How Is Your Sleep Affected By Your PTSD?

[Salu]

To: midi

To be perfectly honest if doing all this would have been only up to me I would have probably ended up in a mental institution (for some reason I think that would have helped a lot more in long term) I had my mom next to me, she found some guy from alternative medicine (she believes rather strongly in it) who actually gave some solid advice. He was like a psychiatrist without a license.

Its not about doing it all at once. If you are a solid mess (forgive me for saying that) then making just one change is a big deal. For starters maybe just give up a soda before bed. Live with that for few days, then few weeks and then make the next change.


One thing I forgot: after you get up, go in front of a mirror, brush your hair, look at yourself and say out aloud: I love you.

It´s all about routine.
Wish you the best.

 

[Medic72]

I still have nightmares, not directly related to the event anymore...most of the time they are just vague and I wake up terrified or screaming - my husband loves that! lOl. I tried to take clonazepam to sleep but it just made it harder for me to wake from the nightmares and I found I woke up with my teeth clenched and my jaw sore.

I have at least one nightmare a night now since I have started the relaxation / mindfulness training. Much better than the three or four it was a couple of months ago. I found when I initially woke up (this was hard for my husband) I had to get control of my fear, turn on the light, talk myself through the room, remind myself that it was safe, when my fear subsided, I would be anxious, so I would do breathing exercises for a while, turn out the light and continue until I was tired enough to fall asleep again.
I had to do it everytime I woke up from a nightmare but getting sparse amounts of sleep in between was better than getting up and not sleeping at all. Its tough but eventually it gets easier. My counsellor suggested Ativan with relaxation techniques. I may not need the ativan. We'll see.....