Long term insomnia, is there anything that can be done?

jenniewb

Skymist wrote: »

I fortunately don't have any problems falling asleep, like a lot of you poor folks, but came across this yesterday:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066354/The-Thatcher-gene-Scientists-discover-secret-internal-alarm-clock-allows-just-hours-sleep.html

Also this is an interesting take on why lots of people might....me included...wake up during the night ( apart from hot flushes, night sweats and loo calls!):-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

I read about this elsewhere, where it was suggested that the segmented sleep pattern was what helped our ancestors survive in the past, during the night, when there were a lot of wild animals roaming about ( insert a "shrug" smilie!).

S

Lol at the 'wild animals'! I don't have segmented sleep, I tend to fall asleep and am dead to the world (apart from very oddly, the front door being knocked) I sleep through anything else, from several alarm clocks to more alarmingly, a smoke alarm, an entire secondary school next door to me arriving- and trust me, this is NOT a quiet school! And my neighbours dogs. Guess I need to find an alarm clock which sounds like a door...:cool:

jenniewb

Badger_Lady wrote: »

I'm lucky enough that I don't have long-term issues... however I do jet around a lot for work and find myself in different time zones, and if I'm not careful my circadian rhythm is totally messed up and my body literally forgets how to sleep for weeks at a time. It's as you described - lying awake all night and then groggy in the day.

So I now stick rigidly to a routine that guarantees my rhythm will return:

- A complex carbohydrate evening meal (such as pasta with no meat) a few hours before bedtime. It's not advised for weightloss, however the carbs do trigger a 'night time' reaction and tell your body that it's the evening.

- Two tablets of melatonin about 30 minutes before getting into bed. Self-prescribed - I get it off a shelf in American drug stores.

- I also have a Phillips wake-up light that simulates dusk, so I go to bed with a cosy warm light that gradually dims until it's dark.

- The same light wakes me up by gradually brightening and playing bird song in the morning, and as soon as I'm awake I make a conscious effort to:
-- Get up immediately - no chilling out in bed
-- Eat something immediately - I usually have a cereal bar handy which I eat on my way to the shower, then have a proper protein breakfast when I have more time. This tells your body that it's time to wake up.

- The Energy Light boosts my seratonin and tells my body that it's a bright sunshiny day and that I should be full of energy. I can also use that again later in the day if I'm flagging.

The routine doesn't usually work right away - I'll either struggle to get off to sleep or struggle to get up in the morning - but after a few days my body gets the hang of it and starts playing along.

I have to say the Melatonin tablets are a massive, massive help in making this work. Why aren't you keen on them? They're not sleeping tablets - they don't knock you out - they just make you feel initially sleepy.

Thanks for that, its good to know the melatonine pills are helping you. I can't seem to find them, I did ask in Holland and Barratts, Boots and etc, no one sells them and Boots again infoms me of what I already know, they are apparently 'not allowed' in the UK, so wherever anyone else is getting them from, London seems to be all out.

I don't have a light clock, I also don't have blackout curtains (cannot afford to, I have a flat which is predominantly windows-literally all on one side of the room is windows and I only have one long room with a halfway separation wall which doesn't reach the celing. Several years ago I worked out the cost in Ikea would have been £300. I cannot even imagine what it is now and I couldn't even imagine having £300 so no go there.)

I am lucky enough to be able to get up when its fairly light/beginning to be light enough to be day time so am not seeing the light as something which would make a difference. Wouldn't say no to one but just cannot logic the expense when I already don't have the money to buy blackout curtains.

Birds start singing at around 2-3am here, even in winter! I can't understand why they don't seem to fly south anymore! Foxes take over shortly after with their hacking but luckily will be a bit too cold for them in a few weeks (fingers crossed!!)

I had been taking OTC medication after the stuff my doctor gave me ran out but am aware its just as addictive as the stuff my doctor prescribed so am trying to wean myself off it without much luck! It seems whenever I do this I end up an hour or so back and my sleep routine worsens. I do find it helps to lie in bed even if I don't sleep the entire night just so I can rest physically, not a patch on real sleep but does help more then nothing at all.

Badger_Lady

jenniewb wrote: »

Thanks for that, its good to know the melatonine pills are helping you. I can't seem to find them, I did ask in Holland and Barratts, Boots and etc, no one sells them and Boots again infoms me of what I already know, they are apparently 'not allowed' in the UK, so wherever anyone else is getting them from, London seems to be all out.

They are "allowed", just only on prescription. However you can also buy them onlline from the US - here for example: http://www.worldwidelabs.com/products/melatonin.php

jenniewb wrote: »

I also don't have blackout curtains (cannot afford to, I have a flat which is predominantly windows-literally all on one side of the room is windows and I only have one long room with a halfway separation wall which doesn't reach the celing. Several years ago I worked out the cost in Ikea would have been £300. I cannot even imagine what it is now and I couldn't even imagine having £300 so no go there.)

Keep checking on eBay! I've just bought a lot of 10 huge floor-length curtains with full thermal blackout lining for a grand total of £76. It's enough for me to create a 'wall' of curtains around my living area in the London flat, and also to dress some of the windows in my high-ceilinged Welsh house.

I was lucky enough to get the light gadgets very cheaply through BzzAgent (there's a separate thread about it in these forums), so you probably are out of luck on those... but then it's only one part of the routine. For me, the most important thing is sticking rigidly to a time pattern of sleep induction, wakefulness and eating habits (don't underestimate the eating habits!). I guess it's just like training a young baby to sleep

jenniewb

Badger_Lady wrote: »

They are "allowed", just only on prescription. However you can also buy them onlline from the US - here for example: http://www.worldwidelabs.com/products/melatonin.php



Keep checking on eBay! I've just bought a lot of 10 huge floor-length curtains with full thermal blackout lining for a grand total of £76. It's enough for me to create a 'wall' of curtains around my living area in the London flat, and also to dress some of the windows in my high-ceilinged Welsh house.

I was lucky enough to get the light gadgets very cheaply through BzzAgent (there's a separate thread about it in these forums), so you probably are out of luck on those... but then it's only one part of the routine. For me, the most important thing is sticking rigidly to a time pattern of sleep induction, wakefulness and eating habits (don't underestimate the eating habits!). I guess it's just like training a young baby to sleep

But if they're only allowed on prescription, how do you get them through customs? EVERYTHING I ever bought abroad has come with customs fees so not sure how pills like these would make it through if its a prescription only deal and I'm buying not on prescription. When I spoke to my GP a few years back and asked about these they just said they didn't know what they were and so couldn't prescribe them, when I said I couldn't get them in a health food store as I'd been advised they just shrugged shoulders. How do you get the pills through customs?

I do eat way more carbs in the evening, protein in the day. Its more of a grown habit then a prethought idea though! I used to also have dairy in the evenings too and even a glass of warmed milk but it affects me in ways I don't want to describe on here so I don't eat dairy, just take calcium pills.

I've heard about Buzz agents, its a shame I can't join in with most of the tests though as I either can't tolerate dairy or I can't afford what they want me to test.

Will keep an eye out on ebay though, £76 is still too much for me (thats like 2-3 weeks of food I'd have to miss to do that!) I have 5x 1m by 2m windows, thats a lot of curtain! I have to say I can't see anything being affordable for quite a long time, I can't even afford a mobile phone, a TV licence (I don't have a TV either: can't afford it and last (freecycle) CRT tv broke down) and the list goes on, let alone curtains.