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diamond

Legendary member
Joined
Sep 18, 2015
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1,548
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
01/2008
Country
UK
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anywhere
SO it's nearly 6am UK time and I haven't closed by eyes all night and the pain and fidgets are driving me mad.

I'm sooo tired but my brain wont slow down to let me sleep...just taken extra sleeping meds and a dose of pain medication too hoping it will do something.

No idea why im writing this on the forum....I've been using my lap top all night to kill the time and popped in here to see who's around....lol no one!

USA is asleep and UK still in bed! :-(

What do you all do to pass nights like this :?:
 
Oh no.. don't get me started with sleeping problem, especially while super tired drifting off then it often kept yanking me right back up awake again and again . I ended up spending most night watching old tv show online till the crack of dawned.

. What usually best to put me to sleep is a few raw brazil nuts . It sounds odd but it works if you would like to give it a try. If there's no other pains interfere it usually capable to allowing me to sleep when you needed most. Like when you feel dead tired and your brain still going,

Another trick I use is something warm like low hear heating pad on my pillow ( with auto shut off) Or a microwavable seed grain pillow . Warming the back of my neck and head. It claim and relax the nerves spot that keep me alert .

But if all that still not working ( mainly because of other pains kept me awake). Then more tv shows online , I must have watch a years worth of tv shows in each day/night that I'm awake , 30 years worth of tv shows in a single month OMG . Sometime I even watch a bunch of cartoons. I love watching cartoons cause it doesn't interfering with my ptsd. I even watch 2 things at the same time. TV in the background. Just to let my brain get tired enough.
 
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The nights.....the awful nights.

I either manage to fall asleep (thanks to sleep meds!) and have horrible vivid nightmares I can't shake off for days.
OR
I will stay awake almost all night, burning up in pain, this complete discomfort in every single part of my body (how the hell can one's earlobe hurt?!? Every little bit hurts, I dont get how/why), restless, mind on overdrive

To avoid scenario 2, I have started taking some lorezapam. Not every night, because I don't want to get too used to it.

And so far it seems to work. Did you take a similar sleeping aid and did it help?

One thing I try not to do is actually turn on my laptop. I try to stay away from the white light at night as much as possible. I use my phone for reading books, but the background is black so it is not as tiring for my eyes/brain.

I also try to go to another room (living room), turn on the radio/online music streaming websites, listen to light/slow music from my youth; this often helps me with my negative thoughts (I can go back to those naive good years in my mind!!!) I'll maybe drink some water (cup of herbal tea if I am alone in the house), eat a banana/piece of bread (something simple). I also have a huge pile of gossip mags (I know I know, shame on me!) that I just look at the pictures of (LOL), I'll maybe do some basic puzzles as well. Anything 'light' to distract my brain. And wait wait wait.....

I hope these sleepless nights come to an end soon. It ruins everything doesn't it? You end up feeling crappier than you already were feeling once you are awake at whatever time that might be. Then dread the next night.... fibro hell.
 
I wonder why our brains keep us awake sometimes? Yes, pain keeps anyone awake but when you can't even trust your own brain to sleep when you tell it to there's something amiss!

When that happens I have a little check list. First and foremost .... is the room darkened so my body's melatonin kicks in? Then...have I got pain severe enough to keep me from getting comfortable even with pillows, cushions, wedges and hot packs? Did I eat anything with sugar? (That always makes me fidgety). Am I hungry...do I need a wee etc. etc.

If all of these issues have been considered and dealt with if possible, I go to 'counting my blessings' so to speak. "I'm so warm and cosy in my bed....aren't I lucky to have a bed.....I love my pillow.....I'm so lucky to have such soft beautiful sheets....Zzzzzzzzzzz".

Well it sometimes works!
 
Talk about sleep enviroment.

Sometime dark room is suddenly felt too dark for no reason then it kept me awake I had to get night light at the right angle . Then the temperature suddenly felt wrong too hot too cold, too lound , too quiet, too annoying , clothing suddenly became uncomfortable too tight too loose ( there goes me waking up rumbling through the drawers and closets) . Or the sheet not feels right for some unknown reason even if it's perfect in everyway, then the positions of the pillow ... ah the pillows yes it's very comfortable but why didn't it feels comfortable?. :confused:

I think at some point I was scare of going to sleep while feeling wanting to sleep so bad at the same time, knowing that I'll be plaque with crazy dream or when I finally crash after a few days of no sleep it still not going to feel like I did or worst after I wake up. Maybe the thought of waking up to hell every single time kept me from sleeping? :shock:
 
If all of these issues have been considered and dealt with if possible, I go to 'counting my blessings' so to speak. "I'm so warm and cosy in my bed....aren't I lucky to have a bed.....I love my pillow.....I'm so lucky to have such soft beautiful sheets....Zzzzzzzzzzz".

I have something similar I do - inspired by the book Life of Pi. In that book, he has to sleep on a tree on a mysterious island and these meerkats keep him warm, they sleep all around him. (I love meerkats, but have never known one LOL!)

So I imagine my animal friends (cats and dogs) in bed with me. I will mentally place them one by one around me, trying to feel their warmth, imagining their lovely faces, their personalities, their purring, their love and my love for them. This is a trick I've been using from the first time I read the book (since 2001!) and it still seems to work most of the time.
 
That's beautiful, Vicky!
I'm going to try that. x
 
Ah Vicky .. you brought back good memories.

I wish I can sleep with my cat again even when he seem to like to walk on top of my legs back and forward till he find his way to my arms and kneeling me to sleep . Sometime he like to suck on my shirt ( there's always a few wet patch ) . One time I waking up with his whole body hugging my face . I miss him so much! :cry: My sweet baby Sammy Davis JR.

The place I'm living at the moment has a 17 years old puggle . She also love sleeping in the bed with me , but she snored like a truck. Too cute to wake her up so I ended up wearing ear plugs instead. What can I say ... I just love animals.
 
Thanks for all your replies...pain mostly keeps me awake and im not thinking anything in particular its more like my mind and body are running a marathon yet i don't have the strength to get up to distract myself.

Funny old fibro bodies we live in...lol Im going to imagine all your faces willing me to sleep rather than animals..teehee watch out as i will have to use what i know from your posts and personalities and conjure up images..haha that should keep me occupied! :)

HI Vicky i do take diazepam and it is similar to lorazepam....infact its longer lasting version and i too try not to take it every night because of tolerance building but even if i double the dose sometimes Im still awake all night.

Funny we do all try similar things....Tipnetee i will try the brazil nuts maybe they will be the magic bullet i need!
 
LOL Diamond. I just imagining you imagining our faces! you know what, that's actually might works I think it's a great idea! :lol:

Cause even I use the image of you everytime I get panic attack , and still remember your replied that said to me on my other post when I first lost my voice completely you said "Don't panic!" :razz: It works almost every single time now! And I still have you to thanks for that everyday.
 
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