So Tired!

[digger]

I know this will be true for lots of people and I'm not expecting any miracle answers, I just need to sound off somewhere about because I am so tired of it and so damned exhausted.

I took mirtazapine for a couple of years to help with sleep and anxiety, but while it meant I slept more it also made my dreams and nightmares so vivid I'd end up being disturbed by them through the day. I came off it about six weeks ago and was pretty much instantly back into insomnia.

My anxiety levels increase through the evening and it can take me several hours to get off to sleep and when I do I'll be awake again within an hour or two. Sometimes I'll be able to get back to sleep in ten/ fifteen minutes, other times I will be awake then for a couple of hours. This pattern goes on through the night usually waking three or four times.

I know that I would deal with other things better if I slept better, but if I was dealing with other things better I'd probably sleep better! My life seems full of vicious circles like this!

 

[eav]

I know that I would deal with other things better if I slept better, but if I was dealing with other things better I'd probably sleep better! My life seems full of vicious circles like this!

I know that feeling! So frustrating.

 

[BLHutch]

I have to get up at 530 every morning. My night normally runs like this: In bed at 8 and try to read or mess around on the internet, lights out at 9, lay in the dark until 1130 or 12 which is usually when I manage to fall asleep. Wake up around 0230.....usually due to a nightmare. Back to sleep around 0330 or so. Get up at 530. At least two or three nights a week, I can fall asleep a littler earlier. Usually due to exhaustion. But then I'll sleep for maybe two hours and then wake up at midnight. Then again at 0230, etc.

I don't take any sleep aids. To be honest, I'm afraid to sleep since that brings on the nightmares. I've tried a lot of different things, varied bedtimes, some suggestions that my therapist made, etc, all to no avail. It is made worse by the fact that in my public safety career (firefighter, then patrol officer, finally detective), my internal clock was ten kinds of screwed up. When you throw PTSD on top of it....well, you get the idea.

When you wake up in the middle of the night, what do you do? Do you lay in bed and try to fall back asleep immediately or do you get up for a few minutes? I have found that I fall back asleep faster if I get out of bed and walk around the house for about five minutes or so. I know that may sound counterproductive, but it does seem to help me a little bit. As far as the nightmares go, well, nothing has seemed to help with that just yet.

 

[digger]

Yes I do that too, if I can't get back off to sleep pretty quickly I get up for a little bit. I also quite often use a relaxation script or audio book or the radio to listen too as it distracts my head sometimes enough to get back to sleep.

I haven't found anything that helps with nightmares either and I know part of the problem is I can get scared of sleeping because of them.

 

[Abstract]

Do you lay in bed and try to fall back asleep immediately or do you get up for a few minutes?

Personally I find attempting to force it for longer than 15 - 20 mins is very unhelpful. It ups the whole drama around sleep. I try to keep things as calm and accepting as possible.

Digger, the fear of nightmares is such a big part of the problem isn't it? I would add that for me sleep issues and taking meds are also linked to hypervigilence.

Sleep is a nightmare isn;t it? At least mine has improved so I am grateful.

 

[Jenfa]

Remeron(mirtazapine) made my dreams so terrifying that I had to stop it completely. That, and I had this weird testy attitude all day long that didn't wear off until dinner time. But as for being exhausted, yes, yess, yesss. I'm pretty sure I micro-sleep as people are talking to me. Hopefully they just think I'm having a weird seizure and not being plain rude. Melatonin 6-10mg can sometimes knock me clean out, but you gotta adjust your environment. Those ambient background noise thingies, or even download something like "tropical rainstorm" or whatever you find relaxing, and let it play in the background starting about an hour before you want to pass out. Mine is tropical birds and frogs, however this is not recommended if you have a cat under one year of age. He will then attack your feet from over the blanket.