Joan, taking magnesium at night is going to have the effect, for some people, of giving them loose bowels or diarrhea. I use magnesium as a laxative FYI (TMI).

This thread is going to get a LOT of comments! My heart goes out to Sheila and all the others that have difficulty sleeping. I to have been an insomniac all my life… BUT… I have to say that i pretty much beat it. Cross my fingers and knock on wood. Here’s what worked for me. First of all Sheila talks about taking whatever sleeping pill comes from a pad until it doesn’t work anymore. And she aint gonna like this… because it’s incredibly difficult. But once you get on the cycle of sleeping pills you’re actually feeding insomnia. I started the cycle about 6 years ago, then just KNEW I was feeding it and stopped. And it was hell. And it took almost a year. But here are my tips… If you think you’re an insomniac in part due to anxiety. which I’m guessing in MOST peoples case that’s the fact. Certainly in high achievers like Sheila. But anyway… GET THE BOOK “PANIC” by Dr. David Burns. It’s a work book. not just a book. That book saved my life and has allowed me for the most part to sleep. I’m still not a long night sleeper. and i’m not one of those people that regularly just lays down and falls asleep. but my average amount of sleep a night is probably 6.5 hours and I feel good with that amount. I don’t think i’ve ever had more than a few nights of 8 hours of sleep and i don’t think i need it. Secondly… exercise. you absolutely have to exercise. it affects every cell in your body. it can actually change the neuropathways in your brain. it is the miracle drug. and it aint gonna work like a pill. you can’t exercise an hour on monday and say “okay this’ll help me sleep”. not if you’re an insomniac. you’ve got to give it time to do things like affect your neuropathways. lastly… quit worrying about not sleeping. easier said than done. but it’s part of the cognitive training you’ll get in the panic book if you buy it. If i have a night that takes me hours to not go to sleep I just say “oh well i’ll sleep on another night” and I mean it! meaning it is a big part of it. oops… a real “lastly” one. While i’m not on the cycle of sleeping pills and wont’ let myself get there. As part of my cognitive retrain I allow myself to take them about 10 times a year. I haven’t had a prescription for any in months now. but I usually keep 5 or 10 ambien around just for the nights when i simply don’t have the emotional strenght to deal with it. or when i travel on my motorcycle and refuse to not sleep then have to manage a 600 pound motorycle through a rain storm. But that’s all i take it for. i never take it more than two nights in a row and a prescription of 10 will last me a year. so those are my tips. I spent most of my life as a serious insomniac. And for about 7 years now i’ve been only a mild insomniac. it’s been very livable and manageable and it’s due to the book by David Burns. I actually used the “feel good handbook”. but his new book “panic” is specific towards anxiety and is incredible.

Insomnia is a friend I wish I didn’t know so well. Life has been so much in an uproar lately and I simply cannot go to sleep and my hubby hates when I read since the light keeps him awake so I read in the living room until all hours! If I go to bed, I toss and turn and that I cannot stand.

