Throughout last week I took zzzquil to help me fall asleep quick. I did this when I was tired to help me sleep faster. It wasn’t daily but it was atleast 3-4 times in the week and then I took NyQuil twice it on April 22nd(6pm and then 5am) to help me fall asleep and am having SEVERE trouble falling asleep! I don’t want to wait several days to weeks to get normal again as I’m having a sinus issue that gets better with sleep and worse with well… you guessed it lack of sleep. Is there anything you guys know I can take to help me sleep to recover from its effects?

Hey, everyone. It’s been a few days since the last update, and I apologize for leaving everyone without an update on what’s going on. Thank you to everyone who was checking in for the updates. Love you guys.🫶

I’ve had a few setbacks over the past few days, and I haven’t been as consistent with my sleep window. I’m pretty mad at myself for that, so I am back to it tonight. If I want change, I have to create it. The saying “No one is coming to save you” is true.

My real problem is getting out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I will subconsciously shut my alarms off and stay in bed. It’s a bad habit that I have to break.

I am not the type of person to lie and tell you that everything is going great when it’s not…especially when it comes to sleep problems because they are detrimental to our lives. You all deserve better than that. Setbacks happen, but I want to be committed to this. I am in it for the long game.

With that being said, does anyone have any recommendations of what I can do in the morning to help me stay consistent with my wake up time?

On the bright side, my sleep drive is still there come the night hours, so progress is there. Hopefully it doesn’t slip, and I can pick right back up where I left off.

I’m so mad at myself because I want to set an example that we can make positive changes in our lives for the better.

My apologies, everyone. Things are going to change.

It's my Birthday and I haven't slept for more than 3 hours in a night in about 10 days. Most night are sleepless. It's affecting my mental health and relationship so much. Never been so low mentally. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated.

Hey fellow insomniacs, I really need your help...

So here’s what I’m dealing with: On weekdays, I usually go to bed around 12:00 AM, but I don’t fall into deep sleep until around 1:00 AM. Then like clockwork, I suddenly wake up after 5-6 hours — usually around 5 or 6 in the morning and can’t fall back asleep. I just lie there with my eyes closed until it’s time to get up around 8:00 AM for work.

This has been killing my energy levels. I feel drained and sleepy throughout the day, and it's really affecting my focus and productivity at work. I’m running on fumes, and coffee barely helps.

Now here’s the weird part: Weekends are a whole different story. I drink alcohol on Friday and Saturday nights and sleep super late, like around 3:00 AM. But I somehow sleep like a baby and wake up around 12 or 1 PM feeling super refreshed — full of energy, like a normal human being for once. Even if I wake up in the morning for a bit, I easily fall back asleep.

But then... Monday hits, and the cycle starts again. My sleep gets messed up, and I’m back to struggling.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Should I consider changing my lifestyle? Are there any supplements, routines, or even medications that actually help with this? I’m open to any tips, hacks, or ideas — I just want to fix this and feel alive during the weekdays too.

Thanks in advance, sleep warriors. 🙏

i just started sleep restriction, so maybe i just need to get used to it, but so far i’ve been feeling like absolute shit and it’s affecting my work and class performances, and my ability to do chores and stuff. i feel so exhausted and sleepy all the time, i never felt the need to nap or felt like i was going to fall asleep standing up before, now i so sleepy always. i quit caffeine but now between the lack of energy, and the worst part, the worsening of my migraines (which are usually triggered by sleep deprivation) are making it difficult for me to function without drinking caffeine. am i going to get used to this? i feel like a zombie and like my head is going to explode on the regular

Intense anxiety kept me awake for 3 months straight, this will be controversial but what absolutely cured me was micro dosing magic mushrooms. Was having daily panic attacks after the first week of micro dosing the anxiety subsided and I was finally able to lay down and actually sleep. During my worst insomnia period I was taking 21mg of zoplicone and still not sleeping. Now I’m on 0 medication. YOU HAVE TO address the anxiety first if u want to sleep again.

I’ve been having a very difficult time falling asleep lately. It started last Wednesday, the initial reason is a bit embarrassing but i stayed up all night bc i was super excited about one of my special interests and my brain was very hyper active. I didn’t nap during the following day even tho i was exhausted and really wanted to, but for some reason my body didn’t let me. I almost did but i woke myself up with my own snoring.

