Insomnia

Blergbot

So I've taken my ambien, and I still can't sleep...i just did some ambien-hazy shopping online and i'm pretty much wide awake and bored out of my mind. So I start looking at pretty, non-matronly MOB dresses on BHDLN, and I see one I think would be perfect. So I send a pic to my mom via text, assuming she'll just ignore it until tomorrow morning. However, my mom also struggles with crppling insomnia, so she texts me back "nice!" I then assume my mom is awake, so I ask her if she has an other ideas/things she's had her eye on. And I get back: "Sweetie, it's 4:30am and I have to get up at 7. Why don't we talk about this later? Oops! In my defense #1 Ambien and #2 she did send me an e-mail at around 2:30am.

JCbride2015

Gah!  Oops.  I once texted my mom about something in the middle of the night and she texted me right back that I had woken her up.  Apparently she sleeps with the phone on her bed, like right next to her pillow.

Blergbot

I guess my mom does, too. I sleep with my phone on the beside table, but if someone sends me a text message when I'm asleep, I either don't notice it vibrating (I'm a heavy sleeper) or I glance at it and answer it when I wake up.

HaileyDancingbear

Sometimes I take a sleeping aid and go online while waiting for it to kick in, then by the next morning I have completely forgotten about anything I did.  I stopped going on TK after taking sleeping aids because I kept commenting with the same answers on the same posts twice.  

pinkcow13

I used to sleep with my phone by my bed or under my pillow, but it used to scare the living hell out of me when it would vibrate in the middle of the night, or ring. I keep it in do not disturb mode, so when it is locked, it remains completely silent. I'm a very light sleeper, and sometimes suffer from insomnia, so if the phone wakes me in the middle of the night, it's pretty much over for me. I like to check it on MY terms in the middle of the night, thank you very much.

pumpkinsandturkeys

I alllllways have insomnia -- I blame the crapload of concussions I've had. Even when drugged, I wake up at least twice.

I have to keep my phone set to 'Phone Calls Only' so that it doesn't make any noise or even flash if I get an e-mail, text, etc., otherwise I'd see it flashing during the million times I wake up, check it every time (because I can't ignore that darn flashing light), and then my mind starts going and sleep becomes impossible.

Blergbot

I've had insomnia and other sleep problems my whole life. Ambien is a godsend for me. But sometimes if it doesn't kick in right away I will post inane gobbledygook on Facebook. Haven't done that on TK yet I just got back from the pharmacy and it turns out they had me on a lower dosage of ambien, which doesn't put me to sleep--just makes me kind of loopy. Today I got the real stuff. Looking forward to SLEEP!

JCbride2015

pumpkinsandturkeys said:

I alllllways have insomnia -- I blame the crapload of concussions I've had. Even when drugged, I wake up at least twice.

I have to keep my phone set to 'Phone Calls Only' so that it doesn't make any noise or even flash if I get an e-mail, text, etc., otherwise I'd see it flashing during the million times I wake up, check it every time (because I can't ignore that darn flashing light), and then my mind starts going and sleep becomes impossible.

@pumpkinsandturkeys I have terrible insomnia too, and I've also had a ton of concussions in my life.  Do you think there's actually a link?  that would explain a lot.

pumpkinsandturkeys

@JCBride2014 -- I'm fairly convinced that there is. I don't remember having this much trouble sleeping as a kid/teen, and most of my concussions were from age 18 onward. I know that disturbed sleep/difficulty sleeping can be a symptom of concussions, despite being fatigued.

My neurologist describes concussions like having a thunderstorm in your brain, and it moves around from place to place, the same way clouds do, which is why they have difficulty treating them -- there's always a different part of the brain being affected, and your brain as a whole tends to swell, so you have to rest the whole thing in order to recover. With all of that going on, and the fact that concussions can compound upon each other, making them easier to get after you've had a few, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the symptoms linger.

I've also had post-concussive syndrome (PCS), which is what a lot of pro football and hockey players suffer from after a really bad hit to the head. During that period, I had trouble sleeping for more than half an hour at a time, and even though that was over 5 years ago, I really do believe that a lot of my current sleep issues stem from the head injuries. My neuro has agreed that it's possible, but it's tough to prove.

