I have been having probelms sleeping too lately, not sure where you live, but could it be the heat?

Sometimes I get a cool clothe and put it on the back on my neck and it helps.

Hopefully this week will be better. Last week was a very anxious one. I was trying to think about some big issues I could not grasp and I had a wedding to go to this weekend I was DREADING.

I made it ok, but did end up halfway through the reception reading in my G/Fs parent's room after things got really loud.

I hope this week brings sleep and calm to all of us!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

I am NOT sleeping well. I took 2 tylenol PMs last night hoping to nod off, but at 3AM I took an a half an ambian too. At 5 I finally fell asleep and at 630, woke up gagging...my hiatal hernia and acid reflux was flaring. I also worked hard yesterday in the garden so my muscles were sore.

My schedule is all off and I am going to have to fix it by staying up 24 hours and getting back into a normal sleep schedule...and laying off caffeine after 5PM. I bought green tea which is high in caffeine. And I have been off caffeine for weeks now...

Maybe there is something in the air, I am really achy and not sleeping too. UGH.

I stop caffeine usually at 2pm, if I have it later it can mess with my sleep too, especially iced tea for some strange reason.

I hope you sleep well tonight! Sleep makes everything better. :)

I never get to sleep before 4:30am. I get up around 12:30pm every day. Even if I get up way earlier, I am still wide awake all night. I force myself to go to bed by 4:00am, but if I didn't, I could be awake a lot longer. If I take my night time meds a lot earlier than 3 or 3:30am, I still am just as wide awake. My nighttime meds include 400mg of Trazodone, which is supposed to help me sleep.

On the bright side, I get a full 8 hours of sleep everyday. I suspect that my brain is wired to be up all night because the original traumatic event that started all this (fire broke out in my apartment and destroyed it) happened at 2am. Now my brain is on high alert all night. I don't know how to change that.

That totally makes sense, your body is likely on high alert all night t keep you safe. At least right now you get to sleep long enough to get 8 hours. Sleep is so important in the healing process.

LS makes some great suggestions! Lavendar does help, and it's not too girly and chamomile calm the stomach and the mind. Sometimes I ice down a pitcher and drink it as iced tea.

I hope as time passes maybe you can get to sleep a little earlier each night, but don't push yourself, it really has not been that long since the fire.

So sorry you are experiencing this!

I go through the exact same thing....no sleep. I finally got all my meds filled and I'm sleeping through the night. It took forever to find the right combination of meds. Good luck with this.

I take Melatonin too, I forgot about that. It does really help!

I was a premie and weighed one pound fourteenOz,I always have had a sleep problemwich is backwards to ppl who sleep nights,I usely sleep better in the day than at night.Hence most of my jobs have been grave yard nighters wich work very well for me.If im ging to sleep nights I either do a lot to burn of the excess energy then when I do go to bed I have learned to meditate my mind into a safe place to fall asleep..works most of the time.On the nights I have trouble sleepng I am on the puter till I get tired or go work out on the patio as hard as I dare..cazy but works for me.

The PTSD Basket for the Reunion--who's still in?
 

I can't make the reunion this year....(whining).
But the PTSD basket idea sounds like a winner to do!!
Hope all of you that are going have a safe and wonderful trip.

LOL The fire happened on December 1st 2007. That is kind of a while ago now. Different scents, things like that have never worked for me. The best thing I have is reading a book. Since I have lived with the bipolar diagnosis all my life, I have had sleep issues that long too. As a teenager I once went for 3 weeks without more than an hour or so each night and at the end of that I crashed into one of the worst depression episodes of my life. I am no stranger to sleep problems. What I have learned over the years is not to stress myself out over it. If I can't sleep then I can't sleep and worrying about it doesn't help. I just relax when I am in bed and read. I know that even if I am not sleeping, my body is resting and I will eventually fall asleep. Right now I am not working so it is easier to deal with, but I do feel like I miss a lot when I sleep through half the day. Oh well. I am kind of wondering if the T I started on in the beginning of May might be exacerbating my sleep problems. Thanks for your kind words apoc, and everyone else. :)

I finally fell asleep at a decent hour and was up at 9 AM! Now lets see if I can do this two days in a row.

Melatonin...I have a friend who tried using it but it gave her hallucinations. She saw things move in the patterns of the wallpaper. Has anyone else experienced this or something like it on melatonin?

Yes, when I took 7 mg I had nightmares. When I took 5mg, sometimes I had nightmares. It seems that 3mg is a good dose for me, I sleep well, have detailed vivid dreams and life is good. :)

A lot of my trauma happened over 40 years ago, so 2007 seems pretty recent in PTSD terms. :)

I have to work a shift where I have to get up and be to work at a certain time or I sleep all day too. It keeps me regular...My sleep I mean, that sounded funny! :)

Never, but I have on some medicines. Spiders sliding down their web lines onto my bed and crawling up my covers, I could even feel them and was frozen. But not on Melatonin.

I have always gone with 3mg too. Works great.

