I have had it since I was a toddler. It sucks.
At age 2, my mom told me I had to stay in my room, until the sun came up. If you can't tell time, you don't know when to "wake up".
At one point, in my sleepless life, I was only getting 3.5-4.5 hours a night. Exercise, more or less, makes no difference. Having nothing to worry about makes a difference but again, only by an hour or so. Now I'm 41 and sleep 5-6 hours a night. I wake up between 0200 and 0400 everyday, without an alarm clock. I own one but it hasn't gone off in so long that one day, I forgot to turn it off and discovered that at some point, in the last 25 years, it stopped working. I tend to sleep less on weekends, than during the week. Grrrr.
Obviously I've done everything. No caffeine, more caffeine, no exercise, exercise until exhaustion. Food, wine, medication, etc.
I took Effexor XR, for a while and that was WEIRD! It doesn't help you sleep but it makes you get more REM sleep. I'd close my eyes and IMMEDIATELY start dreaming. They were just ordinary dreams. Like I was living my life. Washing dishes, mowing the lawn, going to work, etc. It got to where I couldn't tell if I had had a conversation with someone, IRL or if it was a dream. That did it. I couldn't tell my dreams from reality and what was what. Had withdrawals getting off it. Just annoying stuff. Auditory hallucinations and strange sensations, when turning my head. Not worth the extra rest from additional REM.
I've never had a problem *going* to sleep, just staying asleep. Apparently, this (short sleeping) is a common trait among type I diabetics, of which I count myself a lucky member. I can literally get ready for bed and lie down, close my eyes and be asleep in 5 seconds. I sleep so hard, for the first few hours that almost nothing will wake me. Screaming, fire alarms, gunshots (not kidding), etc. In Yulee, Florida, I once slept through an hour-long gang fight with police, outside my hotel room door.
Naps do not invigorate me. I envy my GF so much. She can lie down and take a nap for 15 minutes and wake feeling refreshed and ready to go. If I sleep for any amount of time, in the day, I will be groggy and barely coherent, for hours afterward. It makes me so much more sleepy, it's terrible.
Being tired is like being depressed. I can't think, nothing sounds fun, can't settle to anything. It's like that a lot. I feel better when I do something artistic or creative. Stone carving, sketching or molding things in clay makes me feel great. Welding is wonderful and by far, the best. I am not sure if it's the creativity or the blast of UV light that helps but whatever it is, I sleep best after an afternoon of welding.
In college, staying up all night would "reset" me pretty well, but it only worked for a week or so.
Pain killers like 2 Tylenol helped me sleep for 8 hours, for about 2 1/2 years. I thought I had it figured out! Pain, from years of playing sports and generally, being a boy, was keeping me just uncomfortable enough, that I couldn't rest. Now it doesn't work anymore. I know pain keeps me from sleeping because when the weather changes, I sleep worse. Countless broken bones, dislocations, an occasional surgery. Vertebrae, fingers, knee, wrist, elbow, hands (don't hit a punching bag unless you are willing to break bones and keep going), etc.
With guidance from my doctor, I got up to 400% of the Ambien dosage. Never had any effect. I thought it was defective medicine
I wish I knew more about how Ambien works, then I might be able to figure out what my problem is. If Ambien doesn't work; what is the brain issue?
Anyone have insomnia before you tried something and it worked? Sleep number bed? Chiropractic? Vicodin? At this point I'm thinking of trying heroin (kidding). I think I'd rather sleep badly, than be addicted.
Also, I am cursed, in that I can follow the directions, and work through whole bottles of glucosamine/chondroitin and I get no effect
At age 2, my mom told me I had to stay in my room, until the sun came up. If you can't tell time, you don't know when to "wake up".
At one point, in my sleepless life, I was only getting 3.5-4.5 hours a night. Exercise, more or less, makes no difference. Having nothing to worry about makes a difference but again, only by an hour or so. Now I'm 41 and sleep 5-6 hours a night. I wake up between 0200 and 0400 everyday, without an alarm clock. I own one but it hasn't gone off in so long that one day, I forgot to turn it off and discovered that at some point, in the last 25 years, it stopped working. I tend to sleep less on weekends, than during the week. Grrrr.
Obviously I've done everything. No caffeine, more caffeine, no exercise, exercise until exhaustion. Food, wine, medication, etc.
I took Effexor XR, for a while and that was WEIRD! It doesn't help you sleep but it makes you get more REM sleep. I'd close my eyes and IMMEDIATELY start dreaming. They were just ordinary dreams. Like I was living my life. Washing dishes, mowing the lawn, going to work, etc. It got to where I couldn't tell if I had had a conversation with someone, IRL or if it was a dream. That did it. I couldn't tell my dreams from reality and what was what. Had withdrawals getting off it. Just annoying stuff. Auditory hallucinations and strange sensations, when turning my head. Not worth the extra rest from additional REM.
I've never had a problem *going* to sleep, just staying asleep. Apparently, this (short sleeping) is a common trait among type I diabetics, of which I count myself a lucky member. I can literally get ready for bed and lie down, close my eyes and be asleep in 5 seconds. I sleep so hard, for the first few hours that almost nothing will wake me. Screaming, fire alarms, gunshots (not kidding), etc. In Yulee, Florida, I once slept through an hour-long gang fight with police, outside my hotel room door.
Naps do not invigorate me. I envy my GF so much. She can lie down and take a nap for 15 minutes and wake feeling refreshed and ready to go. If I sleep for any amount of time, in the day, I will be groggy and barely coherent, for hours afterward. It makes me so much more sleepy, it's terrible.
Being tired is like being depressed. I can't think, nothing sounds fun, can't settle to anything. It's like that a lot. I feel better when I do something artistic or creative. Stone carving, sketching or molding things in clay makes me feel great. Welding is wonderful and by far, the best. I am not sure if it's the creativity or the blast of UV light that helps but whatever it is, I sleep best after an afternoon of welding.
In college, staying up all night would "reset" me pretty well, but it only worked for a week or so.
Pain killers like 2 Tylenol helped me sleep for 8 hours, for about 2 1/2 years. I thought I had it figured out! Pain, from years of playing sports and generally, being a boy, was keeping me just uncomfortable enough, that I couldn't rest. Now it doesn't work anymore. I know pain keeps me from sleeping because when the weather changes, I sleep worse. Countless broken bones, dislocations, an occasional surgery. Vertebrae, fingers, knee, wrist, elbow, hands (don't hit a punching bag unless you are willing to break bones and keep going), etc.
With guidance from my doctor, I got up to 400% of the Ambien dosage. Never had any effect. I thought it was defective medicine
Anyone have insomnia before you tried something and it worked? Sleep number bed? Chiropractic? Vicodin? At this point I'm thinking of trying heroin (kidding). I think I'd rather sleep badly, than be addicted.
Also, I am cursed, in that I can follow the directions, and work through whole bottles of glucosamine/chondroitin and I get no effect
