Not able to sleep for nearly 2 weeks all of a sudden
Hi, I am new to this group. On 9/23, I went to urgent care because I felt imbalance while walking on 9/22. And then I was told my EKG showed some abnormality. I've been panicking because I had a heart surgery 10 years agao when I was 30. I waited for my doctor to email back and those nights, I had a hard time sleeping. I thought it was on temporarily, but it's been 12 days and I can't believe I still can't sleep, not even a second nor did I able to nap. I feel more energetic than ever. As day goes by, I feel totally stressed that I really want to cry at night. I now know how people get anxiety and lead to depression. On the 4th night when I couldn't sleep, my doctor prescribed me doxepin and it worked well. It gave me 6 hours of sleep and 2 hours of nap. The next day, I was yawning and I was confidence that I could sleep, but I was wrong. I then tried doxepin for 4 more days and didn't work at all. I am completely frustrated. I went to Chinese herbist for herbal medicine and at the same time my doctor asked me to try Ambien 5mg. I went with herbal medicine tonight. I've been yawning and thought it was a good sign. The whole night was tossing and now up looking for a forum. I was wondering if anyone has tried Ambien 5mg. How did it work for you? I always want to heal naturally, but I need ot gain back some sleep time in order to stay healthy. Please share with me your experiences and what worked for you?
Hi
. Ambian can come with some very serious side effects, so you are wise to try other methods first, especially since you have not been suffering insomnia long and you are aware of the incident that might have triggered it. There are several ways you can tackle stress-induced insomnia, if that is what's going on. One is a medication or supplement help you "reset," like Doxepin, Ambian, antihistamines or melatonin. Another is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Insomnia or CBTI. CBTI might take longer to become effective since you need to make an appointment with a therapist and then establish new routines, but it is the most commonly effective treatment and the frontline treatment for insomnia. It can be especially helpful in situations like yours. Here is an article about insomnia treatment that might help: https://insomnia.sleep-disorders.net/treatment. Here is a more specific article about CBTI: https://insomnia.sleep-disorders.net/cbt. Finally, here is an article about complementary and alternative treatments: https://insomnia.sleep-disorders.net/home-remedies. If you can find an alternative treatment that helps while also undergoing CBTI, you might discover that is the best way to overcome insomnia for good. If you don't mind me asking, did your doctor ever discover the cause of your imbalance? I hope this helps and that you can get some good quality sleep. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member) Doctor suspected I have cardiac issue. So they are going that route and they think it’s anxiety that I am not able to sleep. Ten years ago, I had an opened heart surgery. The insomnia happened when I started feeling imbalance and then told I might have some cardiac issues. But the hospital has no appointment for me for an echocardiogram until 10/21. I’ve been worried and constantly feeling that my health has gotten worsened and my heart is experiencing more and more pain from day to day. My diaphragm feels very tight and makes me nauseous. Really unsure if it’s health issue or anxiety that’s causing insomnia. It just happened all of a sudden and difficult for me to accept. I am afraid not able to fall asleep without the the sleep pill. Doctor only prescribed me 15 days of supplies. I am thinking about not taking it on Friday night when I don’t have to work. Do you know if it’s difficult to stop using it and be able to fall asleep. Usually after I woke up, it took me a long time to fall asleep and sometimes I felt like I didn’t sleep, but then I had dreams. So does this mean the medication still kicked in or did I fall asleep naturally? I forgot how it feels to sleep naturally. 🙁 And thank you for your suggestions. I will address that to my doctor. But the problem is she’s the one making me worried since she never respond to my emails. Hi
. You can take Ambian "as needed," according to the company's drug information. So that might be a good idea. Sleep medication of any kind can make you experience differences in your sleep cycles from normal sleep. So you probably did sleep, but with changes in your cycles. Do you have a FitBit or any other type of device that can monitor your sleep? They are not entirely accurate when it comes to type of sleep, but they can at least tell you whether you slept or for how long. Mostly likely, nothing but a cardiac workup is going to relieve your stress over your health issues, so you just have to find ways to get through these next nine days. I also have trouble harnessing stressful thoughts at night. I find it helpful to concentrate on counting backward from 200 or 100. It prevents me from thinking about anything else, though I do admit I get distracted and often have to refocus and start over. Please know that your fears are legitimate and that if you ever experience a change in symptoms that scares you, you are right to go to the ER. When you get there, let them know you are awaiiting a cardiac workup due to previous systems. That will ensure that they run some tests before sending you home. Sending lots and lots of gentle hugs your way. - Lori (Team Member)
