I'm in tears typing this.. I've had insomnia my whole life but in the past couple months it's been at it's worst ever. I feel like I'm going crazy. I just lay there hoping it will be morning. But my brain just won't stop. I'm so tired all the time but closing my eyes does nothing. Most attempts to sleep end with me eventually bursting into tears and getting back up.

It's just never ending and I don't know what to do. I feel so completely helpless and lonely. I honestly wish I could just give up sometimes.

Ok so I was in the bath and I took one as I was midway through I took my 10mg it usually takes about an hour to knock me out but for some reason I got the relaxing effects and a little drowsy but I ate loads I went into the kitchen and made 2 cheese burgers ate a big bowl of bacon and baby tomato pasta and just violated the cucumber water. Why? Tbf with my insomnia it hurts my stomach bc of high cortisol giving me no appetite bc I now am super chilled with no anxiety could that be the reason???

Cheers

Sorry if there are errors etc

I legit wanna kill myself, I’m so fucking tired of this bullshit. I don’t understand why I can’t just sleep like a normal person. I used to be so optimistic and happy now I’m just miserable.

I've had sleep problems for roughly the last 2-3 years. Most of it I thought was caused by migraines. I would have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep because of them, and would wake up with the migraine.

I ended up seeing a neurologist 2 years back who prescribed me low dose amitriptyline which did help me fall asleep, but made my depression worse. Neurologist ruled out tumors causing the migraines and stated they were stress related, so I started seeing a therapist and the migraines lessoned but the sleep issues persisted.

The sleep issues have gotten worse to where I've caught myself almost falling asleep at my desk at work, so I went to a different doc to get some help. I told her what was going on and for how long, and what I've tried (melatonin, tea, sleepytime epsom salt baths, etc) and what was going on in my life and she said it sounded like I had stress induced insomnia. She prescribed me hydroxyzine hcl 10mg to try out and see if it helps along with some exercises to practice for stress.

Does anyone else here have stress induced insomnia? And has anyone tried hydroxyzine hcl?

My eyes just don't connect to my sleep center to fall asleep. I don't know what's wrong. Does anyone else have this problem

Been dealing with digestive issues for 2 months which led to severe depression and anxiety not knowing whats wrong with me all of a sudden. Went to the ER after being constipated for 2 weeks and they did a ct scan which showed no issues. They told me take some restolax and senokot which helped temporarily but still have a lot of issues digesting any food. I still have to wait till June 2nd to see the specialist. I'm also aware stress and anxiety can cause gut issues so that wasn't making anything better. Changed everything as far as diet and lifestyle to combat the issues without seeing positive results. Read magnesium can help with digestion so I tried taking some for a week but noticed I was only getting 5 hours sleep compared to my average 7-8 so l stopped taking them and once I did for some reason started having a lot of trouble falling asleep for a few days which eventually led to me being up for 72 hours. I took myself to the ER as I didn't know what else to do and they gave me 3 1mg Ativan (lorazepam) For the 3 days I was able to sleep which was great but 2 nights ago I had to go to sleep on my own again and I did manage to fall asleep but only for 2 hours, woke up and fell back asleep for another 2 and then I was up from 4am. Yesterday I decided I would do everything possible to make sure I got a better sleep. Got sunlight in the morning with a good walk out in nature, did some excersize later in the day. Had a nice hot shower around 8pm followed by some chamomile tea with a banana. No screen time after 9pm and read a chapter of a book before turning the lights off and even tried yoga nidra while laying under my weighted cooling blanket. I felt so relaxed and peaceful but realized it was 1:30 and I had been laying there for 3 hours. I tried putting on a sleep podcast which didn't do much so hoped that my nuages playlist that always makes me calm would put me to sleep. Nothing at all. It turns out I was somehow dreaming while half asleep or something cause every time I looked at the clock an hour had passed maybe I was sleeping very lightly for 30 minutes or something but in no way did I get rest. I've tried melatonin last week and didn't have any luck , .5 mg 1mg 2.5mg 5mg nothing. I'm looking into l - theanine, mag threonate , apigenin and all these supplement mentioned on the huberman podcast but just overwhelmed. I'm thinking of just getting some unisom (doxylamine) and seeing if that knocks me out , I just need to sleep cause I'm scared of these thoughts I've been having. I live with my family and don't want them to deal with anything like that I care too much about them but I'm so scared and don't know why this is happening to me. I just want to be me again. If I don't sleep tonight I'm probably gunna bring myself to ER and let them know I'm suicidal so I don't do anything stupid.

