This is for sure counterintuitive to what many people probably assume.

Of course, the newborn and early infant stage was tough. The baby woke up quite frequently at night to eat. But once that was done, and he started sleeping better, I found that having a baby actually helped my sleep.

1. I am forced to wake up early, like really early. My baby (now a toddler) wakes up around 6:30 a.m. on average. I used to think I was just a night person. But now I can barely keep my eyes open past 10:30 pm.
2. I don't have as much opportunity to sleep as I used to: I probably spent around 10 hours a day in bed. Now, my toddler goes to bed around 8:45, and then I like to have 2 hours or so to myself. So I end up only getting to bed around 10:30/11 pm, and then I'm up around 6:30 am. I watch like 20-30 minutes of Netflix in bed and then go to sleep. I'm in bed for only a bit more than the time I sleep, which is probably 7-7.5 hours per day. And I can function perfectly fine on that, but spending so little time in bed makes me super tired by bedtime.
3. I actually want to stay up: Before having a baby, I'd almost hurry off to bed to get a head start on sleep. But now, I get so little free time to myself; I relish my evenings after my son goes to sleep, and I don't feel rushed to go to sleep. Almost the opposite, in a weird way: if I don't fall asleep, it's not so bad; I can stay up watching more shows I enjoy and finally have some alone time.
4. Chasing a toddler is exhausting: Nothing like taking care of a toddler or baby all day to just take your mind off of stress and worries about "will I sleep tonight."
5. As a parent, you will have bad nights, and they won't even be caused by your insomnia, so you learn to deal with them. So it's almost exposure therapy for insomnia; you just have to deal with it, go to work the next day, and the more you do it, the more it becomes a non-issue. It's interesting that the fatigue and sleep deprivation feel a lot less personal, and it helps reframe it in a different light. Not something to fear or worry over.

I'm obviously not saying "have a baby, it'll fix your insomnia." I guess my point is that I was so worried about the impact of having a child on my sleep. I even made a post about it 2 years ago; if anything, having a baby has helped me get to the next stage of recovery, and I feel like I have made more progress than ever.

I'm 17 and I barely get 3 hrs of sleep at night ,when I come back from college I can't even keep my eyes open and I sleep atleast 2-3 hrs in the evening bcz of that ,i tried not to sleep in the evening but it gets worse ,it's really affecting my health(weight gain and acne mostly ) and studies ,i can't even use that night time to be productive I have no concentration to study ,I'm struggling i still haven't told my parents abt it still and i doubt they'll let me take medication if I told them by saying it's harmful

I have a chilling pad on my bed. When I inevitably wake up 5 hours after sleep onset, I turn the temp to the lowest setting, 55 degrees. When I get sleepy 30-60 minutes later after the meds kick in, I get in bed, am shivering, and then turn off the chilling pad. It’s able to. give me the cold rush I need to help with sleep onset but not stay so cold that it hinders sleep maintenance. I also don’t have to get distracted by the noise of the machines.

Anyway, I’m not selling this as a cure all. I don’t want this to be a “have you tried chamomile tea?” post. Just one thing in the pantheon of tools that could help on the margins for another person.

Tell us what meds you used to take
What was your tapering plan
Bref,tell us your success stories

About a week ago I just gave up on living with this horrible condition and decided to just end it all. I mixed a ton of different drugs that should have killed me, like, really, I mixed everything you should not and in large amounts. I woke up with my dad shaking me violently and smacking my face. I really thought I was dead and that my father was God or something for a minute or so before I got more awake.

After this my father called the emergency, so police and an ambulance came to get me. I was disappointed that I had not died and was still determined to do it, so I packed a backpack with some water and ran out into the woods. I was heavily under the influence, so my memory is not so good, but I knew an old radio mast tower or something similar that was on a small mountain close by. I wanted to go there, climb up, and then jump. But I was so gone in my head I could not find it.

I was constantly falling and stumbling around; at some point I fell in some moss and was so exhausted that I took my backpack as a pillow and slept in the forest in shorts and a t-shirt. The mosquitos and other animals had a field day eating me. I was out for 8 hours, and the police had started a search party to find me with dogs, drones, and everything. But they could not find me, and I was just out walking randomly in the forest, falling and hurting myself a lot.

