Who has trouble sleeping

[Chorizo]

Takes me a LONG time to fall asleep at night, I don't STAY asleep and when I do sleep, I have horrifying or gory AND horrifying nightmares, so yeah, life is pretty good in that aspect. Riiight.

[Kate51]

This is the first time I knew this had a name, I just thought I was a "Nightowl", have been since age seven. And my Mom always thought that's because I was a bed-wetter until age 12, it was because I was afraid to go to sleep (I would dream I went to the bathroom. Warm. Oh no!)
I'm 62 now and still haven't solved it. I only sleep well when I'm left totally alone, quiet, and no sudden noise. My floor stomping husband never got that. He sleeps fitfully, even talks on the phone in his sleep, and loves a ton of blankets (not for me with my screwy hormones) so I just hit the couch. Course I was just happy to quit wetting the bed........

[Fred]

I wish I could have a good sleep without meds. It's been so long now...
Stilnoct kind of pills (be it zolpidem, zopiclone, ....) don't do anything anymore.
I have to use the 'side effects' of Seroquel to fall asleep and still, when I wake up too early (often) I rarely can succeed to fall sleep again.

Using the side effects of an anti-psychotic to sleep sounds a bit crazy for me but for my doctor it's no problems...
Well I don't know what to think about my doctors and meds anymore.
Last time he even prescribed me Abilify (another anti-psychotic Oo) for the day, supposedly allowing me to take less benzo's: a possible side effect of that one is sudden death without known reason
You guess I prefer good old xanax then. I feel like a guinea pig sometimes.

[Jules22871]

I am very familiar with the guinea pig syndrome Fred. Been one for the last 5 years.

I am really surprised to see how many people have trouble sleeping. I knew there were more like me out there, just not that many. I took a 30 minute nap today. That was as long as I was able to sleep. I am so tired right now but I know if I try to go to sleep I will be wide awke and then I"ll get depressed about not sleeping and feel even worse. So I think I'll hang out on the board here and do some reading and posting.

prr2. I am jealous. I iwsh I had that much to do to occupy my time!

[Silver]

Talk about a lightbulb moment ! Thanx for posting this Jules, I too had no idea that this had a name !

I've been a 'night owl' all my life already, even as a little kid. You know those times where kids get to stay up all night as an exception to the rule of going to bed on time (New Year for example) and most fall asleep by 10 PM ? I never did, I'd still be up and pottering about when the grown ups were ready to call it a night !

For me the night hours are my most productive and going to bed is difficult. Getting up early is always a problem (although getting up in general is anway, probably excacerbated by the Fibromyalgia, so the chronic/constant pain is there for me too ) and I never feel refreshed.

I've said many times these last few years that there simply aren't enough hours in the day for me. I think at least 12 more in a day would work far better for me, to give me the time to do things at my own pace. I'm always working to the clock and constantly feel that I have to do things too quickly to my liking.

And guilt, always the feelings of guilt for not adherring to what is considered 'normal' by society. And of course towards my partner, who's really lucky in that he falls asleep pretty much the minute his head hits the pillow. I always try to live in a rythm that at least is a bit comparable to his so that we can at least eat lunch and dinner at the same time and spend some time in the evenings together, but I often feel guilty for sleeping into the day on his days off .

I feel tired and sleepy all day, until about after midnight when I have the most energy (still not very much at all, mind you) and that's when I do most of my 'stuff'. Not a strange occurence to find me doing housework at such a time !

Problem then though is that I really don't want to go to bed at all, I'd rather just keep on going. Sometimes I do just that, don't sleep at all and come the next night, you'd think I'd be exhausted and go to bed at a reasonable time, right ? But ohhhh no, going to bed is just as hard as any other day and I'll still go to bed really late again (usually between 4 and 5 am, then read so don't get to sleep until at least 5.30 or 6, if not later) !

I can sleep well and long, but I need to read at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours before (and often longer) if I'm to fall asleep at all, otherwise my mind too just won't quit. I have found some solace in the following excercise if my mind is too busy: I think of a particular subject; say capital cities for instance, and go through the alphabet naming them. I seldom reach 'Z' before falling asleep and the next night I usually remember where I left off before falling asleep, and continue from there if the problem recurrs. A form of counting sheep I suppose, it seems to work for me most times.

I'm currently using Nortriptylene (in low dosage of 30 mgs/day) to help me sleep and, supposedly, for the pain. The effects on my sleep were pretty much immediate in that I do wake less often when using it, but unfortunately it hasn't done much at all for my pain. Started at 10 mgs/day, but the effect wore of pretty quickly and over the months the dosage has gradually been upped to 30 mgs/day. But where will it end ?? I don't like being dependant on drugs at all and who's to say the effects won't keep wearing off ??

