Many years ago, when I was about 16 years old, I went to the doctor for my sleeping disorders. The doctor had me do a sleep study to see why I was always so tired, regardless of how much I slept. I had difficulties falling asleep at night, staying awake during the day, and any sleep I did get did not seem to put a dent in my sleep deprivation. They discovered that for whatever reason once I went into REM sleep, I was kicked out within about 30 seconds and my sleep cycle was reset. No signs of sleep apnea or anything related. The doctors then had me try all sorts of remedies from changing my habits before bed and taking melatonin to listening to binaural beats while I slept. None of that worked so I was ultimately prescribed Trazodone for sleep and Vyvanse to keep me awake and productive during the day. Now, I've found myself completely dependent on the two. Without the Trazodone I am unable to sleep at all, and without Vyvanse I'm irritable, depressed, and unproductive. The issue is incredibly detrimental to my psychical and emotional health when I can't get my prescription filled in the 24 hour window I have for the Vyvanse when the prescription becomes valid, as it is a controlled medication. My intensity of the side effects for both are increasing rapidly and my tolerance is growing. I've tried alternative medications and found the side effects are even more frightening, and I'm starting to feel rather hopeless. I don't want to rely on these things any longer to be a borderline-functional member of society... and I know I can't be alone in this. Does anyone have any of their own experiences with this that they could share?
I also experienced insomnia before and I always feel tired no matter how many hours I would sleep. I know that it will not be a good thing for a long run so I tried changing my habit of staying awake too late and waking up too late. What I did that helped me is that I go to bed too early even I am not sleepy and for the first month or so, I am awake lying and just closed eyes. Then I will get up early even I do not have enough sleep and will eat healthy foods as much as possible (avoiding junk foods and sugary foods). As I repeat that scenario, I just find myself feeling sleepy before midnight and then I could wake up at 8am or 9am. Which is already a big difference because before, I could find myself sleeping at around 4 or 5 am and will wake up almost 11 am. I think that my body clock becomes normal again although it took time before it happens. Not sure if this approach will also work for some but it did for me.
I have also experienced insomnia in the past as everyone else is wont to do. I took advantage of the situation to either browse, read or perform tasks I have always postponed. Medications should be used as a last resort because of their addictive nature. One effective strategy is to adjust your sleep cycle. Sleep at a specific time and do the same when waking up. Engaging in physical activity is also fine as one sleeps better when tired.
@Ishimo... If you want to get off of those meds, talk to your doctor about it. He/she can help you stop using them in the safest way, which will probably involve weaning off of them. I took Klonopin for anxiety for a number of years and started to feel like a zombie. I told my psychiatrist about it and was able to gradually lower my dosage until I was off of it completely. I wish you good luck. We're here to help and support you however we can.
I think based on all what you @Ishimo have stated, the problem has not be tackled. The problem is tackled if after a period of time, the prescription drugs helped and then when taken off them, you can sleep without them but it sounds more chronic than that. I would suggest you visit another doctor to compare test results. Who knows? You may need surgery to correct the problem rather than relying on drugs that do not seem to be curing but causing addiction.
The binaural beats do help a lot. I used to listen to these all the time. I think they have some that are meant to help you sleep. I know that eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking water helps me sleep better. You should try the alkaline diet I heard this helps with insomnia.
Goodness gracious, I think out of everything in life, sleep has to be one of those super-elusive things that tons of us just can't get. I think money is up there too, but that's another story, lol! I wrestled through some sleep issues and had a few doctors try every drug under the sun. Oh they'd get me to sleep, but like @Ishimo said, these medicines can seriously mess you up. One such medicine, prescribed to treat my depression, did some damage to God only knows what body part and now I am pre-diabetic. I stopped the medicine altogether and tried other things. Gosh I must've tried like a whole book's worth of tricks. Thankfully I've reached a point where I can sorta sleep without medicine, but it still isn't perfect and I have plenty of rough nights. It's better than playing with fire, in my opinion. Sometimes doctors toss us medicine without warning us of all the dangers. I guess they're just trying their best too, so how can I be mad at them?
@lisa A few years ago, I was addicted to drugs such as xanax and tramadol but now I am not taking this medicine