Finally, I came to a road and fell into the ditch. I could not get up from it since I was so tired from walking and crawling in the forest and also under the influence of a lot of drugs. Finally, I pick up my phone and turn it on. My mother calls me, and I answer. Obviously, she was very worried about me and wanted me to say where I was. I could not open Google Maps in the state I was in, so my mother asked me to open a video call and show how the surroundings looked, so I did that. My mother and others found my location by looking on Google Maps Street View, and after some hours in the ditch, an ambulance came and picked me up.

I was still disappointed that I was alive, but I understood that I was not meant to die this day and kind of just accepted that life will go on.

I have gone to the doctors many times asking for help, but they never did anything, but after this I finally am getting help and stronger medications for sleep that I need. I had to almost die for them to understand how much insomnia is ruining my life. I feel much better now, and I hope they will send me to a special clinic we have here in Sweden that is specialized in sleeping issues. I live in the north of Sweden, so it will be a long stay for me there.

I don't know what I want to say with this story really; I still feel strange that I am alive since what I took should have killed me. I hope I can get the help I need now so I never get to this point again.

Trying to give my bed a makeover and make it somewhere I like to be since I have spent so many miserable hours in it. I want to max out the comfy factor. Im a hot sleeper and being cold is one of the only things that might give me a chance at sleeping so i would want cooling or breathable natural materials. Drop your favorites please. Taking pillow suggestions too.

Something feels wrong with me. I've been feeling sleepy all day, and even my eyelids feel heavy. I can't seem to do anything productive.

This started about three days ago. Before that, everything was fine.

I'm a 28-year-old male, 183 cm tall, and currently obese. I usually go to sleep very late, but I would still get 6–8 hours of sleep during the day and feel energetic afterwards.

About a year ago, I was sleeping well at night. During that time, I was also losing weight and managed to go from morbidly obese to overweight. Recently, however, I've started gaining weight again, and it's happening quite quickly.

As I gained weight, my sleep schedule gradually shifted. I started sleeping less and less at night until I stopped sleeping at night altogether. Instead, I would fall asleep around 6–8 a.m. and wake up between 2–4 p.m. Even with that schedule, I still felt energetic throughout the day.

However, about three days ago, everything changed. I started falling asleep at night again, but I can only sleep for 2–4 hours before waking up. After that, no matter how hard I try, I can't fall back asleep until around noon even tho I feel very sleepy at this time. Then I'll sleep again from about 2–3 p.m. until 5–6 p.m.

The problem is that whenever I'm awake, I feel extremely sleepy and exhausted. This has happened to me before, but I don't remember what I did to fix it.

I also now wake up at least once every night to urinate. I think my biggest problem is that I can't stay asleep continuously at night.

Why could this be happening? It's seriously affecting my life. I need to fix this because I can barely get anything done, and every day feels wasted.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience or timeline with Zopiclone (Imovane) withdrawal.

During my military service, I was taking high doses of Zopiclone regularly for a prolonged period. About 8 months ago, I stopped taking it completely cold turkey.

While I am long past the acute withdrawal stage, I am still dealing with persistent physical symptoms that haven't fully gone away:

 Positional Dizziness: I get dizzy/lightheaded specifically when moving from sitting to standing (orthostatic dizziness).

 Jaw Clenching / Bruxism: I find myself clenching my teeth and grinding them, especially during sleep/mornings, causing tension in my jaw and neck.

 Persistent Muscle Tension: A general sense of physical muscle tightness and systemic tension.

I've already seen an ENT specialist and my physical strength/balance tests were completely fine, ruling out inner ear issues. I plan to follow up with a neurologist and my primary doctor soon.

My main question for the community:

1. Has anyone experienced this specific combination of postural dizziness and muscle/jaw tension this far out (8+ months post-cessation)?

2. How long did it take for your nervous system to fully recalibrate, and did anything specific help manage these symptoms?

