I Can’t Sleep

[Gingerninja1991]

Hi Everyone
I’m having the worst insomnia symptoms I’ve ever experienced at the present moment. I don’t sleep till 4am (not for a lack of trying, including reading) then I wake up at 8am and cannot get back to sleep. I’ve been having some heavy thoughts about the state of our society and how it treats women etc that have been circling my head and won’t leave me alone at 2am. This has been happening for around 2 weeks, I’m now exhausted and wondered if anyone had any tips or could tell me if my SSRI Citalopram was the cause and whether it will stop in the next few weeks.
Thank you
Ginger


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[Rinka]

Did you start the SSRI recently? As far as I know, insomnia can be a side effect during the beginning.
It seems as if your mind is too active to shut itself down. Maybe before you sleep, one hour or half an hour, don’t read, don’t watch any thing, don’t do anything that makes you think. Instead try listening to calming music or to mindfulness tabes. This can calm your mind an prepare you for you sleep.

 

[Gingerninja1991]

Did you start the SSRI recently? As far as I know, insomnia can be a side effect during the beginning.
It seems as if your mind is too active to shut itself down. Maybe before you sleep, one hour or half an hour, don’t read, don’t watch any thing, don’t do anything that makes you think. Instead try listening to calming music or to mindfulness tabes. This can calm your mind an prepare you for you sleep.

I started taking it again about 2weeks ago but it has gotten steadily worse with it. It’s happened before but never this bad!! That’s good advice about the tapes, something to focus on to quieten my head. I get stuck with obsessive thoughts or a song going round my head it might just take the focus off that.


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[Rinka]

I started taking it again about 2weeks ago but it has gotten steadily worse with it. It’s happened before but never this bad!! That’s good advice about the tapes, something to focus on to quieten my head. I get stuck with obsessive thoughts or a song going round my head it might just take the focus off that.


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Yea that’s the thing with the focus. Your mind is too obsessed with a particular topic, that it’s running around in circles. Let me know how you get on with the tapes.

 

[EvaGisele]

I don’t know if you look on social media late at night. If you do, you might want to stop that. My Facebook feed is FULL of news site stuff. It riles me up late at night, especially if I start commenting on threads and debating someone. I stopped looking at it after 9pm.

 

[Gingerninja1991]

Yea that’s the thing with the focus. Your mind is too obsessed with a particular topic, that it’s running around in circles. Let me know how you get on with the tapes.

The tapes were a great idea. I listened to a mindfulness and meditation one for 10 minutes on YouTube last night, out like a damn light. All the buzzing thoughts that I obsess over were replaced by thoughts like “Am I doing this right?” Which sounds unhelpful, but when my obsessive thoughts make me anxious having me focus on a technique really helped calm me down.


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[Rinka]

That’s really cool.

 

[Miha87]

The tapes were a great idea. I listened to a mindfulness and meditation one for 10 minutes on YouTube last night, out like a damn light. All the buzzing thoughts that I obsess over were replaced by thoughts like “Am I doing this right?” Which sounds unhelpful, but when my obsessive thoughts make me anxious having me focus on a technique really helped calm me down.


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Yes!! I was always weary of those youtube videos until I gave it a shot. In all honesty, this past month for the first time since I was a teenager, I've been sleeping by midnight and up by 8 am without an alarm.

 

[Rinka]

Yes!! I was always weary of those youtube videos until I gave it a shot. In all honesty, this past month for the first time since I was a teenager, I've been sleeping by midnight and up by 8 am without an alarm.

Wow that’s great. It’s funny how such a most simple things, such as mindfulness tapes can improve sleep. But then that’s the first thing psychologists advice, if you go to them with insomnia or night terrors. Also establishing a proper day night routine and so called bedroom or sleep hygiene. My psychologists also advised to ban all electrical items, TVs phone tablets from the bedroom, to establish a stimulantless environment.

 

[He Man]

I had a unique sleep experience last night..
I have a daughter who has been sick & feverish recently. I've been helping take of her, & it's obviously stressful watching your kid suffer.. so it's caused me to have insomnia last 48 hours.
I finally laid down last night & started to doze off. But my mind was racing & remained conscious. I could hear my wife breathing & pets moving around bedroom.. but my body was asleep. It was cool bcuz I could control my dreams.. but it sucked that I could hear every outside distraction & feel sleeping twitches, etc. It was bizarre.. I finally passed out & got 4 additional hours.

 

[Brad66]

Exercising later in the day seems to help me. Most people like to do it first thing in the morning but I usually hold off till after dinner. I find I sleep a lot better that way even when I am stressed.

 

[Hurt&Hopeful]

Exercising later in the day seems to help me. Most people like to do it first thing in the morning but I usually hold off till after dinner. I find I sleep a lot better that way even when I am stressed.

That's interesting! I've always been afraid to get my blood moving too much at night, thinking it would keep me up. I've been told that yoga in the evenings is a good way to get a body to let go a little bit and sleep better. I am TRYING to get started with yoga, since it has so many mental health benefits. Maybe I'll start trying to do it in the evenings and see how that works out...

 

[Brad66]

That's interesting! I've always been afraid to get my blood moving too much at night, thinking it would keep me up. I've been told that yoga in the evenings is a good way to get a body to let go a little bit and sleep better. I am TRYING to get started with yoga, since it has so many mental health benefits. Maybe I'll start trying to do it in the evenings and see how that works out...

Yea if I exercise between 3-4 hours before bed it works best for me. That seems to be the sweet spot. Any later and I am too wired still and any earlier and it seems like the benefits have worn off.

I also meditate about 30 minutes before bed too and that really seems to help.