JCbride2015

Makes sense.  I've had at least three serious ones involving blacking out or memory loss, but all those were before the age of 18.  I have always been a light sleeper and had insomnia as far back as I can remember.

blabla89

I'll admit to having midnight texted people on weeknights when I couldn't sleep. With half-awake spelling errors that made it seem like I was drunk, I'm sure.

On another note, have y'all ever tried progressive muscle relaxation? I used to see a therapist who gave me her PMR cd and she has the most relaxing voice ever. It's amazing, and it's the one thing that really does help me get to sleep.

pumpkinsandturkeys

JCBride2014 said:

Makes sense.  I've had at least three serious ones involving blacking out or memory loss, but all those were before the age of 18.  I have always been a light sleeper and had insomnia as far back as I can remember.

I've had at least two serious mTBIs (when I was 3 and 5), and then about 5 other mild to moderate ones from when I was 18ish on (including the one when I was 21 that resulted in PCS). I'm so susceptible to them now that I've actually gotten a mild one by turning too quickly in bed at the same time as FI and whacking my head off of his! (A little funny, but also scary)

It's very possible that having a few serious concussions as a child could have affected your sleep patterns. Obviously, I'm not a neuro, but based on what I know about them, there is a chance it's a factor.

CMGragain

I have developed a series of memory games that I use when I can't sleep.

1.  I mentally recite the times tables up through 12.
2.  Next I do the states and capitols of the USA.
3.  Next is the presidents of the United States in chronological order
4.  Next the kings and queens of Great Britain back to William the Conqueror.
5.  I'm working on the books of the Holy Bible, but haven't achieved that one yet.  I'm usually asleep by then.

Yes. I've learned a lot of stuff trying to get to sleep!

Blergbot

I have tried PMR many a time. It doesn't work for me, but I have really intractable insomnia. I did a sleep study, and they said that most people go in insisting that they're not going to be able to fall asleep, and it usually takes them about 30 minutes. It took me over 4 hours. I've also tried many games. I've counted backwards from 1,000 IN GERMAN. But this has been happening my whole life. My poor parents used to spend hours every night putting me to bed, and I would still lie there long after they went to sleep. I feel like that book Go the Fuck to Sleep was written for them.

Cookie Pusher

I wish I could share my ease-of-falling-asleep with all of you. I've had occasional nights where I have trouble sleeping, but I can pretty consistently fall asleep within 3 minutes of crawling into bed and sleep soundly through the night. The closest thing I've had to insomnia in years was the other night when I was so cold that it took an hour to warm up enough so my teeth chattering didn't keep me awake.

pumpkinsandturkeys

Cookie Pusher said:

I wish I could share my ease-of-falling-asleep with all of you. I've had occasional nights where I have trouble sleeping, but I can pretty consistently fall asleep within 3 minutes of crawling into bed and sleep soundly through the night. The closest thing I've had to insomnia in years was the other night when I was so cold that it took an hour to warm up enough so my teeth chattering didn't keep me awake.

My FI is exactly like this. I don't generally begrudge anyone who falls asleep easily, but it's soooo frustrating on nights when I'm tossing and turning for 3 hours and can't get comfortable and he's sleeping like a log in a matter of minutes (and often snoring).

Cookie Pusher

FI and I probably wouldn't be together anymore if I didn't fall asleep so easily. He is up for work at 5:30 while I don't have to get up until 7:15. He invariably wakes me up at least 3 times between 5:30-6:30am when he leaves because he walks like an elephant on our hardwood floors, whacks me in the face with his arm when he's trying to get out of bed, or slamming the door shut as he's leaving the apartment. I pretty much get a free pass to be awesome in exchange for not murdering him in the morning!

afox007

Blergbot said:

I have tried PMR many a time. It doesn't work for me, but I have really intractable insomnia. I did a sleep study, and they said that most people go in insisting that they're not going to be able to fall asleep, and it usually takes them about 30 minutes. It took me over 4 hours. I've also tried many games. I've counted backwards from 1,000 IN GERMAN. But this has been happening my whole life. My poor parents used to spend hours every night putting me to bed, and I would still lie there long after they went to sleep. I feel like that book Go the Fuck to Sleep was written for them.

Omfg! I read Go the Fuck to Sleep for the first time tonight after a day with my friend and her daughter

Blergbot

And...it's back. The insomnia, I mean. Not sure what's going on with me. I'm stressed, as usual, but not to an extreme degree. I really don't to start off my week an exhasted blob of ineffectivity.