Havent slept in a week

[MisUnderstood9]

It is literally what the title says... I have not slept in probably over a week.

 

I am exhausted but, I am unable to sleep. Every night I do my same routine I have always done before bed time. I lay with my fiance, close my eyes and it never shuts off..

 

It feels like I have a constant radio playing in the back of my head and Im serious - my brain is literally singing lyrics. I then start the "concentrate on my breathing" routine but even while I am doing that the lyrics are still going. I get out of bed and walk around my house until I feel tired again. Go back to bed and still nothing. It's been over 8 days. I am extremely irritable, I am starting to actually feel physically sick because of how tired I am.

 

Last night it got worse, my eyes were just so physically exhausted that I laid there with them closed hoping maybe eventually I would just nodd off and sleep -- nope -- instead my entire body went numb and started to tingle. Then out of no where it felt like I couldnt breath and my heart stopped.

 

I am not stress at work nor with my home life, I excercise daily and eat healthy. I have tried sleeping aids and natural remedies. I stopped watching tv right before bed -- now I read instead until I feel tired. I'm loosing my mind, I just want to sleep, I would do anything to just fall asleep... I made a doctors appointment for next week because I cant keep functioning like this.

 

Thanks for listening -- mostly posting just to rant but, if anyone has any advice on how to help I would be very appreciative of it.

[mhowe]

When I couldn't turn off my brain when my mum was dying --- I used Zzzquil or AdvilPM. Either will bring you into a good REM sleep for a few hours until you see your dr.

[fifregister]

Can you go to a doctor and get some Ambien for the short term, then have them diagnose the underlying problem? If you don't want to take prescription pills, you can take melanin supplements from the health foods stores.

[Seraphim]

Give melatonin a try. But keep that appointment with your doctor. Have you ever had trouble sleeping in the past?

[INxJ]

Sounds like you've tried many different things. Maybe seeing a doctor is best. Have you tried reducing your caffeine intake?

 

Changes I've made to help me sleep better:

 

1. Reduced my morning cups of coffee and tea to 1/2 a cup each.

2. Stopped relying on zzzQuil (diphenhydramine) to go to bed.

3. Now take magnesium citrate in the morning.

4. Drink chamomile tea and take MoodBoost (contains L-Tyrosine, GABA, 5-HTP, etc.) and melatonin at night.

5. Try to read before going to bed whenever I can.

6. Try to practice mindfulness to go back to sleep whenever I wake up in the middle of the night. Similar to your "concentrating on your breathing", I focus on inhaling deeply through the nose and mentally say the word "sleep" on the exhale.

 

The big thing is that I'm less reliant on zzzQuil now and haven't had to use it in a week so far.

[MisUnderstood9]

Give melatonin a try. But keep that appointment with your doctor. Have you ever had trouble sleeping in the past?

 

I think I might give that a try before turning to Advil PM or something like that. I have only had trouble sleeping like this way back in highschool and college but, that was mostly due to stress from school and exams etc. It was never this bad though, Ive never gone this long without sleep nor have I ever felt like I physically stopped breath or felt like my heart stopped. That is what scared me the most to call and actually make the appointment with my doctor.

[MisUnderstood9]

Sounds like you've tried many different things. Maybe seeing a doctor is best. Have you tried reducing your caffeine intake?

 

Changes I've made to help me sleep better:

 

1. Reduced my morning cups of coffee and tea to 1/2 a cup each.

2. Stopped relying on zzzQuil (diphenhydramine) to go to bed.

3. Now take magnesium citrate in the morning and MoodBoost (contains L-Tyrosine, GABA, 5-HTP, etc.) and melatonin at night.

4. Try to read before going to bed whenever I can.

5. Try to practice mindfulness to go back to sleep whenever I wake up in the middle of the night. Similar to your "concentrating on your breathing", I focus on inhaling deeply through the nose and mentally say the word "sleep" on the exhale.

 

The big thing is that I'm less reliant on zzzQuil now and haven't had to use it in a week so far.

