Poor sleep for 5 years but things are now escalating
Posted , 3 users are following.
I`ve been suffering from poor sleep for the last 5 years. It`s not so much a problem of falling asleep ( 5 minutes top for me to be asleep) but rather staying asleep. I uesed to get up once per night for a toilet break, always at the same time ( between 2-3am) and this has gone up to 2-3 times per night in the last couple of years. Last week it started to get real bad. Getting up at 3 am but then I `m hardly able to fall asleep again, Maybe for periods of 15 minutes on and off but no deep sleep. This is beginni ngto worry me and I`m not sure if it got worse cause I start to focus on it or if there is some more troubling medical condition behind it all.
I do suffer from anxiety for at least 15 years and depression for at least 2 years.
Can`t concentrate , have days and weeks where I have something comparable to tunnel vision, my memory is not as good anylonger either.
I do feel very tired and heavy around my eyes. Once I stop working I get real tired and loose even more concentration and get confused. But then when I try to go to bed a few hors later I don`t feel as tired anylonger.
At times I wonder if these are early stages of early onset dementia.
I`m only 47.
0 likes, 7 replies
Silverfoxx Rockers
Posted
I hear you. I am 44 and having similar issues. I often wake up at 3.30 am and can't get back to sleep or sleep on and off very lightly. Then I panic and go through a couple of nights of hardly any sleep at all. In my case it is related to health anxiety. I had a major health scare in June and needed a hysterectomy and I wonder if my sleep problems are a delayed reaction to all this. I am determined to do something about it and will try CBR now. If necessary I will consider mess. I feel awful after one hour sleep today and have no idea how I am going to get through the day.
Rockers Silverfoxx
Posted
Rockers Silverfoxx
Posted
Silverfoxx Rockers
Posted
By the way, I'm sure it's not dementia. Sleeplessness does produce these symptoms.
NECKBONE Rockers
Posted
Hi, sorry to hear about your troubles. Curious as to what time you go to bed at night? Also, have you sought out any help with the anxiety and depression?
My insomnia started much like yours and I've always been someone who had no trouble falling asleep as well. It's a little hell waking up in the middle of the night and laying there for hours until it's time to get up. That light sleep you talk about is only enough to keep you thinking that you might fall asleep for real at some point but it normally doesn't happen that way.
What finally got me fixed was basic sleep hygiene, especially getting out of the bed when I couldn't sleep. Also going to bed much later than I was accustomed to. Like you, I was so tired during the day that all I wanted to do when I came home was go to sleep at 8-9PM but this only makes the middle of the night awakenings earlier and more difficult to get through. I started staying up until midnight and getting out of bed at 5AM regardless of how well I had slept. Gradually I started to sleep all the way through that 5 hour period (even getting some deep sleep) and then began adding time each week until I got to 7 hours in bed. I also had to deal with the anxiety and depression head on, which I did through CBT. I won't say that I am back to 9 hours like I got when I was a kid, but long gone are the days where I only got 3 hours and for that I am thankful.
Rockers NECKBONE
Posted
As for my bedtimes. I don`t go to bed before 11pm, sometimes even later which makes the next day horrible.
What I noticed regardless of what time I go to sleep I always wake up around 2.40 am. And for the last few weeks it has been a real trouble falling asleep again afterwards . I do manage but it`s such alight sleep I can hear myself breath at times.
Years ago I used to get up once I could not sleep anylonger at night, which was not as often as it happens now without any ill effect on my next day. But those days seem to be well over.
The strangest thing is I can kind of power through the day at my work, I`m self employed, but once I stop in the early evening I get right away extremely tired. Literally the minute I stop working this is happening. And the confusion sets in.
NECKBONE Rockers
Posted
You might try online therapy resources. There are a bunch here in the US and I have used one with great success. It is so much more convenient and there is no difference in the experience or effect vs. going for an in-person session (at least for me). There are many out there that use skype now. Just google "online therapy."
Also, I wouldn't be so reluctant to take some light medication for anxiety and depression. I did for a time and it helped, unlike sleeping pills which only made the problem worse. There are many here that are opposed to all manner of medications but there is some real research out there to back up the effectiveness of some depression and anxiety meds. The very best clinical outcomes for depression and anxiety come through a combo of medication and CBT, and that's how I approached it. Once I started to feel better, I discontinued the meds and kept up the therapy sessions.
The highest recommendation I can give is just to get out of the bed when you wake up at 2:40AM. I know it is difficult but if you will occupy your mind with something relaxing, you will be more likely to "reset" and then be able to get sleepy again. Laying there tossing and turning and getting that 'in and out' sleep thing is more harmful than just getting up, even if you never make it back to sleep.
Also, I don't know if this is a factor for you but drinking was something I had to nix completely when I was at my worst point with insomnia. It helped calm my nerves a bit in the evening, which I thought would help me sleep. But it spikes your glucose levels and then several hours later when you are asleep, your glucose crashes and your heart starts to beat much faster than it would otherwise. This can send anxiety through the roof and makes you even more likely to wake up in the middle of the night, and it is far more difficult to go back to sleep in that state. Again, may not be an issue for you at all but did want to bring it up since that was part of my problem.