Reddmax

Some advice needed. How do you all go to sleep after dealing with the stress of an A spouse?

cem001

Melatonin 5mg SR if you can find it. It's a natural sleep herb that you can get at any drug store, Wal-Mart, Walgreens.

I love it, it does not leave me hung over the next day.

My pharmicist even said it's safe for when my kids are in their "mode" of not being able to sleep.

Pick-a-name

At a certain point it became so exhausting mentally and emotionally that I had no trouble. Of course,I had to move to another room. The snoring,smell,thrashing,and eventually hitting and yelling in his sleep got too much. (Also our son had heart surgery and I was up a lot with him and slept nearer his room those nights.)

Barbara52

I suffer from periodic insomnia so I have a prescription for sleeping pills. I found that all the herbals and OTC stuff didn't work for me.

Sometime doing conscious relaxation exercises can help.

Sweetiepie1

I read in bed to try to take my mind off things. It doesn't always work but is natural, free and depending on the content sometimes productive.

cem001

What B52 said, it's all in the way you prepare for sleep. If you are in a relaxed state of mind, sleep will come a lot easier to you.

I have done the Tylenol PM and that just made me hung over. As a ritual, I take a relaxing bath and read for about 30 minutes to put my brain in another "fantasy" world.

dunerkat

i have a scrip for sleeping pills. i've noticed that since i left my home last week they just aren't as effective. i think i've been so overwhelmed with emotion that i just can't shut down at night.

i also realize i have to stop drinking so much caffeine. i think that is also contributing to it. it is very hard to make yourself go sleep when your emotional state is fired up. it all takes a toll on us physically and emotionally.

Barbara52

See if you can get a scrip for a different one. I find that I have to switch between brands/types now and then.

isitme

I usually either read or go to another room. Sometimes both! I've tried a couple of different kinds of OTC sleeping pills but none of them seem to make me fall asleep fast as much as stay asleep to long. Usually I just have to MAKE myself shut off the consious string of thoughs and focus on something else or focus on sleeping. I also tend to sleep much better when I'm taking anit-depressants. (Not that you should go for those if your not depressed) but my mind doesn't race when I'm on them.

LaTeeDa

I used to have terrible insomnia when I was living with AH. It instantly went away when he moved out. So did the constant knot in the pit of my stomach.

I know that doesn't help you sleep in your current situation, but if you have to take drugs just to deal with the stress of living with someone, shouldn't that tell you something?

L

GiveLove

Yeah, another one of those vicious cycles....I couldn't sleep from the stress, and then the lack of sleep made me a looney so I got more stressed... Crazy days. Like LTD, it went away when I started to get things more in hand.

There's a great forum on insomnia on SR. Here's my two cents on strategies for catching some zzzzzs:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-insomnia.html

Mostly, though, ratcheting back the stress is the best thing that helps me.

Pick-a-name

I've also found that since I have forced myself to do some regular exercise a few times a week,it has helped my sleep and depression.

My son's doctor suggested Benadryl for extreme cases (the PM part added to Tylenol PM) so I do sometimes take just a bit of the kids' liquid Benadryl rarely to help when reading,hot bath,etc. don't work. If I can not sleep within about 15 minutes,I usually get up and come here,wash the dishes,etc. and then go back and try again.

I know that I used to have more of a schedule,and that helped;even though I am not really one for that. For years we went up to bed at 11p,and my body was in a routine. (then we had kids,etc.haha)


Good luck!

earplugs are good,too!

starflier

For me, it's been a combination of moving to another room, ear plugs, sleep mask, and about once every ten days, when I really need to catch up, a couple of OTC sleeping pills. Fortunately, I am able to mostly turn everything off when my head hits the pillow.

hope2bhappy

I would take half an Ambien and wear earplugs. I used to ask my AH, "Why is it you're the one who drinks, but I'm the one who wakes up with the hangover?" Luckily, I don't have this problem anymore.

ZombieWife

I could never sleep unless I had resolution. I had to go through many sleepless nights before I realized that sleeping on it might be a good thing. Take a deep breath. Turn on some soft music. Read a book. Try to make sleep happen. Relax. Be at peace.

Kindeyes

Luckily I'm sleeping much better these days. I ran off of 2 - 4 hours of sleep for years worrying about my A son. Occasionally I'll have a night that I can't seem to get to sleep (I also have restless leg syndrome so that can cause some very restless nights). I found some OTC sleeping pills at Costco (so of course there are three million of them--they will probably last me 20 years!). I cut them into two pieces because a whole one just seems too much. It puts me to sleep nicely and I don't feel groggy when I wake up the next morning.

prodigal

I tried Ambien. It didn't work at all. I tried Lunesta. It didn't work at all. For some reason, sleeping pills just don't work the way they are supposed to for me. This posed a serious dilemma because I was chronically fatigued and dragging myself through the day with a bad case of "brain fog."

I moved to the other side of the house. Took the smaller room, smaller closet, smaller bathroom. But I got a HUGE sense of peace, rest, and relaxation.

I still have occasional bouts of insomnia, but nowadays my sleeplessness is due to my own issues; not my AH's.

bookwyrm

I use lavender oil on my pillow to help me sleep. I was surprised at the difference it made! I have an under pillow speaker (I have tinnitus) and play a woodland sounds CD when I'm having trouble getting to sleep. My main sleeping problem is staying asleep - I'm waking up 3-4 times a night - not fun!

reader

I take a sleep med not due to stress from H but due to a health problem and i love my white sound machine. I even take it when I travel...