Chronic Insomnia

What were some of your side effects due to lack of sleep which you state came back?

Not sure what you mean by some side effect coming back. I had no long term effects from lack of sleep. For a while it took extra makeup to hide the dark circles though. I hope you sleep well this weekend.
O

I am referring to effects such as short term memory loss, low concentration, fast heartbeat, etc. Just curious what you experienced. Thanks

Well I forgot everything. I would say and ask the same things over and over. I also got very jumpy when I heard a noise I would leap out of my seat. Most of all I just remember walking into things all the time. I would also start laughing for no reason sometimes.
How about you?
O

My short term memory is not good, but long term memory is. My concentration level is much lower and I find myself asking the person I am in listening to, to repeat themselves. I have lost about 25 pounds, which I am having a hard time gaining back, but my appetite is good. I also experience a lot of twitching. Overall, my body feels week, but for some reason I do not feel tired.

Hi! I am new here.. Been reading posts though the past couple days and decided to register.

I have been having severe insomnia as well and it seems almost nothing is helping to make me tired.

The weird thing is that I don't FEEL tired. I also have some sort of attack going on in my body. Where my sensations are messed up. At first I had a hard time telling the difference between hot/cold, muscle twitching, jerking at times, was dx with partial seizures and can't feel pain sensations.... I had a sleep study done and it showed I went into stage 1 and 2 and some REM, but not the deeper stages (3 and 4). My Sleep Dr. wants me to stop taking Temazapam which I have been taking for almost 3 months. I went from 30 mg to 15 mg.

But what struck me was the similarity between Hallberg's symptoms with insomnia and my own.

I feel like I don't respond to ANY meds. The Dr or pharmacist will tell me, "This med will knock you on your butt" and it doesn't. I feel no different.

meds I have tried are:
Ambien
Ativan
Seroquel
Zyprexa
Temazepam
Risperdone

I am very frustrated and sscared to be going through this. My short term memory is off as well, but my long term is good. . The weird thing is that most of the time I do not feel tired!! I should be ehxausted after 3 months of going through this. I DO sleep but its not much (maybe a couple hours after I take medicine) and its a light sleep as was proved by the sleep study. Any advice??? Maybe in time this will get better??

Thanks a bunch!

Steff

Steff, sounds like me and you are going through the exact same thing. I dont feel tired, but feel weak. Stay in touch and lets keep eachother updated.

I Just remembered something that Did actually help me. I wondered WHY my mnd would not shut down and let me rest so I decided to pay attention to the thoughts I decided to try and acknowledge what my mind would want to race on about. Kinda like if you are with a small child and it just keeps talking on and on about its own interests, I made a point to pay attention to what would race through my thoughts. Things would race through my head, sometimes just images of things. I tried really hard to not try and analyze each thing or slow down the pace of what would come to mind. IT HELPED SO MUCH. It was like I was allowing all the thoughts to have an audience to be recognized and heard/seen. Imagine it like watching a movie in your head. Try not to "pause, fast forward or rewind', just get your self very comfortable and quiet and let it play. It seemed as if I was working with the problem rather than fighting or resenting it.
I would like to know it this helps you. It may take a bit of practice but I know it helped me!
With Hope,
O

I am over the racing thoughts which origianally caused my insomnia...for some reason I have difficulty sleeping. I am now on 800 mg of seroquel which I think is helping. I have been getting more and more sleep.

Onebrave girl, How did you eventually wean off the drugs and fall asleep naturally. I assume you were on meds for a while before you could naturally fall asleep again????

I wish I had a simple quick fix that I could share with you, I honestly feel for you. I like that you are determined to get over your insomnia. Please hold onto that!
FIRST, I needed a diagnosis. Because whatever is going on it must be pretty serious for it to have that much power to interfere with sleep. SECOND, I had to keep in mind that there had to be a way out of this situation. MY head was trying to tell me something. (Slow down O, Your pushing me too hard and I need to sort some ****** ****** ****out first). I Had to get some help.
T H E R A P Y W A S K E Y for me. Having someone guide me through what I was feeling was so important to me. I couldn't manage on my own. It was more than having someone hear me. I needed someone who had heard similar things before. There was comfort and a feeling of safety and reassurance in that. It was also, and most importantly, Professional guidance. I forget now, have you a Therapist?
MY commitment to figuring out what was wrong was important. Doing what ever I had too to get well was the other half. I don't recall what your condition is but mine was CPSTD. For me it took a full time commitment to Therapy (Including hospital stays).(( My motivation was a fear that some how my illness could pass on to my children and I desperately didn't want to miss out on their youth. Get well so you can get back to being a mom was my theme. (This also made sense because I did not feel I was loved or parented as a kid).))
(sigh) I guess it just takes time. A while it takes time you have to be patient. Some hard core ?'s can be: What am I afraid to know? What have I feared and avoided? What am I afraid to remember?
Then, be a warrior. FACE the fears.
I wish you well, I really do...It is not impossible, merely difficult.
O