I have slept a total of 5 hours in 6 days. What's wrong with me?
I'm on day 7 with an acute onset of near total insomnia. I have slept a collective of 5 hours in these past 6 nights and I'm not sure I can go much longer like this.
I need to sleep and I'm completely exhausted but I just can't cross over into sleep no matter what I try. All I do is lay there, terribly tired with my eyes closed for hours on end only to watch the daylight peek through my window without sleeping. On the nights that I do sleep, it's maybe 1 hour and only after 4am comes around.
6/22/2024 - It started with a mild cold that kept me awake most of the night . This cold was annoying but nothing too bad. I slept poorly but got 3 or 4 hours.
6/23/2024 - The next day, I took a melatonin before bedtime and slept 6 hours or so. I felt fine this day and had a great cardio workout.
6/24/2024 - This is when it hit me. I did not sleep; not 1 minute and it seemed to come out of nowhere. As I laid there, my mind was racing and my heart rate was 20 bpm above normal. When I moved, it spoked to 110 bpm and seemed to pound.
6/25/2024 - By this day I am exhausted and needed to take the day off from work. I thought I could sleep off the cold I was fighting and catch up on sleep. When I tried to nap around 10am, I slept 1 hour but only after laying there for 90 minutes trying. When night fell, I had zero hours of sleep. Nothing, nadda.
6/26/2024 - I'm getting a bit scared. This isn't normal and I've never had this happen to me. I decide to go to the walk-in clinic. The doctor listens to me and concludes I'm having sleep-anxiety and prescribes Trazodone. When night came, I took the meds which seemed to make my hear race but I did feel very relaxed. Despite this, I got maybe 1-2 hours that night.
6/27/2024 - I'm starting to loose my mind but still have hope that the Trazodone will work. I take the meds that night and again I cannot sleep until 4 am rolls around and then it's only 1-2 hours.
6/28/2024 - I'm a zombie all day but after some reading I decide not to continue the meds and try Theanine and magnesium. As night fell, I took the Theanine and magnesium and oh boy, I cannot sleep, not 1 minute.
So here I am pleading for help. I don't know what's happening to me and I'm well into the stage of extreme anxiety. I've read about CBT-I, I'm doing the things like meditation, breathing, relaxation, exercise, meds, supplements, etc but nothing helps. Any time I lay down now, my heart races, my chest gets butterflies and I can't sleep. It's like I've completely lost the ability to turn off and my body is dumping adrenalin into my brain. I'm worried that the worst is in the cards for me if this continues.
Can someone help me figure this out?
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I don’t believe a psychiatrist could help you with sleep but a neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine would be a better choice. Dr. Chris Winter located in Charlottesville, Virginia is a start. Here is a site to get you started before you get an appointment with someone. https://www.wchriswinter.com/author.html;
https://melioguide.com/osteoporosis-prevention/sleep-solution/;
Sleep Unplugged is a podcast the doctor has where you may be able to participate in too. Good luck and I hope the material will be beneficial?