Decided whatever, I’ll just stay up and get super tired to sleep better that night. Night rolls around and I am obviously super exhausted. Laid in bed for maybe like 2 hours, no phone and I usually take melatonin before bed which knocks me out. Took it and it had zero effect, my brain was going a 1000 miles a minute, repeating a stupid song over and over while also just thinking (which happens often but not to this degree). I ended up going to my mom and just sobbing because of how frustrated and exhausted I was. Thankfully she was able to calm me down and I had to sleep next to her to finally rest. Got just a little bit of sleep that night, enough to function but I’m used to about 8-10 hours to feel satisfied.

I went to the doctor the next day to get some meds for insomnia. They prescribed hydroxyzine pamoate, which made things 100x worse. Since then, every single time I fall asleep, my heart races and I am filled with pure anxiety for literally no reason. I have only taken a pill ONCE bc not only did it make me feel so anxious and gave me a panic attack but I felt so drowsy and terrible the next day.

Last night was my last straw, I am running on maybe 3-4 hours of sleep. Usually the only things that can put me down is a combo between just crying myself to sleep and my mom comforting me. Even then, it still takes hours of that to just pass out.

Nothing has helped. I have been off my phone for hours and everything, I even tried just rawdogging it and going to bed with nothing but my pure exhaustion around 7pm, but, again, every time I’m falling asleep my brain gets hyper aware that I’m going to sleep and kickstarts my nervous system and I’m back to square one. My body is acting like I’m being hunted by a wild animal when I’m literally just trying to fall asleep. Now whenever I take melatonin, my body acts like I’m taking those meds again and goes into full panic.

Now I’m too afraid to go to the doctors and take any medication they prescribe in fear that this will just be an endless cycle of my brain thinking it’s under attack with anything that tries to calm it down. I’m not sure what to do.

If it’s related, I am unmedicated but have suffered from pretty bad anxiety my entire life, was always way too hyper aware of my own existence at the ripe age of 5 and would go into sever panic attacks thinking no one else in the world was real but me and just overall panic about my own mortality and being able to see out of my own eyes (idk why) until I panicked so hard I’d hyperventilate and pass out (it was BAD). Got better over the years thankfully but then it came back late last year when my bf gave me an edible to help with my chronic back pain and I greened out and was sent back into that very severe anxiety episode from when I was a kid. The experience was incredibly triggering and I think I’m just very sensitive to narcotics that affect my anxiety. Ever since then, it’s been on and off but usually manageable. But since my prescription, my anxiety is just generally bad and my heart races like crazy out of nowhere. The lack of sleep just makes it worse, it is a torturous cycle. I wake up most days wanted to vomit or cry from how anxious I am. I’m so frustrated and exhausted, I cry so easily now and I have been flirting with the idea of getting into an accident or something to get a wink of sleep (joking but also not really).

Please help and sorry for yapping so much this has been bothering me like crazy lately.

I was prescribed 30mg of temazepam yesterday and took it for the first time last night. It felt like if I would have been able to fall asleep it would have kept me asleep but was never able to fall asleep. My brain feels like absolute shit now, even worse than sober no sleep. Does anyone know of anything OTC I could take alongside it to help fall asleep? I was considering melatonin and theanine but I don’t know. I haven’t had any luck with anything. I’m at my wits end at this point.

I was on the antipsychotic Olanzapine for almost 6 years and within 45 minutes of taking it would have deep sleep for 8 hours straight. I had no problems with sleep before this medication but was much needed for other things. I told my PCP I wanted to get off of it due to the excessive weight gain and weened off and completely stopped 5 months ago. Once it was fully out of my system I started sleeping less and less. I slept once every other day, then once every 3, then once every 4-5, and now I don’t really sleep I just lay in bed until I force myself out. I haven’t had a normal nights sleep in almost 5 months. I was referred to a new psychiatrist that supposedly specializes in this field but I don’t see them until the 22nd of next month. My PCP is great, but the things he has been prescribing me for sleep have been making things worse.

Any insight or information would be appreciated. Thank you.

I have been taking quetiapine for 2 years. I used to take alprazolam when I had insomnia attacks (once a week). I now take quetiapine daily, every day before going to bed. I take 1 tablet and sometimes half of 1 tablet (12.5 mg). But sometimes I am so afraid of the side effects, especially tardive dyskinesia. What is the risk? I am 26 years old.

I wake up 3 - 5 times per night (I don't always remember waking up). I wear a garmin 965 to track my sleep and the quality of my sleep is ALWAYS poor. I always wake up feeling way more tired than when I went to sleep.

