Has anyone here been successfully treated for a sleep disorder?

[milestogo]

Specifically, have you found treatment for insomnia?

Is there anything that can be done besides giving you medication that makes you tired the next day?

[LuckyCharms]

1. Indica cannabis works for me. n/t

Either that or vigorous work/exercise which is ceased a few hours before bedtime.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

6. I've been using an Indica/CBN 1:1 gummy before bed.

Works better than anything else I've ever tried for sleep.

[Luciferous]

2. I would like to know as well. My husband isn't

sleeping and Ambien made it worse.

[Bev54]

3. I was suffering for a long time but now I get exercise and I drink one beer about 1 1/2-2 hrs

before bed and take just an over the counter sleep aid about one hour before bed and I usually sleep very well. It is important to get the timing for the beer so you are not up peeing all night. The over the counter sleep aid does not make me drowsy the next day.

Hops was used long ago for insomnia in pillows but I prefer the beer.

[Faux pas]

4. ...

Ashwaganda is excellent and it helps your immunity too

[RKP5637]

5. Trazodone helps if you can find the right balance. n.t

[debm55]

15. It doesn't help me. My doctor had me down to one half. I'm up at 3:00. I also take lunesta. still

sleep and fell tired all day.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Make sure sleep apnea is ruled out

I thought I had insomnia years ago, until I started waking up gasping for breath, heart pounding.

After a sleep study, C-PAP changed, and probably saved, my life.

[Coventina]

8. I've suffered from insomnia all my life. I'm currently a patient of a sleep doctor.

While there really is no "cure," here's what I've learned as an adult:

1. Alcohol makes my insomnia worse. I know a lot of people recommend it to help sleep, but for me it is the opposite.

2. Start to wind down at least 30 minutes before bedtime.

3. Wearing socks helps me. When it was suggested to me, I thought it was nuts, but it actually was something that helped me.

4. Keep your bedroom as cool as possible.

5. I take both melatonin and valerian before bed. Valerian doesn't make you sleepy, but it calms. You can take it in capsule form, or brew it as a tea. Warning: the tea smells like sweaty socks.

6. Don't spend time tossing & turning in bed. Get up and do something until you feel sleepy again. (Reading is what I recommend).

7. Many sleep experts will tell you to keep your bedroom as dark as possible. However, I have suffered from nightmares, night terrors, and hallucinations all my life, and I find it helpful to have fairly bright nightlights throughout the house to calm me down when I wake up terrified (sometimes while sleepwalking).

There is no perfect solution for everyone. Different things work for different people. Sleep experts will tell you that you "Must" do XYZ or you're doing it wrong. However, every person is different so play around with suggestions or discard ones that don't work for you.

I highly recommend a sleep study. That can diagnose things you might not know you have like: sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, and other sleep disorders that you might not know you have.

[milestogo]

10. I saw a sleep doctor and am scheduled for a sleep study.

The sleep doctor told me that the hours of sleep are genetically pre-determined. So, going to bed a couple of hours before my genetically set time is a waste of time. I work from home and my job starts at 7:30am so - I can't alter that.

I have had to learn not to drink anything the last hour before bed. It will only lead to getting up during the time period when I am trying to fall asleep.

I think the temperature is important. I've stopped using an electric blanket. However, in the winter my feet are so darn cold that it keeps me awake. So I have a sleeping bag just for my feet.

The light doesn't seem to affect me one way or the other.

Ah, so much effort to do something that is supposed to come naturally!

[Coventina]

12. I feel your pain! I was always awake for hours after everyone else at "slumber" parties.

I know that I am a natural "night owl".

I think my ideal sleep schedule would be something like 3am - 11am or thereabouts.

[milestogo]

14. I guess I'm lucky.

I think my natural hours are 11pm-7am.

I often listen to guided meditations 10-11.

If I could get up at 6 or 6:30am it would make my work day go better. My colleagues all know that I don't walk the dog till after the morning meeting. But I just can't get up and out early enough!

[csziggy]

32. My best sleep times are 3-4 AM to noon.

These days I try to go to sleep at 2 AM but if I am not asleep in 30 minutes I get up and do something until I can sleep.

I know doctors recommend reading - real books, not screens - but that does not work for me. If I sit down with a book, I often will not put it down until I am finished with it, or reach a good breaking point.

When I was running my farm I had to get up at dawn to feed the horses and do chores, especially in the summer when it was too hot in the afternoon to shovel stalls. I'd go to a siesta model and take naps in the afternoon when I could because I had to be available to my clients in the early evenings.. I loved spring since that was foaling season and I had an excuse to stay up so I could go out the check the mares - and to be a zombie during the days due to lack of sleep.

