[amy90]

I am so desperate for sleep. The lack of it is slowly killing me. I can't function I can't do anything. I've tried everything off the counter, recreational, valium, melatonin, alcohol, I get drowsy but I just can't stop being anxious. I want to die just so I can get some rest.

[mazing]

Sorry to hear you are struggling to sleep Have you spoken to your doctor? Maybe they can help with some anti-anxiety meds? Do you have a therapist as well? They may have some tips on ways to help you calm to get some sleep.

It might sound weird but a form of meditation has really helped me to calm myself and be able to rest, even when I had tried every drug and nothing worked.

[amy90]

I was prescribed citalopram and diazepam (valium) for years. I became addicted to valium but have been slowly weaning myself off them which might be the reason for my situation at the moment but I don't really want to go back there.
What kind of meditation do you do? I've never tried meditation before, and Im scared I might do it wrongly New situations increase my anxiety levels skyhigh but if they help I will try. I think I'm scared of failing or not doing things 'properly' but I will try it if it helps me.

[Stoda]

I just did a search on meditation:

Here's a link to a download MP3 type thing that can help you meditate: http://www.omharmonics.com/lp?sr=1&c...=meditation-em

and this site looks like it has good information: http://www.learningmeditation.com/

I was prescribed citalopram and diazepam (valium) for years. I became addicted to valium but have been slowly weaning myself off them which might be the reason for my situation at the moment but I don't really want to go back there.

I think that sounds like a good reason for insomnia. Might be something you'll just have to work through over time. Time passes so slowly when you have insomnia and are anxious and unhappy.

[mazing]

It definitely can be hard with the changes of medications and could be the reason.

As for the meditation, I only really use it when I can't sleep. I found that trying to force myself to sleep just made me even more anxious so it was better to get up and do something else, or try to focus on something else other than the fact that I couldn't get to sleep. As well as meditation writing helped me. If I got up for 30 minutes and wrote everything that came to my mind I found that it was easier to try to sleep again as the thoughts weren't spinning around in my head - they were out somewhere ready to be dealt with in the morning.

I don't have time to type out the different things I do for meditation right now (about to head to work) but I have found that different things help depending on my stress levels. This website gives a good overview of a few techniques - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_676353.html

Sometimes if I am just tired but not too stressed just breathing helps, other times I use guided imagery. I used to think that it was useless and couldn't understand why people meditated but some nights it really does help me. Not always - I still have bad nights - and it does take time to get into but over time it has helped me.