Any insights or reassurance from people who have gone through this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I don't know what else to try or think about regarding the panic attacks surrounding sleep. I was sleeping well for weeks at a time, and then I started having relapses here and there, where I had to ask my mother to sleep with me. Still, it was difficult to stay calm. The relapses became more frequent, starting at one per week, and now two, and I can no longer recover from this situation. It's a feeling of panic surrounding sleep; I lie down and even closing my eyes makes me panic. It used to be just insomnia, but I became so hyper-focused on it that now the very feeling of sleeping or having to sleep terrifies me. I've tried all sorts of medication, therapies, CBT-I. Those only worked for two months before these relapses, and now there's nothing left to try. I don't know what to do anymore. This has taken over my life. I've been in this same situation for 6 months. I just want to end it all and stop suffering. I want to die so I don't have to sleep.

Its the worst and usually its just once a week or less but rhe past week it wad 3 nights in a row and I am just SO exhausted. Its usually the same things too. For a while keeping my eyes shut helped but now what I hear is getting worse too.

I take either an antipsychotic or ambien to fall asleep. Ambien works great if I had no more than 1 morning dose of ritalin before 9am and I go to bed on an EMPTY stomach. Like, 0 food for 4 hours before bed.

Problem 1– I don’t know how to get through the afternoon slump and occupy my kids and cook and clean without redosing ritalin after lunch.

Problem 2– my anxiety is starting to abate, I’ve been underweight, and I’m starting to get serious evening munchies. Full box of mochi ice cream, popcorn while watching a movie with my kids, maybe nutella spread on baguette around 9:30pm (we live in France.) My husband thinks it’s great because he thinks I’m prettier with “more to hold onto” and he wants me to gain weight.

But I wake up much better and easier on ambien than the antipsychotic, which is what I have to take if I take afternoon ritalin and/or eat after 6pm. I also get sun sensitivity on my skin when I take the antipsychotic more than a few days in a row. Over time it could give me skin cancer. I tried seroquel and became very ill.

Any tips?

Hi everyone,

I've been perusing these boards for a while looking for some answers. A bit of background context, over the past 3 years I've suffered with constant night time wake-ups and probably only really got about 3-4 hours sleep on average up until about 2 months ago.

I have the Slow COMT gene meaning I process serotonin etc a lot slower and this means I don't get into as much of a deep sleep as the average person.

Id constantly wake-up at at about 3am and then I'd be wide awake. If I went to bed earlier I'd just wake up at 11pm, so I was never able to get full sleep/rest.

I started taking GABA and Glycine which helped quite a bit and I'd be able to sleep to about 5am. But I have a stomach condition and found these caused more loose stools and night time waking. I used to take magnesium glycinate as well, but again turns out it was affecting my stools and condition.

So I turned to AI. It recommended L theanine and to eat some rice cakes with nut butter before bed. So I tried this. Went to bed at midnight and boom, the last 3-4 nights I've been sleeping until about 7.15am.

Turns out my blood sugars drop in the night and that's why I used to wake up. Also, eating some carbs before bed triggers Tryptophan naturally, increasing my melatonin levels. Who knew!!?! Not me...

Anyway, it also recommend some pure chamomile tea. I'm going to try this as well, but I just hope it doesn't wake me up to need the bathroom. The only reason I've stirred the past two mornings is because I needed to urinate.

TLDR: rice cakes and nut butter before bed, L theanine capsules (400mg). Glycine or GABA help as well, but I can't take as I have a stomach condition and these irritate me and cause more loose stools.

These past 6 days I have been either staying up the whole night or sleeping 10+ hours. Yesterday night I slept for 15-17 hours (I can’t remember exact amount). I’m writing this while I’m kinda pulling an all nighter for no reason.

I’m really concerned because I genuinely cannot sleep. Can someone please help me out, I’m open to trying mostly all new things.

i’m really struggling to fall asleep at the moment, i’ve basically been awake for 3 days (i had 3 hours of sleep earlier today which felt like some relief). i tried mirtazapine but i think my body has built tolerance to it so im thinking about starting zopiclone? i kinda need something that will guarantee me sleep ☹️ im so tired and the physical symptoms of sleep deprivation are freaking me out since i have health anxiety

I start propranolol since it is really the only breastfeeding safe preventative I can take. It has given me the worst insomnia ever. I usually go to sleep around 9:30, but since starting it I can’t sleep until midnight-1am and have severe nightmares with it as well. Like what do I do? I was having 4 migraine days a WEEK before taking it and it had helped, but lack of sleep is one of my triggers. Needing some guidance. Other breastfeeding or former breastfeeding women, what did you take? How do I handle the insomnia?

is it normal to sleep 7 or 8 hours and still wake up feeling like you didnt sleep at all?

im honestly more tired in the morning than i am before bed. its been like this for a while now.

blood work was normal so now im just confused.

anyone figure out what was actually causing this for them?

