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Having dealt with insomnia for over20 years my first weapon is remeron. Ask any shrink, it is not a sleeping pill but an anti depressant. Not habit forming, I take one half of a pill a couple times a month, you get REM sleep, not a sedated hangover in the morning. Once you get your brain back on a regular sleep cycle you need a sleep aid less often. But when the cycle starts up, I don’t hesitate to pop a Remeron. Barring that, if you are in a state with legal marajuana, an edible will do the trick. But insomnia can ruin your life untreated and it has a high correlation with dementia later in life, google it.
First, get a sleep study done, asap. You need to rule out any medical problems, including neurological issues, which can definitely keep you from sleeping. Most good insurance covers it.
Next, to calm your mind, download to your phone the audio for a guided meditation from youtube for sleep or deep relaxation; it may sound crazy, but it can truly help refocus your brain from worry. Just try it. I'm a serious insomniac, and I've fallen asleep with this one, but you must listen and follow along with the breathing and thought techniques. This channel also includes videos for intrusive thoughts and anxiety, which I think would help calm you at night. They won't cure you, of course, but they can help. (I use earbuds at night for the audio on my phone, using do not disturb.)
When I have problems turning off my racing mind, I give it something else to focus on.
Boring podcasts often work.
Youtube videos of waves crashing against the shore.
Oprah and Chopra have some meditation tapes that do it every time. Never make it to the end.
There are neurolinguistic programming (NLP) CD's that people swear by. I never found them helpful, but a lot of people say, they never make it to the end; they fall asleep in the middle of them. They have some kind of an hypnotic message programmed underneath the actual words being spoken, which I found to be creepy. You can't understand it; it comes across as a subtle background noise, and seems to be effective for many people who trie the CD's.
First, get a sleep study done, asap. You need to rule out any medical problems, including neurological issues, which can definitely keep you from sleeping. Most good insurance covers it.
Next, to calm your mind, download to your phone the audio for a guided meditation from youtube for sleep or deep relaxation; it may sound crazy, but it can truly help refocus your brain from worry. Just try it. I'm a serious insomniac, and I've fallen asleep with this one, but you must listen and follow along with the breathing and thought techniques. This channel also includes videos for intrusive thoughts and anxiety, which I think would help calm you at night. They won't cure you, of course, but they can help. (I use earbuds at night for the audio on my phone, using do not disturb.)
A sleep study can't be done if the patient is awake all night, like the OP. I was going to suggest the OP get a hormonal work-up, which is why I asked his age. If he's middle-aged, his main sleep hormone, progesterone, may be declining. It calms the system at night in preparation for sleep, and peaks at midnight, by which time people should be sound asleep, unless they have a schedule that countervenes the body's normal circadian rhythm.
I also have insomnia, for the past 30+ years. Its awful, but sleeping pills do help me. Other things I've tried include reading, shutting off phone and tv an hour before going to bed, melatonin, a bath (I have low back issues, and mine has jets, which helps me), room temperature (cooler is better), and of course meditation. I love the 10% happier app for meditation because I was always a skeptic. But there are free apps such as Insight Timer. You can select meditations or nature sounds (I vary it). Aside from these and what others have said, I don't know. Your circadian rhythm is definitely off.
As Ruth said, it could also be hormonal. Testosterone can help your energy during the day, which results in better sleep at night. I don't know anything about progesterone, so I would research that too.
Given your racing mind and stress, Klonopin could be a good short-term solution. Its addictive though, so be careful. Its specifically for anxiety though (but taken at night helps with sleep), so another idea.
I used to take ambien for many years. Even though it was a very low dose -- like around 3 mg after cutting the pills, it was still too much for my system. I could feel the damage in daytime fatigue and if I ever took more than 5 mg I had horrible night eating episodes. I asked my doctor for something less harmful and he prescribed Trazadone, 50 to 100 mg. I don't know if it would work for everyone, but it's been a godsend because it got me off the ambien, which I was psychologically addicted to for years.
OMG that stuff is horrible! When I went thru divorce I didn't sleep for weeks. It took 400mg to knock me out and i woke up with my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth and a dry mouth like you wouldn't believe. A guy a lot bigger than me told me 200mg put him out for hours. The doctor kept upping my dose toll 400 mg finally worked. Hated the after affects. Nose was always clogged up in the morning too. Nasty stuff.
Light plays a huge role in our sleep cycle. Blue light in the evening has been found to interfere with sleep due to its effects on hormones. One easy intervention people with insomnia can do is to set the alarm for early in the morning, and sit by a window or a light-box to get the natural light into your eyes for 30 minutes. At night, wear blue-light blocking glasses for a few hours before bed. You can find these for less than $10 on Amazon.
Walking after you get home for 30 min is calming, and helps with stress, and anxiety. Stay off any, and all caffeine after lunch. Bright light such as from tv, and computer screens can make your body release the hormones for waking up. Dim light, and darkness tells your body to release melatonin in preparation for sleep.
You can get in a habit one hour before bedtime of doing the same routine of dimming the lights, getting off of the computer so you don't have it's bright light shining in your face making your body think it's morning, and other things that tell your body it should settle down. Keep your bedroom only for sleep, no tv in there. I can buy 1 mg tablets of melatonin at walmart, and take 1/2 tablet an hour before bed. That really helps me sleep. Take the smallest dose of whatever you use that does the job. A box fan set on low can give very nice white noise to sooth you. If you don't want it blowing on you then just turn it away from you.
I was just sitting here trying to remember the last time I slept and i can't remember, maybe July 3rd. I am exhausted. Barely keep my eyes open on the commute home, but after that, forget it. I take a shower and go to bed and bam, wide awake. This morning slept from 5-5:30 right before the alarm went off. Sleeping pills do nothing. Beer only makes it worse, then I lay in a puddle sweating all night.
A lot going on in my life right now and my mind won't shut down at night. You would think i would either die or go to sleep at some point after a week with no sleep. Anyone else have a sleep issue and what is the cure??
If you go to your internal medicine doctor and describe your particular sleep problems, particularly the talkative active brain, he might be able to prescribe some medications that help with that.
Something similar happened to a friend years ago. Her internal medicine dr prescribed two medications (not tranquilizers). He said that would help more, because of the busy brain thing and the extreme anxiety and such.
She took them for a couple of weeks...they worked great. She said she didn't feel drugged or fuzzy headed.
The drugs were: Clonazepam and Citalopram.
The Clonazepam helps quieten the brain, I think, and is for panic attacks, I think. The Citalopram is for depression.
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