Sudden anxiety-insomnia. Can't sleep without meds help

I know mine is PPD-related but the insomnia is so bad and pretty much my main and only symptom so I thought I would post here.
It started 3 months after my second daughter was born, she wasn't sleeping well, if at all for weeks, I remember some nights she was up from 12-6 am. One night she finally fell asleep at 3 am and I laid there, awake unable to sleep. Next night, nothing. Same with the next. I went 60 hours without a minute of sleep. Which each consecutive night my anxiety grew, my mind wouldn't shut off my eyelids would flutter if I tried to lay down and I'd have to jump up and pace the house. I was full if adrenaline, unable to sit still. I thought I was going insane! So I went to the hospital. My Husband wasn't impressed he had to leave work and take me, he hasn't been very emotionally supportive through my ordeal .

They told me the sleep deprivation was getting to me and gave me some ambien. It didn't work I would wake up after an hour and a half in a complete panic. They gave me zopiclone, finally relief! I took it for three days then tried to sleep without it. Couldn't. I become utterly obsessed with sleep . If it wasn't for my kids I wouldn't care but I need to be awake in order to properly care for my children. Doctor finally diagnosed me with post partum anxiety and put me on remeron 30 mg. ativan when needed and gave me more zopiclone. I can't sleep on the remeron alone and it makes me feel agitated and tired during the day so I cut my dose in half still can't sleep. The ativan paired with the remeron will give me a full night sleep. He won't renew my ativan but keeps giving me ######6 sleeping pills. They are losing their effect and I'm still waking up several times a night. Anyone deal with insomnia this bad? Feeling like I'll never sleep again without pills. I'm 25 years old and have never had any mental health issues in my life. My mom was bipolar and died two years ago, she became addicted to prescription pills and I know this is a source of my anxiety. Thank you if you have read this far, wtf can I do to overcome this, I know things work differently for everyone but I'm at the end of my rope. Doesn't help my husband yells at me and basically tried to ignore the fact that I'm struggling, he's a great dad but has the emotional capacity of a 2 year old..

I'm sorry to hear this story -- reminds me of mine. Which ended well -- see my thread here: insomnia/topic131325.html

Zopiclone is very addictive, unfortunately. It is not recommended (and very rightly so) to take it for more than two weeks in a row. However it also does the trick. And at the end it is better for you to sleep with meds than not sleep.

I hope this does not worry you too much what I am going to say now -- bipolar is genetic. It might be that you are hypomanic without realising (possible -- I was) and this is what's causing your sleep problems. It might be good to get evaluated for bipolar by a psychiatrist.

Big hugs and I hope you sleep better soon!

I hope you are well.

I used to live in the U.S. and developed insomnia gradually. It worsened after breathing difficulty.

I thought I could shake it off and took Ambien, Mirtazapine, Clonazapan, etc.

They were ALL temporary and had pernicious side effects. I decided this was not the solution.

I used to do acupuncture daily just to be able to get out of the bed and walk.

I also had severe anxiety due to inability to perform at work and saw counsellor with no telling improvement.

After 3 years, I quit my job and came to India. Thanks to my parents support and friends I found few things to give miraculous effect.

1. Cranio - Sacral Therapy - A danish touch treatment of remove subtle blockages in the brain and spinal cord

2. Breathing - A powerful breathing technique that you do for 1 hour straight taught by an org called Art of Living.

3. Pranic Healing (available world over) - This is like Acupuncture, Reiki. In India there is a very powerful place called Oneness University. You can reach out to me for more details.

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I hope you get well!

Deepak

I found that hypnotherapy was the solution to my insomnia. I went for a few sessions with a really good hypnotherapist and it really sorted out my sleep problem. Sometimes I still use a hypnosis recording I found online that I found great - it really helps me drift off if things are on my mind.