Insomnia again

I had a stroke 2 yrs and 3 months ago 6 months later i posted the tòpic of insomnia . Well im afraid all this time has passed and its worse than ever. Doctor has tried me on allsorts whith no success i even paid a lot of money for acupuncture which had noneffect at all dont know howvmuch longer i can go on without sleep . Has anyoneelse out there suffered this long and then recovered. Am gettng desperate.

2 Likes

Sending you some hugs :hugs::hugs: insomnia is rubbish. I don’t have it now but did suffer when I hit the menopause & I can tell you it was miserable.

Have they done any tests to find out why you’re not sleeping?

My insomnia improved with HRT which is no help for your situation.

Really hope someone can help you. In the meantime I’d suggest sleeping in the daytime if you can to try & help.

No have had no tests just lots of different tablets that dident work unfortunately can’t take hrt anymore since the stroke and even though am 68 now still get lots of hot flushes unfortunately can’t nap either do rest and close my eyes but never sleep . The doctor has me on melatonin at the moment but two weeks in and no help yet . But thank you so much for replying.

1 Like

Some people try lavendar on their pillows, breathing/relaxation techniques. I remember trying herbal sleeping tablets which helped. If I had a really bad night i’d listen to music that usually helped me drop off. A bath before bed maybe? Stick to a bedtime routine. Just some ideas but you’ve probably already tried them already.

1 Like

Yes have tried most everything but thank you couple of glasses of wine at the weekend sometimes gives me a couple of hours but that’s about it ( don’t want to be hitting the bottle every night) :blush::blush: always in bed by 9 at the latest by then am that sleepy you would think I would sleep for a week but no just toss a turn all night. Just hope things change eventually. Thanks again.:hugs:

1 Like

Hi Lorraine @Lorraine_Langham. I know how desperate not sleeping can make you feel. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since my stroke/accident. Time of life is not helping either. (52). The only slight relief I have found is CBD oil. I assume it is helping with anxiety. I never had a problem getting to sleep but was waking at 2-3 AM and lying awake until the alarm went off which was torture. You need to be mindful of possible interactions with other medications, but I take no meds so know that cannot happen.
Hoping you find some peace soon, Julia x

1 Like

Lorraine- I know 1 glass of wine relaxes me enough to sleep. I"m sure many will recomment that. The other standard idea is Melatonin, but you’ve probably tried both of those. Have you tried CBD oil drops under the tongue? 20-40mg puts me right to sleep with no aftereffects. Jeanne

I understand your misery in the sleep department… its 2yr and 4mths and i still have a hard time… i have had melatonin,zopiclone and just been prrscribed zolpidem which really didnt agree with me at all even a a bottle of beer does nothing… i sleep at the worst times and then trying do family things become a struggle… even going shopping in the afternoon which becomes hard… i understand fully and it really sucks…

1 Like

I really sympathise with you. I have always been a bad sleeper, but after my stroke, the additional depression made the sleep problem even worse. I was on antidepressants and sleeping tablets (Zolpidem) for about 3 years. The Zolpidem gave me the best sleep I’ve ever experienced. Eventually, I decided to cope without them and now sleep for about 6 hours, with a top up after lunch. If I wake during the night, I listen to an audio book. It concentrates my mind on something specific, rather than all the other thoughts whizzing about in my head.
Have you thought about a sleep clinic? I have no experience of them, but it’s worth a try.

1 Like

Thank you for this will ask my doctor about the zolpidem have heard of this before have been thinking about "the sleep station " which is an online sleep clinic but once again will have to pay for this as no help on the NHS at my practice . Thank you so much for advice​:hugs::hugs:

1 Like

Thank you Julia for response it’s good to know am not alone with this problem . Let’s hope we eventually get better​:hugs::hugs::hugs:

2 Likes

Yes I tried that with my doctor and no he wouldn’t have it all .just kept wanting to give me antidepressants which dident help at all made me feel worse .I really hope we all eventually get some relief from this horrible problem :pensive::pensive::pensive:

1 Like

Shwmae @Lorraine_Langham, anti-depressants can have a reverse effect until they settle into your system, this can take up to six months for some. I don’t know how long you were on them for. I take an anti-anxiety SRRI which is specifically geared toward panic attacks, I went through six weeks of adjustment before they harmonised. I listen to ambient sounds on a bluetooth sleep headband, I also begin a narrative in my head, a fantasy based one, that I play out until I fall asleep. For me, this usually does the trick every time. For instance, my recent narrative is being taken from earth in a ship that takes me to another spaceship that is half mycelium and half alien technology, the purpose of the ship is to observe and record life on living planets. This allows me to visit other planets and observe their life from a safe and unobtrusive distance. As I am imagining this narrative in my head, at some point I will fall asleep.

2 Likes

Thank you am thankful for all advice. :hugs::hugs:

1 Like

And do you ever get stuck on that one scene, rewriting it over and over, or, you write such a exciting it scene you forget to sleep and want to keep going. I’ve done that many a time in my head :rofl:

Smoke some weed! That always puts me asleep :dash:

2 Likes

@Lorraine_Langham have you tried meditation. i use an app based one called Balance it is free for a year. the man on it sends me to sleep, my insomnia comes and goes. my husband monitored me when i said I was not sleeping and for most parts he said I was asleep for a number of hours then woke up for a little. even though I said I had been awake all night hopefully that’s not the case with you
regards Chris

1 Like

I’m in exactly the same situation. I can go 2/3 nights without any sleep and it has me on my knees at times because I’m desperately tired. I’m on my 3rd sleep aid medication Promethazine I’m not certain how long it will be before I can’t sleep but I’m trying to get my normal life routine back. I have slept well for the last two nights but last night was a gruelling night and I was still listening to a book at 5 this morning. I have napped a little bit but I’m not expecting to get sleep tonight because my brain is running on overtime today. I can’t concentrate on anything and I’m as anxious as a cat in a rocking chair shop. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you all.

1 Like

Thanks for advice Chris no meditation is one thing I haven’t tried I should really as despite the insomnia I am a very hyper active person. An app would be ideal will look into it thanks again :relaxed:

2 Likes

I really feel for you it’s a horrible thing I will certainly pass on anything I find that helps I think anyone that suffers from this probably benefits a little from us all talking about it :relaxed:

1 Like