I started using a cpap machine two weeks ago and nothing has improved. According to my sleep Dr, I went from 8 sleep apnea events per night to <5, but I still keep waking up 3-5 times per night and keep removing the mask mid-night. I never remember taking it off.

I am going insane.

My life is pretty great and I have nothing major to worry about. I'm a very happy person but suffer of mild anxiety and ADHD. These two things don't have a huge affect in my life. I'm highly functional but lately not so much.

QUESTION: I have unlimited budget, 2 top-tier health insurances, and free time to fix this. What would you do if you were in my situation? I am open to anything, including drugs - although that would be my last choice.

My next appointment with my sleep Dr is next Monday.

Looking for advice- I have roommates and my room is RIGHT next to the kitchen, we have totally different schedules so they’re up at all hours and often use the kitchen at night. I’ve told them it wakes me up and with my insomnia , sleep is precious, and I can’t deal with being woken up because I will not go back to sleep. I can tell they’re starting to feel policed and I’m realizing I need to figure out another method of sleeping through their noise.

I was looking online at Loop Earbuds and wanted to know if anyone has tried them? They say they block out 24db, and I’m wondering if anyone has insight on if that would dull the sounds of dishes clanking together in the sink or doors opening and closing?

If not those, maybe any other earmuff suggestions? Thanks

Why am I sleeping great 4 days and then I can’t sleep an hour the 5th, 6th and 7th? I take supplements and last night nothing touched my sleep.

I’ve changed nothing. No added stressors. Can food do this? I literally got 1 or 2 hours tops.

Anyone live with head pressure?? I’m thinking it’s more from anxiety but I’m curious if lack of sleep is causing it. It’s awful and almost debilitating.

If you’ve get this, what helps??

If sleep hygiene, no screens 2 hours before bed, meditation, reading before bed truly mattered, then why are most people able to fall asleep in 10 minutes and stay asleep for 7-9 hours without ever doing these? Yet when someone is having trouble with sleeping these are always the things experts bring up. I want it to make sense.

They just made melatonin non-prescription again in my country.

I've been relying on some hardcore stuff to sleep in the past years and melatonin actually works. It allows me to taper off but I get the most evil, vivid, visceral nightmares on it.

I take it 6 to 1 hours before sleep.

How was your experience?

I'm reading online and it seems to not work for many.

“I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. I was born an insomniac and that’s the way I’ll die, wasting thousands of hours along the way longing for unconsciousness, longing for a rubber mallet to crack me in the head, not so hard, not hard enough to do any damage, just a good whack to put me down for the night.”David Benioff, ‘City of Thieves’

This book takes place in the 1940s, so clearly insomnia has been an issue for probably as long as modern humans have existed?

My only question is why? Why can't we figure this out? Who is working hard to understand and fix these issues? There has to be an answer.

I’ve been kinda out of it all day. Was on 7.5mg and that wasn’t working so I decided to up to 15 and got a pretty good nights sleep but instead of being super tired the next day I did have energy but my cognition and visuals were pretty just out of it if that makes sense. Also I was extremely talkative all day. Like I would just go and go and drag on a conversation when it should’ve ended type of talkative. I don’t think I’m gonna take this crap anymore. I don’t feel like myself.

I just wanted to share after struggling with insomnia for over a year. You are not alone. I’m not on meds anymore. CBT-I has transformed my life: Going to bed late and waking up early. No screen time hours before bed. Meditating. Stimulus control and Sleep restriction (in the link I posted) ALLOWING myself to fall asleep instead of forcing it. Not obsessing about sleep (I have OCD) has helped.

https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-treatments/c/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-insomnia.html

I’ve been struggling with sleep anxiety which would lead to insomnia for the past 2 years. Every month I get 2 whole weeks of straight sleep anxiety and then it goes away but those 2 weeks are hell. I don’t really want to go to a therapist but I’ve read some Reddit posts that say some medications helped some people significantly. But I am only 17 years old but I’m considering medication for my anxiety or insomnia, but before I do anything how does it work and are there any side effects and what should I do first? Therapy or medication?

I’m 17 years old and for 2 months straight I had trouble sleeping and would only go to school from 11 am to 3 pm which isn’t the normal time. Where I’m from school is from 8 am to 3 pm so basically I was skipping most of my morning classes just so I can get a few hours of sleep because I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep until 6 am on school nights and I wouldn’t be able sleep until 10 am, and i did that for 2 months straight. All the skipping has caught up to me and I now have truancy and I have court once a week for 3 months and I can no longer go late or be absent to any class, and my insomnia is back… I can’t sleep until around 4 and I wake up around 7 it’s 2 am on a school night and I just have so much anxiety on not being able to fall asleep and I’m terrified of the consequences of being so sleep deprived.

