Insomnia help...

[SASM]

I cannot sleep! I finally gave up on sleep at 4AM!!! :( I do not remember it being this bad with Ian' pregnancy. I would just take a 1/2 tab of Benedryl (for my allergies) and I would sleep like a baby. This time around I cannot escape insomnia :( For the last month or so I have been having the worst night's sleep!!! What helps you sleep?? I am VERY curious what those confined to bedrest have to say. I've tried the warm milk, no caffeine/chocolate before bedtime, "relaxing", and not going anywhere near my bed throughout the day. UGH!!! I suppose that adding more exercise/activity to my day would help but I do not have the energy (my "activity" is running after Ian and picking up after him!)!! At times, I do fall asleep on the sofa in early evening while reading or watching TV but then have a horrible time sleeping when I go to bed.

Anyone have any ideas???

TIA!!

[kelly ann]

I need help too! I just sat in bed for 2 hours before coming on here and I went to bed after midnight. Meanwhile, DH is still sleeping and took an hour and a half nap on the couch before going to bed last night.

[jk3]

When I was on bedrest, Ambien was the only thing that would work. I have insomnia normally from time to time but lack of any activity was the worst. Hope tonight is a better night!

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[rrosen]

I second the rec. for Ambien! It is very gentle and will give you a great night sleep. I am a life long insomniac (my mom says even as a baby) and I use it when I have gone several nights in a row without sleep. Only once did my insomnia win against Ambien.

Another thing you may want to try is keeping a journal. Sometimes, writing your worries, stresses and other thoughts down helps with quieting your mind when you want to sleep.

I hope you get some sleep soon!

[babyready]

I don't have much advice but wanted to let you know that I went through the same thing when I was pregnant and feel your pain. The sad thing is that now people keep telling me I look much more rested...and I have a newborn! crazy.

I was taking unisom to help ease "morning" sickness and that wasn't even helping with the sleep. I would fall asleep fine but then wake up in the middle of the night and not go back to sleep until five minutes until my alarm would go off. It was horrible!!!

Good luck!

[SASM]

Thank you for the posts, girls! I didn't know that Ambien was a safe drug! I am surprised that my OB didn't mention that when I asked him about the insomnia thing a couple weeks ago :(

[lizajane]

just a caution, even though it is rare...

ambien is crack. for MOST people, it is totally super and will help you sleep for at least 6 straight hours and make you feel great. but for me, it made me CRAZY. INSANE. WACKO. little known side effect, but a side effect, nonetheless.

so DEFINITELY try it. it is working great for a few folks i know and they love it. but my OB said my reaction to it is so rare and SO BAD that i need to list it as a drug allergy on my medical history forms.

and what i mean by insane, so you will know what to look out for, is violent mood swings, extreme anger and frustration, uncontrollable sobbing, desperate sadness... THESE THINGS ARE NOT ME! and now that i have been off of it for 2 weeks, i am totally back to normal. (of course, that means insomnia and fatigue. but i am SO much happier to be tired than crazy.) i think it may have even been responsible for my extreme braxton hicks.

[psophia17]

I had horrible insomnia while PG after the first few weeks when I was so exhausted I'd sleep for 12 hours straight (6pm-6am). The only thing that helped me was complete darkness. We put a black blanket up over the window because the shades and curtains were not enough to keep out the streetlights, we turned the clock radio face down, and we unplugged everything in the room that had a little light on it, including the battery charger and my electric razor's charging light.

This was bad, of course, when I had to find my way to the bathroom ten times in the middle of the night, but eventually I had my path worked out and I could do the whole thing in complete darkness. This is also when DH finally learned to put the seat down, after forgetting once and waking up to a screaming banshee of a wife with a cold wet behind. }(

The other thing that helped was for me to go to bed alone, so I wasn't disturbed by DH making any noise (including his reciprocating saw on steel I-beams snoring). That only worked at the beginning, before the marathon trips to the bathroom, but it helped me for long enough that I remember doing it.

HTH!

[houseof3boys]

Oh how I could have written your post. I have been popping Tylenol PM without success. I talked to my OB about it yesterday and she mentioned that if it doesn't get better, she would give me some ambien. I hate taking prescriptions and just had to add a reflux/heartburn medicine since NOTHING otc is working for me. It is so bad right now that it starts first thing in the morning with a bowl of cereal or oatmeal. You could imagine what "real" food does (and the occasional bite of chocolate which is a big no-no for heartburn).

I hope your insomnia gets better Sharyn. I'll think of you at 3:00 am tonight when I am up thinking of everything under the sun and trying to sleep. :)

[SASM]

Petra,

Thank you so much for the darkness suggestion. I am going to have to try that. Our BR is already quite dark but there is still the rim of light around the door to the hallway caused by the street light :) Sorry but you had me ROTFL with the bathroom comment, as I can TOTALLY relate! :) Dh hasn't done that in well over 8 years!!

Thank you also for the going to bed alone suggestion. I am going to try that tonight, as well :) I have also decided to switch back to my old side of the bed and just sleep mainly on my right side (as long as I am on my side it should hopefully not matter ~ especially since I have been waking up on my back throughout the night!). DH and I switched sides about 5 months ago so that I wouldn't have the VERY NECESSARY body pillow in-between us for the next 8 months. I have realized that I really do miss my side of the bed. I am hoping with the combination of "my" side of the bed, fresh flannel sheets, a nice dark room, and some Benedryl or Chlortrimeton, all of these things MIGHT do the trick!!! :) Just watch...I'll have the best night's sleep EVER and will have to wake up to my ALARM d/t an early morning ~ 8am Mass and getting to the mall to get in line to see Santa before the mall opens ~ YUCK!!!!

I hope that your sleep schedule is back to normal now that DS is almost a year!! :)