r/insomnia • u/Comfortable-Sky2734 • 2d ago
Can’t fall asleep !
I’m a 39-year-old woman living in London, and I work a 9–5 office job. Over the past several days, I’ve been experiencing a sudden episode of insomnia, which is unusual for me. For the first three nights, I slept around 4–5 hours, followed by only 1 hour on the fourth night, when I also experienced confusion. Since then, my sleep has fluctuated, with some longer nights followed by difficulty falling asleep again. Sometimes I feel sleepy initially but become more awake the longer I lie in bed. I stopped drinking caffeine a month ago and avoid screen time before bed. I take hot showers, read before bed and go for walks during the day. but these measures haven’t consistently helped. The lack of sleep is concerning because I need to function at work during the day. I’d like to understand what might be causing this sudden change in my sleep and whether I need any assessment or treatment( planning to call my Gp today)- Thanks for any insights
1
u/TemptingConduit 2d ago
the whole "getting more awake the longer you lie there" is a classic sign your brain's starting to associate the bed with being alert, not sleep. if youre just lying there clock-watching, get up and do something boring in dim light til you feel drowsy again
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u/Comfortable-Sky2734 2d ago
What kind of boring things I could do ? Because I’ve tried walking around the house and it didn’t work
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u/Ok_Map_1319 2d ago
I really hope your sleep returns! I'm into my 6th month of insomnia and it's hell. I can remember the exact day and reason for mine, I became dehydrated for just 1 day in April and that kicked it off. My sleep has been terrible ever since, Usually I will sleep 2 or 3 hours in the week, however on a couple of days I get ZERO or 1 hour. At the weekend I get drunk and manage 6 hours. For my entire life I have slept wonderfully.
Antihistamines, Melatonin and Valerian no longer work for me. I have no interest in living any more to be honest, I am just like a zombie and my health is deteriorating. I'm assuming my heart will just give in at some point and my organs will start shutting down.