I can only sleep for 2 hours. What helps Intermittent Sleep?

Firstly, not being able to sleep has always been a problem for me. Meditation helps me a great deal. When I wake up, I get out of bed and do something instead of lying in bed as I become more and more anxious doing this and then I cannot get back to sleep. I have had benzos give me the opposite effect, as in, they have been prescribed for sleep, my body stops adjusting and the benzos create a sleeplessness situation which is the opposite of what they were prescribed for.

Such is life . You get things you never expect. Sadly

*Update* so just recently my sister took the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine and she started to have the same symptoms as me! My symptoms started two weeks after my second dose of Pfizer vaccine but never correlated to the vaccine until my sister started to go through the same thing. We also live separately. Now I am trying to find help from doctors and emailed cdc and fda. I also filed a report on vaers and researched their data base and found a bunch of people just last month are going through the same things as me. I am pro vaccine I just don’t think doctors are knowledgeable or equipped with what to look for and if the symptoms are happening after a couple of weeks people might not correlate it or doctors might not believe them.

I’m so sorry about what’s going on with you. I was very healthy before Covid, now I can’t sleep without taking very powerful drugs with serious side effects. I hope you find answers.

Hi any updates, were you able to find help and answer/reasons as to why you are only sleeping for 2 hours? Ty

1st sorry to hear of your suffering.

Have you considered that the issue is not medically caused ? and the symptoms
are the side effects of your condition, stress, and medications ?

thanks for sharing about journaling. seems a good way to "digest" .
i hope you find relief soon. i do sympathize , my solution is deep breathing and controlled breathing exercise. Add more physical exercise , the more you enjoy the physical the better it is. so not exercise just to do it, play something , do things that use more of your whole body.

i am only layman compared to health pros . but have experience.
Frank

Hi @frankot, Welcome to Connect. Thanks for sharing what helps you. I try to exercise daily but sometimes only get it done 4 or 5 days a week for 30 to 45 minutes. I like your idea adding more physical exercise that you enjoy. I think exercise definitely helps with my sleeping and sleep apnea with the caveat that I don't do it close to bedtime but more in the morning or middle of the day.

Do you mind sharing how you found Connect? Are you trying to find some answers?

I was waking every 2 to 3 hours also and had a sleep study done and have mild sleep apnea. I have the nasal c-pap and do sleep longer with it. I still wake anywhere from 2-4 because I have 3 cats that get treats every morning so they consider that morning. I sleep in my chair while watching news in the early morning and sometimes will nap during day while watching TV. I have slept for 5-6 hours a couple times with c-pap too.

I've been on ambien for nearly 20 years. Can't seem to sleep more than 2 hours at a time.

yes , looking for ideas. answers would imply i know enough to ask the questions. my curiosity is more toward common causes of short sleep. and what people try for solutions.
i have been alert at night most if my life.
i hate pharmaceuticals and do not trust them at all. i have adverse reactions to many pills. both otc and script.
intense dreams wake me often.
lucid dream techniques did reduce and cure nightmares.
i sleep best when i get hours of exercise . sleep worst during allergy seasons.
Reading makes me sleepy, church , classrooms make me sleepy. quiet dark rooms make me alert. so cannot imagine a sleep study unless i was monitored during a lecture. LOL for real.