Please Help, I need sleep!

[NurseTDN]

Hello! It's roughly 0500 and I am still awake.  I've decided to break down and request assistance secondary to the doctors just not caring and giving you a pill to take.  I'm 30 years old, and relatively healthy.  I work as a nurse so I am also familiar with medicine and know for a fact that I am not well--not an attention seeker.
I can't really tell you when my symptoms started but I know they are getting worse.  It has become quite noticeable since I had my gallbladder removed in June of this year.  My insomnia is getting worse, I have to sleep in the coldest room in the house at night if I want to get any sleep, my heart races throughout the day now, I've had vertigo recently, and the back lower area of my head is starting to ache now.  The main symptom I have been having is that my bones ache, and I cannot tolerate much exercise--fatigued easily (apparent weight gain but not overweight at this point). I went into the doctor for this about a month ago and my doctor put me on Prozac.  I'm thinking to myself I know my body better than anyone else and Prozac is not needed nor is making any bit of improvement in my health status.  In the past I want to also note, I have done several egg donations and worry that all of the fertility medications have messed up my hormones.  What are your thoughts, and possible solutions to my problem?

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, your symptoms are suggestive of insomnia. It is important to categorize the type of insomnia, which can be done after noting detailed history.  Insomnia usually constitutes impaired daytime function due to difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, chronically nonrestorative sleep, or poor quality sleep.

The initial steps you need to take is sleep hygiene education, stimulus control, relaxation, sleep restriction, cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, phototherapy, and chronotherapy. These therapies can be prescribed by clinicians at any level but it can be better implemented by sleep specialist.

Whenever there is increased load to heart leads to palpitations. Anxiety and stress, low blood sugar, hyperthyroid state, cardiac abnormality etc. may cause palpitations. You should quit coffee, smoking, tea, alcohol, heavy meal which can trigger blood pressure and cardiac load leading to palpitations. Get an ECG after food, blood sugar, thyroid status and head MRI. Take care and regards.

[gofio]

Sleep seems to be something that we have no control over. When sleep deprived all kinds of rotten things seem to happen. You have not been on Prozac long enough to get any benefit from it?Having tried everything that I've heard about 'getting a good night's sleep, after a lifetime trying to find something that works  I'm still not able to do it.Now in addition to AD's I take a nightly pill Zopiclone, 37.5mg. It gets me off to sleep most nights, but that's for only an hour or two. At my age it's said that we need less sleep ~ but I'm not convinced about that. Cannot rememer when the last full sleep was. As you will well know ~ all drugs have side-effects,many of them unpleasant, but if you need the benefits then the side-effects must be accepted. My consultant insisted that I remain on them for the rest of my life. Guess she thinks I've not that long to go & pills will do less harm than insomnia?At first I was told : don't take them for more than a few days or you';ll become hooked. My greatest regret is that I went to my Doc's & said I believed that my health was in a poor state ~ the diagnosis of Severe Depression has stuck, being added to wih Acute/Aggitated dep./Bi.Polar. Now I'm used to it, Your attitude to 'pills' is a realistic one. If you are able to get some Cog.Behaviour Therapy it will probably do you more good. I colpe OK now with whatever comes along, but only with the aid of drugs that I'm dependent on. Hope you get relief soon. Insomnia's the first sympton that I'll soon be ';cracking up'. But for you it may be different ~ hope so. Best wishes, George.