She then apologize for saying that. I told the doctor my concerns and she run some blood work . She said she wanted to rule out physical problems.

However I feel like this is getting worse as the time goes by . This whole week I can't get myself to sleep and If I doze off I am awake by jerks or a feeling that my breathing stops.this causes my heart to race and I feel panic. This can go on a many as 15x a night and if I do fall asleep.

MY SLEEP FEELS EXTREMELY LIGHT AND I WAKE UP EVERY 1 OR 2 HOURS . I ALSO REMEMBER ALL MY DREAMS. I DON'T FEEL LIKE I GO INTO DEEP SLEEP. THIS IS WHAT'S SCARING ME.

do I really have sporadic fatal insomnia where you die from not getting deep sleep or is this how insomnia is??? I am really scared and I feel like depression is starting to set in. Since I never has this before.

Please help :, (

1 like, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • lily65668
    lily65668 karlip0

    Posted

    No. This isn't sporadic fatal insomnia. That's an incredibly rare genetic condition that is rarely ever diagnosed, starts in childhood and includes other symptoms. I'm sure you must have googled it and worked that out for yourself. And that stupid nurse should have been fired for mentioning it in your presence. (I'm saying that as a former nurse myself.)

    Everyone wakes up after each sleep cycle, which lasts about one-and-a-half hours (with individual variations). It's just that most people don't wake sufficiently to be aware of this. Lots of us do, however. This is also down to individual variations. I've always woken fully several times a night.

    As these arousals usually happen after a period of REM sleep, which is the phase when dreams occur, it's normal that those of who remember waking will also remember the dreams we awoke from. I've always had very good dream recall, and personally I think it's a gift. Although most of my dreams are basically rubbish - like everyone else's - I've had quite a few useful ones when I've told myself something useful about my own behaviour or attitude that I was avoiding in real life.

    It's getting worse because of your current, quite understandable, state of anxiety. Try all the usual measures of sleep hygiene - good diet, getting enough exercise earlier in the day, no coffee after 4pm, and no texting, emails, Facebook etc. for at least an hour before going to bed.

    You could also try asking your pharmacist for one of the older type of antihistamines - the type that make you sleepy. Because they're not knock-out pills, these need to be taken at least an hour before going to bed, to give them a chance to work. But they shouldn't be used long-term, as you will build up tolerance to them, just like sleeping pills. They're best used for a few days at a time, to break the pattern of sleeplessness and anxiety.

    Don't forget, everyone's sleep pattern is different so there's no normal, only average. Some people could sleep through the Apocalypse, while others wake up and go back to sleep several times a night. Some need nine hours whereas others go through life coping quite happily on four or five. I know it's hard to sleep once anxiety creeps in - been there myself many times - but I really don't think you have anything to worry about, especially if your blood results came back OK.

  • Zigangie
    Zigangie karlip0

    Posted

    Golly I worried about that when I found it on wiki. It's runs in families I think.

    I don't sleep well and haven't for 10 years I'm still here and I do sleep but like you its not refreshing or proper deep sleep.

    At the moment mine is running at 30 hours up 9 sleeping but it has been much worse zero sleep 3 nights followed by 4 or 5 sleeping and you just feel like a zombie when it's like that.

    The usual stuff you could try are magnesium 5htp melatonin valerian root.

    I've found for me the closest to sleeping pills is valerian root at 900mg.

  • Lee1988
    Lee1988 karlip0

    Posted

    Ok chill Lol....

    Your not dying. After only two weeks of problems you really don't need to worry yet. What is probably happening is you are now worrying about not sleeping and your anxiety is keeping you awake.

    Most people don't take this into consideration but your body will try it's best to keep you awake if you are allowing it too. In other words if your up for 4 days straight you start to adjust to it, even though you don't want to.

    In your case I believe a short course of sleeping tablets, 2 weeks maybe, would be enough to solve this issue. You have the advantage of catching this problem early and have sought after medical advice, that was smart. There's tonnes of things you could try too, herbal remedies, more excercise and better diet etc. For us with chronic insomnia it's much more complicated as anything available over the counter does not work but I'd give them a try if I was you.

    Exercise, eating healthy and at proper times, incorporating supplements such as magnesium will help probably 80% of people who suffer from sleep problems. Try this first before getting into prescription meds. Trust me smile

    Lee.

    • Zigangie
      Zigangie Lee1988

      Posted

      Hi Lee,

      Take a look into vitamin d.

      I got some last week and sleep isn't great but taking it morning and actually feeling sleepy at the right time.

      I'm using d3 drops 2000iu I'm having 3 drops so 6000iu at lunchtime.

      Slept heavy first day 230pm until 5 am. But was tired (2 nights up) then husband really not well so up and down concerned with him following two nights but so tired unusual for me.

      Last night heavy sleep 2am till 11 am. Mood is good too and I don't think placebo effect coz it's been that way now for 4 days.

      I started with only 1 drop then did more reading and decided 3 drops (vit d council recommend 1000iu per 25 lbs body weight) so upped it to a little over that.

      It has an effect on melatonin and apparently most people are deficient.

      I'll catch you in a few days and let you know how it's going apparently can take up to 6 months to feel fullest effects.

    • lily65668
      lily65668 Zigangie

      Posted

      That's interesting, Zigangie. I've been researching Vit D lately, as it seems the experts think it's good for everything just lately. I've taken quite high doses for years to improve my bone density (and it's worked) and have recently upped the dose again to try and adjust my blood pressure. I have this weird thing where the systolic (upper) stays normal and the diastolic is falling, and have been told it's a strong predictor of heart attacks in someone my age.