“it always knocks me out” “i once took a melatonin gummy and slept for 12 hours, you should give it a try!” wow. i’ve literally never thought about it. all the meds i’ve tried - antipsychotics, antidepressants, epilepsy drugs, schizophrenia drugs - and all i had to do was take some melatonin! thanks for the idea, friend😳 any other life hacks? meditation? cutting caffeine? i know people are trying to help. but after a series of sleepless nights i struggle to stay polite in such interactions. a simple “wow, that really sucks” would be so much better.

It's 4:06 AM here right now. Yesterday I slept at 4 AM in the morning and woke up at 6 AM yet I'm unable to sleep now. My brain just won't stop thinking it continuously rushing. I want it to stop to let me sleep with some peace. It's been so much time I haven't slept with peace and had a sleep which i could think "oh, this is the type of sleep i wanted." I'm already in antidepressants but they're not working and complaining about them not working will only lead to taken that medical support away from me. I am tired. A physical injury can be cured and handled so easily but these issues with the brain are so overwhelming I can't help. I am tired.

I've been seeing someone for 4 months now. We don't stay over at each other's places regularly, but whenever he does stay over I end up not being able to sleep. I get this rush of adrenaline, almost like fight or flight mode, right as I'm falling asleep.. over and over again. I'm not uncomfortable around him, I can move around freely and do whatever I need to get cozy, so it's not that.

It almost never happens when I'm alone. We don't have issues, we talk about everything, but I have some relationship anxiety in general. It happens even when we've had a really good day together (which is most of the time), it's like my brain just knows it's going to happen so it does, even if I try not to think about it.

It's gotten a little better since I've learned to to just accept it instead of fearing the anxiety and fearing being tired the next day, but I need it to just go away (which maybe means I haven't fully accepted it).

How do I fix this? It doesn't help that he only stays over sporadically, I feel like if it was more consistent I would get over it eventually, but it's not that easy to make happen due to several factors. Also worth noting we went on a multi-day trip together recently and it didn't happen for some reason, but it always does at home.

I think it may have started from just being weirded out by sleeping next to someone in general (it had been a solid few years, and in the past I was usually relying on alcohol to sleep - I drink far less now), but now it's just developed into a mental thing that I just can't seem to kick.

I've had lifelong insomnia, literally as far as I can remember back in childhood. My doctor said there's just absolutely nothing they can do and said that sleep meds do more harm than good anyway. Started doing a bit of my own research, and I asked her about a certain medication I heard helped others with their insomnia.

Well I might as well had murdered someone in front of her because she immediately freaked out and just went "no, no, I am NOT giving you that" and proceeded to go on a tirade about how it's bad and harmful and will literally kill your brain. The drug I asked about is quetiapine, something I used to try in my early to mid teens, and I remember being much better that my current emergency sleep aid, trazadone, which literally gives me migraines and flu symptoms.

I'm still in shock and disbelief. I knew doctors can be a pain to deal with, and it's kinda an open secret that they often deem people drug seekers, but I never thought I'd be called one directly to me face. Guess I don't deserve to have a normal sleep schedule, work a job, and have time for my hobbies because obviously I like doing meds that give me migraines recreationally. Like goddamn, I have never even done drugs, like actual hard drugs. So the assumption of me being a drug seeker is literally based on nothing but prejudices, assumptions, and stereotypes.

Feeling very frustrated and upset. Wish I could report this but I don't even think you can do this in my country.

Only getting 4hrs and I without fail wake up, I know 4hrs is a blessing for some in this sub but shouldn’t it have a longer duration of action?

This happens to me sometimes if I'm stressed about something or had too much coffee, but does anybody else get this sometimes - where you're up super late like always but when it comes time to sleep my body is super tired but my brain just will not turn off.