[Earth-shine]

9. I use ambien, xanax, over-the-counter sleep aids, CBD, THC, alcohol, and more.

I mix it up with different pills/substances each day.

I have to choose between not sleeping and hard awakenings.

Overall, nothing works better for sleep than exercise.

[Tetrachloride]

11. After taking off socks, rinse feet, hands and face

go low on cheese and meat.

mint tea helps some people, mid-afternoon

i watch favorite movie or tv shows regularly

[Coventina]

16. Yes, I've found that a favorite movie / tv show can be very calming.

Especially when I wake from a nightmare / terror.

The edict about "No TV in your bedroom" is not one I could follow.

When I was a young adult, having a small TV in my bedroom was critical, as I was divorcing myself from my fundamentalist upbringing.

I could turn on the TV and reassure myself that the Rapture had not happened and that I was OK.

I'm past that now, thank goodness!

[Tetrachloride]

13. I'm on call for a few friends 24 hours. One person calls me nearly every day.

if they don’t call, i call them. then we go back to sleep

[skypilot]

17. Increasing my iodine intake...

...worked wonders for me. I used to suffer with insomnia accompanied by anxiety and racing heartbeat. I read online that iodine deficiency could one cause. I realized that the salt I'd been using was non- iodized. I switched to iodized salt and also bought an iodine supplement. That was about 4 years ago. I have not had any trouble since.

[milestogo]

18. That's interesting.

I may try that.

[skypilot]

20. It was a simple and drug-free solution

At first I was afraid that I was experiencing a placebo effect but, like I said, I haven't had any trouble sleeping in for years. I put a few dashes of salt in a glass of water a few times a week. Other times I use the supplement if I want to take a break from the salt.

[friend of a friend]

19. I am on Hydroxyzine Pamoate to help me get to sleep.

My dog is on it to calm her down when there is thunder.

[milestogo]

21. I use 10 mg of the same at night.

But it leaves me feeling sleepy the next day, so its not an ideal solution. My dog wears the "ThunderShirt".

[debm55]

22. Has anyone used Calm. it an ap that relaxes you so you are able to sleep. I don't have it, but I was

wondering if it worked. They have relaxing music, sounds, and readings. Has anyone tried it?

[Phentex]

25. No but I have used sleep music from YouTube....

I searched for sleep music that is free and I’ve found several I like and a few I didn’t like. Key for me is one with sounds that don’t have a rhythm. Like some will play these deep soothing sounds and then play a gong sound that will distract my brain! No can do. But there are plenty that just soothe and help me drift off. I don’t have trouble falling asleep but more trouble with staying asleep.

[debm55]

26. Same here, I tried to go to bed earlier. I have been getting up at 3 or 4 to go to the bathroom.

It's a semi sleep. I use my tablet for soothing music, but I agree with the gongs waking me up.

[milestogo]

28. Actually, one thing I've found that works is hypnosis.

There is a website called hypnosisdownloads.com and they have a variety of downloads. You pay for them, but then they are yours forever.

I have listened to "Drift off to sleep" hundreds of times. I can't say it works 100% of the time. There have been times when I've listened to it and almost fell asleep, but then it ended and I started over.

The voices are soothing (British accent) and at the very least it relaxes me.

[debm55]

29. I watch these women doing polymer clay tutorials and my tablet. One women puts me right to sleep

with her voice. The thing is, I watch at about 6 in the evening. Get up at 9. And I am not tired. We will see how tonight goes as I did not take a nap this evening. I am charging up my tablet so I can watch tonight. You know, I have felt so shitty with the lack of sleep that I was going to start a post about :How much sleep do you get? But I read yours first. The trazodone used to knock me right out, Gee, I fell asleep on the toilet. Husband also found me asleep at my desk. At first I thought it was the change in the clocks, but I know it's not that now. Wish you luck. I am going to try the site that the one poster linked. It sounds like Calm.

[GoodRaisin]

31. That's one way I guess.

Getting bored to sleep.

[ballardgirl]

38. I use the Calm app

I have been using the Calm app for about a year for daily guided meditations (2-3 times a day) and also what they call sleep stories when I wake in the night. Some of them really work for me and others do not. There are many to choose from.

I am a life long insomniac. I did two sleep studies. The first time I did not sleep so had to do it again, taking my sleep benzo. Yes, they said. You have insomnia. Like this is something I did not know. They really had nothing to help me, since there was no sleep apnea. Some of those places are in that business, it seems.

I took the benzo every night for 10 years. Please do not do this. My brain/body became dependent and I had a horrible time tapering off. There is a homeopathic that sometimes helps me sleep - Hylands Calms Forte. I take 3 right before bed or even during the night. No hang over from it. Melatonin gave me strange/unsettling dreams. A single Advil helps when there is pain involved. The CBD oil did not seem to help.

