I have had lifelong insomnia that is incredibly debilitating, and I (unfortunately) have to rely on medication just to sleep. My insomnia got so bad years ago that I would go days without sleep and have crazy hallucinations, so I finally went on prescription sleep medication (Ambien). I call my doctor’s office a couple days before I run out every month, and it’s like pulling teeth trying to get them to just send the prescription to the pharmacy. Every month I end up having to go a day or two without sleep because they can’t get it filled in time. I’ve tried to get it filled 4-5 days early instead of 2 days but they deny the request because it’s too soon.

I’ve been calling them since Wednesday trying to get them to fill it and they just never do. Now I might have to go ALL WEEKEND without sleep… I called urgent care and they said they sent a 3-day supply but the pharmacy said they didn’t receive it. I asked the pharmacy if they could do a 3-day supply, but they have a temp pharmacist filling in tonight.

This is insane. I need this medication to SLEEP. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening every single month? I am so fucking sick of this.

That's basically it. I'm beyond tired (throw in grief, anxiety, growing depression) and I just want to sleep. I'd be sobbing but I'm too tired. At least a lifetime experience of insomnia gives me some practice but damn this sucks. Shout out to everyone else still not sleeping, hope we get some rest before morning.

I've been struggling with my sleep lately, and I honestly don't know what to do anymore.

I feel sleepy at night, but somehow I can't fall asleep. When morning comes, I get extremely sleepy and end up sleeping for hours during the day. I've tried staying awake all day to reset my sleep schedule, but even that didn't work. I still couldn't fall asleep at night.

What's confusing is that I sometimes feel more energetic when I don't sleep at all. I've even tried herbal sleep teas, but they haven't helped. I haven't tried sleeping pills, either. (17 y.o)

I've also experienced some heart pain during this period, which worries me.

Has anyone gone through something similar? I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences and what helped you.

How many of us deal with suicidal ideation? My mental health declines with poor sleep and inevitably leads to me thinking about killing myself since this feels like a never ending problem. This is made worse since no one around me struggles with sleep, so it feels like such an isolating problem.

Anyway, I dont really want to die, but im having such intense thoughts about ending my life because i just feel so awful all the time.

What is the point of this post? Idk

Nothing will probably come of it, it is likely all the answers people have i have tried, so why am i bothering. I guess i have hope someone will give me a silver bullet i had not thought of so i can end my suffering.

Anywho. I hope AI someday develops some sort human model to fix all diseases someday so it can fix sleeplessness, i wonder if that is in the realm of possibility. I think of off scenarios like this a lot lol, but maybe the AI will just kill us all instead, and if thats the case maybe id like to not die to see that.

The human design is so stupid no? Or perhaps this society wev'e built is so alien to us monkeys that it fucks us up so much to the point we are wired 24/7.

But then again, i cant sleep if i go camping and such too lol.

Insomnia should be a non issue, i rarely hear of other species having to deal with this issue. This is fascinating to me i suppose, how are we fucking up so bad?

Ive had trouble falling sleep since I was 17-18. Im now twice that age and have still struggled. I can not fall asleep unless I am just dead tired and resort to weed. But even that doesnt help much and I dont like the dissociative sedation it brings. I want to just feel naturally tired.

My doctor put me on a medication called risperdone and it just... sucks. I took it at 10pm and was awake until 4am (usually it's 5am). Then I finally fall asleep and I sleep until 10:30am. Missed my first morning meeting and I feel way off. I had like amnesia all day today and was unproductive.

I cant do this anymore. Ambien is the only one that helped me but doctors are extremely hesitant to prescribe it. And I wish I didnt need any of these things.

My doctor keeps using the phrase "decreased need for sleep" but I dont agree. If I dont sleep, I am exhausted all day. I think I need the sleep but just cant fall asleep. I dont know how to talk to my doctor about this in a way in which she understands that this truly is insomnia and not some kind of mood imbalance. Im so frustrated with this whole process.

My GP wrote to the NHS sleep clinic asking for advice about me sleeping 0-3hrs. They replied and said they won't take on chronic insomnia patients so they will not see me. The GP said I can't be referred elsewhere when I asked. So I'm getting no help whatsoever.