This is not an easy thing to live with in the sense that it affects almost every aspect of my life. It's changed me in ways that scare me, in ways that make me feel that I'll never get me back.

I've changed for the worse I believe; ways that I'm ashamed to admit.

On another topic, no...I'm not going to the reunion. Even if I could go, I wouldn't for no other reason than it's just not my thing. You'd generally find me sitting alone somewhere drinking and watching other people. I quit dancing years ago and I'm real quiet in person—mistaken for being aloof. It's just how I am. But for those of you who are going, I hope you have a great time.

We are planning to go to the reunion since it is really close and not in a major crazy city. Las Vegas is to. much for either of us. The sounds and lights walking through the casino alone were to much for me.

I will (as usual) likely spend quite a bit of time alone or with Cynthia, but when I can, I do want to visit with friends in a neutral setting.

I am thrilled that so many of the events are in the hotel so I can go up to the room when overwhelmed.

I love hotels and have always wanted to stay at a Peabody. :)

I did not sleepm last night, am hoping tonight will be better.

I ended up watching a minute by minute recreation for the 24 hrs after JFK's death which was very educational, took the dog out at 3am, then watched the news which did put me to sleep for a couple of hours.

Jet, remember every day can be a fresh new start!

You can say I work on ___________ just for today. It can be peace. It an be making a list of things that make you angry and eliminating some of them. It can be joy. But just for today, then it's not so overwhelming.

I will repeat myself.

Every day is a fresh new day, a fresh new start.

If you give up for a while, no big deal, just pick yourself up....just for today.

Another question is, did friend stop taking other medication to change to melatonin?

My hallucinations have been worst when stopping a medication.

My favorite sleep aid is Benadryl. My brother who takes several psycotrophic has taken in for extended periods of time for sleep to my knowledge there isn't a med is contraindicated to take with it. My mom who is a heart patient also take Benadryl to sleep. I don't take meds myself and I usually meditate to relax for sleep but...

When I couldn't sleep while visiting my mom, I took one and it worked! The best thing is there is no drogginess the next morning. I was hooked on Benadryl (figuratively). I have also taken Melatonin but it didn't work for me.

Today whats on my mind is my mutiple back surgerys that will come up before long,I dont like hospitals at all and the thought of giveing up so much of myself to have this done plus dealing with doctors that I often wnder if they have any feeling for what a paitent is going thrue.Then there is the recovery time to deal with,this really needs to be done but I still am uneasy about it.Why...well will it really help or will I be no better or godess forbid worse than before.Just how many my stress triggers will trip off.

Hello Me...Tks for the good advice,funny thing at my last dr.s pointment the clinic doc..not the neuro said back opps were a waist of time and often didnt work...u really dont want to hear that when they are talking about its u they r going to be working on.I have done some reserch on other things that can be done othescopicly (sp?) and am really hopeing one of them will work.

Rockin, I am so sorry you have to have surgery! Being in the hospital totally freaks me out to, so I completely understand and will be thinking about you.

apocaliptic...I spent a lot of my young years in and out of the hospital for onething or the other so I have a healthy respect and fear of them,I am hopeing this will work out so I can be out of or reduce the pain I have lived with in what seems like forever..justr eady for it to be over.

Hey guys. It has been a while but I wanted to check in.
It has been recommended to me that I try EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapy. I agreed to it because, well, anything is better than what I already deal with.
So, guys, please put me in your thoughts and prayers, and lets keep our fingers crossed. I will be sure to log on afterwards to let you know how the experience went and how I feel about it. Mostly to inform you all of what it intails.


(Worried as HELL by the way :worried: )

I have heard it works for some people. Nothing to fear though. I would like to know how it works for you, if you care to share. Blessings.

Well, today was definitally an experience. We started with developing a "safe place"...it's kinda like something I can go to when/if I start to freak out. I have a very gentle and understanding therapist.
Next week we are goin to make sure I am comfortable with my "safe places" and then begin the actual therapy itself.
I understand it entails keeping my eyes consistantly moving, focused on an object while recounting past experiences.
The goal is to allow myself to go through these experiences and process the emotions without dissasociating myself from the emotions involved and finally begin to process them in a safe manner. To allow the brain to process and deal without overloading myself.
I will update you all further next week about the experience and every week as I progress into it.
And as a side note...I am now getting 5-8 hours of sleep a night and have been haing minimal night terrors.
I did this by taking a better look at my diet and adjusting it. Also I've been running myself half to death during the day doing anything I can to keep busy. It seems to be doing the trick for me.
Good luck to everyone. Your always in my thoughts and not too far from my heart. I hope this info can be of good use to someone out there. And thanks for all the words of encouragement. I really needed it today.
Goodnight all and take care.

Hon you may not be hallucinating...you may be suffering from flashbacks.
Maybe have that looked into?
I thought i was hallucinating for years just to find out I was having flashbacks.
Just a suggestion, ok?

That's for sharing your experience. Happy to hear you're sleeping better. Hoping your session will pove helpful as well.