I'm wondering if any of you have as bad of sleep problems as I do. Mine have been so bad my entire life that it has dominated my life for the worst.
I'm kind of wondering how common some of the things that happen to me are.
Here is how I sleep:
When I was around 9-11 years old, I had a mysterious problem where for about 4 times total, I had positively the worst experiences in my life. If you've ever heard of narcoleptics and how they will wake up and still be dreaming, and it's usually a horrible nightmare, that was sort of like what happened to me those 4 times.
What happened was I'd be having some random dream, and it wasn't even something that would be scary, but during the dream id start to get this extremely scared feeling and feel like I was going to die from whatever was in the dream. Then, suddenly, I'd wake up gasping for air and the entire room was spinning, and I thought I was still dreaming and that I was going to die. I was SCREAMING at the top of my lungs shouting things like "WHERE IS THE FIRE HELP HELP!!!!" and "OFFICER WIGGAM IS GOING TO KILL ME!" because I couldn't realize what was reality and the whole room spinning around me and making me vomit wasn't helping. I know the dreams were silly but they were terrible experiences and it actually gave me a phobia of Crash Bandicout for a while
I later found out that it was due to a lack of oxygen, and we moved my bed away from the wall. That seemed to work and I never had the problem again except once I think, but it doesn't make sense that that worked because I couldn't have made a seal on the wall that would prevent breathing and lots of people sleep against walls all the time just fine.
A few years after, it began this stage of severe insomnia. My mind would go crazy at night and my energy was through the roof. I could never sleep on time and was always tired.
And now, although it's not as bad as before because I've taught myself to live with it better, I can never fall asleep at the same time every night very easily, my sleep schedule always rotates because I always have more than one night a week where I just can't sleep for 3 or more hours of trying no matter how hard I try. The temperature, sound, and environment has to be exactly right for me to sleep, too. For example, I can NOT sleep with another person anywhere in the room.
But recently I came to the realization that that wasn't even the worst of my problems. What happens to me during the night is even worse and I just realized that it may have ruined the better years of my life:
1. I can't sleep on my back or I'll inevitably stop breathing and wake up for a gasp of air. Not to mention I have a bubble butt so it's uncomfortable to sleep on my back.
2. Sleeping on my sides causes my arms to go numb, which wakes me up periodically every single night to bring feeling back into my arms. This is because my mattress is too firm to sleep on my side. I also occasionally gasp for air on my sides.
3. I sleep the best on my stomach, but it's not the the most comfortable sleep position. I enjoy it the best though because of the fear that I'll wake up in a gasp for air, flailing my limbs and waking me up.
This means I wake up a ton of times during the night and sleep very uncomfortably and therefore need to sleep way longer and am ALWAYS tired.
I recently learned that the gasping is a symptom of Sleep Apnea. That is scary because Sleep Apnea can be fatal if it's not treated by putting a big machine on your mouth every night, and I can't sleep with that.
This has in the past ruined school for me, jobs, relationships, and every day life because it has taken me over so much.
So how well do you all sleep?
ID:27885
 Feb 28 2007, 12:48 pm (Edited on Mar 1 2007, 1:21 am)
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On the bright side I think of a lot of really cool game ideas and every once in awhile I'll become aware of when I'm actually dreaming and play superman. =) Yeah, when I think of a cool idea while in bed I won't sleep for the rest of the night. | |
Have you tried anti-anxiety medications? I have a sleep/anxiety problem and I take a medicine called Klonopin which really helps.
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All that works for me really is Meletonin hormone. I haven't tried any prescription ones, though.
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It should help with the fears though.
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It's not a real fear that makes me anxious or anything, it's just a careful avoidance that protects me from that horrible gasping.
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I had a couple experiences like that when I was about 4 years old, except I was in a room full of alligators or being chased by the Candy Man... except it wasn't the Candy Man, it was Coolio, but whatever.
I myself have been having a hard time getting to sleep lately... I've been very anxious this entire year, I think it's just school-related. | |
I enjoy having my big fan on to generate noise while I sleep, but if it's blowing on me it makes me not have a good night sleep. Sometimes I have to though because the temperature isn't right without it.
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The only sleep problem I have is Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, but I think I've found a cure. A few hours ago, I started reading Assembly Language For Intel-Based Computers, and I was asleep in about 15 minutes. =)
I can't really link my DSPS to any incident, though I do still remember several of my nightmares from when I was little. I don't think those are the problems, in any case. | |
What about taking a benedril or other sleep aid?
Muscle Relaxers might help you as well, you just seem to have an overactive mind, I have those problems too. What I find that works is if you focus your mind on something that you'd love to dream about Example: I fell asleep once day-dreaming about banging Alyssa Milano (Early Charmed, long hair)not quite sure why that worked but if you get into that mind set you relax and drift off quicker. My girlfriend has sleep apnea and it isn't really that big of a deal in most cases, what you have sounds more like a mix of an overactive mind and some sort of panic attack. Instead of thinking about certain things or trying not to think, take my advice and think of something enjoyable that won't get you extremely excited. (It's like comparing a romantic evening to a theme park) | |
You could take benadryl but you get used to it rather quickly and wont work on a regular basis for more than a month. If you really have serious problems sleeping see a doctor and try something to relaxe you before you sleep I really reccomend Klonopin, it has really helped me sleep I used to saty up to like 3 AM worrying and stuff and I couldn't get stuff out of my mind to relax. Now I can.