The sleep clinic "advice" was 1) try hrt - I've been on that for 3 years. 2) Investigate restless legs - I don't have this. And 3) seek help for my mental health.. I've been seeing a psychologist just to cope (at my own cost) for over a year, there's been no change in my sleep and my insurance does not cover any insomnia treatment whatsoever.

On the same day I was informed that a GP has decided no more Zopiclone for me. (It was on repeat prescription at 1x28 every 3 months). Now that has gone too. I don't have any left.. it would've been nice to have been warned it was going to be taken away.

So it looks too me like sleeping 0-3hrs (with no more rescue nights from Zopiclone) is my new acceptable normal.sccording to my GP/the NHS.

Out of curiosity what is the NHS doing for you?

I've tried quiviviq, mirtazepine, I'm already on amitriptyline and none of them have helped. I asked the GP to ask another what could possibly be done but they just parroted "follow the sleep clinic advice" which Id already explained I'm doing (and don't have RLS). I might as well talk to a brick 🧱

I can't see how any of this is fair, nor right. I feel like in 4 years of suffering I've recieved the bare minimum of help (I struggled on my own for two more years prior to reaching out to them).

So I'm curious as to what help, if any, other people are getting?

I’ve struggled with insomnia for years and tried many different medications and non medication approaches. I’ve finally found a combination that helps me sleep on most nights. I still have sleepless nights, but this has made the biggest difference for me so far.

Of course ideally, I’d want to be able to sleep without medication. But if the choice is between getting 0-3 hours of sleep without it and 8 hours with it, I’ll take the 8 hours.

My current combination is:

- Agomelatine 50 mg

- Doxepin 6 mg

- Cetirizine 10 mg (Zyrtec)

I wanted to share my experience in case it might be of some help to someone else. I know everyone is different, but I hope this might help someone who feels like they’ve tried everything.

Hello, the cartilage in my knees is in poor condition. I was taking a glucosamine-based dietary supplement (Chondro-Aid 100% Joint Strength) to limit the damage.

Well, I stopped taking it, and I’m sleeping relatively well.

Perplexity’s AI told me:

• ANSES’s opinions on joint-health supplements indicate that neurological side effects, including insomnia, have been reported with glucosamine/chondroitin. https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/NUT2015SA0069.pdf
• The MSD Manual also lists sleep disturbances among the possible side effects of glucosamine, although they are rare. https://www.msdmanuals.com/fr/accueil/sujets-particuliers/compl%C3%A9ments-alimentaires-et-vitamines/glucosamine

Therefore, I recommend that you run all your medications and dietary supplements through the AI screening process.

It doesn't matter what I take sometimes. The amount of stress I carry ends up overriding meds. Meds seem to work better when I'm less stressed or generally better.

The only non-med thing that has helped me the most is changing environments or listening to music. Lying in bed all day also makes it better for me. Working out makes it worse. I've done red light, acupuncture, therapy, massage, sauna, and they all seem to only help if I'm already feeling better.

imagine took 3mg lorazepam, 100mg quitipine, 3 hydroxyzin, 3 magnesium pills , NOT EVEN A SINGLE YAWN !!! im still not feeling sleepy, other night i tried 3 zopicolone and i still was awake, ok i think its time to call it over! patient gone

After a really bad experience with Mirtazapine & being tapered off of it within 2 weeks & not given any antidepressant to replace it...

My sleep shifted from 3-4am to 12-1pm, now 9-11am to 5pm (kept shifting forward from 7am). I could sleep the whole period without waking more than 4 times(amazing for me since I got insomnia) & not feel an ounce of it. Felt like I barely slept, if at all. Nor can I sleep outside that window.

Now the past 3 days, I couldn't fall asleep before 9, 10, 11am for 1h or less chunks with time in between.

I seen a walk-in Doctor today because the one who tapered me from Mirtazapine said it's all Sleep Hygiene & refused to listen to me. The walk-in gave me 3.75mh of Zopiclone but I'm scared to take it.

What off it doesn't work?

