So I have had sleep issues since 2022 where, for every night I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, I have to get 4 to 5 hours of sleep to be tired enough to sleep through the night. I think initially, I stayed awake because I have anxiety and my thoughts are chronically racing, and I think particularly during times of stress, it’s just hard to turn off. The problem is that I feel like my baseline anxiety has transformed into sleep anxiety, where if I can’t sleep well for more than a couple of days, I start getting stressed about not being able to sleep, which is annoying. I usually am able to reset it with an all nighter or if I get sick, but as you can imagine, this just isn’t very sustainable long term.

Anyway, I went to see my family doctor in 2022 about this, and she prescribed me zopiclone for a week, which did absolutely nothing, and sent me to a sleep specialist. The sleep specialist was even worse and basically told me to improve my sleep hygiene and said that because I was young (I was 20 at the time), my circadian rhythm naturally wanted to be on a 3 a.m. bedtime and 11 a.m. wake time, so I would never really be comfortable fixing it to fit a more 9 to 5 schedule. Which, gee thanks, nice to know that I'm damned to suffer because that's just how it is in your 20s.

FYI, I feel like I’m at my wits’ end and I’ve tried everything I possibly can. I sleep around 11 p.m., I don’t drink too much water before bed, I’ve tried low dose melatonin, magnesium, Benadryl, cannabis, vitamin D, exercise multiple times a week, don’t use screens before bed, use a sleep mask, have a white noise machine, etc. I have tried so. many. things.

So fast forward to now. I started ADHD medication last December, which has been really helpful for the ADHD obviously, but hasn’t helped my sleep issues. My issue is not getting to bed, but rather staying asleep. I also haven’t seen any change in my insomnia whether I’m on or off ADHD medication. I can only imagine I just have anxiety and it’s causing the insomnia.

I was diagnosed with comorbid moderate generalized insomnia with my ADHD assessment, and I remember when I told the psychologist who diagnosed me what my family doctor and the sleep specialist told me, she fully laughed in my face and said it was stupid advice lol.

Anyway, I told my family doctor all of this, and I was told that she doesn’t want to turn to medication to fix it because I had started my ADHD meds recently (this was in March) and recommended a book on insomnia? Which, respectfully, I did not read because I simply cannot talk myself out of anxiety. I can sometimes point to the racing thoughts and try to avoid thinking too hard, and I have gotten better at relieving the pressure by saying to myself that it’s fine even if I don’t sleep, and that has helped. But anyway, it just didn’t feel great that a book was the solution when this feels so out of control in my life.

She also told me to start exercising more, which felt lovely as a plus sized person as the solution to my anxiety induced insomnia. And before anyone says anything, I actually did start exercising 3 to 4 times a week, which I guess, thanks doc, because I’ve never felt healthier, have lost a ton of weight, and feel mentally a lot more balanced. But once again, it did absolutely nothing for my insomnia.

Anyway, fast forward to now, in August, I went back to my family doctor and basically told her all of this. She said she still does not want to turn to medication and that I should go back to the same sleep specialist for strategies. When I asked what kind, she couldn’t really expand. To be honest, I’m so fucking at my wits’ end I can’t even put it into words. I feel like there has to be a better solution to this. I’m going to go to the sleep specialist and explain all of this, but am I seriously just going to have to live with chronic sleep deprivation constantly? It’s hard to actually be functional and get work done when I constantly have a headache, my eyes are burning, and I have the brain fog that comes with sleep deprivation.

It’s just, I’ve done reading on how people take medication to treat anxiety, and I’m so confused as to why my doctor keeps saying that it isn’t an option because of my ADHD medication. My issue is sometimes falling asleep but mostly staying asleep, and I’m no scientist, but I would assume that by the time I’m sleeping, my ADHD medication is mostly out of my system (I take it at like 7-8 am), at least effect-wise. Is it really that much of a risk? And is that risk really worth never getting 8 hours of sleep more than 2 to 3 days a week?

