I have debilitating insomnia where I cannot sleep for 4-10 nights

I’m taking trazadone and drinking cocoa with sleep supplements in it. The trazadone helps but I’m going to ask my doctor for a higher dosage. I wake up about once an hour and get 3-4 hours of sleep. That causes me to doze on and off all day.

@susiewordsmith Great idea ! Thanks.

@trav1969
My primary care doctor put me on belsomra for a month when I first started taking high dose prednisone for PMR and couldn't sleep. You have to take it every day for it to be effective. It's not habit forming like some of the other options.

I have delay Sleep pattern. Which means I fall asleep later than the average person, and I will sleep longer in the morning than the average
Most people around 6 PM their body start to cool down for Sleep and by 8 PM. They are very sleepy and will be in bed by around 10 o’clock..
For me it’s around eight or 9 PM. My body starts to cool down for sleep which means it’s 11 PM to 1 AM before I am able to go to sleep then I sleep very well if I’m about 3 to 8 PM.
A question if you have delay Sleep pattern
Try changing the time you go to bed and get up in the morning
Every person is different. Every person’s amount of sleep is different.
You need to find what is normal for you

Oh Boy, do I understand what you are going through. I've had insomnia since menopause and I am now 81 YO.

I have been prescribed Ambien but also had horrible side effects with involuntary limb movements, foot flapping primarily. So then I was prescribed Gabapentin to deal with the side effects and that worked great but then I had to put up with the side effects of the gabapentin (lurching as I walked). I bought a milligram scale and take the capsule apart and leave about 50 to 60 mgs in the capsule and reassemble it. I take only a nibble of ambien as more ambien means more gabapentin is needed. Better to take a nibble a couple of times a night than a half all at one time.

It's important to take the gabapentin at least 10 minutes before the ambien. Lately I have had a couple of nights when the gabapentin made me sleepy enough to fall asleep without the ambien, but later, I needed a nibble of ambien to get back to sleep.

With this routine I find I can get about 6 hours of sleep. Then I place a heated sleep mask on my eyes (Telepepe rechargeable) and it sends me off to sleep for another 2 hours.

I tried a cannabis sleep gummy which was great the first night for 4 hours of sleep, worked for 2 hours the second night and really didn't work after that.

Don't give up. Just keep trying different solutions. It's a journey to find what works for each of us. But do talk to your doc about your thoughts of suicide. Believe me, there is an answer to your insomnia and your doctor should help you find it.

I wish you the best of luck in finding your solution.

Donna

I have had insomnia intermittently since my kids were little, about 40 years. I am now 76 and rather than having insomnia for 2-3 days twice a month, it is now almost continuous. I get 1-2 nights sleep of about 6-7 hours every 7-10 days. My sleep is more challenged now that I have a weak bladder from damage to my bladder during delivery of my son in 1977, plus I have sleep apnea so I use a CPAT machine. Recently I found an essential oils spray called Sweet Dreams that I bought many years ago. I decided to spray on my pillow before going to sleep and I was very surprised that it helped me get to sleep fairly quickly and stay asleep with waking up only once to go to bathroom. I used it until it ran out so I’m in process of ordering more from Vitality Essential Oils. I also recently read that putting lavender essential oil on the pulse point on your wrists can help. My doctors have told me to force myself to get to bed at same time every night and set my alarm to wake up no later than 8am. It’s hard to do that with not being able to get to sleep for hours, getting up to go to bathroom several times, uncomfortable CPAT machine and I need to watch TV (I have tinnitus so having the tv on distracts the humming in my ears). I know it could be worst because I’m really not tired as long as I get a couple of hours sleep most often starting at 5 or 6am. Ugh!!!

hmmmm I used to use benedryl, but then read can lead to dementia, so I stopped (well maybe once a month, after many days of little sleep). Now I use melatonin. It takes 1/2 hour to an hour to kick it, doesn't work every night, but pretty good. Also late night snack of yogurt seems also to help

I've been taking 1mg of xanax along with a mug of chamomile tea every night for years. It really helps to get my brain to shut up and stop worrying about everything. It doesn't knock me out like some sleep meds. I've been raising a grandchild and need to be alert enough to get up if needed. It doesn't make me woozy and no side effects. My PCP retired and my new doctor wants to wean me off xanax. He doesn't know me. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. My other doctors don't see a problem & agree sleep is important.

Hi believe it or not I started using a C pap air machine started with VERY low pressure like 4- 5 took awhile to get used to it 3-4 weeks but every day LITTLE by LITTLE it help
I was waking up 6-7 times a night Now give or take 2-3 at the most.
also found out that I was NOT having DREAMS now I am Hope this helps

You are definitely not alone in that problem! Im trying different things. Melatonin lets me sleep for 3-4 hours. Trazadone does the same, so Im trying falling asleep for my usual 3 hours and taking the trazadone when I wake in middle of sleep. End up with 7 or 8 hours. I don't know what works for others.