Have you ever suffered with Chronic Insomnia?

[Bling]

Does anyone here suffer from or have suffered from Chronic Insomnia? (we'll call it CI for short). I'm not talking about just having difficulty going to sleep sometimes, If you are unsure what CI is please read this link:

http://www.londonsle...rs_insomnia.htm

If you do have CI, do you know what causes it with you? What treatment have you had? Have you resigned yourself to it just being a part of who you are? How does it affect your life? How do you cope?

[SpiritWriter]

I call what I experienced Insomnia, but really what it was was chronic nightmares in which I was scared to go to sleep. I suffered this for 3 years and was delivered by God from this in a miraculous way. This happened in the year 2000 or 1999. Since then I think I have only had 4 nightmares... It was really a rough period for me and I will never forget it.

[Jinxdom]

Are you actually sure you have CI instead of something else like DSPD or non-24? First I was diagnosed with CI but then it was changed to DSPD then it was changed to non-24. Which after all the sleep dairy comes out to basically I have a 26 hour day. Which is pretty much unchangeable with light, drugs and other treatments.

I basically had to find a way to make cash without a steady daily schedule which was hard but I feel oh so much better then trying to conform to a regular 9 to 5 popping sleeping pills like candy. Only took about 13 years and about 6 sleep doctors and 4 shrinks to change the diagnoses. It would be a lot harder to deal with though if you have kids to maintain and a 9 to 5 pretty sure when I do have kids of my own I'm gonna be a miserable prick again because I won't be able to sleep when I need to.

[spud the mackem]

Yes, its caused by stress,and your brain starts dealing with the days events,when there is no noise ie:- the t.v. goes off,or when you go to bed.

[Idano]

As I get older I sleep less and less. By the time I'm 65 I'll have gained a whole day I get alot more done though...

[Render]

As I get older I sleep less and less. By the time I'm 65 I'll have gained a whole day I get alot more done though...

Elderly Don’t Need As Much Sleep, Study Finds

The bottom line was that the seniors simply needed less sleep — about 1.5 hours less.

http://www.livescience.com/5033-elderly-dont-sleep-study-finds.html

[Idano]

Elderly Don’t Need As Much Sleep, Study Finds

http://www.livescien...tudy-finds.html

Hold on, I'm not "ELDERLY" yet?!?!?! Thanks for the info. My lessening sleep does not seem to affect my mental state...I don't think?

[Sufjan]

I don't know if I can call my self an insomniac, but I really can't sleep (well).

I do sleep, but I don't sleep well, for many years. It's not that I can stay awake for days, but I don't feel relaxed after sleeping, never.

[Bling]

Are you actually sure you have CI instead of something else like DSPD or non-24? First I was diagnosed with CI but then it was changed to DSPD then it was changed to non-24. Which after all the sleep dairy comes out to basically I have a 26 hour day. Which is pretty much unchangeable with light, drugs and other treatments.

I basically had to find a way to make cash without a steady daily schedule which was hard but I feel oh so much better then trying to conform to a regular 9 to 5 popping sleeping pills like candy. Only took about 13 years and about 6 sleep doctors and 4 shrinks to change the diagnoses. It would be a lot harder to deal with though if you have kids to maintain and a 9 to 5 pretty sure when I do have kids of my own I'm gonna be a miserable prick again because I won't be able to sleep when I need to.

Can you explain DSPD and non 24 please?

[Bling]

Yes, its caused by stress,and your brain starts dealing with the days events,when there is no noise ie:- the t.v. goes off,or when you go to bed.

It's not necessarily caused by stress. I know what causes mine and it's not stress....anymore.

[meryt-tetisheri]

I suffered from CI for many years and used to take sleeping pills, but gradually things have changed. I can now sleep 6 to 7 hours without pills, but had to accept that my circadian rhythm is out of phase; though I live in Europe, my body clock seems to be functioning on Australian mean time! Luckily I can arrange my life accordingly.

[Euphorbia]

Does anyone here suffer from or have suffered from Chronic Insomnia? (we'll call it CI for short). I'm not talking about just having difficulty going to sleep sometimes, If you are unsure what CI is please read this link:

http://www.londonsle...rs_insomnia.htm

If you do have CI, do you know what causes it with you? What treatment have you had? Have you resigned yourself to it just being a part of who you are? How does it affect your life? How do you cope?

I've had Chronic Insomnia for many, many years. I take some pretty good triplicate form prescription drugs to sleep at night (I'd tell you what, but that would go against forum rules). Over time they lose effectiveness and you need more and more to fall and stay asleep. It takes me two to three hours to fall asleep at night and I still can't seem to sleep past 5-6 AM, and I wake up many times during the night. Tossing and turning sucks!

I can't sleep during the day at all......I really just rest my eyes when I try. I also need background noise to sleep.......the radio on or my iPod on all night. Silence just doesn't cut it. The other thing I really don't like with my insomnia is that I either don't dream, or I just completely forget them when I wake up.....I do miss dreaming! and usually during the day I seem to constantly .

[Bling]

I've not taken my pills for a few nights now and I'm getting about 4 hours sleep, but coping well with it. Thankfully I don't have to go out to work (due to health reasons) otherwise I think it would be very hard to function. I remember when I was a photographer and being tired and struggling to see the computer screen while I was manipulating photos, it made me dizzy and slowed me down so much.

I think coming off the pills is giving me some side effects but I believe it's time to let them go and I feel alot more alert during the day, which is good!

[Mr Right Wing]

Does anyone here suffer from or have suffered from Chronic Insomnia? (we'll call it CI for short). I'm not talking about just having difficulty going to sleep sometimes, If you are unsure what CI is please read this link:

http://www.londonsle...rs_insomnia.htm

If you do have CI, do you know what causes it with you? What treatment have you had? Have you resigned yourself to it just being a part of who you are? How does it affect your life? How do you cope?

Coffee?

Stress?

Emotional problems?

Lack of sunlight?

Obsessive thinking patterns?

[xYlvax]

I used to have it, until I started drinking. lol

[Bling]

Coffee?

Stress?

Emotional problems?

Lack of sunlight?

Obsessive thinking patterns?

Are you talking about yourself or theorising?

[Jinxdom]

Ok non-24 is this. I have a 26 hour day that cannot be changed 18 hours awake 8 hours of sleep. so basically my sleeping schedule for a week goes like this.

Sleep Wake

Monday 9pm 5am

Tuesday 11pm 7am

Wednesday 1am 9am

Thursday 3am 11am

Friday 5am 1pm

It's basically inconsistent insomnia that occurs at different parts of the day. Now if your daily life doesn't fit in with that sleep schedule some nights you'll be able to sleep at night other nights there is no chance even with sleeping pills to fall asleep. It's a rare one even my doctor doesn't have a clue what caused it.

Oh as a side bonus to this one it is often misdiagnosed as bipolar, depression, and a whole slew of other stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-24-hour_sleep-wake_disorder

DSPD is delayed sleep-phase disorder is pretty much like jet lag where your body clock is setup to go to sleep later then normal

Basically you want to go to bed at 9 pm but can't because your body is like screw you your bedtime starts at 3 am get used to it. At least with this you can trick your body clock in to fixing itself with a few options.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_disorder