Depression Is Leaving Me Unable To Sleep

[Starman]

I'm finding it hard to sleep which makes me more tired and then makes it even harder to sleep.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

[Roses]

Routine is very helpful as is Nytol. Or if it's worse than that go to your doc and ask about sleeping tablets xxx

[buryifromsun]

If I've got 23875229 thoughts going through my head which are stopping me from sleeping I get up, write them all down (I dont care if they're illegible or badly worded... first things that come in my head get written down).

When thats done I try to sleep again, usually I've exhausted myself.

Hope this helps xx

[donnam]

i was told by my t to not watch tele/ or comp games etc in bed, and if not asleep in 20 mins, get out of bed, and go it another room and only get back into bed when u can hardly keep eyes open. and repeat if not asleep in 20 min again

[hummm_mabbe]

Hi there

Theres already been some good advice up there, so add them all to your sleep toolbox Its a frustrating truth that when a person becomes depressed or chronically anxious, the first thing to go out of the window is your sleep pattern. Stress hormones and the worries that constantly circulate disrupt sleeping patterns, and in the mornings your body produces far more of a stress hormone called cortisol, a hormone it anticipates it will need to handle the stressful (due to depression) day ahead.

You can't 'cure' the sleep issues until you treat the depression or anxiety, but you can manage it in a number of ways. Here are some I have found helpful.

1) Melatonin tablets. Melatonin is the 'sleep hormone', and one of the ones that becomes disrputed in depression. I take 4-6 mg of extended release meltaonin and this reliably helps me off to sleep in the evening, where before I had something like 40 mins to an hours worth of insomnia. The good thing about melatonin is there is no 'poop out' (where the drug stops working with time) like with sleep meds.

2) Meditation and learning to 'place' your focus. Thoughts tend to rattle round your head, and the body reacts to those worrying thoughts with - you've guessed it - more stress hormones. Then you notice this, realise it will stop you sleeping and - you get more stressed! Its a reinforcing loop. If you learn to meditate and place your focus on your breath, keeping bringing the focus back every time your attention wanders into thought, I find that I can fall back to sleep if I have awoken during the night much more quickly. Look up "concentration meditation" online. Pay particular attention to learning how to accept and let go of whatever it is you have begun thinking about.

3) Slow deep breathing from the diaphragm. Many people with anxiety and depression tend to breathe in a 'shallow' way, from the chest. This leads to a poor balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, which increases anxiety (ever notice how all this stuff feeds off itself?). If you're waking in the early morning with your heart pounding, try "diaphragmatic breathing". At first this may make you feel a little dizzy, but after about a minute you will feel far more relaxed and probably find it easier to fall back to sleep.

4) If you really cannot get back to sleep, give it 20-30 minutes of laying there and get out of bed. If you're going to have insomnia, its best to have it somewhere other than bed, because then you begin to associate bed with stress. The moment your head hits the pillow, you feel irritable, making it harder to fall asleep. Another cycle! I leave the light off, and go and sit in a chair in the dark for a few minutes. This seems to work like a 'reset'.

5) Be aware of any thoughts like "Im not going to sleep! Im going to feel awful tomorrow! I must get back to sleep! Why arent I falling asleep!". Whilst its tough to stop them, try to be aware of and just accept them, rather than letting them carry you along and beome engaged with them. The annoying truth is that the more you TRY to fall asleep, the less you can. When using the above methods, focus on the method as opposed to whether its actually working. Be aware of any background 'felt sense' of frustration if your efforts are failing.

6) Body scan or body sweep meditations. Look them up online - they really help to fully relax the muscles of the body. Tension you are holding without being aware makes you feel more on edge and uncomfortable.

Hopefully with all those relaxation strategies, and some sort of pharmaceutical help, you should be able to get off to sleep more quickly and fall back to sleep if you wake up. Its a lot to take in, but all well worth the effort to apply.

Good luck

Ross

[buryifromsun]

"Stress hormones and the worries that constantly circulate disrupt sleeping patterns, and in the mornings your body produces far more of a stress hormone called cortisol, a hormone it anticipates it will need to handle the stressful (due to depression) day ahead."

That explains the horrid anxious feeling I get every morning!

Sound advice, as always Ross xx

[hummm_mabbe]

"Stress hormones and the worries that constantly circulate disrupt sleeping patterns, and in the mornings your body produces far more of a stress hormone called cortisol, a hormone it anticipates it will need to handle the stressful (due to depression) day ahead."

That explains the horrid anxious feeling I get every morning!

Sound advice, as always Ross xx

Oo glad was helpie

I get that morning anxiety thing really badly too. This morning, the slow deep breathing SMASHED it out of the park, I was amazed. Literally all you do is breathe as deeply as you can, letting the belly to rise too and not just the chest. For some reason I breathe totally from the chest in the morning, almost half holding my breath. When you first start to breathe from the diaphragm, you go a bit dizzy for a mo, but then you carry on and feel all relaxey. Its nice, and I dropped right back off to sleep lol.

Another good thing to do in the morning is to use mindfulness meditation for the thoughts that automatically jump into your head. I find them really hard to stop, so I have to just accept them mindfully. Apparently the more you worry about the 'morning feeling' the worse it gets

All this stuff is a horrid vicious cycle innit.

Ross

[buryifromsun]

Ah yeah, I know. I try to not react to those things by acting on the feelings....