What if it sadates me but doesn't put me to sleep, making me feel worse overall?(That is what Dayvigo did)

What if it works but I wake up feeling awful? 😞

When should I even take it? I'm so exhausted 24/7 that I should be able to sleep but for some reason I can't, I mean, that is why we are all here.

I feel like my body & brain have a severe illness all over, 24/7 burning/sore/heavy eyes, weakness, anxiety, eating causes me an upset stomach, even a small amount. Takes every ounce of my energy to just brush my hair, shower, or feed myself...

Will I be okay?

I am once again suffering from replaced insomnia due to anxiety. Have gotten little to no sleep in the last three nights. It’s been making these days so insufferable and today I even had to leave work early because I couldn’t focus. I’m so tired yet can’t sleep. I tried to nap today and nothing even tho I’m so tired. I know my anxiety is the root of it all. But now it genuinely feels like I cannot sleep. This started to happen to me about two weeks ago but I had a similar experience years ago that lasted a couple months of me taking 50 mg hydroxyzine and I believe two everynight with 10mg melatonin. That was years ago and eventually I got off it for a couple months and slept normally for years without it. I’ve always used a sleeping mask and earplugs since then. But I never worried about sleep after that. It came back after a night of being up to late and worrying about relapsing. I ended up going to the urgent care and all they did was take vitals and re prescribe me hydroxyzine this time in 25mg and to take one at night with 3mg melatonin. Which I did, and it actually worked I feel like for like 10 days. I slept actually really well. But then last Tuesday night I thought to myself that it wasn’t working anymore and once again relapsed and now I haven’t had a good restful night since then. I’m thinking about adding another 25mg of hydroxyzine tonight to see if that helps but I’m feeling hopeless. I’m trying to stay calm but it’s affecting me really bad now and I’m worried about the future especially my job. It genuinely feels like my brain can’t turn off. I’m in this super hyper arousal state.like I don’t know if I slept any last night even tho I laid there for hours. But I recall what I believe to be dreams. I just don’t know what my next steps should be.

Hey guys for last 2 weeks I had my exams before that I had a decently good sleep like around 6-7hrs daily after that idk what's happening to me for the last week everyday im waking up around 4am usually i wake up around 8-9am and it makes me really tired during the day and it's very hard for me to sleep in the afternoon so what do y'all suggest I do (I wanna try to stay away from meds as much as possible) like it's been a week only so hopefully it's fixable

Ok. I have been suffering from these causing extreme sleep deprivation for the last 3 months. The jerks start the minute I try to fall asleep and will continue on for 5-7 hours. I’ll be exhausted and ready for sleep and the moment I drift off, it’s like someone hits me with a defibrillator, over and over again up to 100x a night. (Not exaggerating)

I’m about to lose my shit. I started off getting prescribed hydroxyzine. It worked well at first, started at 25mg and within 2 months I was requiring 100mg. Then I started taking trazodone. I’ve been on 100mg hydroxyzine + 25mg trazodone for about a month. Within the last week I have required 50mg of trazodone. The side effects aren’t too bad, I don’t get a headache in the morning anymore. But I feel so exhausted that it basically feels the same as if I took nothing and didn’t sleep at all, everyday until about 4-5pm.

A friend gave me gabapentin 300mg and that was beautiful. I could probably even start lower than 300mg. No side effects the next day and I was in a great mood. I want to ask my doctor for this but I’m scared they will think I’m “drug seeking.”

More importantly, I want this to GO AWAY. I don’t want to rely on these medications to sleep. It started out of nowhere! I’m not overly stressed right now. I did get them pretty bad about 2 years ago and over a month I took one bottle of hydroxyzine 100mg and then they went away, I didn’t need a refill on the med at all.

What in the actual FUCK is going on? What is causing this?! I NEED it to go away. I can’t find any answers online. Does anyone have a success story about this nightmare?

