I don't sleep...ever

[soapandwaffles]

I hardly ever sleep anymore...It's really getting to me.  I'm constantly feeling tired but just can't sleep.  I just lay there. I don't know what to do.  My therapist says it's from stress...so... does anybody have any ideas to help me sleep?  I'm at the point to where I simply can't take it anymore.  I'm stressed, depressed, and so tired...I just feel like...****, to put it bluntly.  I just want to be able to sleep.

[Gregg D Jacobs, Ph.D.]

You have two options: sleep medication or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Sleeping pills are a short-term solution, CBT is a more effective and long-term solution. See my blog on 12/18/08 for 10 key CBT tips for improving sleep or see my website.

Dr. Jacobs
www.cbtforinsomnia.com

[MJL627]

Have you tried Melatonin?  I have had trouble going to sleep most of my life (just like my father always did....heredity?).  The closer I got to menopause however, the more difficulty I had with staying asleep and that's maybe even more frustrating!  I took Rx meds for a couple of years but hated the way I'd feel in the morning...and also feared not being able to come fully awake in the night if there was an emergency.  So, I weined myself off the Rx sleep aids and began taking 3 mg Melatonin pills.  Over time this began to help; not to "knock me out" but to ease me to sleep.  Now I've discovered enlyten Melatonin strips and since they are absorbed directly into the bloodstream, they work more quickly and with double the absorption, so it's even better.  I wake up the next morning sometimes and find I'm in the same position that I fell asleep in the night before!

I do want to add though, not all sleep problems are caused by a lack of melatonin....so melatonin will not help everyone.  Simple as that!