Extreme sleep deprivation

[kappa]

Has anyone experienced sleep deprivation for long periods of time, and had other symptoms as well. How did you fix it? I was getting average of 3 hours a night, no naps. Would wake up so nauseas I felt like vomiting, very scary to drive, feel in another world.

I've tried benzos, muscle relaxers, pills with sedating properties (remeron on and off for years) sleep hygiene, weed, exercise, booze. Nothing is keeping me asleep. Yes, I've been to multiple doctors. Any ideas or experiences?

 

[Soundgarden]

Yes, I experienced prolongued sleep deprivation. It is one of the hardest things to endure. After just a couple of weeks I was completely unrecognizable to myself, I had weird thoughts and could not remember anything.

Fortunately, for me it passed after aproximately half a year, but it was brutal.

I have no miracle advice to impart with you, just wanted to give you a pat on the back. Goddam it, it's hard!

No wonder it is used as a torture technique...

 

[justanotherday]

Has anyone experienced sleep deprivation for long periods of time, and had other symptoms as well. How did you fix it? I was getting average of 3 hours a night, no naps. Would wake up so nauseas I felt like vomiting, very scary to drive, feel in another world.

I've tried benzos, muscle relaxers, pills with sedating properties (remeron on and off for years) sleep hygiene, weed, exercise, booze. Nothing is keeping me asleep. Yes, I've been to multiple doctors. Any ideas or experiences?

Having same problem here... the only difference is I finally broke down and went to a sleep specialist doc for the first time a few weeks ago. So far she is having me keep a sleep journal for about 3 weeks, then wants me to come back.

 

[Futility]

I suffer from both chronic pain and PTSD, currently I'm running on 4 hours for the last 48 hours.
What helps me of all things, is kratom. Prescription medication just made me horribly ill except if they were no nonsense opiates, valium didn't even make me fall asleep although they relaxed me a bit while laying down.

You could also try blue lotus, you can smoke it and make tea out of it.

I've heard good things about nightshade too, but with the real deal you have to be careful because it might make you not wake up again, and it's not going to be pleasant if you mess that one up.

Since you're saying that so many things don't put you to sleep, do you feel energetic instead? Some people with legitimate ADHD take uppers in order to slow down, coffee will relax them as well, opposite world.

 

[kappa]

I suffer from both chronic pain and PTSD, currently I'm running on 4 hours for the last 48 hours.
What helps me of all things, is kratom. Prescription medication just made me horribly ill except if they were no nonsense opiates, valium didn't even make me fall asleep although they relaxed me a bit while laying down.

You could also try blue lotus, you can smoke it and make tea out of it.

I've heard good things about nightshade too, but with the real deal you have to be careful because it might make you not wake up again, and it's not going to be pleasant if you mess that one up.

Since you're saying that so many things don't put you to sleep, do you feel energetic instead? Some people with legitimate ADHD take uppers in order to slow down, coffee will relax them as well, opposite world.

I don't feel like I have energy no. I did see a sleep specialist that said wake up and go to bed at the same time. That didn't work, it's staying alseep not falling asleep that's not my problem

 

[http-410]

(How) did you solve this problem?

When my insomnia was at its worst, only sleeping pills could help, but doctors hesitate to prescribe them and it was very difficult to wean them off by myself. I had problems falling asleep and staying asleep. It was hell. I don't know how I did it, but at the moment it's not that bad anymore. I guess it's because some stressors have gone.

Nowadays I sometimes wake up too early and rarely I still need a sleeping pill, especially when I'm ruminating. I realized that being dependent on sleeping pills and even natural remedies was not beneficial, because you end up in a vicious circle.

Is/was there something that worried you? Could it be that an underlying problem is bothering you?

 

[clayp]

Well I recently ran out of sleep meds, went to the herbal store and got some Passion flower tea. Was like, this won't do anything, but it does help me. I take one Xanax and a strong cup of that tea and I'm out. And much less sleepy in the morning.