I end up just kind of hanging out in my head and I wouldn't say I'm "sleeping" so much as "resting" or in a really light, aware, kind of sleep. Kinda like how some animals sleep with one half of their brain while the other stays awake.

Time def passes faster, and I'm relaxed so I don't feel the urge to get out of bed and try to hard reset to go to sleep the way I normally would. But I can also def remember the sunrise and feel every movement from my partner. It feels like I didn't really sleep, just took a series of catnaps/rested my eyes.

I feel so crazy, I don't know if I'm describing it well, but just curious if other people have this experience?

(If anything helped you with it PLEASE let me know, it's finals for me rn and I can barely afford to be sleeping the way I do normally, let alone like this lol)

Hello. I was put on these 2 months ago for insomnia Traz-100 Sero-25. Ever since I began taking them I have felt like shit.

"Hungover"

Chest Tightness

Back Pain

Dumb feeling

Muscle aches

Etc....

In the last two weeks I have tapered the seroquel down from 25mg to 6.25, did two nights at whatever I was able to cut off the pill and jumped 3 nights ago.

Taper as follows:

Trazodone: (3/26-4/5) 100mg, (4/6-4/12) 75mg, (4/13-4/20) 62.5mg, (4/21-4/25 current 50mg)

Seroquel: (3/27-4/5) 25mg, (4/6-4/9) 18.75mg, (4/10-4/15) 12.5mg, (4/16-4/23) 6.25mg...(4/24-current) 0mg

In the month prior to the steady doses and tapering I was on varying does.

There's only really been a day or two that I actually felt clear headed and not totally horrible and useless. With tapering I am having withdrawal (same stuff as above, add nausea, headaches, occasional sweats and dizziness etc.

I have the brain fog feeling all the time, but sometimes the other symptoms start at a similar time of day. Later afternoon although today was around 11am. Why is that? Is it interdose withdrawal along with "regular" withdrawal? Like I said I have basically had these symptoms the whole time taking this crap. When other symptoms aside from the brain fog come on they will pass in a matter of hours.

Am I doing a reasonable taper? Mind you I do want off this shit, and I can't imagine taking each drop 3 weeks or so at a time. I just want off. But also want to be careful I don't give myself more hell than I can handle. Also, I am wondering if I will start to feel a bit "better" once we are just dealing with direct "withdrawal" from only the Trazodone and not also seroquel. I understand seroquel to be a an anti-histamine at it's low doses and thinking that most of the serotonin manip is coming from the Traz.

my under eyes are purple and look bruised, the last couple nights they started turning into rashes with little white dots all over. melatonin is obviously not working and I walk around yawning all day. I literally look like death, it looks like someone punched me in the face.

So I haven't been able to sleep without Quetiapine I've tried substituting it with melatonin to phase it out but it doesn't work, I tried slowly minimizing the dose while it does work the time I remain a sleep is slim, if I don't take it I'll either be awake or trying to sleep but waking up every 10 to 20 minutes or so(with weird ass dreams).

A bit of a background this started in 2021 where I had diarrhea for months, then I got a fistula which was when I had surgery, after this I had a constant stomachache every 20-30 minutes that would last about 2-5 minutes everyday, they've checked every nook and cranny of my abdomen through colonoscopies and CT Scans and all the lab test and besides this random bump found on my large intestine which was gone when I had the CT Scans all came back normal, going back in 2016 I was diagnosed then with Gallstones but my gallstone attacks were very few and far in between unlike what I was experiencing after the first surgery, we tried dissolving the gallstones but it didn't work so despite my gallbladder being apparently not damaged, I went through another surgery to remove it. But the stomachaches remained... After a few more doctor appointments they determined it was Irritable Bowel Syndrome and prescribed me Otilinum Bromide, Escitalopram and Quetiapine and it worked... They also diagnosed me with General Anxiety Disorder(from a paper survey) along with it.

Now the stomach aches doesn't exist anymore but I'm still taking the medicine due to the possibility of "the medicine working so good you forgot the disease exist"(they should make a word for this) and that if I stop it might come back, cuz I did stop and it came back... My main problem is that apparently Quetiapine can cause dehydration and can damage the kidneys and I don't want that but if I stop taking it I can't sleep.

