My insomnia won't ever go away its sad

[Striving for more]

Please don't say something really obvious like "exercise man" or "eat good food" that hasn't made a difference. I have insomnia way too often and I've had it since I was 14, but has been a lot worse in the 15 months also has gotten worse since I was beaten up.

 

I don't know if I have a brain trauma or something cos I can't control it. 

 

I struggle to sleep but also wake up really early randomly and in middle of the night too. 

 

I know this might sound "goofy" but honestly this ruins my life. I'd rather be fat than have insomnia even just once a week. Its destroying my potential. I want to succeed and enjoy life but Its very hard to do it when I'm tired and slow all day .

 

Sorry for rant, please give any tips or if I'm a lost cause maybe there is nothing 

 

Tldr; exercise, healthy food, meditation,  l theanine doesn't work and I believe I nmight have a brain tuma and maybe should give it soon

[robinmk4l]

I suffer from chronic insomnia myself and it has been really severe at times so I can deeply empathize with you. Can you specify a bit more exactly what ur problems are? Do you get complete inability to fall asleep or wake up at night? How many hours of sleep do you get on average? Is it due to anxiety like racing thoughts and worries, or you just cant sleep so to speak?  

[The0Self]

Try oleamide.

Also try meditation a la Culadasa -- The Mind Illuminated.

[robinmk4l]

I will say this tho, a lot of people are going to give you a lot of different advice of things and techniques to do. This and that supplement, mindfulness techniques, sleep hygiene, exercise, nutrition, this and that. The truth of the matter is that if you truly have insomnia then nothing is going to work. And you have to realize that. And as soon as you realize that and accept that, boom, you'll be able to sleep. In cognitive behavorial therapy for insomnia there is a term called "sleep effort". That means anything you try to do to make you sleep better, will actually make it worse. So to truly "beat" insomnia once and for all is to simply not give a fuck about sleep! Easier said than done, i know lol. Because the tricky part is now trying not to give a fuck also turns into a sleep effort. If you want to learn more about this I highly suggest looking into CBTi, its been proven to be the absolute most effective treatment for insomnia.

[aurum]

@Striving for more

Were you ever punished for sleeping as a child? Or felt like you weren't allow to sleep when you were younger for some reason? Outside of the insomnia I mean.

[integral]

Its very likely low blood sugar waking you up at random times. It also makes it very hard to fall asleep. 

[integral]

45 minutes ago, neutralempty said:

I heard putting a bit of white toast bread in your mouth until it dissolves helps with sleep.

 

[integral]

@neutralempty naaaaa there no winning, i only studied McDougall and read one of his books, then ACTUALLY TRIED IT IN REAL LIFE. 

[integral]

@neutralempty wow my mistake i thought that was Dr. McDougall not Dr. Neal Barnard, i thought they where the same person, watched videos from both of them lol. 

I thought one was an older version of the other one. haha also there both vegan and make a living with vegan nutrition and have basically the same teachings. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by integral

[integral]

7 minutes ago, neutralempty said:

@integral

Completely unreleated to what the question.

More importantly the point is i actually experimented and you did not.  

[Ananta]

I've had insomnia for about 15 years or so. Nothing works for me unless its prescription usually. However, when I was working at the hospital I started hear a few doctors telling pts with insomnia to start taking over the counter Melatonin. I talked to the pharmacist I knew there and he said that yes, they found out it works great for sleep. Most common doses are 3, 5 and 10 mg if your insomnia is that bad I'd try 5mg to start, if interested. It normally has no side effects and no hang over effect the next day. 

Or not, its up to you.

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Ananta

[Michael569]

@Striving for more get some basic testing done. It may be that your elimination channels are struggling. It could be in the liver and it may be hormonal as well. See if your doctor could get you these tests: 

* full thyroid panel 
* kidney & liver testing
* hba1c & fasting glucose 
* your catecholamines (this may not be an option thou)
* ECG
* neurological assessment 

Naturally, as others mentioned we cannot exclude trauma or PTSD, you'd have to tell us if there is a factor. 

 

[Striving for more]

Hey Guys. Thank you so much for the Tips and support ... I am just looking in to all your responses now. 

UPDATE : I currently seem to be fluctuating between OK/acceptable quality sleep (about 7 Hours+)  every day & then not ok sleep the next day 

(E.g I typically will sleep ok on day 1, then only sleep 5 hours the next day, waking up prematurely around 5AM  this is the current typical pattern).

 

I am going to try and PUSH for a solution ... I really don't want this shit anymore. I can't take it. 

 

Conclusion : I will try melatonin and looking in to the other responses. I will also get an MRI scan if I can. It just seems like Mri would be mysterious and hard to do maybe not, but health care systems are always "busy", I feel like i'll never get appointments. 

