I don't have nightmares as much anymore, but I still have trouble sleeping because of being alert and on guard and not being able to be anything but. Advice?

[MeXoXO]

A bit of Valium/Diazepam used to help me. Anthiestaminics help to r.g Promethazine .

Lavander oil and having a pet like a dog 🐕 helps me sleep because I feel protected.

Hope you get better.

[Deejay14]

Currently 600 mg calcium, 300 mg magnesium 5 mg prazosin.

[Wild Coyote]

I cannot sleep well. I have a form of sleep anxiety from C-PTSD, having been traumatized during sleep, repeatedly.

I have to use medication. I am now using temazepam.

I cannot sleep in new/strange places (hotels, etc.). I sleep better with my H around. I slept well when I have had German Shepherds for pets.

Last night, I was fighting for my life in my sleep and knocked everything off my nightstand with one wild blow.

I hope you find a way to relax and sleep.

WC

I saw my pdoc today and I'm going to try Ambien. He said it might bring back the bad dreams. I hope it doesn't.

[NUBIFER]

It is awful not to be able to sleep soundly, peacefully . . . I fall asleep just fine, but wake up quite a bit also, sometimes still in the dregs of terror. My doc tried a few meds and they knocked me out but made night terrors worse! What I found works great and doesn't interact with other meds is Melatonin. So far, that has been the most effective for me. Just don't take it until right before you go to bed because at first it made me dizzy. Having dogs is also a comfort for me. One is a wonderful watchdog and the other a great snuggler

Ambien doesn't work. Melatonin doesn't work. I cannot take prazosin. I haven't tried Valium, but I have tried Ativan and that doesn't work. I cannot get a dog for another couple years. Lavender doesn't work.
I guess I'll never sleep well.

I take a small dose of seroquel (25mg) for sleep and it helps me. It may be worth asking about if you are desperate for sleep, but at the same time it can have some undesired side effects, like needing extra sleep to feel fully rested. If you have responsibilities in the morning like parenting, going to school or a job, it can be difficult on seroquel because I need at least 10 hours to feel rested.

I force myself through the days I have work, of course, but it doesn't feel great.

My doctor wont prescribe me Seroquel because I'm already on Risperdal and he doesn't like prescribing two antipsychotics at the same time. Last time I was on it I'd do the same thing I'm doing now anyways, sleep three hours and then be up the rest of the night.

[NUBIFER]

I'm so sorry you haven't been able to find anything that works for you! It really sucks to be stuck in no sleep zone. I had similar non-sleep pattern for several years and it almost broke me, not sleeping soundly ever and what little sleep I got was certainly not restful or refreshing. For me it was constant vigilance for my safety. I felt like I couldn't fall deeply asleep because I needed to be able to hear if something happened (even tho the person who caused this fear was locked up) . . I finally moved to another area and that helped a lot. But I still had to go through a lot of therapy before it started to improve. I hope you can find some way to restful sleep and so sorry you are having to deal with this!

[MoxieDoxie]

So I do not have trouble falling asleep. I wake up every day any where from 2am to 3:30 am and then can not fall back asleep. Xanax works great but I will only allow myself to take that twice a week for fear of becoming addicted. There are nights I do get longer sleep. I can not figure out why I have early morning awakenings.

My T, who is an ego state therapist, says my parent part needs to talk to the child part that wakes up and wont go back to sleep, compassionately and tuck it back into bed. Yeah well dude that just does not work.

[cool09]

Trazedone? Gives me akithisia.

[Deejay14]

Have you tried Lunesta or Sonata?

[Minnow]

Insomnia has been a big issue for me. It's the main reason I need medication. I went too long with too little sleep and I got so depressed. Seroquel and Klonipin along with an SSRI is my cocktail. Seroquel was the med that finally knocked me out.

Some watch outs are diet related. What you eat and drink will affect how you sleep. I do better with a low carb high protein diet. Alcohol also messes with my sleep. Exercise will help as well. Meditation also was helpful for me.
I hope you get some good ZZZZZ

imagining I am writing a soap opera- and the soap opera is all to do with the voices in my head.

eventually, I'll pretend I'm working on the script, hit some sort of road block, think... forget it, I'll do it tomorrow, and that's that.

or imagining I'm next to bethany (the woman with BPD)

even though she's been dead for ages, I sometimes think she speaks to me and that she sends me signals and instructions, and imagining her next to me really helps me relax.

another one (slightly stranger), is imagining that somewhere on a ward, at some hospital, they are about to bring someone round from an operation or a coma

I think that helps because to me, it gives the signal... well, the operation was a success, here's a person with another shot. they are okay.