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Posted 1/6/2013 10:42 AM (GMT 0)
mad   mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad

I Hate insomnia!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Climbed in bed at 12:30am -not sleepy

Read until 1:30am-still not sleepy

Turned off light

tossed and turned until 2:30am...

My mind would Not shut up! smhair

Laid with eyes opened staring into the dark for what seemed like eons.

Got up and decided to do something in the dim light to bore myself....

It's now 5:37am and I have to be up at 8am to go to church. It's our pastor's last sermon before he retires. I wanted to tell him good-bye....

I'm just now beginning to get sleepy a little.

I guess I won't be going to church. mad

I need to put a note on my door telling everyone not to wake me and let me sleep.

I've got to talk to my doctor again. My pulmologist says no sleep aids. so it's on to the Rhuemy or primary care doctor.

Posted 1/6/2013 11:18 AM (GMT 0)
Learn meditation... It really does help you to fall asleep. I do it all the time when I wake up and before I go to sleep. It calms the mind.

Best wishes for some restful nights and painfree days...

Hugs, Karen
Posted 1/6/2013 1:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Joy,

Sorry to hear you had a poor night's sleep. If it wasn't for my sleep supplements, I wouldn't sleep. And I feel much worse during the day when I don't get much sleep pain wise and energy wise and cognitive wise and anxiety wise.

I've mentioned in this forum before how much Melatonin and L-Theanine helps me. What's nice about them is I can take more when I wake in the middle of the night which is something I couldn't do with sleeping pills which didn't work well for me and caused me side effects.

Good luck to you.
Posted 1/6/2013 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
I know the feeling. I lie awake in the dark with my brain racing many nights. My neurologist put me on Elavil to help me sleep, which he said would work well with my other medications. It did make me fall asleep but I woke many times through the night and unfortunately melatonin doesn't work for me.
I saw my psychiatrist in December and he swapped me from Elavil to straight Amitryptilyn, which seems less effective and I think is causing many headaches. Anyway, this is something you can discuss with your dr and he may know many natural ways to sleep. If they doesn't work there are many medications that are not as strong as many sleep medications that may help.
Posted 1/6/2013 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Joy, I know how frustrating insomnia is...I've dealt with it on and off since childhood. In latter years, using mental imagery and listening to relaxation DVDS has helped me. I also use deep breathing techniques. The combination of soothing music and using your imagination helps.

I lie awake in the middle of the night

the room is dark except for moonlight

 

Time passes slowly when others sleep

I hear the tick of the clock

as the second hand sweeps

keeping time while I breathe deep

 

Hugs, Robin :-)
Posted 1/6/2013 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
I like to use progressive relaxation when I'm having trouble sleeping. Basically, you start with your toes and gently relax your muscles all the way to the top. Some people listen to a tape of their own voices guiding themselves through it, and others use store bought tapes, but you can do it just mentally. My favorite is a cd by Lucinda Bassett.

I find that it helps in two ways - it distracts your mind and it relaxes your body.
Posted 1/6/2013 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
Relaxation/meditation techniques can help. I also find a hot bathwith aromatherapy epsom salts can help. I use dr. Teals.
Posted 1/6/2013 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
One of the things that has really helped me fall asleep and turn my brain off is listening to books on my phone. I shut off all the lights...set the timer on Audible to shut off after 30 min. or an hour (whatever time you choose)....and it's like being a kid being read a bedtime story...

There is something so different from this to help me sleep than having the light on, sitting up, and holding a book to read it.

With the lights already off, and my eyes shut, I really use my imagination more picturing the people in the story, what the scenary looks like, every little detail..It is almost impossible to be doing this and having my brain be thinking about all of "my" stuff at the same time. When I read a book I will read the same sentence over and over again...lol

One of the main reasons I switched to Audible books was because of my neck surgeries and it's just too hard to find a comfortable position for my neck and gets painful to hold a book up..even a paperback...

I also listen to my books when I go for a walk with my dog each night..It really makes the 1.4 miles go by in a flash!

That is another important aspect of good sleep is exercising each day so that our bodies are actually "tired" and ready for bed. I go for my walk at around 5:30pm...eat my dinner by 6:30...

As well as I keep the bedroom nice and cool...68 or under they say is best. I also have plenty of different pillows that keeps my spine in alignment...

I don't eat anything past 7pm....And obviously nothing with caffeine after 10am for me...

Anyway..these are some of the natural things that I do that really helps me fall asleep!

Posted 1/6/2013 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the ideas, folks.
I fell asleep sometime around 6am and slept until 3:30pm.

I'm not allowed melentonin because of my Lupus.
I've tried relaxation therapy and mediatation.
I've used a sound machine of assorted sounds to relax me.
My bedroom is a cool-65 degrees.
I hadn't eaten anything for 2 hours before bedtime and it was a biscuit to take with my medicine.
No caffiene.
Can't take a tub bath. I can't get in and out of the tub due to back issues. :P
Allergies prevent aromatherapy. :(

My problem is getting to sleep not staying asleep.

I might try the audiobooks. How do you get them, Snowbunny?
Posted 1/7/2013 9:26 PM (GMT 0)
Audible.com

You can't take anything like Pamelor or Elevil? My rheumy suggested Both for me and my PCP Rx Pamelor for me. I haven't slept so good in years.

Post Edited (Ms.Megz) : 1/7/2013 2:54:17 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/7/2013 9:44 PM (GMT 0)
Elavil really works at getting me to fall asleep and it doesn't make me drowsy all day. Maybe you could ask?
Posted 1/7/2013 10:44 PM (GMT 0)
I see one of my doctors at the end of the month so I'll be talking to him.
Last night I dimmed the lights in my room and turned my computer onto itunes to play ocean waves all night. I managed to fall asleep sometime around 2:30am and slept until 11:45am.
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