6:08am & still no sleep
It would appear that my bad bouts of insomnia are back, on and off now for the last week or so I've been unable to get a proper nights sleep and on occasions like today find myself still wide awake having had no sleep since the night before.
The question now is, if I do feel sleepy, do I sleep and mess up my day/night clock or do I force my self to stay awake until this evening? If I simply can't stay awake through sheer exhaustion than the former will be a given. We'll see how I fair, might need a coffee aid to keep me burning.
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Seraphimia I hear you, I
Seraphimia
I hear you, I hear you!! I have suffered insomnia on and off for years. I am in my mid 50's.
About a month ago, I had a night similar to yours. I went to bed very late, like 2am...because I was on the net searching a topic. I find that when I go to bed this hour, is when I have no sleep at all for the rest of the night (early morning more like it). It was like...and possibly was...my body clock nearing the time where it was preparing for wake up. I was at the point where I no longer felt tired. It was frustrating. I laid there..thinking, I have to get up for work in a few hours...in a couple of hours, in an hour. It's awful. I'd get so frustrated, I'd switch the light on and read in bed trying to make myself feel weary. Did a bit. But as soon as I laid my head on the pillow, the mind continued to be active. I too was worrying about how I was going to survive the day at work....survive the day fullstop until I could go to bed again. I managed. I don't know if I drifted in and out of small sleeps or what, but the whole night felt like my mind was working over time and that I was awake the whole night. The switch off button wasn't working. So what I put it down to, is : don't work on the computer late at night.....particularly until early hours. Go to bed at a decent time. 10-10.30pm works for me. And often, I have drunk alcohol in the evening which plays havoc on me too. So, I'm conscious on the amount of wine I drink in the evening. I try to drink lots of water with the wine. Speaking of water, I'm sure if you are dehydrated, doesn't help with sleep either. Another thing, if I'm worrying or anxious about something....that interferes with sleep. In that case, I have got up...say..4am with the worry. Got some paper and a pen. Wrote down the worry. Wrote down a plan on what I can do to fix it. Helps with feeling in control of the situation. I place the paper and pen on my side table. I tell myself...no point in worrying any more. Turn the light off. Then I sleep.
Hope this helps.
Love and LIght
Viv
:(
This saddened me to read, as I can relate to it completely. Once upon a time, I faced that question every second and third day. One thing I've found from experience however is that, if you indulge in coffee to help, you may or may not feel more awake for a bit, but you'll also start to go a little crazy! Perhaps that's just me as I have a weird immunity to small doses of caffeine, but I've witnessed similar things in others.
I really wish I could offer you a magic cure here, or some amazing advice, but I've been searching for the last 13 years for this myself. If you find one, let us know, please!
*huggles*
Thank you both for your
Thank you both for your replies and yes it does help, even just knowing I'm not the only one.
I ended up sleeping through the day and of course worsened my day/night pattern. Last night/early this morning was awful, because I was really wiped out, so tired and I still could not sleep. I'd resorted to a coffee aid the other day and not only did it not work, but I was a wired, gave me a bad belly and I couldn't sleep that night.
I agree Viv I need to break the cycle and switch off the computer. I guess it's the fear of my thoughts and the nightmares that invariably follow when I do get off to sleep, worse still I wake with the feeling of the nightmare, but not very often can I recall the contents.
I have been using google calendar at a friends suggestion, not so much the calendar as I already use iCal which Google calendar is almost identical too, but Google calendar uses SMS (and it's free). So where ever you are you get an SMS reminding you of your next task and in my case that's to help me with my general wellbeing (I suffer with adjustment disorder and a form of agoraphobia) so that I am more active during the day, keep those activities going and, also, that I go to bed at a more reasonable hour and shut off my MacBook Pro (having a portable computer can be lethal) plus with the activity will naturally get off to sleep.
So after I leave this reply I am finishing up for the night and shutting off my machine which in itself has become both a crutch (it keeps my mind occupied) and an excuse not to sleep. Just one more minute, hour… You know how it gets.
Blessed be.
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