Can't sleep

I never sleep well, but when my mood goes, so does sleep. It's taking its toll on me. I'm so exhausted and easily overwhelmed that I burst into tears at the slightest thing.

To top it off my partner snores making sleep harder. That is taking its toll too because he feels responsible for me not sleeping, but it's not like he's doing it on purpose.

I've tried white noise, self-hypnosis/guided meditation, ear plugs, Lorazepam. . . . Gravol and Benadryl don't make me drowsy anymore and I've developed a tolerance to Imovane (I think the US name is Ambien) so that doesn't work.

I work shift work so getting into a nighttime routine is a challenge. My partner doesn't get home from work until late so I've been eating dinner late. I'm also not getting enough exercise.

What do I do until I can fix any of these things? It's 3 am right now and the alarm goes off in 2.5 hours.

First, are you medicated for your depression? This can at least keep your mood from going too bad (thereby limiting how much it affects your sleep).

Second, what is your daily activity like? Are you physically active throughout the day? Do you go to a gym? Being physically active will push your body toward being exhausted when sleep time comes round, and will make it easier to fall asleep. Just to keep things consistent, eating healthy can also improve your sleep.

Third, what's your evening routine like (or do you even have one)? Regardless of whether work/school allows for you to go to bed at the same time every night, you can still build a routine around the time you do get to bed. Do it consistantly, daily if at all possible. Shower, brush your teeth, do whatever you do to get ready for bed...keep it within the hour (or half hour even) of laying down for sleep.

You can also try melatonin (check with your dr to make sure it won't cause problems with your other meds). If you do take it, take it 30 min before bed. Adding it to your nightly routine can help the body learn to treat your evening routine as triggers for instigating sleep.

USA doesn't have Imovane at all. They have the modified next generation "imovane" though.. it is called Lunesta.

Shift work is really hard. What kind of shifts do you work?

I have no regular schedule. I work 8 hour days or 8 hour evenings with 8 hour call. So on those days I can't get called in to work any time with 20 minutes to get there. Switching back and forth between the days and evenings is hard. Often I on call until 8 Monday morning and be on shift at 8 Tuesday morning. 24 hours isn't enough to switch.

I don't get enough exercise. I have a physical job which is better than a desk job but doesn't get your heart rate up for any length of time. I'm not good at working out alone. I 'cheat' and let myself of easy. I also lose focus and get bored or distracted. I'm almost ready to give the gym one more try but I'm resistant for some reason. That and a recent injury at a bad time keep me putting it off.

I am medicated for depression. Effexor and Wellbutrin at the moment. It's been working pretty well for two years now but maybe it needs tweaking again. I'll talk to my doc Monday.

My nighttime routine is basically brush teeth and get in bed. I've stopped reading at night because I think it was too engaging. It seems to have helped at bit.

Melatonin doesn't seem to help at all. Neither does my partner's snoring.

Oh right! I knew that at one point.

That is a really demanding thing, being called in basically whenever. Not really strange you developed a problem. The work doesn't really give you much of a chance...

It's probably the worst job for me. Unfortunately I love it. I really enjoy what I do and I'm good at it. I work in a hospital doing x-ray and CT. A clinic would be easier hours but the closest one is over an hour away.

Too bad the imovane doesn't work anymore. Sounds like a knock out type of sleep med would be the best for that kind of situation. Have you tried ambien? To me it is a notch stronger than imovane, but shorter acting. I can't take it anymore because I became allergic to it. Also, it's a bit worse than imovane when it comes to the risk of impulsiveness and amnesia so my doc really didn't like it.

My family doc is not a fan of sleep meds. Can't say I blame her. I'll see what my therapist says tomorrow (she's also an MD). Ambien isn't available in Canada

After a quick google search I'm leary of it (and Imovane)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/...g-warning.html. I know the story is old but "yikes" scary stuff.

I plan to go to the gym tomorrow for the first time in months. Now I just have to go! I need sleep soon

I have hope for tonight!!! My doctor/therapist prescribed Seroquel (sp?) to help slow my thoughts down and hopefully allow me to sleep.

I still plan on trying to set up a nighttime routine and get more excercise, etc... but I think if I can get a couple of good night's sleep I'll be more able to actually do that.

Well, the Seroquel worked. . . a bit too well. I took it late because I was working an evening shift, that was around 1am. At 1030am I couldn't safely drive, or form sentences for that matter. At 3pm I still felt like I had been hit by a truck but could drive without fear of a wreck.

I'm hoping that was because I was so exhausted and the first day on the med. I'm only taking 25mg so not a major heavy dose.

I've decided to put off taking it again until I have a couple of days where I don't have to be anywhere the next day. See how that goes.

It's also because your body isn't used to it. After a while it won't have such a major impact right away, and the lingering effects won't be so detrimental.

I have noticed that it's 'quieter' in my head. The spinning racing thoughts have abated a bit thank goodness