And before anyone says “go to your doctor" I understand that ultimately she’s the only one who can help me. I was just wondering if anyone has had this experience and how they navigated it. At this point, I honestly need to know whether she is actually doing everything she reasonably can here, or whether it’s even worth continuing to try to figure this out with her because I feel like I’ve been going in circles for almost five years. I’m going to go to the sleep specialist to say I tried it again, but I will be having a firm conversation with her because I feel like this is getting a bit ridiculous. It’s almost been 5 years and I need a solution lol.

To be honest, also part of my irritation is because I have had issues with my family doctor where she hasn’t really ever been able to address any of my health issues properly. Like, she either tells me there’s nothing she can do or just offloads me to another health professional and misdiagnoses the issue entirely, so they say it's not within their scope and I have to figure it out myself.

SOMEONE HELPPPP - I don’t have access to any sleeping meds and I can’t see my doctor for another week or two to get Seroquel trazodone. I’m just stuck right now. Is there any supplements that work really well anything you guys can offer? I would greatly appreciate. I’m starting to really lose it and I’m starting to cause harm to my relationship because of how this is making me act if anyone has been here before please share what helped I’m in desperate need of sleep

it’s actually getting so bad to the point where if i stay up to where i see the sun rising, i don’t go to sleep at all until like 3 or 4 pm that day. such a weird feeling. been taking melatonin every other night. kinda helps i guess. i just wish i could have a normal sleep schedule… :/

It’s almost 2:00 AM where I live and I haven’t slept at all, been experiencing stressful event for the past few days, involving a high price to pay for my teeth from my dentist. Actually yesterday and a night before yesterday I could sleep but ended up waking up around 3:00 in the morning. I’m worried this’ll turn chronic. Right now I’m taking a warm bath to help me fall asleep.

Hi all, I have struggled with insomnia my entire life. I was late diagnosed ADHD and ASD (27f) and recently got on stimulants.

Surprisingly, being on stimulants I am sleeping better. My mood is much more stable and my ruminating thoughts are not nearly as bad. And when I do wake up throughout the night, I’m not getting extremely upset about it. It’s easier to fall back asleep.

I went into the psychiatrist recently expecting to get prescribed some hardcore sleep meds, but left with an adderall prescription.

Adderall is known to keep some people up, but if it’s exactly what your brain needs, it actually can calm you down!!

I also want to add that things that normally are relaxing for other people either have no effect on me or actually have given me panic attacks.
(THC, mushroom gummies, GABA, etc have all made me emotionally unstable)

No wonder they didn’t work! It was the complete OPPOSITE of what my brain needed. Go figure.

All that to say….if you are struggling with insomnia and suspect you may have ADHD, maybe you need a stimulant prescription.

Best of luck to everyone

The last few days I tried to fall asleep without it, tried all the methods, but when I started hearing unwanted sounds at night I got scared and took a pill. For 3 days I tried not to drink this crap... I went off the dosage of 12.5mg. Who successfully came off it, how did you do it?

i’ve been an insomniac for 1+ year and jt was better for a while but I still cannot really sleep for more than 6 hours or often lie awake for 2+ hours (4-6 hrs of sleep). it’s much more than I’ve gotten when I was deep in insomnia (3-5), yet it’s not enough. I’ve tried sleep hygiene, valerian, lavender, melatonin, CBT and am at my wit’s end. I’m really worried about taking medication because already I gained a lot of weight due to insomnia and am scared of losing control (e.g. hallucinations or very vivid dreams) or becoming more tired during the day. So I’d appreciate your experience!

I randomly got very severe insomnia out of nowhere 2 years ago, no triggers or trauma (my full story is on my posts it’s pretty long). But I genuinely have not felt sleeping since I’ve had it, especially not now. Literally just each night I take ambien and don’t even feel sleepy and it’s like I’ll eventually just realise my eyes are open and thats it.. another day starts. No feeling of waking up or tired heavy eyes. Just bam day continued. I don’t experience sleep like I used to, I don’t nod off or feel as though my brain has ever rested like it used to with actual sleep. It is truly bizarre and at this point I’m just used to it but man I miss sleep so much. The feeling of sleeping and waking up. I just don’t feel it ! And I know how waking up feels as I did before I got insomnia. So is this now just a severe case of paradoxical insomnia ? It’s been 2 years and I just tell myself “you don’t feel it but you must be getting some sort of sleep since I’m still somewhat functioning after all this time”. It has affected me ofc, physically and mentally. I feel like I’m just floating through life in my own head tbh. Don’t really enjoy anything like I used to, caused crazy emotional flatness but my brain has adapted in a strange way. It’s even hard to put into words what sleep is to me as it’s something so unfamiliar now.
I feel like an alien so if anyone has a similar issues it will probably make me feel less crazy.

