haven't slept

[ambee13]

I haven't slept for more than three hours for pretty much the past year. i don't know what to do to help me sleep. any ideas?

[Dr_Smita_S]

Hi.
You are probably suffering from chronic insomnia. There can be several underlying causes for this.  Medical conditions include chronic pain syndromes (eg, arthritis, cancer), advanced COPD, chronic renal disease, chronic fatigue syndrome; Neurologic conditions like - headache syndromes; psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety. It may also be linked to alcohol or stimulants.
I would advise that you consult a sleep specialist or a physician with your sleep diary for a complete medical evaluation. The treatment is directed towards rephasing the sleep cycle and circadian rhythm in accordance with the external environment.
Sleep therapy along with sleep hygiene (avoiding caffeine, alcohol and tobacco as well as stress reduction) in due course of time helps the patient get proper night sleep. The other treatment options available are bright light therapy and chronotherapy.
Your doctor may advise you some Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which might improve your sleep.

The different approaches used are stimulus control, sleep restriction, relaxation therapy, psychotherapy and maintaining sleep hygiene.

You are taught not to read, watch TV, or do anything else in bed. You are also taught to go to bed only when you feel very sleepy.

Regards.

[Luisitosax]

Hi:
Do you have any symptoms because lack of sleep? tiredness, irritability, depression?
If you doesn't feel anything, maybe you don't need more hours of sleep.
I always have slept only 4-5 hours a night all my life.

[KatEyes]

Do yourself a favor and get a sleep study. As long as you sleep 2 or 3 hours during the night, they can get an idea what's going on. If you have chronic insomnia, that's one thing, but when I had what appeared to be chronic insomnia, turned out I had sleep disorders that prevented me from sleeping. For some people, the brain avoids sleep almost instinctually because it knows what will happen during sleep is not good. For me, not sleeping became an ingrained behavior that became hard to break even after the disorders were treated.

Sleep is critical to health. Please do not delay in pursuing answers.