Suggestions for Insomnia??

It is hard to function without sleep. Everything seems harder than it actually is. And emotions can get frazzled too.

I know I have mentioned it before but meditation helps so much. It is free, something that we create. I still wake up a couple of times to go to the bathroom, but for the most part I am sleeping within 15 minutes. And it gives me a feeling of having control of something.

I hope you are finding what works for you.

Hugs, Karen...

Sorry to hear about the sleep issue, which a lot of people have.

As I mentioned in my post above, when I was off my medicines for Bipolar, and read about health food store items that might help with sleep, simply taking Melatonin or Tryptophane from the health food store did not work.

I had to be on my regular Bipolar medicine, which now is Mirtazapine for the depression and Lithium as a stabilizer to keep the antidepressant alone from sending me into mania.

You’ve already answered the question when you said in your post:

“Thanks everybody. Just can't live like this anymore. I guess I have to try something. I've always been one to avoid medicines but this has gotten out of control. Are there different types of melatonin? I am worried that once I get started on it I will become psychological dependent....but like I said, I have to do something. I am embarrassed to even say how bad this has gotten. It's going to start to get light out soon and I'm still awake. Another night in my life.”

So, you’re not taking any medicine, you haven’t been diagnosed, you’re concerned about Melatonin because it might be psychologically habit forming. And for some reason you’re having trouble. Wow. Wonder how that could be? Maybe it’s because you’re not taking any medicine, you haven’t been diagnosed and you’re concerned about Melatonin.

Did you know that one of the signs of Anxiety Disorder is: “Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom”? (Also, “Feeling nervous, restless or tense.” Mayoclinic.com)

And you write, “Just can't live like this anymore.” And, “I am embarrassed to even say how bad this has gotten. It's going to start to get light out soon and I'm still awake. Another night in my life.”

I was in the same situation when I was in my mid to late 20s, an age when a lot of mental illnesses can strike, 200 miles away from my growing up home, little to no practice in solving my own problems, negative attitude so when I did come up with a solution (go see a psychiatrist), I would turn it down because I had a negative attitude (yeah, but which psychiatrist in the yellow pages list are you going to call?). Then I would start all over at the beginning. Yeah, recipe for disaster. Mine ended in a nervous breakdown, if that gives you any comfort.

And, I didn’t have anybody to reach out to. It was just me and that apartment. And if there had been someone to reach out to, I wouldn’t have taken their advice. Why, because I was negative. And, I was like you, who’s causing me all of these problems?

The thing that helped me was reading a column about being positive when trying to solve a problem. It said, if you’re positive going into a problem that you can solve it, your chances of solving it double. (I think it’s more like tenfold.)

What I realized it does when you go into a problem thinking you can solve it is, it opens up your unconscious to look for ways to solve the problem. Whereas if you go into a problem thinking you cannot solve it, it instead closes down your unconscious to victory and makes it look for defeat and it will.

Because why” Because that’s what we were taught as children when we were so stupid, I mean so young, that we believed older people when they told us something like, “You’re worthless. You can’t solve problems.” And we clung to that. That’s my take on this.

So, when I have a problem, I don’t worry about the problem I worry about my attitude going into the problem. To clear my unconscious of negative, which I can’t see, I say over and over again, “Think positive, think positive, think positive” to clear out any unconscious negative thinking.
Then I look at the problem. And my unconscious is helping me.

If you think a psychiatrist will help, the net will list those in your area under the heading, “Psychiatrist in my hometown.” You don’t have to do anything they suggest, but you might want an expert’s view on this situation.

These are my views.

A few days ago, for 3 or 4 nights, I would go to bed about midnight, wake up about 3 or 5 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.

I couldn't walk like I use to about every day. But one day when I went to get the mail, I said, walk, even though you don't feel like it because your lack of exercise may be connected to your getting only about 5 hours sleep at night.

I walked halfway around the block. That night, I had a good night's sleep for the first time in several days.

The next day, I went to the grocery store. I'm like Brr Rabbit in the Briar Patch in the grocery store. From the time I leave my house to the time I put up the groceries, it takes about 2 hours. I don't feel any of that. I'm in a zone.

I think it's the human interaction with the other shoppers that propels me around the store, one aisle at a time. One person at a time. It makes me a part of the family of man. I'm a member of a group.

At the end of over an hour, I am not tired. That night, I am so exhausted I sleep for eight hours, with a few bathroom breaks in between.

For me it means, in addition to my other sleep aids, I need exercise to help me sleep.

The human interaction my psyche knows is priceless.