onebravegirl
Gold Member
We have all been there. Flashbacks, triggers, hyper vigilance etc. I thought it might be of help to others if we had a place to write what helps each of us FINALLY get some sleep. Hopefully we can include helpful suggestions for our nightmare sufferers as well.
For myself, Hyper vigilance and nightmares led me to have insomnia for four years. I would go out of my mind trying to get few minutes of sleep only to leap out of my skin once I would eventually doze off. I even would welcome a nightmare if it meant that at least my body would manage a few minutes of rest. Lets face it, without sleep we all go out of our minds. I was covered in bruises from walking into walls and furniture. I couldn't remember anything I said. My husband would constantly look at me with this blank look and say "We already talked about this". When it came to doctor appointments I had to have someone accompany me because I would never remember what was said. I couldn't even be in charge of my own Med's because I had no idea what and when to take them. At one point the Hospital gave me chloral hydrate and it wouldn't work. If ever a sleeping Med helped the dose had to be increased over and over until it couldn't go higher and I would have to try another type.
THEN...I started using earplugs. This helped a bit. There is a whole world of earplugs out there and it took a while to find the quietest ones that felt comfortable. But even the best one in the world do let a little sound in and my hyper-vigilance would somehow pinpoint that tiny muffled sound and jerk me into a sitting position. THEN I started using my Mp3 player under my pillow, but music would just keep me listening to the music or lyrics. SO finally I discovered Audio books. The readers have calm, steady voices and I knew I wasn't going to miss any of the story if I feel asleep because I could always re-play it. Somehow that little bit of predictable noise managed to drown everything out. If I wasn't sleeping I was listening to the stories and this forced my mind OFF of my worries and on to something trivial. I choose classic adventure stories with no graphic violence or bad language so as to not work myself up. (The stories by Jack London were especially enjoyable.) I found these cool pillow speakers that lie flat under my pillow so I do not have to use headphones. I bet I have listen to Hundreds of stories. For FREE! Yep there are web sights with free audiobooks. Google em if you like.
Nightmares continued for a while. (Thats a topic for another post)
The solution of combining earplugs with the audiobooks put only the sounds I wanted in my head, instead of everything else. I still use this. I no longer have sleeping problems or nightmares, but It just gives me the best sleep imaginable.
So...How about you? What helps you get the rest you deserve?
O
For myself, Hyper vigilance and nightmares led me to have insomnia for four years. I would go out of my mind trying to get few minutes of sleep only to leap out of my skin once I would eventually doze off. I even would welcome a nightmare if it meant that at least my body would manage a few minutes of rest. Lets face it, without sleep we all go out of our minds. I was covered in bruises from walking into walls and furniture. I couldn't remember anything I said. My husband would constantly look at me with this blank look and say "We already talked about this". When it came to doctor appointments I had to have someone accompany me because I would never remember what was said. I couldn't even be in charge of my own Med's because I had no idea what and when to take them. At one point the Hospital gave me chloral hydrate and it wouldn't work. If ever a sleeping Med helped the dose had to be increased over and over until it couldn't go higher and I would have to try another type.
THEN...I started using earplugs. This helped a bit. There is a whole world of earplugs out there and it took a while to find the quietest ones that felt comfortable. But even the best one in the world do let a little sound in and my hyper-vigilance would somehow pinpoint that tiny muffled sound and jerk me into a sitting position. THEN I started using my Mp3 player under my pillow, but music would just keep me listening to the music or lyrics. SO finally I discovered Audio books. The readers have calm, steady voices and I knew I wasn't going to miss any of the story if I feel asleep because I could always re-play it. Somehow that little bit of predictable noise managed to drown everything out. If I wasn't sleeping I was listening to the stories and this forced my mind OFF of my worries and on to something trivial. I choose classic adventure stories with no graphic violence or bad language so as to not work myself up. (The stories by Jack London were especially enjoyable.) I found these cool pillow speakers that lie flat under my pillow so I do not have to use headphones. I bet I have listen to Hundreds of stories. For FREE! Yep there are web sights with free audiobooks. Google em if you like.
Nightmares continued for a while. (Thats a topic for another post)
The solution of combining earplugs with the audiobooks put only the sounds I wanted in my head, instead of everything else. I still use this. I no longer have sleeping problems or nightmares, but It just gives me the best sleep imaginable.
So...How about you? What helps you get the rest you deserve?
O
