Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

This may be somewhat of a unique situation. I have dealt with my share of PPA and some PPD since my DD was born. One of the side effects has been occasional insomnia. I think the anxiety creates sleeplessness and then I end up worrying about more sleeplessness (never sleeping again, etc) which just makes it worse.

This started in July. I have been in therapy since August. Things got better and then got worse in February. I got a prescription for zoloft in March and have been on 50 mg since. For the most part, I felt like the zoloft has been helpful at calming me down.

Last night, out of the blue, I had trouble sleeping. I wasn't anxious at all yesterday. But right before bed, I watched an episode of OITNB which was somewhat thrilling. It took me a while to fall asleep. I was thinking about the episode and also panicking about not sleeping (what if the Zoloft stopped working, what if I won't ever sleep good again, what if I don't sleep at all, etc). I ended up waking up early and couldn't go back to sleep with the same racing thoughts.

I guess I am just looking for experiences from everyone else who gets the occasional no sleep or very little sleep night. How do you keep from obsessing over it, if at all?

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

I'm a terrible sleeper. I usually have to have the TV on, to keep myself from overthinking about things - but it has to be something "calm" like Friends or Seinfeld - something I don't have to really pay attention to, but does the trick to kind of shut my brain down. I put the sleep timer on, so it will shut off without me having to "wake up" to turn it off. If I've had a few really bad nights in a row, I'll take Zzquill to make sure I get some sleep. Don't love doing either one of these things, but they are what work for me

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

CBD oil helps tremendously for me

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

I've never really had issues with sleeping until my separation and horrible boss situation last year. I hate it! I try to calm my brain and get worked up b/c I'm just laying there and it makes things worse. I try not to take sleeping pills (Tylenol PM) b/c I want to be able to wake up if DS needs me, but I do it occasionally so my body doesn't get used to waking up at 2am or 3am.

I talked to someone I know that works at a clinic for sleep disorders and he suggested no screens for an hour before bed. If you wake up, only lay there for 15 minutes, instead of tossing and turning for hours b/c it makes your body associate restlessness with the bed. When getting up, do something boring and calm (read a book, puzzle, etc) until you get sleepy. No screens at all (nothing on TV, phone, etc) b/c the electronic signal messes with your brain.

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Laying there makes it worse. I once read that if u r not asleep within 15 minutes get up and do something else. I will read a book or watch TV. It doesn't help me to lay there and obsess over random shit. When my girls were babies, the anxiety was so much worse bc I was just waiting to hear those cries. Hang in there!!

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

I have suffered from sleep issues for most my life.
I don't know what took me so long to try it but recently started taking melatonin 30ish min before bed and it really works with making me sleepy. I seem to fall asleep with no issues and don't wake up feeling tired or groggy but I am still only sleeping 4-5 hour clips at best. I'll take that over the hours of tossing and turning. Best of luck to you.

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

I don't do or watch anything stimulating for a while before bedtime.
If I have trouble falling asleep I get up and read a book or magazine for a while. No TV or tablet or phone. I might have some milk and oddly make sure my feet are warm but not hot.
I don't force sleep. The more I obsess about it, the worse the situation becomes.

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Oh, and another thing I do...... I've been taking a really hot shower every night before bed. It's basically my meditation time - it's a signal to my brain that it's time to wind down and the heat makes me sleepy. I don't do anything after - just get in bed and go to sleep. If I lay in bed and watch TV, it wakes my brain up.

Maybe instead of a hot shower, you can use a meditation app to find something to calm your brain right before sleep.

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

When I have a lot on my mind and it keeps me from sleeping I will lay in bed and take deep breaths with my eyes closed and repeat to myself "breathe in peace breathe out fear". I know it probably sounds wonky to some but it really helps to calm my thoughts and focus on my breathing and not all the rambling thought's that are keeping me awake. It almost always works for me.

Other times I will read a book. But that doesn't always help because I find I can't concentrate on the words in the book and will continue to have rambling thoughts.

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

The best thing to help those that cant stop thinking when trying to sleep. Before you go to bed, write down all your worries in a note book, then close the book and tell yourself no more worry for the night. Once you write it you help release it from your mind

Message edited 6/25/2018 9:57:23 PM.

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Get a treadmill I’ll run if I can’t sleep or I’ll read

Re: Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

Occasional sleepless night- How do you deal?

I count backwards from 100
I do it a few times
It helps take all the other thoughts off my mind

Maybe download a meditation app?
Breathing exercises can help to relax you too