• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

Sleep Problems Are Literally Driving Me Crazy

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hush92

Confident
Ok so I have this thing where it is very, very difficult for me to fall asleep and can take some time. Everything in my environment has to be just so before I can fall asleep and if even the slightest thing is off I will not be able to. To make matters worse, if any of these specific requirements my body apparently needs to sleep become unmet WHILE I SLEEP I will very often be IMMEDIATELY awoken with a terrifying nightmare.
Examples: Change in lighting, change in temperature, any of my limbs coming out from under the covers, facing a certain direction in bed, doors being opened, etc etc etc.

Last night I don't believe I woke up with a nightmare I believe I just woke up randomly. However upon realizing it was dark in the room my brain shot into high alert mode and I was unable to sleep. I was tossing and turning but everything felt wrong and lying certain ways or facing directions not towards the wall made me feel so tense and as though I was about to be attacked that I just could not fall back asleep. Furthermore I will interpret things around the room as being way scarier and more threatening than they actually are (does anyone else get that?) like seeing the sweater hanging on my door as a figure standing there or other things. I have to work hard to not go into a full blown paranoid and panicked state and try to prevent that by immediately becoming forcefully cheerful.

Anyways I ended up giving up on sleep and couldn't fall back asleep for 2 hours. It sucked. I woke up the next morning feeling dead. I've been sleep deprived several days now and it is NOT good for my psychotic symptoms or really anything, even if I lose only an hour or two of sleep. Today I was absolutely tripping out, I was not in my body, everything looked really strange, I felt like I was dreaming the whole day, I was talking to demons, just very weird things happening to me. I was walking around in 30 degree weather with no jacket in a tshirt and wasn't bothered in the slightest, physical sensations are so dull to me it's though I feel them through a costume.

I am in desperate need of sleep tips guys. How do I make my body not so tense when I sleep. I'm also going to bring this up to my therapist next session. I can't even relax while I am dead asleep. Unbelievable.
 
Would like to mention that I could not just turn the lights on because I have a roommate. Makes sleep about 100x more difficult because we have to sleep with the light off every night. Very hard for me. To try to remedy that I will go to sleep before her when I can so the lights are on, but I will then wake up when she turns them off so it's pointless anyways.
 
About the light problem, I also sleep with lights on, I cant any other way except when very stable or calmed...

Could you make a tent or similar so that only you get the light? Point the light?

Have you considered medications?
 
About the light problem, I also sleep with lights on, I cant any other way except when very stable or ca...
For sleep? Actually no I haven't and I don't know why.....wouldn't mind trying I suppose. I think my worry with sleep meds was that they would mess with my dreams, which a lot of time are the most exciting part of my life.....And hmm I guess I could try those things. Still having a small little light when you're surrounded by darkness doesn't bring me much comfort. Ah well. I should at least make an effort. Thank you for the ideas.
 
If you have a psyche doctor, ask them about Prazosin for PTSD nightmares, It has helped me a lot....it's a blood pressure medication that can partially block the actions of adrenaline while you sleep and it will allow you to sleep without the disturbing nightmares.
 
A lot of people seem to hate flexeril (muscle relaxant) but for a couple years that worked great for sleep and the tension for me. Have you tried that? Or any other sleep meds? Of course the ideal would be not needing sleep meds. But I am prone to panic attacks and meltdowns if sleep deprived. Flexeril is pretty safe and it helped me rest well and wake up not in pain. Gabapentin is also relaxing for my mind and the muscles. I add it to my current sleep med, or take one if I wake up at 2am. Also, I have a light-hearted sort of coffee-table book laying on the nightstand...something I can read 1-2 pages of if I wake up, to redirect my attention until I'm sleepy again. That helps takes the freaked out part out of it all some. Or get up and get some water.

Can you sleep with a nightlight or do the shadows bug you?
 
