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Insomnia

Is the very worst. 

Roffing at the moment.....

but, seriously, but just taking a break from reading a novel on my Kindle. I too have not slept that well lately.

Maybe we should have late night cocktails!

Hey, Judo, hope you are still on for that drink and to exchange some juicy gossip. I expect be back in London relatively soon. Hope that will cheer us both up!

Yep. 
 

I just need a bit of good luck. Some small change in circumstance. 
 

It’s hard to sleep for all my worries and also it’s too damn hot. 

 

and I hate sleeping alone  

 

That is not very soporific! 
 

The damned dawn chorus has begun. 
 

I am actually really furious at my GP, thinking about the appointment I had the week before last and her moronic suggestions. 

What to do if you wake up in the night

  1. Remember it’s normal to wake up during the night. Telling yourself that it’s normal and not something to worry about can help with feeling frustrated, upset, or stressed about waking up.
  2. Try using a relaxation exercise or meditation – you can find some here, and there’s more information on relaxation later in the guide.
  3. If you’re still awake after about 20 minutes, get up for a while. Try doing something peaceful, like making a cup of herbal tea, reading a calming book, or listening to soothing music.
  4. Don’t watch TV or do anything else that makes you feel awake. When you start to feel sleepy again, go back to bed.

Repeat these steps as many times as you need to during the night – this will teach your brain that bed is for sleeping, not lying awake.

Judy if I may be so bold - you need a total change of environment. It seems that London isn't doing you any favours. A bit of outdoors living would do wonders. Easier said than done perhaps.

 

I need first to get a job ASAP, do one month of harcore dieting and then do all the dating apps

my problem is that I lack companionship. I have tons of friends but I don’t have an intimate relationship and I need one. 

I go to bed at midnight. I have a top sheet and a light eiderdown. Nothing helps. I need some goddamned drugs. My fucking retard of a GP is simply going to end up making me resort to getting someone to get me something from a dealer. 

Walk.  Take in beauty and summer sun. Have casual conversations and go to be tired.  I'm sure its booked up but consider Lundy and a national trust property. 48 hours totally off the web and phone is very relaxing.

  • I generally sleep well but if I wake up in the middle of the night and just feel I’m not going back to sleep any time soon, I just get up and do stuff I would do during the day.
  • After two hours I come back and fall asleep. 

I can’t blame the GP for being reluctant to prescribe. Drugs for insomnia is not a good path to start down - at least not unless there is a clearly defined end point.

if u absolutely must have one zopiclone probably best - but only in conjunction with CBT therapy and, again, for a specific time period (2-4 weeks). you really really don’t want to become dependent on GABA drugs. becomes completely impossible to sleep without them, skipping doses can result in rebound insomnia 

Right. I am not a doctor. But I am a long term, proper, tried-all-the-remedies-over-twenty-five-years insomniac.

Jumping to the end point, once the immediate problem has been dealt with, (i) buy Matthew Walker's book, "Why we sleep"; (ii) read it, carefully, and internalise it. It is badly written but brilliant. 

It seems that your sleeplessness is linked to the fact you are jobless, single, and (in your view) not in good shape (on the latter- join all the other lawyers on this board, including me, okay?). Being unhappy about these things is not irrational, nor is having the occasional 'bad night' about it irrational. It is human, it is normal, it is reasonable to have some sleepless nights when grappling with these things. All the more so when it is very hot. 

It is true that if you have had 'a bad night' then a nice run will help. As will being fit, active, yoga-stretched, the right BMI, not drinking more than a glass of wine a day, not eating puddings, and never going on the internet after 2200. We're all this perfect, right?  

If however you are in the full-on, it's-been-ten-days-since-you-have-had-four hours-uninterrupted stage, then, bluntly, get a new GP and make it clear that this is not a "I'd quite like something to help me sleep" issue. If this is where you are, you are significantly cognitively impaired, and you really need help. Do not be all 'middle class' and nice about this. 

My experience is that, in this latter context, drugs work, but as New Chimp says, they work best in conjunction with CBT. Good CBT (which is not readily available on the NHS) can be quite an unpleasant experience, and can significantly challenge your view of yourself, but can be effective.

My personal anecdotal experience is that, where the insomnia does not have multiple causes, CBT is not always necessary. If I am just having, e.g. a particularly bad time at work, a couple of milligrams of lawfully prescribed Diazepam, a couple of nights in a row, can be enough to break the cycle of sleeplessness. Maybe try asking for a 7 day prescription if the GP is jumpy?

I really really appreciate that post, Survived. I need to cut down booze full stop. I drink 3 large glasses of wine a day. The prob with CBT is that it’s irrelevant to me. If someone doesn’t smile at me, I don’t take it personally, I am just fucking over exhausted all the time. 