Good luck with this. Calm has a free trial so I suggest trying it.

[debm55]

40. Thank you so much. I got up again last night at 3:00, they are tapering me off the trazodone. I

feel like a zombie the next day.

[GenThePerservering]

23. Exercise, melatonin

and one glass of beer a few hours before bedtime most nights a works for me. Camomile tea also. Get rid of the cell phone - turn it off and put it away, and if you need to have it on for emergencies, turn it over so the light doesn't shine and don't be tempted to pick it up.

The biggest thing is don't just lay awake in bed and fight it - get up and do something quiet.

Historically people have had a 'first sleep' and 'second sleep', doing quiet things in between the two sleeps. The industrial revolution and the silly "early to bed/early to rise/if you nap you're lazy" nonsense has screwed us all up.

[BlueKota]

24. Two things helped me

I was feeling exhausted every morning even though I thought I was getting enough sleep. My doctor referred me for a sleep study.Turns out I had pretty severe sleep apnea. At one point apparently my oxygen level plunged to 60. It's supposed to be 90. I was prescribed the CPap machine, and it really helped. I feel a lot more energetic.

Also my mind use to race a lot at night. Worrying about, my family, my pets, the state of the world, stuff like that. It took me quite awhile to go to sleep. I ended up using Google to find a sleep podcast. It recommended this one:
https://www.nothingmuchhappens.com/

It's amazing. A yoga instructor said she used to make up stories when she was a little girl on nights she had trouble falling asleep. When several of her clients told her they had trouble sleeping she told them about it. I think she made a tape for some of them or something like that, and she got tremendous feedback. So she decided to try a podcast. Now she has millions of subscribers and has a successful book that had been published in the U.S. and several different countries.

The stories are all based on the activities of the residents of Nothing Much, a fictional town. It follows people like the inn keeper, a chef, a librarian as they go through their day. There are no conflicts in the story, just a nice recap of their days. She uses mindfulness, talking about sights, sounds, smells etc. She has a very soothing voice. She advises to take two deep breaths, then just listen. Most people including myself, find themselves falling asleep within the first ten minutes or less, and waking up less during the night.

Both have really helped. My therapist even commented that my anxiety and depression symptoms are more under control since May of last year. That's when I got the C Pap machine and found the podcast!

[milestogo]

27. Thanks everyone.

I know its a common problem.

And everyone is different.

[GoodRaisin]

30. I listen to ocean sound over an Apple mini-pod.

Very similar to white noise, which is known to help in falling asleep. It has a calming effect that makes me fall off to sleep fairly quickly. It’s worked very well for me compared to meds/cbd, etc. I tried.

[Niagara]

33. Thank you for this thread.

I bookmarked it for future use.

[milestogo]

34. Me too.

[eppur_se_muova]

35. K&R&BM

um, that's bookmarked, not the other BM.

[Niagara]

36. Laugh out loud.

I was wondering what's wrong with the other BM.



I'm only teasing.

[Marthe48]

37. I have restless legs and other irritations

I've been on Ambien just to get to sleep, but it doesn't help me stay asleep. There is a concern that older people taking Ambien have problems with memory and doing things without remembering. My dr. wanted me off it, but when I described a typical night, she left me alone. And I don't fool around with it. I take it and get to bed. My dr. prescribed pramapraxol and that has helped a lot with the restless legs, but I still rarely sleep more than 4 hours before waking. I am taking both meds. Also making sure to have a bedtime ritual to follow. I make sure I get exercise, even walking up and down the steps to the basement 4 or 4 times. No sugar or alcohol after 6 pm (especially wine) I've learned that I need to sleep in a cold room, but I need to have my legs covered, to head off leg cramps. I got some off-brand Tylenol p.m. by mistake, and realized if I take one when I awaken in the night, I go right back to sleep. It has the same ingredient as Benedryl, and it minimizes the aches and pains I get if I am laying too long. So I usually get another 4 hours. It's been working pretty good for me.

If in spite of all this, I can't get to sleep, I think of alphabetized lists of easy things, like animals, countries, anything that is pleasant. Another relaxer is casting movies or book with actors you'd like to see in the roles. I seldom get past the hero.

Hope you find things that work for you It's tough.

[milestogo]

39. Iron and Magnesium supplements helped me

with RLS. No side effects.

[Marthe48]

41. I tried many things over the years

They started in the 80s. I drank quinine water every night for years, till it stopped working :/ RLS was recognized as a medical ailment in 2006 or so. Saw my doctor as soon as I heard and asked for Ambien.

The Pramipexole has done a terrific job. I only need a low dose.