Chronic insomnia or sporadic fatal insomnia

[sterlan1976]

I have been suffering from insomnia since early Apr. Initially it starts after a stomach flu and some stomach rumbling at night. And suddenly I found I wake up earlier and earlier. For examle one night I slept at 2am but wake up at 5am. With only 3 hours' sleep during the night, I don't feel too tired in the day but my brain is just foggy and I experience frequent tinnitus . Right now it develops into not being to fall asleep. In some cases, I was waken by random muscle twitches and heart beats just before I am about to sleep. In other cases, my brain seems to become awaken after it stays low for a while. Really weird ! The situation forces me to rely on prescription drugs (Benzo) for a few months. But even with those drugs, I still wake up 3-5 hours after asleep and it is difficult to fall back to sleep again (~50% of the time I cannot).

I am worried that sporadic fatal insomnia is developing inside my brain. I am 33 male, relatively skinny, used to have some non-severe sleeping problems in the past but it is all related to not being able to fall asleep. As long as I am asleep I can continue like that for 7-8 hours like a rock. I used some OTC sleep aid which worked at then but all of them lose effects now !

I am very concerned and crave for some suggestions and experience sharing !

Thank you very much  !

[Gregg D Jacobs, Ph.D.]

You have developed chronic insomnia and should start behavioral techniques as outlined in my blogs and website.

Dr. Jacobs