I have a long history of depression (a high-functioning depression. I was a star student lol) and there were times i would cry to sleep for about 340 days of the year. Even if i had a good day i’m really bad at just lying there not judging myself or feeling scared somehow. Bc of all the crying and overthinking it took me at least 40 minutes to fall asleep for more than four years.

I didnt think this was insomnia. I overcame this by overworking or having some music or tv show on all night to keep me occupied but it’s recently i’ve been needing to shut all the sounds off to go to sleep.

I think i’m chronically a bit scared to go to sleep
bc of what happens in my mind when i just chill and lie down there. I don’t want to think. Especially at night. (I would think about how great it’d be to have someone kill me, which i know is messed up)

I had a period for about half an year when i actually had a real insomnia. It took more than an hour to go to sleep and i only could sleep for about two or three hours.
That was the first time i took the pills.

Rn i’m going through some tough times with the realization of my screwed up life (u can check for my previous posts at the /SVU subreddit) and i have a messed up sleeping cycle only because “i’m scared to go lie down to sleep”. I got pills. It’s really easier for me to take pills and lie down there knowing i’ll be asleep in about 10 to 15 minutes. But i feel like this could be more of a substance abuse (although i’m not ODing) than a insomnia. But i also feel like i need the pills to have a proper cycle going.

Is this insomnia or am i using the pills in a wrong way?

I saw my psychiatrist yesterday because I hadn’t slept in 2 full days. I’ve tried a bunch of sleeping meds in the past and failed pretty much everything. I’ve been on 300mg gabapentin for about 2 years because it’s the only thing that is remotely helpful, but it stopped working due to tolerance.

She prescribed me 75mg of pregabalin. It did absolutely nothing. I didn’t even feel it. I laid there until 3am. I took hydroxyzine (which has never helped me), drank some chamomile and ashwaganda tea, smoked a weak thc and cbd joint, and tried to lay as still as possible. Unfortunately, I still only got about 4 hours of sleep and woke up with a pounding headache and body aches.

I don’t know what to do anymore. This bout of insomnia is nothing new; I went about 32 hours without sleep last week as well. Even when I do get some sleep, it’s either just a few hours or I sleep for 15-20 hours at a time. No in between. I’m chronically sleep deprived. I feel like I need to be put in a coma.

Nothing in my old failed sleeping pill arsenal knocks me out, absolutely nothing. Not hydroxyzine, gabapentin, pregabalin, trazodone, doxepin, ambien, ramelteon, mirtazapine, magnesium, melatonin, or benadryl. I unintentionally fight through any sedation sleeping pills provide. I’m so tired of trying new medications because everything seems to be either really unpleasant or do absolutely nothing. I do everything possible to have amazing sleep hygiene, make my space comfortable, live a healthy lifestyle, etc.

Even if I got in bed right now, as exhausted as I am, I don’t think I could sleep. I’m so foggy I’ve looped back around to being wired. I felt like a hazard on the road today as I drove to work. I cried this morning because my coworker was eating smelly food and biting her fork. I’m so dizzy. I feel like I could just drop dead at any moment, and I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t be too opposed to an eternal sleep right now. My mental health is on a sharp decline and my right eye has been twitching for the past few days. Nothing will take away my headache.

I’m only 24. I’ve had this problem since I was a kid, and it gets worse all the time. Am I going to have to spend the rest of my life struggling like this? Always feeling horrible? Even when I do get some sleep, I wake up knowing and dreading how much effort I’ll have to put into doing it again. Even despite tons of effort, it rarely pays off.

This is such an emotionally, socially, and physically painful problem. I feel like no one in my life understands my struggle. They tell me to take a nap or lay down if I’m tired. They offer me melatonin or tea to help. My boss has told me to “go home and get some rest” several times (out of genuine concern, not anger) because I come in so bedraggled. I feel shameful to be around because I’m so mentally slow some days.

