2nd night with no sleep at all. Any wise words please?? :(

[IrishLondon]

Hey everyone

I'm in such a panic right now. It's nearly 5am and I haven't slept at all tonight. This is after not sleeping at all last night. I was sure I would sleep tonight but it's not happening and I'm so worried. Is this normal? Surely I should be getting at least some sleep but I'm completely wide awake. I hate this. :(

Conor

---------- Post added at 07:23 ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 ----------

Please guys. Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm worrying I'll start to crack up!! 2 days with no sleep at all couldn't be good for me.

[Phuzella]

Maybe have a word with your doctor?

[Ange1]

A short course of sleeping pills can help break the cycle or the herbal ones may be worth a go. I had a period of about four months whey my insomnia was so bad there were nights I didn't sleep at all but I still managed to function. In the end I realized that anxiety about not sleeping was making me not sleep! The more you think about it the worse it gets.It's a vicious cycle. I convinced myself it didn't matter if I didn't sleep I would close my eyes and relax my body and told myself I could have a nap during the day if necessary. I never did but taking the anxiety away meant an increase in sleep. Having a ton of adrenalin racing around your body at night is a guarantee of no sleep so no point in having an expectation of much sleep. Accept that and strangely sleep follows. As with much of anxiety the do nothing principle works but a little medicinal help may be needed. X

[IrishLondon]

Thank you both.

Well about an hour before I was due to get up I just resigned myself to the fact I was going to get no sleep...and then I fell asleep! Was only for an hour but at least it was something. Just need to work on giving up the sleep worries a bit earlier in the night.

Thanks again

[Ange1]

pleased to hear you got some sleep however little.:) If you have the expectation of no sleep then the pressure is off and it's all a bonus. Also I found it very useful to have no clock! glancing at it and thinking oh no it's 3am....its 3.30am etc etc makes it all a whole lot worse! Thinking about something mindless like doing your accounts or trying to remember all the names of teams or something helps you nod off. I also created a special place in my head to while away the time I could visit and explore. That also helped me relax at least .x

[PanchoGoz]

Try not to sleep. Best way to sleep.
The natural need to sleep is more powerful than anything we can do to stop it. Sleep will always come, it's always lurking and waiting to take you off.

[IrishLondon]

Thank you very much to you both.

I'm already nervous about sleep tonight but I'm just going to tell myself whatever...my body will take it when it needs it.

[Fishmanpa]

I've found documentaries with the rather monotone narrations do the trick for me.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

Have you tried things that require breathing exercises such as meditation? Ive found these make me relax enough to be tired. Also, how you breath doing those can be similiar to how you breath shortly before you fall asleep from my own experience.

I read now as it makes me concentrate on something else and try to its visualise the story if possible.


Sometimes listening to relaxation CDs helped me as well.


Mine was never usually more than one night but i can remember how it made me feel so i hope you resolve it soon.


All the best.




T

[CleoD]

hi there
try phenergan its an antihistamine and really has helped me.
its available over the counter and is also non addictive.

If you can sleep it makes the anxiety worse for sure
best of luck

[Meewah]

I went through this 2 weeks in total. I used to hate night time. I used to lie there trying to get to sleep then I would drift off and get a Hypnic Jerk which would wake me up suddenly. I learnt through many nights of 1-2 hours sleep that forcing myself not to get to sleep was the cure. This is where i developed an insatiable appetite for reading. In a way I have it to thank as I never read a book up to that point. My first book was Catcher in the rye. I was hooked. I would stay up reading in the quiet silence of the night. When I felt tired I resisted the temptation to sleep. Over 3-4 days I laid in bed doing the same and bang I was asleep.

It works! Fight sleep, Ignore it and do something calming but interesting and soon you will be drifting off again. I now cant stop going to sleep so Much that I feel something is wrong the other way. I can't win can I.

M

[IrishLondon]

Thank you so much everyone for your great suggestions. I took a piriton last night DVD slept great. Tonight I'm going to do exactly as you all say, just ignore sleep and try to resist it. Thanks again.