Just need advice and reassurance about insomnia.
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hello, i was wondering if someone has experienced the same and if so could lead me in the right direction? Ive had insomnia before, about 3 times in my life. The first time it lasted about 2 years, the second time half a year and this time around its be going on for a bit over a month. Its so different from the other times. I notices that Its been getting worse slightly, but im starting medication (finally) to see if it helps. I've taken some over the counters and they help a little but for the past few days something weird has been happening. I notice that when i am falling asleep, i can feel my body moving on its own and that wakes me up. Its like they just jerk, which makes it very difficult to fall asleep. This literally began happening a couple of nights ago. Sometimes its full body myoclonic jerks, other times its just like a limb or something but regardless, it makes it difficult to return to sleep because it just wakes me up and makes me very anxious. I also dont feel rested at all even when i manage to sleep even a decent 6 hrs. I've read about people talking about a fatal insomnia, and well, it was a terrible idea. I feel like some of the symptoms those people get, I have too. I went to the ER yesterday because of that fear and the doctor told me I didnt have it. Not to mention all my blood work came back fine. I also went to see my psychiatrist today, and he prescribed me some mirtazipine to help out with my anxiety and depression which i definitely do have and have had since i was a child. Someone please tell me I dont have this disease and what i can do to stop these muscle jerks or whatever from happening. I feel sleepy at night and just want to lay down without them keeping me awake.
0 likes, 12 replies
NECKBONE alvaro31477
Posted
Hello, sorry to hear about your troubles with insomnia. Let me first start out by saying that you may have some things to worry about, but SFI/FFI IS NOT ONE OF THEM. You can look around this forum and at any given time there are a couple of threads where someone is afraid they have fatal insomnia. Nobody, not one person in any of the threads I've seen has come back with a diagnosis of fatal insomnia. Please let this ease your mind so that you can move on to treating the problem. The symptoms of just plain old everyday insomnia are pretty rough. You don't hear a lot about the cognitive issues, memory impairment, etc. that comes with insomnia, so when these things begin to happen, people feel like they have something much worse than just sleep deprivation (like fatal insomnia). It's not fun and it is definitely something to have treated, but it does not mean you are going to die.
Considering the limb movements, you might want to have a sleep study done. This is not something I'm familiar with because my insomnia is related to anxiety and depression but I know Restless Leg Syndrome is something that can cause it as well. I'd get that ruled out via sleep study and if it's not the issue, move onto working with a therapist on the anxiety and depression. I would definitely caution against taking sleeping pills. If they get you back on track after a week or so then great, but they don't help very much for many of us and actually come with a little day-after hangover that makes your already difficult symptoms even worse. I took anti-anxiety meds for a time and they helped me in combination with therapy. Just keep in mind that drugs of that nature take some time to work, often a month or so.
Good luck to you. You are going to be just fine!
lily65668 alvaro31477
Posted
You don't have the disease you're talking about, though I'm not sure what will convince you of that if you've already been reassured by a doctor. It's vanishingly rare for a start - less than 1 in 500k (I'm a former neuro nur se btw). Also, it's normally fa tal within a few months of onset and you've had insomnia on and off for several years. Quite apart from all that, the symptoms aren't right. It doesn't actually start with insomnia. By the time the insomnia sets in there's considerable neurological damage. If that's what you had, you'd be severely disabled by now, and certainly unable to post on here.
The muscle jerks are symptoms of anxiety, hence the medication your psychiatrist has prescribed. I know it's hard, but you need to try and set aside your irrational fears. Health anxiety is a disease in itself, related to OCD, and can be hard to treat. I think you need to discuss your health fears in more detail with your psychiatrist.
alvaro31477 lily65668
Posted
So I've taken my pills 2 nights now, and I sleep okay, last night it was kind of hard to sleep, I felt sleepy and drowsy, and finally slept around 1 and woke up on and off from around 7:30 to 10 am. The thing is, when I wake up I wake up somewhat off balance, and my brain feels completely out of it and this has been happening for a while, pretty much since the insomnia started. I sometimes can't remember things, and do very unusual and clumsy things. My body feels very heavy. I sometimes say things I don't mean, like say things that don't make sense. I'm not sure if that should be cause for concern as even with my anxiety and depression before this was never a problem. Could it be something neurological?
NECKBONE alvaro31477
Posted
My other reply is still being moderated so I'll chime in again. If this is the mirtazapine you were talking about, insomnia is actually one of the side effects. I think the idea is to get the depression/anxiety in check and then over time that will help you sleep better. As for your symptoms, it sounds like you are just dealing with the effects of sleep deprivation and the medication may be making it a bit worse in the early stages. Sleep deprivation is tough; it can cause all sorts of cognitive problems and I have experienced everything you are talking about. The things you mention can all be symptoms of just plain old everyday insomnia, not something bigger and more difficult to treat and certainly not SFI/FFI. I'd consider staying the course with the meds for at least a month and then go back to the doctor if you don't see any improvement.
lily65668 alvaro31477
Posted
No - not neurological, it's almost certainly the side-effects of the mirtazapine. Unfortunately there's always a trade-off when you take medication to help you sleep. You get better sleep but it often comes with a hangover the next day.
It may be that the dose or the time you're taking the pills needs adjusting, or that you need to be on a different medication. You need to discuss this with the doctor who prescribed them.
alvaro31477 lily65668
Posted
I just recently started the mirtazapine 2 days ago. I've been feeling bad a week or so after the insomnia started in terms of cognition and what not. However the past two nights I slept fine and I still feel brain fog and I'm having a very hard time studying for a test because of it. I realize that it could be the mirtazapine but I'm sure it wouldn't feel exactly the same, would it?
alvaro31477 NECKBONE
Posted
NECKBONE alvaro31477
Posted
I'm sure it does help after the depression abates. But read the side effects; insomnia is pretty common early on when taking that medication.
lily65668 alvaro31477
Posted
The insomnia itself would have made you feel groggy, so it would be hard to tell after only two days how much is down to insomnia and how much to mirtazapine. What is absolutely certain is that it's not down to the disease you thought you had.
Your anxiety levels really are very high at the moment, so you need to give the mirtazapine a few weeks to work. Try and look at it from the perspective that the real illness you're suffering from is anxiety.
alvaro31477 NECKBONE
Posted
Wow, you're right. That's strange.. I've been sleeping better than usual though.. I've taken it for two nights and I've slept decently well.
alvaro31477 lily65668
Posted
Yeah I won't lie and say my anxiety and depression hasn't been high lately because it certainly has. And not sleeping makes it worse of course. My symptoms feel pretty scary though to be anxiety, maybe that's why sometimes I don't believe it even is.
lily65668 alvaro31477
Posted
Anxiety can produce a whole range of alarming symptoms, up to and including simulating heart attacks! Brain fog and general loss of concentration are very common in anxiety. Processing the intrusive thoughts and worries produced by the anxiety takes up so much capacity that it temporarily reduces the capacity needed for everyday life. It's not a sign of brain damage though, and will reverse once the anxiety is brought under control.