I can't sleep....I don't understand...
 

I am a recoverying Meth Addict. I have been sober since Oct. 10, 05. Although my days of sobriety are growing, my urges are lessening, for some reason my sleep is getting worse.

I absolutely dread going to bed lately. I lie there and I cant stop thinking, I cant seem to put my mind to ease. Its getting worse and its driving me mad. Any suggstions?

Welcome to SoberRecovery. Congrats on being clean since 10/10/05. That's awesome. As for the insomnia? Quite common in recovery. I know the feeling of laying in bed trying to sleep or even waking in the middle of the night and your mind starts racing. Working the steps really does help. Working the steps and learning to live life on lifes terms will help the anxiety that life can bring on. By working the steps of NA, I have learned to put my mind at ease. I sleep at night and wake well rested in the morning. Trust me, it wasnt always this way. Meditation and prayer helps. Besides working a program of recovery, I highly recommend seeing a doctor if it continues.

I was talking to my mom about my slowly increasing insomnia and told her the other people at treatment had to take Trazadone (I know thats not how you spell it!). I am concerned that if I take sleeping medicine that I will have to for the rest of my life (because I will rely on it to sleep, the same as I did w/ marijuana when I was coming down)

I dont know, its so confusing. I suppose meditation would work to my higher power...I never even got the big book when I went to treatment and I dont know where to get o ne?

Go to any meeting. AA or NA and you can pick up a Big Book or Basic Text. Or you can even order one on-line. But, with out meetings, a sponsor and actually working the steps, the book will not do much good. Just my opinion though.

Gosh, you remind me of myself.
I'm recoverying from meth also. 16 weeks tomorow, or today actually.

My insomnia is a beast. It is part of why I liked meth, insomnia does
so many unhealthy things. Besides drive ya crazy.

I've been laying in bed trying to sleep, and that's how I found your post.


I am prescribed medication to help me sleep. There's no chance of me
getting addicted to it because I hate being tired. If anything I have to force
it down.

But when I do take it, it's such a relief. I wish I would have taken it tonight.

There is a natural homeopathic thing you may want to read up or look into it's called "Calms", it helps a lot of people and it's non addicting.

Glad to see you here. See ya around on the boards soon.

DWI
:)

Congrats DWI (lol) on the 2 1/2 months, thats awesome! I completely understand what you mean! What is the sleeping medication that you are on? I have an appontment with a psychologist (lol I promise Im not too crazy) today and I can discuss it with her.

Time2Surrender makes a good point....

So many of the 12-step programs talk about the "Committee in my Head" that it must be common to many of us!

Mine runs on and on.... my step work IS helping. My sponsor had me join a workshop group of women from multiple recovery programs... we have AA, NA, Alanon, OA... I think we have a Debtor's Anonymous, too. But so much of STUFF runs across all programs.... pretty amazing.

And I thought I was so special. (grin)

(((Beautiful))) I hope you can get some help from your appointment today. And perhaps you can check around and see if anyone has a step study going in your area. I was especially pleased to find a "women only" group. I hope you can find some releif.

One of the things that helps my husband is books on tape. It helps override whatever is in his head and get to sleep.

no sleep
 

i have had bouts of insomnia too. mine was like this-i would sleep but only the physical body would be sleeping, my mind would be still running and ever so active and its really a crappy feeling because i wake up each morning feeling tired like i never slept for many days. i would look like a zombie.

Curing insomnia it's difficult. You could or exhaust yourself in daytime and at night you'll just fall asleep, or start reading something until your eyes close, or listen to music.
If you tried all this and still doesn't work, you should visit a specialist.
Good luck!

http://www.freehypnosistreatment.com...treatment.html

This website was helpful to me.........

Along the lines of books on tape..try an mp3 player and download some podcasts and/or music. WIth the little ear buds in I find it comfortable and doesn't annoy my wife...

Also...I take melatonin before bed seems to work for me

Not sleeping - try speaker cds
 

I am clean and sober 22 years through AA and NA (narcotics and valium mainly). I used alcohol and drugs for 30 years, and so when I stopped, my body had no idea how to "lie down and go to sleep". It is better, but I've never just fallen asleep and stayed asleep all night. It is one of the consequences of my years of using. And it is a daily reminder to me of my addiction.

What I do - and have done for 22 years! - is to go to sleep with speaker tapes (like you buy at conventions for NA or AA, or there are places on line - PM me and I'll tell you). I get ready for bed (having a routine helps - do the same thing every night for 21 nights to develop a habit - I used to drink a cup of Sleepy Time tea, take a warm bath, read something spiritual, same time every night) and then hit the tape recorder button and I am like Pavlov's dog and fall asleep within minutes. When I wake up - several times during the night - I flip the tape and hit the button again, and back to sleep.

I have a cd player and cds also - I'm just an old timer with more tapes.

I guess you could use music tapes also. But the speaker tapes keep feeding my brain recovery - and it over-rides the negative Committee in my head.

Love in recovery,
Jody

This is exactly my problem! It's so frustrating when you can't switch your mind off.
I have read and heard about herbal alternatives (like oral drops) to help you sleep and overcome a busy mind.

Most health stores stock thing's like that.

Have you tried using lavender oil? Apparently it helps if you put a couple of drops on your pillow before you go to sleep.
It smells great, but never helped me.

idea to help with insomnia
 

Hi and congrats to you. I certainly agree with working the steps as assistance in living a better life, including helping to relieve insomnia. I can throw in some of my suggesstions and take them what you like. when I first stopped abusing, I had the same difficulty and I still have some problems with sleep. what I use and sometimes will use with patients, is start with melatonin--play around with the dose--its not a drug but rather a hormone your body produces anyway which is involved in the sleep cycle--personally, i would try 3mg. you might also want to take L-Tryptophan but there are some poor quality products out there so buy from a reputable source--might want to try 500mg , one or two tablets. also, although the effects will be subtle at first, if you use it every day for a continued period of time, you may eventually get a feeling of stress relief by using a combination of lemon balm and L-theanine----look online or a good health food store would stock it, l-theanine is a component of green tea. Prefer not to use drugs, but sometimes will try desyrel ----its an extremely sedating antidepressant --not a very good antidepressant but it is great for sleep. otherwise and certainly with a lot of caution, you can look at using ambien, lunesta, sonata or rozerem. the last one, rozerem, being the least inoccuois(cant spell-sorry-ha)
since its really just a melatonin agonist. very safe and non addictive but unlikely to do much good if melatonin alone doesnt help your sleep/wake cycle. best of luck to you--i know how frustrating lack of sleep is and how it can ruin just about every aspect of your life.

I have heard good things about Melatonin. How much do you take?[/B]

Melatonin made me sleepy, but I woke up within 2 hours.
Benadryl keeps me awake and anxious.

I found Melatonin Plus by Schiff and it knocks me out.
It has 10mg B6, 25mg of L-Theanine, and 3mg of Melatonin.

There are several warnings on the label so talk to your doctor before taking any of the suggested over the counter medications.