Made it through the sleep clinic study

Not sure if I should post this here or in the sleep section, but it has a bit more to do than sleep so thought maybe here would be best (feel free to move it though if it doesn't belong here).

So, the other day I called the sleep clinic because my insomnia was getting really bad again, and it seems like I just can't sleep at night (except when I take heavy duty sleeping pills, and in most cases I often become immune to all of them very quickly)... I've always been a night person, even as a kid.. my anxiety is always so bad a night.. as soon as the sun sets, I become extremely anxious and can't sleep. I don't know if it's really insomnia or just that I have my days and nights mixed up, but even when I do finally fall asleep during the day, it is all broken up and I don't sleep for long. I finally called the sleep clinic and went for an over night sleep study last night. The previous night, my anxiety was so bad, that I only slept about 45 minutes. (And it was broken up).. so I was VERY out of it yesterday... somehow managed my shift at work, came home, took a two hour nap because I felt like I was going to pass out from lack of sleep.. still felt tired after I woke up, but forced myself to stay awake so I could sleep at the sleep clinic. I ended up having to take two gravols to help me sleep, but I did manage to get a few hours of sleep, although I woke up about 4 or 5 times throughout the night. I will know my results when I go back for my follow up appointment on April 21st.

Here's my question.. is it possible for someone to be.. nocturnal and just not able to sleep at night? If I'm immune to every sleeping pill I've tried, will there ever be any sleeping pill that will work? Even when I force myself to stay up all day, I still can't sleep at night.. is this all from just being such an anxious person all my life, with my anxiety being high at night? Could this be also caused from my temperal lobe epilepsy and maybe I'm just not on the right seizure meds yet? (I've heard before that that type of epilepsy can cause insomnia).. Even when I'm really tired and sleep deprived, it still takes me at least 2 hours or more to fall asleep. Yet when I wake up, (press snooze on the alarm clock), I instantly fall back into a deep sleep and start dreaming again.. I thought as one starts to wake up, they are well past the dream phase.. so why am I dreaming when I wake up and can easily fall back into my dream right away after pressing snooze (which only gives you 10 minutes to sleep), yet I instantly fall back into my dream in those last ten minutes. I'm always so tired and exhausted all the time.. I feel like I need a sleeping pill to help me sleep at night, but then some sort of caffeine pill to keep me awake during the day. The odd time that I actually do get more than 6 or 7 hours of sleep, I still never feel rested.. ever. I'm always so out of it, and never awake in the morning... even if I have gone to bed early. And when I do sleep, I have nightmares. Almost every single night, I wake up screaming or am very jumpy because I have freaky night terrors.

Anyone have any advice or know what could be causing all this? My guess is anxiety, but even when I was taking anti anxiety pills (benzos), it still didn't work, and I ended up getting addicted to them, as I was so desperate for sleep, that my doctor won't give them to me anymore. I even took 25mg of valium once when I went for my MRI, and still could not sleep.. was not even remotely tired (although it did cause me to hallucinate!)...

I will be going back to school in September, and classes start at 8am, which means I will need to sleep regularly at night if I want to be able to make it to class.. I'm worried that my sleep will interfere with my school and I'll never break this vicious cycle

I hope I at least stayed asleep long enough last night at the sleep clinic for them to get some results!

You have about a month for the results. You sounded like me before Seroquel was given to me for sleep. It is still working but I still can't wake up to a very loud alarm clock across the room. I would get up still asleep and turn it off. It is rare for me to be up before 9 am. Sounds like you are still in a sleep state when you hit the snooze button. My deepest sleep states are early in the morning. Maybe you can work with a therapist to get to the root of the night time anxiety and fix the problem instead of putting a bandage on the symtoms.

Okay, if you need to eventually get up for class- I saw this on a documentary:

If you go to be at 6 a.m........push yourself to go to bed at 8 a.m. the next night........10 a.m. the next..............12 noon the next......... 2 p.m. the next............ 4 p.m. the next.............6 p.m. the next.......... until your back at about 8pm or 9pm fall asleep time!!

The documentary said this WORKS!! I do not remember if you are supposed to stay at each sleep time a few days, or more......but this is something I remember hearing- good luck- keep us posted!!!

I used to have your problem and when I went on abilify I was able to wake up early, along with a work schedule change..my friend who is also on abilify began to wake up earlier also!!!

So that is an added thought I just remembered...good luck..

It's sounds like your body clock is out of balance, but it might be challenging to get you back on track. Sleeping pills can be habit forming but I understand why people take them because not sleeping is horrible. I respond adversely to anesthetic and I usually end up not sleeping for 2-3 days.

I think you should get one of those light boxes- the trick is to expose your eyes to light and this triggers something in the brain. Can you take melatonin? If you drink caffeine products, slowly cut down. Go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday. Make sure your room is dark and quiet. Don't do things that occupy your brain - like tv, video games or computer. Learn how to put your worries on a shelf - my favorite trick is imagining I'm putting them in a box, locking it and putting it high on a shelf- this symbolizes you're done worrying.

We have those Nintendo DS's and there's this one game called Brain Age and one of the games on it, is called 'Virus Busters'. This is the only exception for games - anyway I lay in bed and play this to de-stress - it has this gentle lullaby music and it so incredibly relaxing. You can't think of anything else, when you're playing this game lol. Many times I found I actually dozed off for a second, with the game on my chest lol.

You can also try things like a warm bath and slow deep breathing exercises, where you relax all your body until you're limp, like a wet noodle lol. If you want to try the Melatonin, make sure you ask your doctor first. I think your body clock is out of balance and I hope you get it back on track. What are you going to study? Good luck Amanda

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice!

NF, you are right, I think I need to find out what the root of what is causing my anxiety at night before I continue to take sleeping meds, which end up not working after several days.

Junerain, that is a really good idea.. I will have to give it a try! Thanks for letting me know about it!.. do you by any chance remember the name of the documentary? I would love to watch it.

Lynn, that's a great idea about getting a light box.. I will look into that, thanks! I have tried melatonin and I am immune to it now, even on the maximum dose. It takes a lot to knock me out.. 4 gravols.. no effect. 4 or 5mg of ativan.. nothing. 25mg of valium.. nada. I hate that I'm so immune to everything! I've tried everything I can think of to help me sleep.. warm baths, relaxation tapes, sleepy time tea... nothing seems to work My mind is just always racing so much at night, I can never relax and sleep. I hate it!

I appreciate all the advice and will keep you all updated on how my sleep goes, and hopefully I can get it normal before school starts! (I just got accepted into the Human Services Foundation program at college, which was my second choice.. still waiting to hear if I got into my first choice, which is the Social Service Worker program If I don't get into that one (it's very competitive), then I am going to take the HSF and then re apply to the SSW next year, (in which they give extra consideration on acceptance for that program if you have completed the HSF) .. I will know by the end of next week if I got into the SSW program... fingers crossed! (But if I don't get in, I'm still very excited that I at least got into my second choice!

Thanks for the reply Amanda and best of luck with the school program.