 

My caffine intake is tiny. 1 coffee a day in the mornings (done by 10am). I dont drink caffinated beverages anymore, water mostly or milk. Whats Magnesium Citrate? Never heard of that and I think I am going to go to my health food store and get some Melatonin since ymost of you are recommanding it.

 

Its mostly the fact that I felt like I stopped breathing and felt like my heart stopped that has me the most worried. Hopefully the melatonin will help until my doctor to run some tests and help me figure this out. I am only 26 so this is all really strange.

[Seraphim]

My caffine intake is tiny. 1 coffee a day in the mornings (done by 10am). I dont drink caffinated beverages anymore, water mostly or milk. Whats Magnesium Citrate? Never heard of that and I think I am going to go to my health food store and get some Melatonin since ymost of you are recommanding it.

 

Its mostly the fact that I felt like I stopped breathing and felt like my heart stopped that has me the most worried. Hopefully the melatonin will help until my doctor to run some tests and help me figure this out. I am only 26 so this is all really strange.

 

Feeling like your heart might stop and feeling like you might stop breathing sound like anxiety but check with your dr.

[cbh1979]

I've been there, and it sucks. I would suggest, if you go to your doctor and they recommend a prescription, ask about Lunesta over Ambien. When I was having the same problem a couple years ago, I took the former and not only did it make me sleep, it restored "normal" sleep patterns so that I didn't even bother using all that had been prescribed. It sounds like your mind just needs to re-learn how to shut down, but it can't because now you're adding the anxiety of wondering if you'll sleep on top of it.

 

Outside of a prescription, reading always works for me.

[Batya33]

I am so so sorry you are going through this. I have suffered with insomnia in the past. One thing that helps me quiet my mind lately i 4-7-8 breathing (google it) especially when the exhaling is done through tightly pursed lips.

 

I also do visualizations of boring routines but that are also comforting for me - something that takes several routine steps to go through mentally so that you have to focus on the routine rather than the noise in your head.

 

I do like the before bed routines -no screen time for 2 hours previous, read but outside of bed not inside (bed only for sleeping) and make sure the room is cool enough.

 

I also would recommend a tylenol pm just for one or two nights to get your body back on track.

 

All the best to you -I hope you get the sleep you need very ,very soon.

[INxJ]

My caffine intake is tiny. 1 coffee a day in the mornings (done by 10am). I dont drink caffinated beverages anymore, water mostly or milk. Whats Magnesium Citrate? Never heard of that and I think I am going to go to my health food store and get some Melatonin since ymost of you are recommanding it.

 

Magnesium is supposed to help with anxiety, among other things, but now that I think about it, I may be taking the wrong form of magnesium...hmmm. Anyway, here's a link in case you're interested: link removed

[sadchick83]

Can you go to a doctor and get some Ambien for the short term, then have them diagnose the underlying problem? If you don't want to take prescription pills, you can take melanin supplements from the health foods stores.

 

Ambien doesnt work as well as "Imovane," which is only available in Canada and Europe. Believe me, when I came to the US, I nearly died without Imovane. Ambien and Lunesta are garbage compared to this one.

 

Imovane is like a light switch. You take it and you will sleep very well for 6-7 hours and wake up refreshed. The others take so long to kick in.

 

I totally know what you are going through. Being tired during the day is terrible! Worse than the flu and a hangover!

 

You haven't mentioning working out. This will always help a person sleep bette than any prescription. Also be aware of the cough medicines. They actually have pseodueffefedrine in them and may make you jittery and unable to sleep.

[Batya33]

Yes, definitely exercise!!

[MisUnderstood9]

Ambien doesnt work as well as "Imovane," which is only available in Canada and Europe. Believe me, when I came to the US, I nearly died without Imovane. Ambien and Lunesta are garbage compared to this one.

 

Imovane is like a light switch. You take it and you will sleep very well for 6-7 hours and wake up refreshed. The others take so long to kick in.

