Insomnia

WhatThe

Hello Catmomma and welcome to the Scope community 🤗

One of the moderators could start a new thread for you to get the best possible advice and support for your health conditions, if you ask them.

The injection obviously made a huge difference to you and surely no injection is unaffordable for our NHS!! Change your GP surgery if you cannot travel there and they won't pay you a home visit to resolve this.

My GP offers phone consultations and knows me well. Without personal and regular engagement with a patient, how can a GP provide the best care?

I'm also in my 60's and need my sleep and rest more than ever, as you do. I really hope you find a way through this asap.

Agnia

Hi @Catmomma ,

Thank you for writing here and im really sorry about your health condition.

i really do understand you that lack of sleep make you confused and lethargic , a good sleep hygiene and restful sleep are very important and necessary for the proper functioning of the human body , this is very important for the proper functioning of the central nervous system.

Please , could you consider finding another surgery and to book an appointment or even double telephone appointment with a gp doctor to have time to honestly talk to the doctor about your health and your medication, and to discuss what help is available for you ?

i wish you all the best, Please take care of yourself as much as you can.

Kind regards to you .

JessieJ

I've been an insomniac for decades & average about 3 hours of broken sleep a night, not gone mad yet, although, some would disagree! 🤪 I have amongst other meds, 100mg amitriptyline for pain, doesn't do that much & doesn't help me sleep either. If I manage to get a whole hour it's like a lottery win. I don't have trouble dropping off after a good read, just can't stay asleep, the pain invades, I have to change sides & that's that for an age. Brain goes into overdrive, so to relax my mind & switch off, for years I've had my brain island. On that, I'm not disabled, it regularly changes to what I want it to be, I do what I want (there is no government or money!), sail, fish, swim, at odd times there might be people mostly none though, there are always animals, no spiders, gnats, flies or maggots. Of course, it's always blue sky & sea. My own world, so at least I do relax my mind when I go to bed. Something to try, when your brain is whirring as you can't sleep or anytime if you're down or anxious, just take yourself away from it all & it's free with no side effects. Right, I'm off to bed!

Sharebear

I have suffered too . This makes no sense but I sleep better since having an orchid in my room.

I found i was focused so much on not sleeping that I made myself worse. I have anxiety which took time to get meds right. I'm sleeping better but still struggle with anxiety.

I would see another Dr and ask them if you could have strong meds for a limited time so you don't become addicted.

If possible try to distract your mind in the day. Reading, craft etc. Diamond painting helped me. If you can shift your focus from not sleeping it might help.

Lots of luck x

Agnia

Hi to everyone, thank you very much for everyone who wrote here.

Thank you @JessieJ Thank you @Sharebear Thank you @Passerby

Agnia

Hi @Mary_Scope Hi @Adrian_Scope

Thank you for replying to my emails, i have emailed the Scope community today again , and i sent another email giving the dates and wondering how i should approach the whole situation that has caused me a severe migraine and stress that has been going on for two days and causing sadness, and i took screenshots and was still questioning my own credibility whether i see what i see and whether i really see it , and also using google to answer my questions, Please if you could take a position on the matter that i have described when you have the time and please could you kindly reply to my emails?
Please , i would also like to mention that the situation i described discourages me from participating in the forum and having a screenshot with me i still question myself and ask if i see what i see .

Thank you . Kind regards .

Catmomma

Hi all,

Thank you for your kind replies.

I have lots of potential 'treatments' in my 'tool kit' including listening to binaural beat music on Amazon or Solfeggio music on 432 Hertz or 532 Hertz frequencies for sleep. Also 174 hertz for pain relief, as well as the 'sleeping forecast '(shipping forecast with relaxing sounds) on BBC Sounds to numb the brain. This is in addition to multi hot/cold creams/gels, sleep sprays, body oils, compression socks , meds, gentle stretches, reading books or listening to appropriate audio books (gentle historical fiction/ books on Buddhism for me at night). I like to learn ways of letting go of stress/ negativity and being in the moment/staying calm. I also like listening to 'Finding true refuge by Tara Brach PhD with her insights for finding sanctuary in any circumstances…always a work in progress. She tells of her own journey with pain and guides you through meditations.

Physical pain often makes sleep difficult for me. I have recently had an implant in my left eye which makes it hard for me to lie down for long due to aching behind the eye. In addition, I have a 17yo cat who is very noisy during the night, apparently this is common in older cats. At the moment I sleep whenever I can, day or night. All appointments are made for afternoons and I put my phone on silent. I try to stay warm but the cost of heating is a constant worry. I try a pick n mix of the above remedies each night in the hope that something will help. I would like the support of my GP though. She is a the senior partner in the practice and a formidable lady as well. Have to admit to being a little afraid of her 😔 ( not saying anything against her, just that I'm aware of her seniority and time pressures) If I wasn't so tired I think I would find my voice and be more resolute in expressing myself…this is where I let myself down with any service peeps atm. A good nights sleep twice a week would help me no end.