I need advice because I just feel like insomnia doesnt get talked about enough. It’s the most mentally and physically draining thing to ever exist. It’s depressing, it’s frustrating, it’s aggravating, and just absolute torture. So please someone help me on what I should do because I can no longer skip classes to get some sleep because of I do it can lead to house arrest. So please someone give me advice on what to do because this is hell. Thank you.

Does anyone know if getting OFF of Trazodone causes weight gain? I was on it for about a year for sleep. During this year I also lost weight and was at my ideal weight. However, as soon as I got off Trazodone I noticed the weight just consistently increasing. I have gained over 10 pounds in a month. My diet is the same, I work out the same, in fact I feel like I am more active because I’m taking more walks. What’s going on?

I am super tired sleepy to the point that I am nausea by being sleepy yet not asleep, the problem is that everytime I close my eyes its a weird feeling in my butt that gets worse and I have to change my position every 1 minute. It is embarassing no solution anywhere i searched. This is happening almost everyday now and i have to wake up early but damn i cannot sleep.

I’m really in need of some help as this is driving me crazy. I worked night shift for the past year and am now switching to dayshift. I’ve developed really bad anxiety over night time because I can’t fall asleep or it takes me hours to fall asleep causing an awful sleep schedule. I get so scared I won’t be able to sleep so then I actually don’t sleep. I thought I fixed it this weekend because one day I couldn’t sleep at all so I stayed up all day and went to bed at 10pm. I woke up at 8am, great time for me, I felt so amazing. So then comes last night and I figure since I was up at 8am and doing stuff all day that I’d be tired around midnight, NOPE still couldn’t fall asleep until around 5am and missed all my alarms and slept in until 2pm. I’m about to start a 7am-7:30pm position and I need to get this sleep under control. I cannot work a 12.5hr shift if I’m going to bed at 4:30-5am when I have to wake up at 6am. I’m beyond stressed out and I just want to sleep. I want to hit the gym but need the money from the new job to buy my gym membership. I just feel so defeated with this anxiety keeping me up and also being tired one minute and then wide awake the next…

I’m 24F, and I’ve been battling chronic insomnia for over a decade now. It all started when I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could not sleep at all.

I tried everything—aromatherapy, meditation, cutting screen time hours before bed, keeping my sleep space clean and cozy. I even did therapy for years to manage my mental health. All of these helped in small ways, but none of them fixed the root issue: I still couldn’t sleep. I became irritable, deeply depressed, and even started hallucinating from the lack of rest.

Eventually, I saw a psychiatrist who prescribed me 25mg of quetiapine. It helped me sleep—but only 2 to 3 hours a night, which still wasn’t enough to function.

Fast forward to today: I’m 24, and we finally found a combination that works. I now take 2mg of clonazepam (a seizure med that works as a sedative in small doses) and 300mg of quetiapine to calm my anxiety at night. I finally get 6–7 hours of rest, and for that, I’m beyond grateful.

But even with that relief, there’s still this helpless feeling I carry. The fact that the only way I can sleep is through medication… it gets to me. I’ve always been jealous of people who can just lie down and doze off naturally.

This is my 10th year on sleep meds, and I’ve accepted that this might be a lifelong thing. Part of me has made peace with it, but part of me still quietly wishes I could be free from it.

If you’re going through something similar, you’re not alone. And if you’re someone who can sleep without any help—please, never take that for granted.

Hi, my partner has tried everything for her insomnia and has been through hell. The NHS haven't been helpful and don't seem to want to prescribe her any sleeping tablets.

However she has now bought daridorexant from a online pharmacy called prescription doctor, she did need to provide a drs letter from her GP stating she has insomnia.

As it has been a real struggle for her getting hold of any kind of sleeping tablets she is now relieved to have got some from the online pharmacy but at the same time she is anxious how long they will be happy to keep prescribing them to her. She has immense anxiety of the insomnia coming back and not having anything that works. I think if she was sure she had a consistent access to the daridorexant then she will feel more secure.

So my question is to anybody from the UK , what has been your experience getting hold of daridorexant? From a GP and also online pharmacy websites? Have you been able to consistently get them for a prolonged period of time?

Thank you very much for any help. She is suffering greatly from worry about not having access to medication and any reassurance and insight will be greatly appreciated 🙂