Venting Soon going to sleep but even rest has been made worse

[Tarnished_]

Haven't done much responding to people here as I would have liked yesterday. My way of life is so screwed that even sleep is daunting. I can fall asleep... ok I guess. It's the constant waking up and nightmares that make even 8 to 12 hour sleep cycles feel less refreshing than before. My dreams are vivid and leave me feeling disturbed. Usually they entail me being in a life or death situation where I have to be alert and mindful of my surroundings. An example was being in a temple with traps where a javelin launcher shot from below me and it hit my chin, pinning me to the ceiling. I'm gonna try some sleeping meds if that will calm my mind down enough. If anyone who also experiences these sleep issues reads this, any advice? Thanks for reading. Good night.

 

[bagel12]

i'm sorry you're going through this, that sounds like a vivid and terrifying nightmare :( sleep issues are indescribably awful, the one thing that's supposed to be peaceful and restful instead becomes a source of stress and fear.

have you had a sleep study done? i know someone who had your symptoms (waking up frequently + unrefreshing sleep + nightmares), it turns out they had sleep apnea. a cpap machine fixed their sleep issues and they seemed happier and more energetic as well.

if i overheat at night or if i eat dinner too late at night, i get awful vivid nightmares. i had to change my sheets/blankets, buy a powerful fan, and eat meals earlier but it did help with my nightmares. also cbd helps with my nightmares, but everyone is affected differently. most sleeping meds help my insomnia but worsen my nightmares. it takes some trial and error to figure out what works.

other things that help me are having a consistent bedtime routine, using a weighted blanket, and hugging a pillow or hugging myself. it sounds weird but holding hands with myself helps, i think it's the skin to skin contact. also it helps me to read something until i physically cant keep my eyes open anymore, it takes my mind off of negative thoughts after a nightmare

it might be a good idea to google which meds help with nightmares (and if there are any meds that make nightmares worse so that you know to be careful with those). i know someone who was prescribed medication for nightmares and it helped, would you be able to access a doctor or psychiatrist?

 

[Canto XIII]

Haven't done much responding to people here as I would have liked yesterday. My way of life is so screwed that even sleep is daunting. I can fall asleep... ok I guess. It's the constant waking up and nightmares that make even 8 to 12 hour sleep cycles feel less refreshing than before. My dreams are vivid and leave me feeling disturbed. Usually they entail me being in a life or death situation where I have to be alert and mindful of my surroundings. An example was being in a temple with traps where a javelin launcher shot from below me and it hit my chin, pinning me to the ceiling. I'm gonna try some sleeping meds if that will calm my mind down enough. If anyone who also experiences these sleep issues reads this, any advice? Thanks for reading. Good night.

Sorry to hear that, it must be horrible not being able to enjoy sleep.

Almost two years ago I went through a deep anguish crisis which kinda impacted my sleeping. Sleep time was the only time when I felt serene (and in fact I used to feel better in the evening); I slept quite well, but I couldn't do it for too long and always woke up in a panic in the morning. My psychiatrist prescribed me some meds that drastically and tempestively changed my mood and brought my sleep back to normal (actually the most impressive effect I've ever seen in a medicine).

So my advice is to ask a professional for something that can help you, if you can.

 

[Tarnished_]

Sorry to hear that, it must be horrible not being able to enjoy sleep.

Almost two years ago I went through a deep anguish crisis which kinda impacted my sleeping. Sleep time was the only time when I felt serene (and in fact I used to feel better in the evening); I slept quite well, but I couldn't do it for too long and always woke up in a panic in the morning. My psychiatrist prescribed me some meds that drastically and tempestively changed my mood and brought my sleep back to normal (actually the most impressive effect I've ever seen in a medicine).

So my advice is to ask a professional for something that can help you, if you can.