Just freaked out a bit as I had to have an injection in the dr's and I HATE injections! They really freak me out. I turned up last minute so I wouldnt have to wait but then I had to wait 20minutes.... gave me time to think about it and I was a bit freaked when I met with the nurse. Had to try and calm myself down and go through with it anyway... dont want to start making those bastarding associations!

I'm getting good at making the "YOURE NEVER GOING TO SLEEP!!" voice to shut up... hopefully I'll be able to make all the other badshit noises shut up too.

[angel tears]

ahh, good info, i am finding it sooo hard to sleep and have done on and off for years due to high anxiety, i call it "washing machine brain", the thoughts spin and spin . I have got quite anxious about going to bed because of how i am feeling and its annoying me. I cope better in the day once i am up but when night falls i instantly feel anxious now. Takes me til 5am to get to sleep by distracting myself on here or reading.

I tried to sit with my feelings last night, i thought ok why am i anxious?, i let myself feel it, tried to be aware of it and not frightened and i managed to fall asleep x

[Starman]

"1) Melatonin tablets. Melatonin is the 'sleep hormone', and one of the ones that becomes disrputed in depression. I take 4-6 mg of extended release meltaonin and this reliably helps me off to sleep in the evening, where before I had something like 40 mins to an hours worth of insomnia. The good thing about melatonin is there is no 'poop out' (where the drug stops working with time) like with sleep meds."

hummm_mabbe where would I get the melatonin from?

[hummm_mabbe]

"1) Melatonin tablets. Melatonin is the 'sleep hormone', and one of the ones that becomes disrputed in depression. I take 4-6 mg of extended release meltaonin and this reliably helps me off to sleep in the evening, where before I had something like 40 mins to an hours worth of insomnia. The good thing about melatonin is there is no 'poop out' (where the drug stops working with time) like with sleep meds."

hummm_mabbe where would I get the melatonin from?

You can buy it online as far as I know, however I get mine on prescription. Make sure you get hold of the extended release version as it needs to be in your system overnight

Ross

[Starman]

"1) Melatonin tablets. Melatonin is the 'sleep hormone', and one of the ones that becomes disrputed in depression. I take 4-6 mg of extended release meltaonin and this reliably helps me off to sleep in the evening, where before I had something like 40 mins to an hours worth of insomnia. The good thing about melatonin is there is no 'poop out' (where the drug stops working with time) like with sleep meds."

hummm_mabbe where would I get the melatonin from?

You can buy it online as far as I know, however I get mine on prescription. Make sure you get hold of the extended release version as it needs to be in your system overnight

Ross

I wouldn't have thought the doctor would prescribe it to me if I just ask for it???

[hummm_mabbe]

I dont know what would happen if you ask for it. TBH its not even classified as a drug - its a supplement that happens to be helpful in sleep problems. I actually had a sleep study done and ended up being prescribed it, from an NHS point of view it might be seen as a bit experimental, but it cant hurt to ask. Maybe say that you know someone who is taking it for similar problems and that it was prescribed for chronic insomnia. If not then Im afraid you may have to pay for it :(

[Starman]

I dont know what would happen if you ask for it. TBH its not even classified as a drug - its a supplement that happens to be helpful in sleep problems. I actually had a sleep study done and ended up being prescribed it, from an NHS point of view it might be seen as a bit experimental, but it cant hurt to ask. Maybe say that you know someone who is taking it for similar problems and that it was prescribed for chronic insomnia. If not then Im afraid you may have to pay for it

I was hoping for something this weekend, but will have to buy online, which will probably take a few working days So you were actually part of the sleep study?

[hummm_mabbe]

Oh it wasnt like a research thing, a sleep study is like a series of tests they give you to find out why your sleep is bad. They wire you up to all sorts of machines and things as a way to diagnose

I dont THINK you can buy melatonin in Holland and Barrett or GNC, but I may be wrong. If they sell it maybe you can pop into town?

If not, dont ignore the 'method' related things. They may sound gimmicky and no comparison to drugs, but that is far from the truth. I still use the meditation despite the melatonin, as it doesnt stop me from waking through the night. Getting back to sleep still requires the meditation, and in fact I still meditate to help me drop off in the first place. The enemy of sleep is racing thoughts and the feelings of anxiety in the body. Learn to handle these and you are laughing.

As with any mental health related thing, take and use everything you can - so if you cant get hold of the tablets this weekend, maybe spend the time learning how to do those things?

Ross

[Starman]

Ross, had a look but not able to see extended release Melatonin. Any suggestions?

[hummm_mabbe]

Ross, had a look but not able to see extended release Melatonin. Any suggestions?

http://www.biovea.net/(S(gnph1o4551odqf45cqd1gdyp))/category_dispatch.aspx?CID=7

[AmyP]

i think Ross should create his own section in the forum and anyone with questions can ask him, like an agony aunt haha

[hummm_mabbe]

I charge in cadburys giant choccie buttons :)

[Starman]

I'll give you an I O U for chocolate. :)

[hummm_mabbe]

interest accrues in the form of sprinkles / hundreds and thousands choccie cake topping things

[loyaltyjoe]

Exercise!

Join a martial arts club, or take up cycling or running or whatever.

This will help clear the system of toxins through sweating, tire you out, build you up and give you a sense of achievement each time you reach a target.

Exercise is the best cure for many non-clinical mental health issues.

[Starman]

Started using the Melatonin, so far so good. Also started using Inosotil, for a few weeks. :rolleyes:

[hummm_mabbe]

Oh goodie! Happy snoozings :)