 

I totally know what you are going through. Being tired during the day is terrible! Worse than the flu and a hangover!

 

You haven't mentioning working out. This will always help a person sleep bette than any prescription. Also be aware of the cough medicines. They actually have pseodueffefedrine in them and may make you jittery and unable to sleep.

 

I work out daily. I did mention that in my original post that I do exercise -- i ride my bike to work and from work everyday and i have a 20 min morning workout i do and a hour n half work out at the gym 3 times a week with a trainer.

 

I am going to try that melatonin i think it was called first and see my physician.

 

Thanks for everyones amazing advise. I will probably look into the Lunesta over the Amien if the melatonin doesnt help.

[Seraphim]

Melatonin , not with a B. link removed

[Bunney]

Not to sound scary or pessimistic but going too long without sleep (think it was 11 days) WILL result in death, and not being able to sleep for such a long time CAN be sign of a serious illness. Please get to the doctor ASAP, not next week.

[MisUnderstood9]

Not to sound scary or pessimistic but going too long without sleep (think it was 11 days) WILL result in death, and not being able to sleep for such a long time CAN be sign of a serious illness. Please get to the doctor ASAP, not next week.

 

Thats the quickest she could get me in. I am going to try a sleep aid tonight. My fiance pick me up some kind of sleeping aid. Hopefully it helps and i can get a decent nights rest. Our towns local health food store is only open Wednesday to Sunday so I cant go get the melatonin until tomorrow.

[Seraphim]

You can also get melatonin at any drugstore. Shoppers carries it as well. Use of melatonin is so widespread now that you can get it at more places than health food stores.

[MisUnderstood9]

You can also get melatonin at any drugstore. Shoppers carries it as well. Use of melatonin is so widespread now that you can get it at more places than health food stores.

 

oh really! Thats awesome! I will get my fiance to stop at shoppers and grab some instead of grabing the Sleep-Eze he was going to get me

[Batya33]

Are you sure you're not dozing off at points and getting some sleep? Have you tried reading in bed with a night light? (I am a fan of getting out of bed to read if at all possible but if it's not it also helps to read in bed I find.

Here's to a restful night's sleep tonight!

[chitown9]

I have fallen asleep listening to forest sounds, rain sounds, running brooks, on youtube. There are some videos that run for hours.... chi

[catfeeder]

One trick I found helpful was to have a nice negotiation with my Self. Upon winding down for the night, I'd instruct my brain to do any processing that it wishes during the night--and I would not attempt to interfere with that--however, it can't interfere with my need to rest my whole body, either. So the deal is, it gets to 'background process' while I rest, and I promise to keep a pad and pen by my bedside and Pay Attention to anything I should be alerted to as an outcome as soon as I awaken.

 

So I gave myself 'permission' to rest AND work out anything my unconscious wants me to deal with--but that needs to occur while I'm unconscious, and as soon as I'm rested enough, I'll 'listen'.

 

This worked in longer and longer cycles. I'd awaken after a couple hours, and I'd journal for a few minutes right away. I wouldn't force it--sometimes I'd just doodle or write 'nothing to report at the moment'. Then I'd hit the bathroom, and come back to attempt another round.

 

Playing a You-Tube designed to help you sleep might be helpful, but I didn't know about those at the time. Instead, I focused on relaxing one part of my body at a time, starting with my toes and working up to wherever I dropped off. It's both boring but occupying at the same time--we don't realize which parts of our bodies are holding tension until we consciously focus on releasing it from each part.

 

If your mind start to play music while you do this, request a gentle song but ask for it to stay in the background while you talk the tension out of your parts.

 

I hope you'll stay in touch and let us know how you're doing.

 

Best wishes.

[Batya33]

I wanted to add that I spray my pillow with sleep spray (lavender) and I got the recommendation for which kind (and even that it existed, I believe) when I posted about my sleep issues here.

 

Definitely check out the 4-7-8 breathing video on you tube (I think Dr. Weill is the author).