I fear I may never sleep again

[Banned]

I battled insomnia for years and worked really, really hard to get off sleeping pills. I don't want to go back on them.

I now work a job though that finishes most days at 3am and I work from home so I can be in bed by 3:05. Sounds pretty ideal except my mind then races for hours and I can't stop it and I obviously can't sleep. At that point, when and if I can get it to slow down, the sun is coming up and my body is now trying to follow a natural cycle which I worked so hard to teach it to do.

How do I stop my mind from racing at bed time so I can maybe fall asleep right away? I am exhausted and just want quality sleep again.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

For starters, stop trying to go to sleep 5 minutes after finishing work. You now have to shift your sleep-wake cycle to the new schedule but no matter what time your work day ends you still need a good 30-60 minutes to slow down your mind and body before going to bed. If you don't, what happens is exactly what you're experiencing.

 

[Retired]

How do I stop my mind from racing at bed time so I can maybe fall asleep right away?

I wondered the same thing for years, because I have always had difficulty falling asleep quickly. I'd like to think those of us who have racing thoughts at bedtime are overly intelligent with an over abundance of content in our minds...but I digress

I also experience frequent migraine, so this article on using melatonin for sleep and its potential for reducing migraine due to lack of asleep caught my attention.

I've been taking melatonin 3 mg for about a month now, and though it's too early to draw any conclusions about its effect on reducing migraine episodes, I can tell you my quality of sleep has improved significantly.

By following the instructions in the migraine article as well as this other Forum posted article I fall asleep in about a half hour of taking the melatonin 3 mg at 10 pm, sleep through the night, if I have to get up during the night I fall back asleep quickly and the overall quality of the sleep is better.

Like you I have been prescribed sleep medications (hypnotics) and the effect of melatonin for me has been surprisingly satisfactory for me so far.

Based on what I have read, more melatonin is not necessarily better than less, so the hype about maximum strength 5 mg may be over rated, but if you consider trying it, look for a rapid acting form rather than a sustained release formulation of 3 mg melatonin.

Hope you find something that makes you:

 

[rdw]

Thanks for the info Steve. I am going to give melatonin a try again.

 

[Banned]

I'm going to try melatonin as well.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Caution: Read the articles referenced by sleep. With melatonin, more is NOT better and timing is everything.

 

[Banned]

I will.

---------- Post Merged at 04:02 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:23 AM ----------

Is it safe to take with prozac and topamax ?

 

[Retired]

Is it (melatonin) safe to take with prozac and topamax ?

Medscape Interaction Checker provides interaction information between Rx meds and herbals.

See the attached report for results.

 

[Banned]

For starters, stop trying to go to sleep 5 minutes after finishing work. You now have to shift your sleep-wake cycle to the new schedule but no matter what time your work day ends you still need a good 30-60 minutes to slow down your mind and body before going to bed. If you don't, what happens is exactly what you're experiencing.

I did this last night and falling asleep was a much better experience. Thank you.

 

[Retired]

you still need a good 30-60 minutes to slow down your mind and body before going to bed.

This works for me too! The winding down time helps me to readjust from work and active mode to focusing on my own preparations for sleep. I found that turning off various electronic devices, night lights, charging lights, indicator lights also helps.

If you live in a place that faces directly West for sunset, or East for sunrise, it might also help to install opaque drapery to entirely block out the setting or rising sun, or any ambient light sources outside your window.

For good quality sleep....darkness rules!

 

[Banned]

Ya i need darkness to sleep for sure. I have those sleep masks that I've dug out again (cheaper than new drapes). It seemed weird last night finishing work at 3 and not going to bed, but I decided to give it a try and when I did go to bed around 3:50 I fell asleep right away so that's good. I'm a bit nervous to add melatonin so if I can hold off I will. The pig gets me up at 7 for breakfast but I can go back to sleep right after so that's ok.