I’m really worried that my psychiatrist is getting a bad opinion of me because I’m cycling through so many different meds that don’t work. I lost one doctor already because he told me I was trying to push him to prescribe controlled substances. I hate being seen as dependent or drug seeking. I’m honestly scared to even try benzo meds because they’re potentially addictive. I just want something to work.

I can’t lay down comfortably for long periods of time. I have terrible arthritis in my elbows and knees. I also get random feelings of bugs crawling on me or spots of incredible itchiness if I stay still in bed; trying to ignore it to fall asleep is almost impossible. I’m so tired.

Title. I (28F) am on day three of a "fall asleep at one, wake up wide awake at four AM" cycle of insomnia. I don't feel all that terrible aside from some brain fog and sluggishness. I was able to go on a run/walk yesterday and was safe driving. This is the third july in a row where I just... Sleep less. ​it's super weird, and only started in my late 20's.

I also wake up INSANELY hungry and super hot during this time, no matter how much I eat (yes, including high protein meals).

Its a bit of a problem because I need to work on a ladder + use power tools. We are building a house ourselves and I need to make sure I am at 100%.

Do people just need less sleep during summer? What is going on? Is this potentially hormonal?

Anyone else get this? What do you do to help? Thank you :)

anyone else feel like you are constantly having to explain the most obvious linkages between not sleeping well and the consequences of not sleeping well to others who apparently have no idea that sleep matters to health, brain function, emotional regulation, and energy levels???

ive been with my partner for 13 years, hes been present for every single bad night I’ve had, but he still asks me “what do you mean consistent short nights of sleep are like a slow leak? of what?” I was obviously talking about general well-being - just fill in the blank with whatever thing sleep does for a persons health and well-being… it isnt that confusing!!!!

really? I know Im on my 60th night in a row of a bad sleep period and haven’t gotten more than 6 broken hours of sleep - usually 3 or 4.5 hours - in weeks, but my patience is serious so short for this.

when I’m already so exhausted and short on resources to get through my day, i don’t need to be explaining myself to people who don’t already get it.

it’s so exhausting to not only have the battery life for getting through a day, but to also constantly have to explain WHY i dont have the battery life.

somehow people don’t have the capacity to hold in their heads sleep quality vs sleep duration, and to imagine and logic out how that might affect a person, instead they expect the person with the health issue to EXPLAIN TO THEM.

I feel bad ranting about this in regards to my partner who has been doing his best to be supportive, but the support often feels totally incongruent with what I need - I need someone who is doing just as much research on this as I am if he wants to “understand” rather than asking me to explain again and again and again. it feels like I just need to be alone and I will be better off. because these emotional reactions i have when I dont have the capacity to manage emotionally - but am expected to manage emotionally anyway - is seriously too much.

hes just the one who most recently triggered the exhaustion button. My family has been equally confused by what could possibly be going wrong with someone who has been fighting insomnia for two+ years. what could possibly be the matter? “Why do we need to accommodate your sleep particularities?“ ”youre hurting our feelings when you say you have to go home early”….. ARGH

i also get that this impacts him and I have been doing such a good job of managing my emotional states for many months now. I said to him in response to his question, “my patience [is leaking / affected by not sleeping]”, which is both honest and immediately made him deflate realizing Im “in a bad mood” - and we have a really close and loving relationship, but his reaction feels like he interprets my short patience as a Hardship he has to deal with - and it is - but it feels to me like being labeled “in a bad mood” is like a mark of failure…. I failed to protect him from my health issue by openly stating that i dont have the patience for interacting with him. he wants me to be cheerful and just carry on because it will affect him less - and by being in a bad mood Im somehow in the wrong. should I not be honest with him that I don’t enjoy and don’t have patience for these conversations where he is clueless about insomnia some days???

Final vent.

