insomnia advice?

[R.Barratt]

hello :)
For the past month i have been get 2-3 hours of sleep each night. Which hasnt been helping with my anxiety and depression because i never have any energy to motivate myself to go out and volunteer which i need ot do to keep myself busy.
For the past few years i have been taking melatonin each night which usually works but since i have been talking about my sexual abuse with my councillor these problems have occured.
The thing that makes it even more irritating is that when i do actually sleep i have flashbacks of my abuse and when i wake up i have vivid hallucinations that people are in my flat and will hurt me.
Just wondering if anyone else has any of these problems and any possible advice for me? xxx

[chemilyx]

Hey, I'm really sorry to hear you're having a hard time with your insomnia. It's something I had for years and it's only got better quite recently.

I've tried a lot of medications and remedies for my insomnia over the years. The over the counter pill called Sleepeaze would knock me out, but would give me a dreadful hangover feeling in the mornings, so I couldn't really carry on taking it and it's not meant for long term use. The only medication that has really helped is Mirtazapine, which is both an anti-depressant and sedative (seems paradoxical I know!). You take it a couple of hours before you go to bed, and honestly this is the only thing that worked on my insomnia and I had blissful sleep all the time! I've started the process of coming off it now unfortunately because one of the side effects can be weight gain and I'm really upset at how much weight I've put on with it. But it honestly is a wonderful sedative/ remedy for insomnia if you're willing to risk weight gain etc.

Another anti-depressant/ sedative which is meant to be good is Amytriptaline (sp?). I was put on it and for the first week it worked wonderfully, but after that one week it just stopped working altogether lol. But I have heard it works well for a lot of people.

A supplement I've heard is good is 5-HTP. It's a supplement which is renowned for helping with both mood and sleep. It's definitely worth doing more research if you want to go down that route, although if you're on anti-depressants you might want to avoid it because it can react with them. But honestly I'm coming off all my anti-depressants at the moment in order to be able to try 5-HTP as I've heard so many good things about it as a "natural" anti-depressant and general "well-being" supplement.

Lastly, if you want to explore the herbal route then valerian is supposed to be good for sleep and is in a lot of over the counter pills, though can't say I've tried it (or if I have, it wasn't effective enough for me to remember it :P)

Some other options are meditation before you go to bed - there are tons of useful resources on how to meditate effectively, particularly to get to sleep. Other things that might be useful related to sleep hygiene are making sure you don't do anything too stimulating in the hours before you go to bed, and avoid caffeinated drinks etc in the evenings too. Perhaps try having a warm milky drink before bed. Insomnia's a tough one because different things work for different people and if you're experiencing it because of bad memories etc it complicates it even more :(

Really sorry you're having a rough time with it. I hope you find something that helps soon xx

[clareek12]

I find the best thing is to drink water from about 5 or green tea..
it helps to calm you and flush all the toxins out..it sounds silly but my doctor gave me this advice after i was prescribed sleeping pills for a few weeks.

it has helped me..gives me a routine before bed aswell..something to think about and take my mind off the fact i cant sleep.

it's all mental...I think my body is all cleaned out so i feel ready and relaxed..
I also use a nice smelling sprey for my pillow..something comforting..

If not you could ask for 2mg diazapam..not long term but it helped to settle me through the day and result in a relaxing sleep.

i hope you find something to help soon.

x

[BobbyDog]

I think Amitriptyline, because this helps with R.E.M sleep, so you may not dream so much.

I take Mirtazapine and Amitriptyline, I was having nightmares on the Mirtazapine and my anxiety was out of control, so GP prescribed Amitriptyline as an add on and the bad dreams have stopped.

Antihistamine Diphenphenidrine, I think that's how you spell in, can also work short term.

[R.Barratt]

thank you guys i will try out all your advice and let you know how it goes. i think its probably stress so maybe when im a bit calmler i will sleep more

[grotbags]

I have been a lifelong insomniac and I use 5HTP which works amazingly for me. I know that this can't be taken with prescription antidepressants though. The problem is, I'm now stuck on 5HTP as my insomnia comes back if I don't take it, and the long term side effects/risks are unknown.