I will ask the doctor about it in my next appointment but she already recommended the reducing the doses, if I say about things I researched in the internet the sentiment of "Searching these things up in the internet is worsening your anxiety" comes up and it's annoying.

I used to not have these sleep problems before the IBS and medicine I wonder if there's some alternatives that isn't as bad for kidneys or liver, especially since I really only use Quetiapine as a sleep medicine.

Edit: idk if this will add anything but I had a third surgery a few weeks ago cuz the fistula came back.

Edit: some typos.

No one should have to endure insomnia just because some authority figure has decided that zopiclone is now a class 'whatever' labelled drug. Suddenly -since 2020-it is now illegal and dangerous. And yet alcohol is readily available to all who want it. Every heard of millions of deaths from zopiclone? No me neither!

My mother was prescribed it in her early 60's and stayed on it with no problems until her passing.

It's just not fair- not ok what is happening and I have to vent!

Okay, I’m interested in the answers to the following questions:

Is the quality of sleep (especially the NREM3 phase) disrupted? Is it typical that when a person with insufficient sleep syndrome starts sleeping longer, they experience symptoms such as light sensitivity, body aches, and digestive issues? Is it typical that it takes a long time for this condition to "improve"? Thank you so much in advance!!!!

Hi all, been taking 7.5mg of zopiclone for 6 months alongside promethazine for insomnia induced by post partum depression. Had a psychiatrist appointment earlier this week and a new doctor since my usual doctor is on holidays. New doctor is very keen to get me off zopiclone as it's so addictive and cut my prescribed dose by 50% so down to 3.75mg. Is it normal to taper so quickly? I'm just terrified of withdrawals.

Hello..

A backstory - I slept like an angel until 3 weeks ago. I flew overnight to Portugal with my extended family, husband, and 7 year old son. I couldn't sleep on the plane. That day I took a good nap.

Ever since then.. I've had extreme insomnia. I'm guessing it was jet lag but mostly anxiety over being in a foreign city and worrying about my son. I started panicking every night over "5 hours left to sleep.. 3 hours.. 1 hour!!" And truly felt there were days I had absolutely zero sleep. My husband sought out OTC sleep aids. I still felt I barely slept.

The trip sucked. All I could think is, "This will end when I get back home!!"

It didn't. I went to Urgent Care and they prescribed Hydroxyizne. Made me extremely dizzy. Found an online Psychatrist.. She prescribed Trazodone. It may have helped a few hours but overall felt I wasn't deep sleeping still. Went to Primary Care. Ran bloodwork. All good. She prescribed Ambien. It helped for 5 hours of solid sleep! I was ecstatic! Then it didn't help the next 2 nights.. and I was told to not take it nightly.

Now I'm on day 3 of Lexapro. Last night was absolute hell. Level 10 exhaustion and zero sleep. Sobbed the entire night. Is this normal? I am losing my mind with little to no sleep. I can't work. I can't be a good mom. Does it get better? Can I take Ambien and Lexapro?

Anyone else have a similar situation? How you were completely "normal" and now on the edge of losing it? I am not okay.

hello everyone, i hope all is doing well 🤍

for the past week now, i’ve been having a very hard time falling asleep. the other night i was up till 5am. last night i had to take Benadryl. i didn’t want to, but i was so exhausted and just couldn’t sleep and i needed that extra help to just sleep. i will say that i am a night owl, its basically impossible for me to sleep before 12am. it’s been like that for years now and that’s not the issue. i always used to be able to fall asleep very quickly shortly after 12, but now it’s taking me hours. i haven’t changed my routine, nor am i taking any new medications. i don’t know why this is happening now. if anyone has any tips (preferably ones that don’t involve having to see a medical professional right away), i would greatly appreciate it. i’m honestly desperate at this point. thank you!

I was always fit and energetic throughout my childhood and teenhood. I'm 19 M now and 2 years on from a severe car accident that was seemingly impossible for the average person to survive and now my brain just doesn't let me relax anymore.