 

[Wayfaerer]

Yes, especially from september 2018 - april 2019. In the beginning of march of 2019 I went seven days without any sleep! I felt this distress in the center of my chest and I thought I'd suffer a heart attack. It was a very stressful week. The third week of that same month? 5 days without sleep except for maybe an hour here and there. Aside from that I got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night on average during that time.

How did I fix it? I decided that I was going to kill myself and I began to sleep like a baby . Then a few days past and the sudden realization of my life ending so soon hit me like a freight train and I was very depressed. I still slept better afterwards but I never got a full 8-hour sleep since this whole mess had started.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I went one week without any sleep. It left me wired and super anxious.
I went for around six months with less than one hour a night.
It had profound physical and psychological consequences, but I could still kind of function, just not to an acceptable level. It actually made me feel more intelligent, but appears to have had an effect on my short term memory.
This was due to having to pee every hour, causing anxiety, causing me to be unable to let myself sleep.

I don't really know how I got over it. I simply gave up and just accepted that I would stay awake and suffer, and eventually, I slept. Gradually I slept more and more as I became more and more exhausted. I let my body determine what would happen and stopped trying to fight it. I relied on my body to wake me up when i needed the loo.
Recently, if I'm lucky, I've been able to get two or three sleep shifts in a night. It's not ideal, but it's enough to function.

(This is a very old thread)

 

[Done at Fifty]

Sleeping pills can help a bit. Lately I'm finding that its easier to just give into it and let myself stay up all night sometimes.

 

[kappa]

(How) did you solve this problem?

When my insomnia was at its worst, only sleeping pills could help, but doctors hesitate to prescribe them and it was very difficult to wean them off by myself. I had problems falling asleep and staying asleep. It was hell. I don't know how I did it, but at the moment it's not that bad anymore. I guess it's because some stressors have gone.

Nowadays I sometimes wake up too early and rarely I still need a sleeping pill, especially when I'm ruminating. I realized that being dependent on sleeping pills and even natural remedies was not beneficial, because you end up in a vicious circle.

Is/was there something that worried you? Could it be that an underlying problem is bothering you?

Sleeping pills didn't help, I cannot remember how long I've been doing this, but I've been taking benzos to get sleep.

They really don't like prescribing it to me for that, but I guess they will since I was having sleep deprivation for years. I used to get panic attacks while driving because I couldn't pay attention and it felt very unsafe to be driving.

I take 1.5 MG Ativan at bedtime, along with 15MG Remeron, sometimes a muscle relaxer as well (don't think the muscle relaxer sedates me though.) I don't like that I am dependent on it, but glad I found something that works, and I don't have to run on less than 4 hours of sleep a night.

As for stressors, kind of. I was living with family and it was verbally/mentally abusive, but when I left I still continued to have sleep issues. I was having nightmares about them every 1-2 nights like clockwork. I was going to do EDMR therapy, but then Covid happened, and the therapists still aren't taking in person appointments. The nightmares have gotten better, I don't really have them much unless I realize I haven't had one in a while- still would like to try EMDR though.

 

[Irishman]

I gave up on the pills (started from OTC pills then to benzos) and turned to weed.
It may not be cheap compared to pills, but it gets the job done.

 

[Xocoyotziin]

Fuck, insomnia is truly hellish. I'm sorry. I've willfully gone without sleep for around four days because I was desperate for any change in my mental state and was out of hallucinogens, but that is very different.

Recently I tried to fast for weight loss, and it worked until I gained it all back, but the whole time my adrenaline was pounding and I got a couple hours max every night, but on a rotation that was greater than 24 hours, usually through sequential 15 minute naps, and with instant and enduring REM sleep, so vivid nightmarish dreams, but no real rest. First time I've ever experienced insomnia.

I have no idea how to cure it but I wish I did.

@Irishman
Weed also stops dreaming, right? I don't think I can get some but that sounds like a nice thing.

 

[Irishman]

Fuck, insomnia is truly hellish. I'm sorry. I've willfully gone without sleep for around four days because I was desperate for any change in my mental state and was out of hallucinogens, but that is very different.