A lot of people seem to hate flexeril (muscle relaxant) but for a couple years that worked great for sleep...
Yeah that's what I was trying to say in my first response, the shadows creep me out too much. Everything has to be light. I've managed to work myself down to be able to sleep in (slightly) dimmer lighting then fully bright. Will ask my therapist/med provider (theradoc?? ha) about those and other options, thank you.
 
For sleep? Actually no I haven't and I don't know why.....wouldn't mind trying I suppose. I think my worr...
For me they don't do anything with my dreams, though I'm sometimes a bit groggy in the morning, but less and less as they lose effectivity :P

I don't like dreams as they are mainly wierd or nightmares... Though I havent been having many for a while because of overexhaustion...
 
I used to stay awake for days at a time because I was afraid to close my eyes. Eventually I became delusional and had no choice but to deal with my sleep issues. I was put on tons of different sleep meds but my mind still fought the sleep. The doctor finally put me on Nozinan which actually made me sleep for 27 hours straight (clearly the dose was wrong and was adjusted). I stayed on this for a couple of months while I changed some things in my lifestyle (I quit smoking, drinking coffee and added physical activity of some kind to my day and I learned how to view my bedroom in the present day as a safe space. I also incorporated guided sleep meditations, but it had to be on a continuous loop otherwise the change in sound would wake me up. I now take Prazosin and Lorazepam at bedtime and usually sleep 8 hours. I have had hardly any nightmares because of the Prazosin and the Lorazepam calms my mind just enough to let me sleep. I'm pretty sure the Prazosin also helps with my daytime flashbacks. Definitely speak to a professional though...I just wanted to let you know there's hope :) Good luck!
 
I used to stay awake for days at a time because I was afraid to close my eyes. Eventually I became delusi...
I have been there before. Luckily my fear is so much more manageable and under control than it used to be. Night time used to be a real terror for me, up until I was around 18.....now I wouldn't say the fear has become uncommon but it's definitely not every night and at the extent that it was. Very glad you found things to help you!! Thank you for suggestions as well.
 
Considering you are not relaxing while asleep medication might be in order to allay some of your tension as well as to help you fall and stay asleep, especially if you have psychotic symptoms that are worsening because of lack of sleep.

How is your relationship with your roommate? Is this like a college situation? If your relationship is quite good and dim lighting bothers her, could you maybe convince her to use a sleep mask or arrange some tapestries around her bed? As I say, I don't know what the relationship is. If this were me in college I had some roommates that would have worked with me on this sort of arrangement, some who might not. (Also, if it is a college situation, you should be able to arrange a room just for you for medical purposes. I almost did that.)

I had a lot of lifestyle changes in my back pocket for terrible insomnia cycles. The longest I was ever awake was a week, and I felt like I was going to die. I regulated almost every part of my day around optomizing my sleep. I noticed that the ideal time for me to be ready and waiting to fall asleep was approximately 11:15pm. I journaled for ten minutes before bed but did not journal IN bed (did nothing in my bed but sleep--nothing else, ever) and stored the journal across the room in a drawer. I sprayed my bed with lavender oil. I didn't allow myself any coffee or chocolate after noon. I severely limited caffeine. Late night eating is also a bad idea. I only consumed children's media 6pm onward--nothing too "adult." I did not do anything electronically stimulating after 9pm (video games, TV, etc).

I'm sure there was more. I don't remember my entire arsenal as I have not had to go to these extremes in a long time, although I still have a ban on late night violent/heavy media and prefer children's movies or other light-hearted activities. My only exception is interacting here, which I try to use my best judgement with at night.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It really blows.
 
Considering you are not relaxing while asleep medication might be in order to allay some of your ten...
Yeah....last night was rough.....rolled too close to the edge of the bed so was continuously snapped out of sleep.....I had one dream and it was me being harassed by a demon and if I tried to call God it would punch me in the gut.....agh....

I'm close with my roommate but she doesn't know about my issues because I don't tell anyone anything. It's bad because I feel embarrassed to tell her I'm afraid of the dark. Gah. Thanks for the advice! I also had to ban and moderate a lot of things for myself at night time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top