Just to add, I have just replaced my laptop as my previous one died. Think I was signed in here with an old email address… can't remember the password or find old content. Apologies if I've repeated myself. but thank you for all your continuing support.

Agnia

Hi @Catmomma , thank you very much for writing here , please do not apologise, im really sorry about your physical pain, please could you consider about arranging a telephone appointment with your gp at a time that suits you to discuss what help they can offer you ? i also had a cat that i loved very very much and she was loud and scratched at the the door at night, im wishing you a peaceful night, please take care.

Kind regards to you . ♥️

Lucy_Scope

Hi @Catmomma,

My name is Lucy. I am one of the Cerebral Palsy Specialists at Scope.

I am sorry to hear you are having a difficult time. It is frustrating to feel like your healthcare providers aren't listening. It sounds like you are experiencing post impairment syndrome. Richard Luke has written about this on the Online Community. Here are some advice and points:

• Annual reviews . The NICE Guidelines recommend it but there are few places that offer them currently. UCLH is a multi-disciplinary team via a GP referral.
  
• GPs can be frustrating especially when they are not listening. I had to persist for 15 months for a referral to my multidisciplinary team. It might be useful to write a diary of your symptoms. Write down how this is impacting your life. I would recommend asking a referral to a neurologist.
  
• Have you tried any medications for your spasms? I am on Baclofen and it is effective.
  
• I understand the difficulty of sleeping whilst in pain. Sleep hypnosis and sleep stories have helped me to relax and ease into sleep.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions 😊

axab43

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/987704#Comment_987704

Hi Can you tell me what herbal sleeping medication you take? I am currently addicted to zopiclone. I can't sleep without it and am in a really poor state! (Shaking, feeling weak, ill. Hair loss, mental health issues. No sleep can't be helping all of that. So am willing to try anything.

Agnia

Hi @Passerby , thank you very much for writing here and im really very sorry for my late response and i would like you to know that im very grateful that you wrote here and my delay is not related to ignoring you , my previous gp prescribed me promethazine for more than two years and didnt listen to me as you wrote that is rather an antihistamine for allergic and said that will not change his mind , This is a very difficult topic for me because i was really scared and still im that i will lose my mind due to insomnia , before i got sick i was a very organic person and i was really interested in healthy eating, a holistic approach to health, my insomnia is so strong that no herbal pills or pillow sprays work for me , i would like to also mention please that i take high Mirtazapine dose regularly which doesn’t help me sleep ,

im wishing you a nice evening and restful night, please take care.

Kind regards.

Agnia

Hi @Passerby , yes that’s correct and i agree with you that only lower dose is sedative, thank you , Kind regards.

Agnia

Hi , thank you very much for each person who kindly provided advice here and for everyone who shared their experiences and thoughts here , Please take care ♥️

Kind regards.

Passerby

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/988330#Comment_988330

Hi.

I've written to you a long comment with extensive detailed explanations, but it has not been posted and I can't figure out why, as I wasn't selling or even promoting anything; neither have I used any bad language, or exposed any personal details.

I think I should at least be given the reason why it hasn't been posted, as I spent a lot of time thinking, gathering useful and relevant information, and writing them just to help out others.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Passerby, I'm really sorry you spent such a long time preparing your post only for it to go missing, that's really frustrating. I'll do my best to have a look into what's happened. Was it today you posted it? Has it saved into your drafts at all?

My drafts — Scope | Online Community

Passerby

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/988713#Comment_988713

Hi.

Thanks for your response.

I posted it this morning around 3:30 am. I'll repost it as I've saved it and will see what happens.

Is there a comment size limitations?

Thanks.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Passerby There may be some limitations if it's really long but I'm afraid I can't recall exactly what level that might be set at. Have another go at posting it and hopefully it'll all go through okay this time.

letitbe

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/988543#Comment_988543

I have insomnia as well Agnia , I know how terrible it can be, it makes everything worse .

Ricky93

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/122509/insomnia

I’m currently going through insomnia, literally was just at doctors today. My eyes have sunken in and formed bags. I have an hour a sleep a night!

My GP put my on Zopiclone 7.5mg and it didn’t do anything for me, as of today he put me on something different called Promethazine Hydrochloride 25mg.

It’s really hard to cope with insomnia as your body wants to sleep but your mind won’t shut off especially if you stress going on in the background! Have you tried watching ASMR or Reading a book.

Agnia

Hi @letitbe , im really truly sorry that you have insomnia as well, yes i totally agree with you that it makes everything worse , im sending warm hugs to you , please take care for your self the best you can for for the time being, Thank you very much for writing here and for sharing your thoughts,
Kind regards to you ♥️

Hi @Passerby , thank you very much for writing here .

Please, could you kindly confirm that you posted here your description regarding the dose of Mirtazapine that the only 7,5 and 15 mg has a sedative effect ( and i agree with you on this ) because I can’t find your comment it disappeared today ? Or maybe your comment is still here and I just can’t find it ? Thank you very much and thank you so much for writing here .

Kind regards.

Please take care of yourself ♥️