Recently I tried to fast for weight loss, and it worked until I gained it all back, but the whole time my adrenaline was pounding and I got a couple hours max every night, but on a rotation that was greater than 24 hours, usually through sequential 15 minute naps, and with instant and enduring REM sleep, so vivid nightmarish dreams, but no real rest. First time I've ever experienced insomnia.

I have no idea how to cure it but I wish I did.

@Irishman
Weed also stops dreaming, right? I don't think I can get some but that sounds like a nice thing.

Yeah, high THC strains may reduce REM sleep.
I've had dreams with hybrid strains but never with Indica's, especially the potent ones.

 

[Xocoyotziin]

Yeah, high THC strains may reduce REM sleep.
I've had dreams with hybrid strains but never with Indica's, especially the potent ones.

That's really great to know. Thanks.

 

[kappa]

Fuck, insomnia is truly hellish. I'm sorry. I've willfully gone without sleep for around four days because I was desperate for any change in my mental state and was out of hallucinogens, but that is very different.

Recently I tried to fast for weight loss, and it worked until I gained it all back, but the whole time my adrenaline was pounding and I got a couple hours max every night, but on a rotation that was greater than 24 hours, usually through sequential 15 minute naps, and with instant and enduring REM sleep, so vivid nightmarish dreams, but no real rest. First time I've ever experienced insomnia.

I have no idea how to cure it but I wish I did.

@Irishman
Weed also stops dreaming, right? I don't think I can get some but that sounds like a nice thing.

I feel like I usually get nightmares or upsetting dreams when I nap. For me weed didn't stop dreams, also didn't help me sleep. But I've also used it for a decade. When I first started it was very difficult to get up the next day, felt so groggy.

Maybe I've done it too much, but weed kinda sucks.

 

[OpheliasFlowers]

Wow, I feel like I could've written almost your exact post, down to the waking up nauseous, trying all those different meds (benzos, remeron, etc. all except for the weed), and the issue being the staying asleep more so than actually falling asleep. I've had increasingly worsening sleep issues over the last 25 years and I was always a very light sleep before that. Right now I average about 3-5 hours a night, but those 'hours' are broken up by CONSTANTLY waking up, sometimes every half hour or less. And I too have the bizarre dreams, nightmares, anxiety dreams. It's an awful way to live and you start feeling sub-human after not long of not getting restorative sleep, so my heart goes out to you. Poor sleep and full on insomnia is a living hell; I hope you find a way to get relief (and decent sleep) very soon.

 

[kappa]

Wow, I feel like I could've written almost your exact post, down to the waking up nauseous, trying all those different meds (benzos, remeron, etc. all except for the weed), and the issue being the staying asleep more so than actually falling asleep. I've had increasingly worsening sleep issues over the last 25 years and I was always a very light sleep before that. Right now I average about 3-5 hours a night, but those 'hours' are broken up by CONSTANTLY waking up, sometimes every half hour or less. And I too have the bizarre dreams, nightmares, anxiety dreams. It's an awful way to live and you start feeling sub-human after not long of not getting restorative sleep, so my heart goes out to you. Poor sleep and full on insomnia is a living hell; I hope you find a way to get relief (and decent sleep) very soon.

Wow... I mean I guess it's nice to have someone understand- but it's also depressing. I even tried light drinking before bed (2 shots) to just getting hammered to try to pass out. Yes yes, I know it's bad and doesn't work, but I had to try. Even though I seem to be sleeping better, the day long fatigue doesn't go away. I tried to counter this with Adderall, but it makes me sick even at the starting dose. If they decide to stop my benzo scrip I'm fucked for sure.

That's exactly how I was (the benzos are helping the awakenings for now)... literally sleeping for 30 min-1 hour and wake up, take an hour min. to get back to sleep, repeat. I constantly had people telling me "how tired I looked" which really pissed me off.

Anyway, enough bitching... how do you manage? Do you just.. have to experience it? I was late to work a lot, had to call in more than I liked, but the scariest thing was having to drive myself to work. I have never driven drunk, but it almost seemed like I was. Had a hard time staying in the lane before, and that was really scary.

Are your nightmares usually about things that have previously happened to you?