I think I can now classify my insomnia and sleeping issues as “severe”. This is what my “sleeping life” has been like since last Monday:
Monday night (8/4)- No sleep at all.
Tuesday night(8/5)- Slept on and off.
Wednesday night (8/6)- No sleep at all.
Thursday night (8/7)- I was awake all night again. I did fall asleep for about two hours after 6:30 a.m.
Friday night (8/8)- I slept on and off. I didn’t fall asleep until sometime after 1 a.m. Woke up frequently throughout the remainder of the night and was up at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
Saturday night (8/9)- No sleep at all throughout the night. I fell asleep sometime after 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning and then was up by 9 a.m.
Sunday night (8/10) – No sleep at all throughout the night. I fell asleep sometime after 7 a.m. Monday morning and my son woke me up at 9 a.m.
NormallyI have to nap during the day but even with the lack of sleep at night I haven’t been able to nap through the day for more than 15 – 20 minutes. My body just will not allow me to sleep.
It is taking a huge toll on me both physically and emotionally and I feel like I am cracking up. I have no patience and I can’t think.
I can’t figure out why this severe insomnia started happening. I haven’t slept well for years but it has never been this bad. Anyone else with ME/CFS and/or Fibromyalgia who is awake for days at a time?
I’ve had CFS for well over two decades. I can remember not sleeping much or at all for nearly 30 nights when my CFS first began. It was torture. But then it just went away, and I started sleeping better. There were night sweats occasionally, and I had some sleep disruptions. But overall it was so much better.
In the last several months. I have had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Without my Ambien CR, I just lie there. My body can’t drop off. I don’t think it’s about stress. I think something is not functioning properly in my brain. With the Ambien CR, I’m averaging between 5-6 hrs. per night. Last night it was just a little over three. My body feels absolutely exhausted. My brain works poorly. A year ago, I was getting eight hrs. each night. During the past year, I have battled infections, including EBV, which has aggravated the CFS and may be responsible for the sleep problems. I may have the sleep test. Good sleep is absolutely critical.
I hope that you were able to read the blog that I left for you Sandy. I don’t understand why it is no longer posted on this site. I wrote to you suggesting that you see an acupuncturist for your sleep problems. I saw one last year in April and he cleared up the insomnia for almost 9 months. Then, I went through 12 weeks of treatment for a shoulder injury, but on the last 3 weeks of the 12 treatments, I had my acupuncturist treat me for insomnia, as well as menopausal symptoms. She cleared it up, and I am again able to sleep better. This is much better, I believe, than getting on addictive sleeping aids.
Sorry, I forgot to put in that the 12 weeks treatment was this year.
Sorry that sleeping is a problem for you. I wish I could STAY AWAKE! I almost think that my body puts me to sleep as a defense mechanism against the enormous pain that I endure every day….and NO, I am NOT depressed.
Hi Cheryl, My body always goes in extremes. I either sleep too much or I don’t sleep at all. It is really frustrating. Sleeping medications don’t seem to help either.