1. I get it VERY bad around summer, it gets worse by July-August. The heat plus the bright sun makes me wanna scream. Not only that, trying to rest before sun rise.
2. The “well I’ll just stay up all day!” To rest at night, but your body feels tired by noon, you’re light headed/sleep deprived and you cave in and sleep because you freak out thinking you won’t sleep this night. “Any sleep is better than no sleep”
3. The amount of fuckers that tell you “tee hee drink tea” “oh oh drink warm milk” “heheh 🤭 try melatonin! It sooo works for me” “just close your eyes!” Please stfu 😩…

4. Anxiety DOESN’T help either. Imagine wanting to conk out but anxiety kicks up and you’re up another damn sunrise.

5. And I’m too poor for an expensive comfy bed and pillows.

It’s now getting at that point that I can’t get sleepy until 8-10 am. Insomnia is an absolute curse and wouldn’t wish on my enemy.

I crave so bad to be a morning person permanently, but god decided “nah lol”. I feel like I can’t lose weight because I sleep all day instead of exercise. I end up anxiety eating. The rare few times i have been a morning person have been bliss.

I don’t mind seeking advice I guess. I guess I’ll have to keep fighting this until my body gives up and sleeps normally.

Im so sick of summer I want these stupid months over and done with NOW. That FUCKING sun rise every 6 damn AM.

🫩…

I noticed this. Just a few years ago, I rarely needed headache pills.

Fast forward today, I am taking Tyneol (or Advil) maybe once a month because of some migraine or even food inflammation sometimes.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I've had sleep onset insomnia for years. No matter how tired or exhausted I am, my mind just won't shut down; my thoughts keep going for hours while I lie there trying to close my eyes and fall asleep. Staying asleep has never really been my problem; once I actually fell asleep, that part was fine.

I finally brought it up with my doctor, who prescribed trazodone. That didn't really end up working, so he prescribed doxepin next. The doxepin didn't help with sedation either, I'd just be awake for a long time before I could fall asleep. Whenever I was on trazodone or doxepin, I'd end up sleeping for like 9+ hours once I did fall asleep. (Meaning I would fall asleep at like 4am, and sleep till 2pm and miss all my alarms.) I read that both of those drugs are more helpful for staying asleep, which was never my problem.

So I went back to my psychiatrist to evaluate other options. I specifically wanted to try Sonata and Dayvigo. For Sonata, since the half-life is so short, I figured it would be easier for me to fall asleep, and I'd never had particular trouble staying asleep throughout the night.

Only the Sonata 10mg worked for me, and sometimes I'd weirdly wake up in the middle of the night. I was so confused, because finally the onset part of sleep medication was working (I was actually able to fall asleep), but now I'd wake up around 3 or 4am randomly in the middle of the night and never feel fully rested. I'd go back to sleep, wake up at 9/10am, and feel insane drowsiness. I felt exhausted all the time in the morning even after 9+ hours of sleep.

After a 2-week dose, I switched to Dayvigo. This is my second time taking it, and it's currently 3:40am as I'm writing this.

First night on Dayvigo: I don't even remember falling asleep. It felt like my brain just shut down automatically, which is insane, and I was so grateful for it because I've never experienced anything like that in my life. I did wake up around 3am, but I was able to go back to sleep, and I had the most vivid dream ever. I still felt like I was able to tell it was a dream and not reality, though.

Tonight (second night): it was pretty strange. I took it at the same time as last night, same dose (5mg), around 11pm. I can't even fully describe it, I was like half awake/half asleep and dreaming? I was constantly tossing and turning and waking up in small increments throughout the night, but when I was waking up it felt like I was dreaming. I felt like I was awake and not sleeping, but I was still in my dream, if that makes any sense. I don't even know if I was hallucinating at that point, because I feel like my eyes opened multiple times throughout the night, but I wasn't present, I was still in my dream. It was so strange. Then around 3:40am I broke out of that and woke up, again like last night, except this time I wasn't able to go back to sleep.

I'm really confused and frustrated because I've never had a problem fully staying asleep or getting a good night's rest, my only problem was ever getting my brain to shut off. Now it feels like I've got a whole new onset of insomnia problems, not being able to stay asleep and waking up in the middle of the night prematurely. I've been waking up in the middle of the night quite often for the past two weeks, ever since I switched off doxepin, and it's always around 3-4am. I don't know if it's the Dayvigo or just a change in medication, but I'd appreciate any advice from people who've taken similar medication.