Since we stopped drinking entirely we both sleep like babies (although the first couple of nights may be worse unfortunately). 

do you wake habitually at a certain time? I used to do this every night at 4am - during a very traumatic period of three months or so following a break up - and the tiredness/despair of not sleeping properly made me utterly wretched physically on top of the emotional anguish. You have my total sympathy.  
 

if you can knock booze on the head, make sure you are getting plenty of good fats and protein and up your carbs a little it will help. Avoid caffeine from 6pm or even earlier. 

I hours slow jogging early evening. Force your body to capitulate 

If lane awake for more than 1 hour take 2 Morrison's/ Boots Sleepeze pills . These last at least 4 hours

Ignore scare stories about getting hooked. I've been taking them on and off for 10 years

I am so fortunate and I don't mean to sound smug about it. If I had had to do lockdown with home educating the spawn and working full time alone I would have completely lost it by now. 
 

my 2 paracetamol and a wank tip wasn't me being crude / flippant, it actually works. The painkiller relaxes you a bit and then the O does even more. Just don't think afterwards, turn over and sink into it 

Christ Judy, you drink a bottle of wine a day, crave Bezos, have a private doctor. This us so AbFab darling. 

You must stop drinking and start exercising. Sorry. But it's the only way.

Chimp, it seems like you have no idea how debilitating chronic insomnia is. 
 

I’m not sure what about my posts gave you this impression. In any case, the significant alcohol consumption makes prescribing benzos unwise IMO.

But I would not drink if I had a benzo. I am obviously self medicating and I stop after 3 and I never drink alone. 
 

my point is these retards I was supposed to clap doe are morons. 

Sleeping pills are awful. I was on zopiclone for a few weeks after going 4 nights without a single second of sleep. The withdrawal was awful (worse than SRRI). The pills don't make you feel refreshed at all. 

The best thing I've had is CBTI therapy through the NHS. About 6 sessions of sleep therapy over the phone. It was great and made a huge difference. I still suffer from insomnia but haven't had a fall into the deep dark hole for nearly 2 years now. Push your GP for it. I kept pestering them till they referred me. 

Also everything Survived sed. 

Also, I know it's hard, but you've got to kick the alcohol. I've been there, now teetotal. Huge positive impact on my life. 

3 glasses of wine at home =  a bottle a day..booze is shocking for sleep, but understand the need for it.

try a week of no booze and sugar, good diet and little TV or Internet after 9pm.

you never know, it may work, wish you well judo x

Whilst it seems logical to advise good sleep hygiene for patients with insomnia, there is no evidence that this is a successful intervention on its own.
 

You’ll like that JC!

All of what Linda said, that’s very good advice. I don’t understand though how you say you drink a good few glasses, well it’s a bottle each night but you don’t drink alone. It sounds a lot if like you say you go to bed at 12. I’d like to give up the booze completely, the quality of sleep is soo good on booze free weekends. I had a bottle of red last night and felt fine but not my best self today. Cut out the wine of you can?

Judy sorry to hear this: I think you just have extreme and understandable anxiety about your life right now. You’ve mentioned on here your mum is unwell, have no job and you are also single and if anything like my single friends, panicking. I have been in your situation (minus the job) and to say unpleasant is an understatement. 
 

I think you’ve got to change your day time things to get your nighttime sleep. 
 

don’t worry about losing a stone before going on dating apps, just go for it. they won’t know you were a stone lighter and you’re not going to not be clicked on because of it. You’re still slim and gorgeous. Seize the day today. You have so much going for you, yes you’ll be rejected and it will be depressing along the way because everybody is but you could also meet someone lovely. By sitting doing nothing about meeting someone you won’t get anywhere particularly in this pandemic.  I have a few friends in the same situation as you and they have found it so tough but one has been getting on apps and believe it or not meeting guys for drinks in the sunshine in a weird socially distanced way. She said it’s great as you can get away quickly if awful but you have lots to chat about with current situation etc. 
 

in the meantime can you join an outdoor exercise class like a bootcamp so you are feeling part of a group? I’ve been doing an outdoor bootcamp and it’s been nice just chatting to people for five or ten mins after it. 
 

 

*waves* another insomniac here. What everyone said about booze. As a result of my previous job, I was drinking a lot most days (best part of a bottle), exercising very sporadically, drinking too much coffee and sleeping terribly. At the beginning of the year I did 90 days off the booze. Best thing I’ve ever done, because whilst I lost weight, it actually showed me that the drinking was having a massive effect on my sleeping. I have now changed jobs which means my stress levels are much lower. So now, and without being all holier than thou, I exercise everyday, I don’t have more than one cup of coffee a day, and I don’t drink during the week. As a result I am sleeping MUCH better. I still have the odd bad night, but not nearly as bad as it was. 

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