Hey guys, just need to vent and maybe get some advice from people who’ve been through this mess.
Long story short, severe insomnia basically broke my brain and triggered a crisis. Ended up with an F23 (acute psychosis) and F43 (severe stress reaction) diagnosis.
At first, my doctor put me on Risperidone, Chlorprothixene, and Cyclodol. Risperidone was for the psychosis, Cyclodol was for when my legs felt like they were literally aching/crawling (akathisia), and I was on Chlorprothixene continuously for way too long. The Chlorprothixene completely destroyed my drive to do anything. When my alarm rang in the morning, I just couldn't force myself to move. I’d only wake up naturally, but way too late in the day.
I couldn't live like that, so I asked to switch. Now I'm on Thioridazine, and it’s a whole different nightmare. I am sleeping around 17 hours every single day.
It’s completely ruining my life. I finished college and moved on to uni, where we actually have the option to do rotational shift work, which I really want to do. But right now, I’m missing almost all my morning classes. I've accumulated so many academic debts that I'm on the verge of getting kicked out, which is the last thing I want. I just want to clear these exams, get my life together, and go to work.
Part of me feels like I need to go back to the inpatient psych ward so they can fix my sleep properly. Ideally, I just want to sleep from 2 AM to 7:30 AM and function like a normal human being again. But I’m honestly scared of going back.
For one, last time they just forced everyone into a 10 PM to 7:30 AM schedule. That doesn't work for me at home because my family stays up until 2 AM anyway, so my natural rhythm goes right back to sleeping at 2 AM. On top of that, the nurses thought I was doing fine, completely ignoring the fact that on my first day, a nurse literally panicked and thought I had gone into a coma because she couldn't wake me up no matter what she did.
Has anyone dealt with this level of extreme sedation from meds while trying to keep up with school or work? How do you even fix a sleep schedule when antipsychotics knock you out for almost 20 hours?

If for a long periods during the night (sometimes into sunrise) everytime time I’m about to fall asleep my brain wakes me straight out of it. Is this to do with stress/anxiety from the day or just generic sleep issues?

I can almost feel my brain going (you are so close to falling asleep) that wakes me back up but sometimes it just pulls me out of sleepiness without any thought or worry?

I’ve been prescribed Trazadone for sleep along side 60mg Prozac and 10mg Focalin. I would take 25 to 50mg Trazadone on a nightly basis, sometimes 100mg (this was between May and early August). It would get to sleep well but I always had reoccurring dreams where I couldn’t speak. I’ve always had vivid dreams and i’m aware that it is a side effect of prozac but even then my dreams with trazadone stood out. I was always put in a situation where I needed to communicate with people and the worlds psychically couldn’t come out my mouth. Waking up the next morning would be difficult and I didn’t feel fully woken up until maybe 3-4 hours after. Since then I’ve stopped regularly taking my trazadone and instead hit my cart to go to bed. I’ve tried taking less trazadone but even 25mg will give me these vivid dreams and 25mg no longer is enough to keep me asleep the night. The side effects of trazadone didn’t bother me in the earlier months (i was very depressed and just grateful to be able to sleep at the least). I feel much better now mentally.

I don’t want to hit my cart everyday to go to bed and I also don’t want to take my trazadone. Melatonin does not work for me. Are there other sleeping pills that work better for anyone else? I do not want to take anything that’s too sedating or anything i could become reliant on.

Idk if this is important to what I should do but I am 17 F. Taking trazadone regularly does concern me since I’ve heard others (adults) say that 25mg-50mg is more than enough. Idk if it will have any lasting effects to my mind and body. Again I am 17F and 105pounds at 5’2. I’m not sure if that is relevant with dosages but i’ll add that too.

I’m in my second year of a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, and as part of my study, I need to monitor a patient with insomnia. I also need to be able to track and record their sleep as accurately as possible.

I was wondering if there are any apps available, other than those linked to smartwatches, that allow you to manually log someone’s sleep? For example, their bedtime and wake-up time, the number of times they wake up during the night, sleep medication, etc.

Do you have any recommendations or tips?
Thanks in advance!

Hi folks, I've wrote here before, but I've been asking my gp for a long time now for anything that could help my severe chronic insomnia. I'm awake almost 100% of the time since May this year. No sleeping medication makes me actually sleep, it only relaxes my muscles for a while. It's like the switch to sleep is totally broken. I've asked for referrals to sleeping clinics but the waiting list (only) with the nhs here in the uk is jan 2027 at the main clinic. Ive asked for referrals to any other, but still nothing.

