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hey,
anyone have any sleep tips? i’ve always struggled with insomnia, and right now am going to a sleep clinic for help from a psychologist. but i was wondering if you sisters have any sleep tips specific to living with SA (no ‘professional’ is going to know about that…)
thanks
lisa
I agree with Liza. If I wasn’t in a separate bedroom, the little sleep I get would be reduced to minutes here and there.
Good luck with your appointment. I hope it goes well and you find some relief.
Claire
Before I moved out, I made him sleep on the couch.
Since living separate, I still suffered a lot of insomnia and nightmares. They come and go now. For the insomnia specifically, I have found natural sleeping pills to help, listening to a fiction audio book in bed, saying things to myself like, “you deserve to relax and rest – you can think about this SA stuff tomorrow”. I also seem to sleep better in daylight than at night.
yes separate bedrooms for sure! we are in separate rooms. i can shut my door and have some peace.
i also watch an episode of treme each night, think about something else than SA!
but lately i’m waking up early…
When I was in the shock phase I took Lunesta every night to sleep. My MD prescribed it for me. Now I just take it occasionally when I need it.
Also, a glass of milk before bed works well too.
Haha, Liza:)
I bought some L Tryptophan. If I remember correctly it is a precurser to serotonin. It works, helped relax me before bed.
I did not have sleep problems before discovery, but after, it was horrible. I would lay in bed with all of this stuff in my mind and the need to research, research, research. Then the sun would start to peek, and I would sob and sob and sob.
My Doctor prescribed ambien and I have been taking it every night now for almost two years. I am probably big time addicted, but I guess I will deal with that at another time. Not sleeping at night, is another problem in and of itself.
I hope you get the help you need.
hugs
I’m with you Cindy. This whole thing takes up so much of our time. There are not enough hours in the day. So I work on this at night when I should be sleeping. If I don’t do that, then I’m wide awake in the middle of the night thinking about it.
Sleep. what is that? LOL I have had a serious sleep disorder for years, it is one of the biggest problem with fibromyalgia. I am very very sensitive to medication but I have a bedtime routine that works for me. I always go to bed at he same time, I have a shower or a bath with Epsom Salt . I have my own room. The most important thing is to cut down the consumtion of caffeine during the day, coffee, tea, pop and gals even green tea. It makes a huge difference. I had a pop yesterday and Ive had about 2 hrs sleep. When all this crap goes on with hubby SA I forget to take care of myself because I get depressed and don’t care anymore… Doing relaxation techniques really help, putting all your worries in a pretend jar overnight. I was told that if you are awake more tham 30 minutes just get up for a while… Hope some of this helps and believe me less caffeine really really works, it is a real tough one tough…
So Lisa, you get to sleep fine but then wake up early? That’s me too. No matter what time I go to bed, I am awake before 7 and I just can’t go back to sleep. My H is out of the house, I have my two adorable puppies with me, I can fall asleep fine but every damn morning I wake up to a series of stressful thoughts playing in my head. Not always about my SAH. Sometimes about other family members even remote ones like cousins. I just can NOT get it to stop. I’ve tried mild sleeping aids like Advil PM that always worked for me in the past but nothing works. I’m afraid to take harder stuff but I may have to in order to get past this.
Working out had helped me and also melatonin is helpful if you sleep during the nights (aka have normal day shift work hours>>>it’s triggered by darkness). I found an anti anxiety and insomnia tea, which definitely calms and relaxes me. Make sure chamomile is in the tea if you go this route. Also GABA is a good natural anti-anxiety supplement. After reading these posts I now want a dog and to eat a cupcake haha!
The first months after discovery I didn’t sleep at all. I was in full PTSD and thought he was going to kill me in the night. It was the only thing he hadn’t done. My therapist created a self-soothing, self-hynoptic audio file and I played it at night from my mac (i don’t have ipod) and it really helped me begin to sleep.
I go to bed late, like the12-1 am, then wake early, like 530-6, sometimeseeven 430. This has been going on all summer. I also wake at times in between that. It’s awful. I’m perpetually tired, with no patience whatsoever, from stress and lack of sleep.
I got less than 2 hours sleep last night and found out today that my perfectly fine cholesterol levels spiked significantly upward. I have a friend going through a divorce due to an affair and she swears by the anti-depressants she is taking. She cannot keep an anxiety thought in her mind. Yet, I see she has anger, perspective, etc. toward her situation. Neither one of us is an anti-depressant person, but I’m seeing my doctor on Monday for a prescription. I really wish I could process my anger without these pills, but I’m beginning to realize that I’m not going to process anything well if I don’t get a handle on this sleep thing and the cortisol that’s destroying my body. Cortisol impacts 90% of your body and health, so chronic stress is very, very serious stuff physically. I exercise daily, eat well, am thin, etc. but I’ll go physically down hill if I don’t do something now. I’ll let you know how it goes.
If do meditation before bed and it helps me to sleep. I have also been reading a lot about quantum wellness and practicing surrounding myself, my daughters and family with light so I go to sleep thinking happy and peaceful thoughts.
If I wake up, I try to ask to be redirected in my thoughts.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes not.
diane d
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