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In high school, I often had a hard time getting to sleep because I daydreamed so much I'd stay up just playing out my little scenarios. I still daydream, but now I don't have any trouble getting to sleep. Now it's much harder to stay awake, especially if I'm in a small warm dimly-lit room (i.e., most meetings at work).
Going to sleep isn't hard, but getting quality sleep can be tricky -- my dad has sleep apnea and I probably have at least a mild case of it myself. I never realized it until I was recently informed I stopped breathing several times during a given night. I've found that some fairly inexpensive "Breathe-Right" strips help me sleep much better (they open the nasal passages wider). I (and my dad) also owe you for tipping me off to melatonin. That stuff really does the trick for both of us. I have heard good things about the Klonopin Dark Wizard mentioned, though not as a sleep aid but as a preventative for panic attacks -- but if mental strife is the underlying cause of the lack of sleep, I can see how it might help. Here's the post where I learned about Klonopin: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/059250.php Anyway, best of luck to you, Kunark! | |
My girlfriend has sleep apnea and it isn't really that big of a deal in most cases, what you have sounds more like a mix of an overactive mind and some sort of panic attack. Instead of thinking about certain things or trying not to think, take my advice and think of something enjoyable that won't get you extremely excited. (It's like comparing a romantic evening to a theme park) I'm fairly positive that I stop breathing because I've actually caught it in the act a few times before it happens. Sometimes as I'm trying to fall asleep, I'll suddenly notice that my throat is so relaxed that my airways are blocked and I haven't taken a breath for a really long time, so I catch it before the panic and gasp for air. Also, the only times I'm actually able to notice it is when it happens in the middle of when I'm converting from slightly awake to asleep -- this is before any vivid dreams or anything occur, it's when I'm still a slight bit awake. A few years ago I learned that if I try to control what I'm thinking about at all when I'm trying to fall asleep, I won't be able to. So now I just let it go wild with whatever it wants and then I can fall asleep. I'll still look into it, just in case it is panic attacks, though. Thanks for the advice guys! Just an update, I'm starting to get more scared of my limbs falling asleep. I don't know why it's happening so often, last night I had an arm lose all feeling through the whole thing like 3 times, and it was really bad.... And one of the times I wasn't even sleeping on it, it was the top arm :( I sure hope getting a softer bed fixes that. | |
That's not that bad, happens to me all the time. I actually know a guy that would rather sleep on the floor than in a bed. He once fell asleep on kitchen tile floor. I forgot what it's called, but your body does something to make most of your body go numb so you don't end up jumping out of bed while you're dreaming. That may be what you're experiencing.
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I heard about that, but that's your whole body being paralyzed. When narcoleptics wake up in the middle of a dream, they can't move at all because their entire body is paralyzed.
What's happening to me is that I can move my arms and hands around just fine, but I can't feel anything with them until I've moved them around a lot to make the blood go back into them. I actually know a guy that would rather sleep on the floor than in a bed. It didn't hinder blood flow probably because he had to have been sleeping on his back or stomach. This happens when I sleep on my side I think because of all that pressure on my arm below my body, but it was a little disorienting to wake up and have it be the arm on the top for some reason. It was so bad that it woke me up 3 times last night and made me have to get feeling back into my dead arm before I fell back asleep. Everybody has it happen to them sometimes, but for me it's been every single night, multiple times a night. | |
Gughunter wrote:
I have heard good things about the Klonopin Dark Wizard mentioned, though not as a sleep aid but as a preventative for panic attacks -- but if mental strife is the underlying cause of the lack of sleep, I can see how it might help. I take it mainly for the anxiey and stuff which makes it more difficult to sleep. It's not meant for just sleep but it relaxes you to the point where you can sleep in 5 minutes. | |
Kunark wrote:
I heard about that, but that's your whole body being paralyzed. When narcoleptics wake up in the middle of a dream, they can't move at all because their entire body is paralyzed. I used to have dreams where I was paralyzed, I could barely move my body an inch, those were absolutely horrible. | |
I've always envied people who can fall asleep almost as soon as their head hits the pillow. I'd say on an average night, it takes me 15-30 minutes to fall asleep. It's not uncommon to take an hour or more, but that isn't really the norm.
A former coworker told me he used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep until he took up meditation and yoga. The point of both of these (I think yoga is just meditation plus stretching and stuff) is to completely clear your mind of all thoughts. The state of enlightenment which is sought through meditation is when your mind is completely clear. In medical terms, it really just means that the conscious part of your mind has disconnected itself from the part that monitors the senses, and therefore provides your connection to the outside world. This state of mind is apparently similar to sleeping since you're basically ignoring your senses. So it makes sense that practicing this could help with falling asleep. My coworker said he now falls asleep within 5-10 seconds of hitting the pillow. I haven't tried it (achieving that level of meditation takes a lot of patience), but I've always meant to, just out of curiosity. I'd love to have more control over entering sleep by turning off my mind. Then again, maybe it's just a bunch of New Age hoo-hah. | |
If I try to sleep, it takes ~5 mins. If I casually go to sleep, it's ~15.
The part about sleeping sideways.. Lol... It's freaky as hell when you wake up and you grab your numb arm because you can't feel it from within the arm, making it feel foreign. | |
Try going out for a jog every morning. Buy a fan or something, the white noise really helps. Also, don't just turn off the lights and go to bed, you need to spend awhile winding down or else you'll just flip around in the bed trying to get comfortable.