Was able to get an appointment with my primary care for next week. I am just hoping they don't brush it off with "well try eating better or exercise" like yeah that CAN help, but this has been going on for so long and it's been through different diets and schedules that I feel it's something medication can fix. Glad the meds you got seemed to help. It gives me some hope.

i'm sorry you're going through this, that sounds like a vivid and terrifying nightmare :( sleep issues are indescribably awful, the one thing that's supposed to be peaceful and restful instead becomes a source of stress and fear.

have you had a sleep study done? i know someone who had your symptoms (waking up frequently + unrefreshing sleep + nightmares), it turns out they had sleep apnea. a cpap machine fixed their sleep issues and they seemed happier and more energetic as well.

if i overheat at night or if i eat dinner too late at night, i get awful vivid nightmares. i had to change my sheets/blankets, buy a powerful fan, and eat meals earlier but it did help with my nightmares. also cbd helps with my nightmares, but everyone is affected differently. most sleeping meds help my insomnia but worsen my nightmares. it takes some trial and error to figure out what works.

other things that help me are having a consistent bedtime routine, using a weighted blanket, and hugging a pillow or hugging myself. it sounds weird but holding hands with myself helps, i think it's the skin to skin contact. also it helps me to read something until i physically cant keep my eyes open anymore, it takes my mind off of negative thoughts after a nightmare

it might be a good idea to google which meds help with nightmares (and if there are any meds that make nightmares worse so that you know to be careful with those). i know someone who was prescribed medication for nightmares and it helped, would you be able to access a doctor or psychiatrist?

Exactly. My life being so exhausting that even sleep is no longer a safe haven just kills a lot of my morale.

I have not had a sleep study done yet but I have considered it for a while. At this point I'll do whatever to resolve this energy issue.

I feel you on the hugging pillows or holding hands. That can take the edge off for a little bit. My bed in general needs to be cozier cuz atm I sleep on a couch mattress on the floor with a few pillows. It's better than hardwood but a far cry from an elevated bed with soft pillows.

Thankfully I do have a primary care and a psychiatrist that I plan to bring this up with. Here's hoping they can actually help me with it. For meds I have heard of Prazosin which seems to be used mainly for either high blood pressure or to treat trauma related nightmares. Could be an option for me.

 

[EmptyBottle]

I feel you on the hugging pillows or holding hands. That can take the edge off for a little bit. My bed in general needs to be cozier cuz atm I sleep on a couch mattress on the floor with a few pillows. It's better than hardwood but a far cry from an elevated bed with soft pillows.

hmm... couch mattress... for me, when I napped or possibly slept on a couch (too lazy to get up), I noticed the leather felt too plasticky for a good sleep. Hopefully a breathable sheet under would help.

 

[bagel12]

Was able to get an appointment with my primary care for next week. I am just hoping they don't brush it off with "well try eating better or exercise" like yeah that CAN help, but this has been going on for so long and it's been through different diets and schedules that I feel it's something medication can fix. Glad the meds you got seemed to help. It gives me some hope.

Exactly. My life being so exhausting that even sleep is no longer a safe haven just kills a lot of my morale.

I have not had a sleep study done yet but I have considered it for a while. At this point I'll do whatever to resolve this energy issue.

I feel you on the hugging pillows or holding hands. That can take the edge off for a little bit. My bed in general needs to be cozier cuz atm I sleep on a couch mattress on the floor with a few pillows. It's better than hardwood but a far cry from an elevated bed with soft pillows.

Thankfully I do have a primary care and a psychiatrist that I plan to bring this up with. Here's hoping they can actually help me with it. For meds I have heard of Prazosin which seems to be used mainly for either high blood pressure or to treat trauma related nightmares. Could be an option for me.

thats great that you got an appointment! i bet they can give you one of those at home sleep test devices and/or refer you to a sleep specialist. and i hope the psychiatrist will be able to help too, the med you mentioned sounds promising.

if your primary care physician tries to brush it off, one thing that has worked for me is saying "could you note in my file that i asked for xyz treatment/asked for a referral to xyz type of specialist, but you decided against it?" they usually change their mind after that because i guess it could be a legal problem for them to have documentation of refusing to help a patient.

thats a smart use of a couch mattress, kudos to you. when i had to sleep on the floor my setup was a secondhand inflatable sleeping pad (like for camping) and it worked ok, but nowhere near as nice as a real bed. i hope your sleeping environment can eventually become cozier

i am sending good vibes your way and i hope for better rested nights in your future

 

[Canto XIII]

also it helps me to read something until i physically cant keep my eyes open anymore

Can confirm that reading (and doing crosswords, for me) helps with sleep.