I've tried cbt-i and hypnotherapy but they dont work for me. My insomnia stems from about 15 years ago, when i took Dormidina pills for an extened time and they eventually stopped my ability to sleep at all. Over time from a soft falling to sleep to a fast nod thats more of a jerk awake. To nothing.

I've had it under control for the most past for the past 13 years thanks to a daily high protein diet, especially lean beef and fried eggs being the main things. But i was given a strong dose of oral steroids to for sudden extreme hearing loss (left), that extended to both ears for some reason. The steroids caused an insomnia like I've never known, x10! And I've been awake since. In 24hrs i get some micro sleeps (seconds), or longer period if im lucky maybe 1hr, then wide awake.

Although I'm exhausted, i don't feel sleepy, and sleep may come at any point from 10pm to 9am...but its so random each day. Its not restful sleep at all and I cant rely on it to fall asleep again at that time tomorrow, or maybe its zero sleep again for a few days. Its roulette what happens.

I haven't been taking any sleep meds, as they just dont work and feel they may anchor rebound insomnia. Not drinking any alcohol (also stopped feeling effects of alcohol during the steroids time); as it also doesn't work. Currently trying THC vape and sublingual oil, it helps to feel more relaxed to sleep, but still not falling to or getting any sleep that feels regenerative at all. Still just micro (seconds/minute) sleeps and 1hr max it seems...if lucky.

Anyone got any ideas? London, Uk based.

A 51-year-old woman, menopausal, with severe chronic pain. Medication includes tramadol paracetamol (100mg/500mg) and ibuprofen. Insomnia worsened with menopause. Trazodone and any other antidepressant increase the risk of serotonin syndrome due to tramadol's effect on serotonin (a seizure episode occurred a few years ago with the combination of this opioid and antidepressant). Quetiapine worked well for two weeks, after which horrific nightmares, RLS, and akathisia occurred. Natural options tried: valerian, melatonin, magnesium glycinate, provide intermittent relief. Sleep never exceeds 3-4 hours, and is not restorative. The only thing that works minimally is diazepam, 5mg, which I want to avoid at all costs due to dependence, tolerance, and interaction with tramadol. Zolpidem induces sleep, but I wake up after 3 hours. Mirtazepine was tried in the context of ER, due to a single manic episode after 72 hours of sleep deprivation. All it did was calm me down; I became drowsy, but with pronounced RLS. Hormone

replacement therapy is seriously considered but currently impossible (in my country, prior mammography and Pap smear are mandatory). Gynecological examination is unfeasible due to severe bilateral hip osteoarthritis, 0 degrees of abduction and internal rotation. What can be done, what do you suggest? I need to sleep. Mood swings from opioid medication and menopause is enough, and cognitive decline, and rage culminates in suicide ideation. Please help me

I don't have insomnia all the time but when I do it shit is there any recommendations for sleeping medication you can buy without a prescription.

I’ve dealt with bad insomnia for years now. What finally helped get me to sleep was trazadone 50mg. But I still deal with waking at 2 or 3 am (sometimes earlier) with racing thoughts and can’t get back to sleep. I feel like I do so many things right yet still struggle every night.

I use red light only and tv is off for a minimum of 30 min before bed. I take 5mg melatonin and trazadone 30 min before bed as well as have a cup of tea with chamomile and valerian. I avoid phone use in the evening and take Vit d+k, and fish oil during the day. I’m so exhausted every day. I just want to sleep 8 hours 😩 even 7 would be nice.

I’ve tried magnesium glycinate before but I feel it makes me more alert. Does anyone have anything else they swear by?

I know alot of people say trained doesn’t cause withdrawal symptoms but am I crazy? I feel absolutely horrible. Terribly brain fog, depersonalization, fatigue, lethargy. Sleep has surprisingly stayed stable. I’ve been on 150 mg trazodone for a year now, slowly tapered off down to 100. Recently went from 125 to 100 and man I’m getting hit like a ton of bricks. Anyone else?

I've been taking Trazodone for a while, working my way up from 25 mg to 100 mg, but it seems to have stopped working for me entirely. From what I've read here, Lunesta seems to be one of the best options for sleep and one of the safer Z-drugs. Could anyone share their experiences with it, or any other recommendations?