 

Also I drink caffiene most days, sometimes with coffee sometimes just tea or geen tea. But I never drink after half 11. 

I eat dark chocolate every morning and normally have some coffee or tea about 9-11:30

And sometimes I sleep fine with caffiene and can't sleep even without caffiene. 

But they say caffiene effects you for "9 Hours" ... Could it be that I just should consume NO CAFFIENE ever, even dark chocolate, because maybe it effects me for a lot longer ?

 

As for "PTSD" > I'm really not sure if I qualify or not. I was Beet up fairly badly last year, but the doctor said after that I had no serious physical conditions.

I also had a "traumatic experience" on LSD at a festival 2.5 years ago. It was a very very bad dark trip with intense anxiety that felt like it lasted a longg time. Again I doubt that this qualifies. 

 

@Ananta You say you "had insomnia for 15 years" > Do you mean that you just suffered for 15 years and it ruined your life ... or that you had it but the prescription solved the problem so you were still happy and functional ?

Do Presciption drugs for insomnia  usually have bad side effects ?

And thank you .. i'll try melatonin

 

Also does anyone think CBD could be a viable solution ? (It's quite expensive and hard to access in my country, but i've heard good things)

 

I've heard leo talk about heavy metal detox. Maybe that could be a reason ? (In august - september I was eating tinned tuna every day, i've stopped now but maybe that didn't help)

 

I just hope it's not a sever neurological problem, I see no reason to live if this is true. I will probably commit suicide if I find out I have a sever brain problem

[Striving for more]

@robinmk4l  Loving your response. I will gave that a go for sure. 

My only issue though is sometimes I can fall a sleep, but then I prematurely wake up around 4/5AM & then can't fall back to sleep & I'm tired all day as I only got 4-5 Hours. 

And this can happen even if I have no anxiety in a fine mood etc.. I wish there was a more simple and obvious correlation ("I have anxiety, PTSD ....") cause then I could work with that and selectively zoom in on that 1 problem.

I guess I'm just going to have to try solutions from every angle, hope that 1 works or at least helps, maybe get a sleep journal. 

[Striving for more]

@aurum  

" Were you ever punished for sleeping as a child? Or felt like you weren't allow to sleep when you were younger for some reason? Outside of the insomnia I mean."

That's an interesting question, and what made you ask that. 

umm Kinda ... When I was around 9-11 my dad used to wake me up really early like 6am & force me out of bed to do athletics. It wasn't every day but about 2 days a week for several months 

 

I mean I was never "punished", but obviously I was forced to wake up earlier than I wanted to go to school and sometimes for athletics or soccer. 

 

 

[Ananta]

5 hours ago, Striving for more said:

@Ananta You say you "had insomnia for 15 years" > Do you mean that you just suffered for 15 years and it ruined your life ... or that you had it but the prescription solved the problem so you were still happy and functional ?

Do Presciption drugs for insomnia  usually have bad side effects ?

And thank you .. i'll try melatonin

I mean that my insomnia started roughly 11-15 years ago (I can't remember exact year).

Also, I meant that I really can't/couldn't sleep without medication, whether its a sleep med, a sedative or melatonin and yes, once I took them I was functional. 

I tried prescription sleep meds first. They just didn't work good for me, so we went to a sedative...but, melatonin has worked for me also. 

Your welcome.

 

[The0Self]

7 hours ago, Striving for more said:

Also does anyone think CBD could be a viable solution ? (It's quite expensive and hard to access in my country, but i've heard good things)

Order of things to try:

Meditation -> Melatonin -> CBD oil (preferably full spectrum) -> Oleamide (most likely to work, but perhaps try the others first).

[aurum]

7 hours ago, Striving for more said:

That's an interesting question, and what made you ask that. 

It's just a guess, but I'm wondering if you developed insomnia because you subconsciously learned as a child that sleeping isn't okay. In other words, negative programming and associations from the past around sleep or rest.

Normally I'd just suggest meditation and working out more. But from what you've said, you've tried that already. So I'm thinking it must be deeper.

[Striving for more]

UPDATE GUYS : I have just been looking into heavy metal intoxification and it's affects and seeing Leo's perspective on how he struggled with it.

I have just called my dentist and found out that I received an amalgam mercury filling in march 2016 > I am going to make a post on this for advice / tips on getting it removed and if anyone knows about the effects of mercury fillings. 

I understand that these problems are multifactorial, but perhaps this is one of the key factors, who knows.

[Villager Albert]

@Striving for more Hey man, some uncommon things that can help: 

- A weighted blanket

- Mouth taping

- A mix of ACV+honey before bed, I have no clue why it works though

- Sauna + cold shower right before bed

- The obvious habits like sleeping in a cold dark room, avoiding blue light etc. still are really important