Oh and the dreams, the dreams ! I've always remembered a lot of my dreams and lately I'm remembering even more. So wierd and strange, and so vivid ! I do have nightmares occassionally and can wake up totally stressed out by what I was dreaming, it can affect the whole following day sometimes.

I am usually aware that I am dreaming (lucid dreaming, do others recognise this too ??) and sometimes I purposely run through the whole dream again in an attempt to remember it after I wake. Sometimes this technique works, sometimes it doesn't. I can still remember some dreams from long ago as well.

Anyway, sorry for the immensely long post . Thanx again Jules for opening my eyes to this and to all for allowing me to vent and bearing with me in my rambling !

Cheers,
Silver

[Christina]

Silver I just can't believe how similar so many of our stories are. I really can't believe it has a name too! Yes, thank you Jules.

[prr2freya]

Same here too! At night is when I feel most alive. Even if I have been up all day and the night before... Once 11pm or 12am hits, I'm wired like on sugar.

Last night I was up all night doing the dorkiest things you could imagine. Went to sleep around 7am and was up again by 9:30am.. and that was after being up alll night the night before, and all day.

Reading like some of you... does help a little to at least nod off. I keep my Kindle right next to me. Only problem is when a book is good, I'll read it like a fiend and just forget I was trying to sleep..

Oh, and the reason i have so many things to do to occupy my mind is because I am obsessive about EVERYTHING and if my brain isn't doing something I will get too obsessive about one particular thing and drive myself REALLY batty till i want to pull my hair out ~_*

Sleep... an illusive creature most times... other times like a child afraid to sleep i fight it... it keeps the skinless dogs and zombies away. But sometimes... sometimes i have the most wonderful dreams! But it's a gamble on what will happen.

Oh! The lucid dreaming.. Oh yeah.. most of the time when I al *asleep* I am aware of being both awake and alseep... very strange feeling. Another part of this is sometimes I am aware of my body and the sounds and even the light through my eyelids, but i cannot move my body and get a strange buzzing sound and feeling all over and it used to terrify me... but not too much anymore as i am aware it will fade off eventually.

As for deep sleep, or as deep as i can get... Lucid in that regard... during horrible nightmares sometimes i do become aware I am dreaming and then take control of the dream. other times i become aware a good dream is not real and that makes me sad. In the ones where I am crying and pleading about something... I become aware i am awake and alseep at the same time for a bit.. I think my talking out loud and crying wakes me up, but the thought or *scene* has to finish itself out before i fully wake up... But I am aware I am waking.

[Kamanjah]

Wow, never knew night-owlishness had a clinical name! I've been a night owl since I was a kid too - my mom put a Snoopy cartoon on my dresser mirror that said "I'm allergic to mornings!" I'm still allergic!

I take doxepin and xanax for pain, depression & anxiety, don't think I'd ever fall asleep without them now. I come alive at 10PM, just when the rest of the world is falling asleep. I do ok when I can be on my own schedule, but my partner has to get up at 6:30 for work. I can fall back asleep sometimes, but usually once my brain gets in gear, there's just not an off switch! We've only been living together for 2 months, and I can't seem to adjust back to days. Pain wears ya out, being tired increases pain, it's a vicious cycle.

I'm just now finishing my "morning" coffee - and the rest of the world has already finished lunch!

Thanks for posting the articles.

____________
Love my Janty Stick!

[Mary Kay]

Jules, I bet you never thought this many people would respond! I knew, because I am an old hand at discussion boards. This is a way for the "night Owls" stay in touch with real live, (awake) people. Other then time differences for the people in the U.K. and Europe, You see all of us posting in the wee hours.

I know that awake, yet not awake feeling. The scariest for me is to wake up and not be able to move or to take a breath. The Doctor told me it was probaby just for a second or two..Ha! It felt like an hour. I know now what those buried alive people feel. Or maybe people who are in a coma. It's scary to the max!

I can take meds to get to sleep, but I don't want to and only do that when I have to be up in the A.M. Benadryl works sometimes. Mostly I just go with the flow and the heck with the rest of the world. Mike gets mom her breakfast (at 10 or 11am) I get up around noon and do dinner and the other chores.

I do like being the only one awake in the night..it's peaceful hanging around with you guys.

[MonkeyMonk]

I got it, too. I worked midnights for 30yrs, been retired for 2 years. Can't fall asleep at night. Never sleepmore than 4 hrs at a time. Feel like cr*p all day long. Have a hard time getting things accomplished. Use prescribed antidepressants and sleeping medication.