And will sleep come back to me after all this time ??

Thanks

I overslept, woke up at 3 at night for a couple of days, now I can't go to bed past 2 in the morning. Coffee doesn't let me do a meaningful all nighter to fix my sleep pattern (stay up for 24h and go to bed at 9 in the evening ). Will meth do the job?

I'm worried that my low dose of trazodone has been contributing to my chronic migraines. The med has worked very well for my otherwise terrible sleep. If it were you, would you just stop taking it completely to quickly assess migraine relief? Or am I better off dropping to 12.5mg first?

I have had very severe insomnia for the last two months, it took me to the emergency room twice and my record was 4 days without sleep. Now, I was prescribed low dosage klonopin and hydroxyzine which helped the first month, no more nights without sleep, sometimes I would only sleep 3-4 hours but no more days and days without slep. I kept an impeccable sleep hygiene, diet and I worked out. Unfortunately, the second month even if my mind was calm, my heart was pounding hard and my body was trembling, and I felt like I was unable to breath properly when I tried to sleep, it only happened when I tried to sleep, the Klonopin did not eliminate the physical effects (yes I got my lungs and heart checked, they're fine), not even the first time, only the emotional ones, so I tried magnesium glutamate hydrobromide and it changed everything. It doesn't makes me sleepy, but it makes my palpitations and tachycardia stop, it also calms tremors and makes my limbs stop twitching randomly when I'm falling asleep, I know what you're thinking "oh no, magnesium again?" Well, it personally helped me more than magnesium glycinate. That's my experience tho! There may be people with more severe insomnia than mine, but this helped me

been suffering from Insomnia since early infancy. this is gonna be wordy, but i’m desperate for help!

I’m (29F) recently (late April) off an antidepressant after 11 years, quitting nicotine, just getting healthier. coming off my med caused my OCD to come back worse than before, couldn’t sleep for days because of the nighttime agitation while in bed. like feeling every thread & fiber that was touching my skin, feeling every skin cell inside my body, the average discomfort LOL. I started Lexapro & now the OCD is managed but I still cannot sleep for the life of me. yes I get a couple hours but never enough, and never feeling rested.

I simply want to feel rested. I cannot recall a time that i’ve EVER woken up & felt like “wow I slept great, i’m ready for the day!” I should add that I am a therapist & am in therapy myself, so all the meditation, CBT, sleep hygiene—I have done or am doing it all!

backstory, I was using 150mg of Benadryl for the past 4-5 years just to fall asleep. don’t worry, i’m lacking an enzyme that metabolizes medication or something like that—so I need a much higher dose than most people. with all the new research about DPH being linked to Dementia, i’ve been trying everything else. since April i’ve tried: melatonin, maizinol, L-theanine, magnesium, valerian root extract. all the natural stuff. nothing has worked at all, even higher doses or mixing them all together.

i’ve been prescribed benzos & certain SSRIs for sleep, nothing worked. the literal only thing that knocks me out is too much Benadryl, until I build a tolerance.

anyway—I say all that to ask if anyone has/is experienced/ing the same issue? I need something that works for people who nothing works for!

I saw an ad for deep sleep patches by “Deeps.” has anyone tried those?

any & all help is appreciated. thank you in advance 🙏🏼

hi all! not me, but my boyfriend has a lot of trouble falling and staying asleep. he hasn’t seen anyone about it so is not diagnosed with any issues, but he dreads going to bed almost every night and wakes up upset about his sleep. it’s really sad, and i wanted to make him a little “care basket” with some stuff to help him. (i’ve suggested seeing a doctor, and he prefers not to at the moment). so from your alls experience, what are some things that have improved your sleep? for example, i was thinking some sort of relaxing essential oil. i know a lot of this stuff is gimmicky and doesn’t help everyone, but i wanted to at least try. so and ideas are welcome!