      I'll be very interested to hear news of your progress with taking it for insomnia.

      For anyone else out there who wants to try it, it's important to get the D3 form. Most commercial products do contain it in this form these days, but some still contain the D1 form, which isn't very effective. The label will tell you, and there's very little difference in price. It's best not to exceed 5,000IU per day (that's 125mcg if you're in the UK), and if you're taking it towards the higher end of that dose it's advisable to add in vitamin K2 as well, to protect your arteries against calcium deposits. You should also get your blood levels of vitamin D checked regularly if you're on a high dose, to make sure you're not going into toxicity.

      I'm not surprised to hear that it helps with sleep problems, but it's not a quick fix and can be toxic at very high doses.

    • Lee1988
      Lee1988 Zigangie

      Posted

      Good stuff Zig,

      I've actually got a full years worth of high strength Vit D gel caps, 10,000iu. I stopped taking them a while ago as I felt I was going a little overboard with the supplements. Now I only take some daily and others just as required.

      Currently I'm taking Trazadone, I said I would update you all but I'm having trouble with the dosage including some side effects which were making me feel like crap. Halfed the capsules now though and just taking 25mg.

      I'm looking at incorporating more natural supplements to improve sleep into my daily intake. Just ordered several types of magnesium that are meant to promote better sleep, ZMA being one of them. I'm still taking the melatonin and starting the gym again on Wednesday. Working permanent 7am-3pm for a while so trying to get into a routine.

      I'll try adding it to my morning intake of vitamins and see if it makes a difference overtime.

      Thanks.

    • Zigangie
      Zigangie lily65668

      Posted

      I'm thinking 6000iu won't hurt for a few months just to see if it helps.

      My doctor not interested in testing for it. But I've taken anti psychotics that have made me unable to sit in the sun for several years so I assume I would be deficient anyway.

    • lily65668
      lily65668 Zigangie

      Posted

      Well, they do say most people in the world are deficient in vitamin D, due to insufficient exposure to sunlight. 6000IU certainly wouldn't be enough to cause liver damage or anything like that. I've read accounts of cancer sufferers being prescribed 30kIU per day, but only for short periods.

      I was mainly concerned about someone desperate to get some sleep taking large doses of the stuff in the hope it might have an immediate effect. I realise you understand it doesn't work that way.

      According to my reading of the latest research, the main danger of higher doses of vitamin D is that it diverts calcium - whether from diet or supplementation - away from the bones, where it belongs. This can result in it being deposited in the walls of the arteries instead, where it may cause problems later in life. It seems taking K2 at the same time ensures that the calcium goes where it's supposed to be. K2 is quite expensive (and K1 is useless) so I only take it four times a week.

      I'm on 2,000IU of D3 at the moment (still twice recommended dose for someone my age) but am thinking of going a bit higher. My serum levels were only just above minimum normal limit last month, so I know I'm safe.

      Don't forget to keep us all posted as to how it works for sleep!

    • icecool
      icecool Zigangie

      Posted

      Vit D can cause renal failure if taken in high doses. It is best to get a baseline done before taking Vitamin D , which incidentally is also a prohormone. Vitamin D should only be taken under medical supervision as the calcium levels need monitoring because Vit D causes the calcium levels to rise!!

      There are pleenty of companies who will test the vit D level .

      If you PM me I cn send u details but these should be easily assessible on any search engine. Hope the above helps.

       

    • Zigangie
      Zigangie icecool

      Posted

      I would think I'd be low I haven't been able to tolerate the sun for 8 years now.

      Also the vitamin d council advises 1000iu per 25 lbs body weight.

      I was going to have a go a few months see if it makes a difference. Then when I see the doctor tell her I'm using it and see what she says about it.

      At the moment it does seem I'm sleeping a bit better but only a week into it so not sure.

      I'm not keen on taking anything really because I feel we should be able to get what we need from a good diet.

      I've stopped all my other vitamins except b12.

      Just thinking I'm not into fish or milk I never have cereals so probably low anyway.

    • lily65668
      lily65668 Zigangie

      Posted

      My GP told me last month that current thinking is everyone in northern Europe and most of North America needs to be taking a vitamin D supplement, especially children and the over-60s, as we don't get enough from sunlight and it's impossible to make up the deficit from diet. He was cool with my current dose of 50mcg/2000IU per day and said I could go higher if I wanted to as my serum levels were only just above the lower limit of normal. He also said I was the first 70-something he'd ever seen who'd actually made it into the normal range at all!

      I asked him about the issue of higher doses causing calcium to deposit in the arteries, but he said this was only a problem at very high doses.

      However, I'm still concerned about this. I also supplement with calcium, for osteopaenia, but don't take the full dose - and my bone density, also checked last month, hasn't gone down further in the last two years. Regardless of what my GP says, I've been supplementing with Vitamin K2 for years as well, as current research indicates that this protects against calcium being deposited where it's not wanted. There's plenty of serious research out there on the subject, but obviously I can't post a link here. K2 isn't available everywhere in the world, but I stock up on my frequent visits to the UK.

      It's virtually impossible to get enough vit D from diet, but it's still a good idea to eat oily fish once a week and a reasonable amount of dairy. You can also take a cod liver oil supplement. Most of these contain 5mcg/200IU of vitamin D per dose.

      I agree about not overdoing the vitamins in general. I stopped taking B12 last year as my serum folate levels were up towards the top of normal - probably because I eat masses of green veg as well. I once asked my pharmacist about vitamin C supplements and he said that's just a good way of producing expensive urine! 

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