Insomnia: how do you handle it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trazodone and guided meditations to fall back asleep

+1

Sometimes I "trick" my brain by saying I really want to stay awake to listen to a podcast, and then putting on something like the Huberman Lab, which is quite dense, and then I ultimately fall asleep by trying to stay awake.

[Anonymous]

A triangle cut in half of magic mint chocolate. I take one half at 6 pm and another half at 10 pm. I not only sleep all night but it's a deep sleep. No after effects like pharmaceuticals and it won't cause addiction problems. To keep my restless legs from interrupting my sleep I drink a small can of fever tree tonic. One can has effects for 3 days.

https://www.iheartjane.com/products/1241874/good-day-farm-magic-mint-dark-chocolate-8pk-240mg

https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/Fever-Tree-Premium-Tonic-Cans-8pk-5-07-fl-oz_9312bd54-9e65-4ce6-867f-334f671f8d0d.7ffacbfcc99354ee753c4fd809ba90e4.jpeg?odnHeight=2000&odnWidth=2000&odnBg=FFFFFF

[Anonymous]

I am one of the PPs and I just want to say thank you to whoever suggested the gummies. I'm visiting my parents and took one of my mom's gummies last night - and I did wake up once during the night but I fell back asleep, and for the first time in a couple of weeks got a solid night's sleep.

I live in a state without recreational marijuana but I may get a medical card just to be able to do this whenever insomnia strikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meditation, it takes a long time to work but I literally have a different brain now. That and CBT for anxiety. CBT-I has a good track record, even if it’s online.

I fall asleep to old comforting shows (like Seinfeld or The Connor’s) on my phone. Just the audio, I put the screen face down.

So funny, I do this with law and order!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PPs and I just want to say thank you to whoever suggested the gummies. I'm visiting my parents and took one of my mom's gummies last night - and I did wake up once during the night but I fell back asleep, and for the first time in a couple of weeks got a solid night's sleep.

I live in a state without recreational marijuana but I may get a medical card just to be able to do this whenever insomnia strikes.

You don't need a medical marijuana card, you can buy THC gummies online. I buy Medterra but there are many other brands also.

[Anonymous]

I find that it’s bad habit. You have to retrain your brain. When you wake up, just lay there. Yes you will lay there for hours for some days but over time that will lessen to the point of not waking up.

[Anonymous]

Contrary to most advice 1-2 glasses of wine help me sleep, more than that I wake up at 4. I try to keep that to the weekends. I do take unison if I’m not asleep at 11. Maybe once a week. I find if I get in a bad cycle of insomnia it builds on itself.

[Anonymous]

Guided meditation. When I wake up, I do a guided meditation video and that helps me go back to sleep. It took a bit to force myself not to let my mind wander though.

I can't use THC because of my job, but when I was looking for solutions, this seemed to be a very popular and effective solution.

[Anonymous]

1 Unisom and 10mg melatonin.
I take the unisom about an hour before I go to bed and the melatonin as i get into bed

[Anonymous]

I struggled with these issues for years. Doc prescribed 25 mg Seroquel (off label for sleep med; it’s actually prescribed for bipolar disorder). I’ve been taking 1/2 tablet per night. I sleep like a baby. It’s non-habit forming and I have no side effects. I wake up perky not groggy.

[Anonymous]

PS I am not bipolar! The drug Seroquel is approved for that but I take it “off label” for sleep. For context, Ambien does nothing for me.

[Anonymous]

I keep a script for Lunesta, and my ‘rule’ is that I use it on the third night after 2 bad nights. This keeps my body/mind from getting stuck in a pattern of insomnia, and also helps with the mental anxiety that comes with multiple bad nights.
I also am very careful to practice good sleep hygiene, which I know you said you do, too. Sometimes I feel myself getting a little sloppy and have to go back to being anal about it.
Insomnia sucks.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had amazing success with a weighted blanket.

[Anonymous]

43 yo woman here. My 3-4 am wakings started in my 40s. When I wake too early it is sometimes due to either too much stress during the day, so my body doesn’t wind down and I wake up with racing heart. It also happens if I am too hot. Cranking the a/c really helps but my family doesn’t want me to do that. I also strongly suspect blood sugar is a contributor—I am a healthy weight but have a predisposition to insulin resistance. If I take a long walk after dinner and don’t eat anything afterward I sleep like a baby. My worst sleep is after a high carb dinner like pasta.

[Anonymous]

Op here…thank you all for the great ideas. I slept well last night and didn’t do anything different, it’s so interesting how the brain works. I will look into some of your suggestions. I don’t know why, but I’m nervous about new meds and things like gummies. I should probably talk to my doctor. All the sleep meds I’ve tried in the past have been over the counter.