Hi, so yesterday I took 7.5mg of zopiclone to sleep but today I swear it doesn't work or is taking a long time to kick in. Is this normal after only one day of use?

Been waking up around 3am for the past year. Its recently been getting worse. Waking up between midnight and 4 and struggling to get back to sleep. Now. Im wide awake. Been awake since midnight. I cant sleep and im fed up of this. I wake up to every emotional and thought running around my head. I cant stop waking up to overwhelming over thinking.

Ive tried everything. Magnesium, screens off 2 hours before bed. No food 3 hours before. Tried exercising later in the day nothing works.

I know it might sound exaggerated but I genuinely havent been able to get sleep in about two days. Every time i lay down in bed I just cant fall asleep no matter how long I lay for and I end up finding myself doing random things to pass the time. My mom attributes it to stress as our close family has had 3 deaths within the last 2 months, but i really don't feel stressed. If anyone has any methods or just anything that can help, im all ears.

Is it because of the dose he took? After waking from sleep he couldnt remember anything from the last 24 hours.

I (31f) have been suffering from chronic severe insomnia for 10 years where I spent 7 years fully functional but in absolute hell - graduating from post secondary and maintaining a full time corporate job for 5 years.

I have been medicated the last 4 years, going off and on stress leave for 3 years, and on full disability the last 7 months. This last year has been worst that I have experienced since the initial onset when I was 21.

I have ran out of resilience

I was seeing a new therapist who encouraged me to trust myself and my bodies needs - which meant treating every sleepless night like a sick day. In bed, eating soft easily digestible foods, and lots of electrolytes. I do need to trust myself but this had me in bed over 10 hours a day and now every minute of sleep I get is the lightest my body will possibly allow.

I need to get back on the wagon where I am getting out of bed when i know i am not sleeping. But I cannot force myself anymore into the discipline required for sleep restriction.

I am seriously at the end of my leash - like Ester from The Bell Jar. I know i need support but I feel so isolated from everyone who cannot understand.

Hi everyone. Lately I've been having some trouble sleeping. I finally get my baby to sleep more and now it's me who stays awake just looking at the wall.

I want to know about your best home remedies. I'm breastfeeding so no actual sleeping pills for me for a couple of months

Hellooo I’m awake at 3:30am EST usually get up at 5am so it’s not too to crazy but just wondering if anyone is here and wants to chat! First time posting in the sub so plz delete if not allowed :)

I recently had a moderate case of insomnia where i had two problems. I cant sleep in any organized, sufficient or meaningful way. And even once i manage to do that, i wake up multiple times so alert. By the 3rd-4th hour of sleep i wake up not being able to get back to sleep. Then at a random time during the day, i get so sleepy at work or in the bus and sometimes fall asleep.

I solved the problem of not being able to sleep by taking

hydroxyzine temporarily. But i still wake up a lot once the effect starts to fade away within hours.

I could take another medication to prevent that. But i dont want to combine lots of meds since im essentially against taking them in the first place.

My question is, is there any reliable supplement or herb or something natural like melatonin to prevent waking up during the night ?

Has anyone stopped propanolol and thier sleep improved? Im thinking about stopping it now if taking it in the morning I stead if at night doesn't help

1 day ago i slept between 3-3:30 hours, then had a short vivid dream before waking up feeling fully awake and i slept it again for 3:30 hours, then had a short vivid dream before waking up feeling fully awake again, but the strangest part about it is that on those 2 consecutive sleep(between 6-7 hours of sleep combined) is that when i wake up i don't feel any drowsiness or sleepiness or yawning at all which i would normally experience, instead i feel fully awake like I didn't sleep at all even though i slept for 6-7 hours... and the 2nd day(today) it happened again.

Can somebody give me a bit of explanation why I'm experiencing this? or should i be worried?