Insmoniaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[sntm]

I have chronic insomnia, which is delightfully worse in the past week when my usual melatonin or lunesta is strongly discouraged. My PMD recommended ambien or vistiril, but FutureDad is freaked out/paranoic.

So, let's throw out our favorite insomnia remedies! I got to sleep using herbal tea and a light book (and snuggling with DS#1 while FutureDad is out of town) but woke up at 3:30 and never back to sleep. On the plus side, the dishwasher is loaded, lunches are made, and I may even tackle folding the laundry.

[indigo99]

I took unisom (doxylamine tablets, not the sleepgels) throughout my pregnancy for nausea. It also helped me sleep of course, and my doctor said it was perfectly fine. It used to be in a prescription nausea pill for pregnancy, but they quit making it in America.

[BayGirl2]

I have no good solution, just sympathy. I've been waking up in the middle of the night for the last 5 months of this pregnancy. Lately its between 3 and 4 am, regardless of when I get to sleep. I usually get tired again around 5:30 6 and have to get up by 7, so I don't make up those hours.

I keep my iPad by the bed and read or surf the internet. That's the only thing that seems to tire me out. I know once the baby's here I'll be up every 2-3 hours too, but maybe I'll at least be tired enough to get back to sleep.

[brittone2]

I have gone through periods of insomnia before and it is really frustrating. When I started using Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies CDs, one really nice side effects that I was sooooooo relaxed and zonked out pretty easily at bedtime. I am not sure if you are interested in or have tried something like that...a meditation/guided imagery type CD or something like hypnosis, but IME it can work amazingly well. It is also a nice skill to teach yourself as an insomniac, kwim?

[amldaley]

I have had wretched insomnia lately, too but blamed anxiety. Hmmm...maybe we can blame it on the weather or phase of the moon?

I have been drinking hot Sleepytime tea.

[ShanaMama]

I keep my iPad by the bed and read or surf the internet. That's the only thing that seems to tire me out. I know once the baby's here I'll be up every 2-3 hours too, but maybe I'll at least be tired enough to get back to sleep.
I would not recommend surfing the internet or even playing on the iPad to help you fall asleep. If I'm on the computer too close to bedtime I feel like a little light in my head never goes off. It bothers me throughout the night & I feel like I don't sleep as deeply. I totally understand you doing it when you're desperate, just don't recommend it as a go to option.

OP, have you tried a really warm bath? That always relaxes me & makes me woozy.

[BayGirl2]

I would not recommend surfing the internet or even playing on the iPad to help you fall asleep. If I'm on the computer too close to bedtime I feel like a little light in my head never goes off. It bothers me throughout the night & I feel like I don't sleep as deeply. I totally understand you doing it when you're desperate, just don't recommend it as a go to option.

OP, have you tried a really warm bath? That always relaxes me & makes me woozy.

Yeah, I am ok if I use it to read a book. Reading is how I usually fall asleep. The screen dims very low in the readers, it's not computer bright. Lately I've been surfing bc I've kind of just given up on the sleep thing, and some of the recent posts have been too addictive.

[daniele_ut]

I took unisom (doxylamine tablets, not the sleepgels) throughout my pregnancy for nausea. It also helped me sleep of course, and my doctor said it was perfectly fine. It used to be in a prescription nausea pill for pregnancy, but they quit making it in America.

Ditto to what indigo said. If I don't take Unisom (or sometimes phenergan depending on how bad the nausea has been) I am up half the night.

[ncat]

I took ambien when I was pregnant with DS - prescribed by my midwives' office.

Also, I found the lavender calming baby baths really were calming for me

[Uno-Mom]

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sending you empathy, sympathy and every bit of "athy" that a fellow insomnia sufferer an offer. It's terrible, isn't it?

I can share my story, for what it's worth:
I stopped my melatonin, ambien, everything as soon as we started TTC. I thought I was going to die. (My insomnia can last weeks if not interrupted.)

Once I was finally pregnant and had my first midwife appointment, she interviewed me about how bad my insomnia gets. She told me to go back on the ambien because the possible risks of ambien are outweighed by the CERTAIN negative effects from chronic sleep deprivation.

That equation made sense to me. I probably averaged 2-3 doses of ambien per month during my pregnancy. It relieved so much stress and illness. Obviously it's a personal opinion and some people would prioritize avoiding meds above everything. For me, this was the right choice. I know how ill and unsafe I become when my insomnia is allowed to go long-term. (When I was in college and it was truly out of control, it was only the constant supervision of future-DH that got me through alive and safe.)

BTW - I also used cognitive behavior therapy to help a LOT and lots of sleep hygiene techniques. Lavendar & chamomile - mmmmmm! I only used (and still use) the medication as a last result.

[essnce629]

Try taking magnesium every night before bed. Natural Calm is a magnesium citrate powder that you mix with water and drink like a tea (raspberry lemonade flavor) or you can get tablets. I've taken Natural Calm (during my whole pregnancy) and chelated magnesium lately (Carlson brand). It's great for sleeping and calming purposes. It's a natural laxative as well, so don't take too much! I can take about 600mg a day and be fine, but DBF has to take less. Many people are deficient in magnesium. DS1 started having this weird eye blinking tic and I read that it could be a sign of low magnesium. I started him on Natural Calm and within 24 hours the tic was gone! Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds are very high in magnesium. I watched a food documentary that said one handful of pumpkin seeds is equal to one dose of Prozac, which is why they're called "nature's prozac!" They're known for their mood boosting properties due to their high magnesium content.

[janine]

same here..usually up around 3-4 to pee, check on DD. Then tossing and turning, uncomfortable, shortness of breath and next thing I know it's 6am and time to get ready for work. I don't take anything and don't plan to..5wks to go and figure won't be getting any sleep on the other end either, so this will be the norm for awhile. It happened to me last time around too.

Good luck and you got some good suggestions.