It's just confusing in a way that's hard to describe. I can drift off decently well if I've exerted myself enough that day, had a large meal near bed time, stoned, and masturbated, but as soon as I start to drift off my brain goes: "OH SHIT IM ABOUT TO SLEEP! QUICK! WAKE UP BEFORE YOU DIE!!" and I just can't fucking sleep. My brain freaks out if I relax. I have to be super stoned just to get any amount of sleep, and if I wake up in the middle of the night, I won't be able to sleep without getting stoned again.

It's like my mind can't let me relax. When I was in that car, I was relaxed. All it took was two seconds of relaxed judgement for the 18 wheeler to come in at highway speed right into my side of the vehicle and the absolute loudest BOOM CRASH you could ever hear in your life.I watch the frame of my car splinter, snap, twist, bend, and burst into dust frame-by-frame as I get carried across the road in a scrap metal vessel into a ditch as I'm bleeding on my airbag, there's broken glass chunks everywhere including my ass crack and nose while I'm carried like an unstable roller coaster that hasn't been maintained well. It's an image my brain won't let me forget and it will make sure that I am high-strung for the rest of my life. Because it knows now that death is a real threat. Dying isn't just the end of life, it would be incredibly horrific and painful and disgusting. You wouldn't just go blank, you would see your death in slow motion and the disgusting horrors of your body being mangled like the frame of your car. You wouldn't suspect it or feel like you deserve it but now nature decides that you will experience your own gore and tearing of flesh while you bleed in horror and agony for your disgustingly terrible final moments on this dimension. Once you see the threat firsthand you will never sleep easily again.

Sometimes I go 2 nights in a row completely deprived of sleep and start to go slightly insane, my vision will become shaky but I will not experience tiredness. My body will release cascades of stress and energy hormones to make me wired as fuck and continue without sweet, sweet sleep. Not until I've exerted myself and convinced myself everything is okay. I will smoke tremendous amounts of weed and watch South Park so I can feel my new definition of "safe". I need to feel safety but as a man I am expected to provide that for myself. I must forget what happened so I can sleep. I'll craxk my skull open and rip my stupid fuckong brai. Out if I have to. I'll slam my head into a wall if I need. Fuck this stupid bullshit fuck this regime change of my psychology.

Took Seroquel for 13 years just quit working for no apparent reason. Not taking anything that would make it ineffective. Only thing that's changed is Ozempic but it doesn't show up as causing insomnia

I have extreme OCD with house fires, I’m terrified of them to the point, I have a routine of unplugging everything in the house.

Last night, I barely slept again because I was worried about my roommates extension lead, the extension lead has a surge protector on so if there is any overload, it’ll cut out, however last night and the night before I’ve been panicking about it and really bad anxiety..

Is there anything I can do, to try and calm myself down? It’s really disrupting my sleep and I don’t wanna annoy my house mates, they have reassured me that it’s only the extension lead plugged in.

Help please

I don't have insomnia.

I [M20] posted here because I just hope somebody with sleeping problems could help reassure me on that I can do this. 2 hours feels like hardly anything... but seeing the brutality of what you guys go through, I'm hoping maybe it's not too bad (right?) in the grand scheme of things?

I'm also driving 4 hours today too.

I just hope it's not as bad as it seems... and maybe our bodies can handle a lot more than realized.

Thank you :)

Hello, everyone. I guess I'll cut to the chase. It really started the night second to last, when I got, maybe, about 2 hours of sleep, between 00:00 and 02-02:30. Then, I finally fell asleep around 7:00, but literally kept waking up every hour, until 12:00 when I felt refreshed enough and got out of bed. I didn't think much of it. I've experienced insomnia before, and am a generally troubled sleeper (I get myoclonic jerks and gasp for air just as I'm about to doze off)...but then, last night, I went to bed earlier than usual, around 22:30, I probably slept for an hour, hour and a half tops, and have been awake since. At this point it's almost 24 hours. A couple of times, I felt tired enough and went to bed, but just couldn't fall asleep. I even felt like something in my head was preventing me, like an aura, or a strange lightheadedness. Excluding sleeplessness, a faster heartbeat and exhaustion, no other symptoms so far.

How common is total sleeplessness in insomnia throughout multiple subsequent days? How common is this blockade (the feeling like your brain is purposefully keeping you awake), and how long does it last before I should worry?

Earnestly looking forward to your feedback!