One of the solutions tried when going through 4 years of “insomnia” (as my, then, doctor wrongly termed it - among other things) was to turn on one of my Talking Books (for the blind). Many of my peers using them advised it as a solutions. Interestingly, they would zonk me - for a while. This question surfaced horrific memories of “insomnia” - I think I still have PTSD over it those “nightmarish” years. I now write on this topic but more from a warning to be cognizant of the early symtoms if someone has a neuro-muscular disorder/condition (NMD), or especially the late-effects of Polio. A common medical action is to order a sleep study (which cannot diagnose NMD breathing conditions); I had several the prior 10 years. The condition is seriously insidious with most people merely aware of a slight exacerbation of “strange” episodic breathing patterns they may have had since Polio, or other conditions (MD, CP, MS, etc.) such as in my case - the ability to swim for hours, each day, and run the “underwater” treadimill yet not be able run across the street without feeling “winded”; had that since childhood, but swam quite happily for years (it was the only sport I could manage but I certainly managed it well). The sleep study apparently evidenced some apneas (no breathing) so I was put on oxygen for any time I would be going to sleep, whereupon my life turned to a living hell - for 4 years. I thought I was going nuts only after dark. No one (in medicine) considered that perhaps the O2 wasn’t needed (it can be dangeous if not a re-evauated prescription - it’s a drug!) or any of the wild, intense and varied symptoms, although breathing difficulty was not one of them, or so it seemed - maybe because of my swimming - who knows. It became like high-altitude sickness as the CO2 built up, identical to that described on a website by a physican who works with mountain climbers. Sleep went from blissfully hitting the pillow, reading volumes’, and drifting peacefully off for 6-9 hours, “sleeping” no longer than 9 minutes yet awakening in terror, sweating, itching, starving, disoriented, and yet feeling like I was drugged and had slept for 24 hours and all the other symtpoms that CO2 exhibits. That went on for months and months, until a trip to the mountains a year ago, whereupon I went into unmistable respiratory crisis, which I thought was “just an allergy (what an allergy)” yet no one knew why. IThat past 13 months, I’d go up to 75 hours without sleep; it became a waking nightmare. Later, in January, after a life-saving flight to a specialist on the east coast (who knew exactly what was wrong with me via email no less - it is common for polio survivors and those with NMDs) I learned far more about hypercapnia, and how many people are ignored, often to die in an ER from what may commonly be reported as “acute asthma”. It is that, acute; but unforgiveable that medicine today is ignoring those of us with obvious diagnoses or a history that should fly a red flag; those of us who survived years ago. It was no different for most of us throughout our lives trying to tell anesthesiologists, and dentists, et al, that any pre-ops or anesthesia/pain medications would render us in serious condition, often needing a “cut-down” to access a vein, etc. So, sleeping has now returned to my existence, via a ventilator, and a couple other “breathing assists,” but not oxygen (yes, it did cause a lasting problem). It took months to all level out though, to get rid of the CO2 in my tissues, adjust to the vent, and my own emotions (not there yet - the realization that there’s a new appendage one must rely on to exist interferring with the blow-n-go life (no pun intended). It is quite the same for many others with NMDs. Thankfully, most of us who had Polio never need to have a tracheotomy (I fled to the east coast specialist because I could not breathe, was using an Ambu Bag, and also to escape being “trached”). So, we are classified as NIV users (Non-Invasive Ventilator) and grateful to be alive. I must humbly add that those who are IVVs (with tracheotomies) and even paralyzed, know far more than medical profession about what it takes to be able to live, and they keep us going, too, as well as the astute, licensed, respiratory therapists who get to know us “like a book (bless them)”. There are only a handful (count fingers) of specialists in the U.S. for us, so we rightfully issue our gratitude for their caring expertise. That’s the sleep solution on this side of the fence, “my friends” - let me know if any of you need some answers. Articles will be in Everything Respiratory, which has graciously allowed me to increase awareness of NMD-related breathing conditions, and vent use. A humorous touch in the prior edition, with a short article on traveling as a dis-ABLED person, was a gentle nudge.

Well it is 3:30 am East Coast time and I am up. I go to sleep fine, but wake up and have a hard time returning to sleep. I am willing and do use prescription meds (sparingly), but long for an 8 hour night. Tonight’s problem is worrying about my husband who had knee replacement yesterday and is in hospital. Have had some luck with mediating through this, but not tonight. I will be scintillating tomorrow at his bedside, I am sure. Well back to bed to try again.

Wonderful news, Bonnie. And most definitely Peace and grace to you.

I have insomnia due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. After seeing many sleep specialists, I found two who got me to sleep. But it is nonrestorative sleep. This is a hallmark of this illness that no one has figured out. The best med I take is Neurontin (gabapentin) because it helps the neuropathic pain I have. Most sleeping pills have no effect; Ambien CR does. Melatonin lowers cortisol levels and sent me to the E.R. I have Crohn’s disease and Sjogren’s syndrome and didn’t have enough cortisone to sustain me. I never had insomnia before this illness hit; the docs I see feel it is organic. Quality of sleep is as crucial as quantity. I’d do anything to wake up feeling energetic and refreshed. I’ve tried most of the things mentioned here.

sleep tight tonight bonnie…………i am so happy for your good news…..stay well and hopefully well rested….btw…………notice the time of this post………i am still awake but happy that i was able to share your relief even at this ungodly hour !

Well in my case, sleeping can equal de ja vou (or more like de ja don’t!) There is just one thing worse than weather dreams….and that’s political dreams. I reallllllly hope my last political de ja don’t dream dosen’t happen. I had this terrible dream of who became president and what he would do, and it really was a nightmare. That was several months ago. I would really like to be very wrong…..please :( In my last dream I saw more wars. It’s time I went back to weather dreams…they were sooooo much better. ;}