Falling Asleep

[Pinkcake]

I have trouble falling asleep sometimes, well, a lot of times. I lay there and it's quiet and dark and I think about my dad and everything that happened with his death and I have a panic attack. I don't even know WHY I have a panic attack. When I do, I have to get up and move for a few minutes.

Then when I'm asleep, if I have the nightmare, I wake up scared. Then I go back to sleep and go right back into the nightmare.

How do I stop this? I can't take sleeping medication because I have a 2.5 year old and I'm separated from my husband so its just me and him at night.

 

[Sues]

Hi Pinkcake, I'm sorry that you are having trouble sleeping and with nightmares. I have problems too. I sleep with a light on. It helps and when I do wake up I'm able to get my bearings a lot sooner so it also helps me recover from a nightmare sooner.

I wish I knew how to stop this or what to say to you to fix it, but I have no answers. Others have posted here about looking at pictures or reading things that are relaxing and that remind you of good things to get your mind clear of bad thoughts before you sleep. I haven't tried that yet, but it might help you.

I hope you can get some sleep tonight and that you don't have any nightmares. Hang in there, you are not alone!

 

[Shellbell]

My insomnia is very bad and my nightmares are terrible and every night, as my PTSD is severe. I currently take Mirtazapine, which is an AD that helps sleep. It doesn't knock me out like sleeping tablets and I can still hear my kids if they wake up in the night. I can't drive though until the morning. I also take Seroquel which helps ease nightmares. I know not everyone wants to take medication, and neither did I, but after 30 years of chronic insomnia and nightmares every night for months on end since the PTSD hit, I couldn't function, so I had no option. And it does work.

I hope you find some way to help with this thats suits you.

 

[Pinkcake]

Things seem to be getting better. I haven't had a nightmare in a few nights. I also started working out and it really seems to help. I do an hour of Zumba a couple nights a week and do thirty minutes of cardio the other days.

 

[Legend]

Hey Pinkcake, Good news on the nightmare thing, I have them pretty often and they can be pretty bad at times. I would say it's like waking up in another world and living there for around 8 or so hours. I then live in this waking world for 15/16 hours then repeat it all over again.:facepalm:

I really dont hate it so much as I am use to it in a way. I do have some fun there, I can run real fast at times, and I also can jump real high and just sort of float there for a few moments. I do dream about being in a prison camp a lot and that's pretty tough on me, I am real skinny again and can see my body. I am also very hungry there which brings back bad thoughts and on occasion a few tears, I wake up crying.

Have a great day, Legend

 

[Pinkcake]

Thanks Legend...my nightmares are more re-living what I saw. They came back last night.

Just over and over again and I wake up and go back into the dream again when I fall asleep. I see my brother running out telling us to call 911 and yelling for his wife (she is a nurse). I just see my dad lying there struggling to take a breath and turning blue and his eyes rolling back in his head. I see him convulsing and my brothers trying to give him CPR and then I see him being rolled out of the house on a stretcher and just knowing. I see my teenage nieces and nephews all crying and hugging. My brother ran up the street because the ambulance was taking too long. Then I'm in the "family room" at the hospital and the doctor comes in and tell us "I'm sorry, but I'm sure you know, your husband and father didn't make it. He was dead before he got here." I hear my brothers wailing and see my mom sitting there in shock. This is where I wake up.

I cannot imagine what you've been through.

 

[ms spock]

Things seem to be getting better. I haven't had a nightmare in a few nights. I also started working out and it really seems to help. I do an hour of Zumba a couple nights a week and do thirty minutes of cardio the other days.

That is a great strategy.

Having a picture of a flower or landscape to focus on when you wake up used to help me a lot.

 

[Pinkcake]

Nightmares again last night. It was a looooooong night.

 

[DharmaGirl]

Have you tried Prazosin? It is a blood pressure medicine but it works for nightmares. I take this along with Clonodine (same principle) and my nightmares are so much better. It is so hard to have horrible nightmares everytime you go to sleep. I also sleep with my dogs when things are bad.

 

[Pinkcake]

I haven't tried medication aside from herbal melantonin. I am a single mom to a two and half year old so I have to be cognizant if he wakes up at night. I am also a severe light weight when it comes to meds. Benedryl makes me extremely loopy. I seem to have the side effects not a whole lot get.

When I started on celexa, I was severly nauseous for about a month.

 

[BloomInWinter]

Pinkcake,

I'm sorry for what you went through. I was a paramedic and went on many calls such as this.

What strikes me about your trauma is the 'hot spots' - the most painful sensory parts - that are being brought up in your dreams and in your waking hours.

I have many of these. Are you seeing a therapist? I am finally getting freed from such hot spots by EMDR.

It took my 2 1/2 years to be ready for EMDR, but most are ready far sooner.

The one thing that seemed to help me get enough rest without losing my functioning was low dose meds. Because when I can't sleep, I can't work on the healing skills that I need to practice each day.

I too refused to take anything because of the worries of my children needing me, and having to be able to wake instantly because both my hubby and son sleepwalk.

I did teach my kids to keeping shaking me and saying my name loudly until I wake up. Now they know how to do that automatically.

The sleepwalking is better because both hubby and kids are getting more sleep so they are less exhausted.

The Mommy part of me takes over in my sleep and still has managed to somehow respond appropriately when my kids need me.

Hang in there!

 

[DharmaGirl]

I am also a light sleeper, and since those meds aren't sleeping meds, it doesn't make you sleep hard like sleeping meds do. I understand your worries, however.