My oldest son has always complained of not being able to fall asleep well. He started taking melatonin a couple years ago and I sent him an article concerning the pitfalls of that. But, i would like to help him out. We know about blue screens and all that. I think it’s more as he’s been plagued for some time. Has anyone ever gone to a sleep disorder clinic? If so, what do they do and do they have good success rates? I feel so bad for him. I think he might suffer from a teeny bit of anxiety, he is a real worrier.
I went a bout of insomnia that lasted a few months about 4 years ago. My doctor at the time suggested I try a CBT course through Sleepio.
Long story short, unless your son has an underlying health problem (fortunately, I did not), it’s likely he’s just stuck in the rut of poor sleep making him worry about sleep, which makes him sleep even worse the next night, which makes him think even more about how badly he’s sleeping, which further destroys his sleep, which makes him feel more anxious… etc. etc. It’s all a mind game.
The CBT course basically just teaches you to retrain your brain to stop thinking/worrying so much about how well you are sleeping… To just let it go. It also teaches you to clean up bad sleep habits like sleeping at inconsistent times of the day, watching bright screens in bed, staying in bed when you can’t sleep, etc.
Reiterating what I said earlier, as long as he has no underlying health problems, his sleep problem is almost surely just in his head, and can be fixed rather easily through CBT.
Why I was younger and working I had exactly what fractalmstr described. To break the cycle my doctor suggested taking a benydrl at bedtime. It worked for me.
I still get insomnia every once in a while and I make sure the next night to take one as the more exhausted I become from lack of sleep the more difficult it is for me to fall asleep.
I also don’t drink anything with caffeine after noon.
Taking a bath or shower at night helps with falling asleep too. http://time.com/4665489/hot-shower-before-bed/
I also went through an online CBT course called shuti. I just finished all the windows and went from sleeping 3 hours/night to 6.5-8. I’m also seeing a sleep psychologist at the end of this week and hope to tease out if I need more counseling for my stresses. But yes, @fractalmstr said it well. I’m thinking of getting evaluated for bio-identical hrt therapy but the on-line program worked so well, I probably will cancel that appointment.
I go to sleep with a sleep app called Z. It plays soothing music and it talks a bit, so I just focus on the music and fall asleep. It lasts for one hour, but I usually fall asleep before that. I also have some meditation soundtracks that I listen to when I wake up in the middle of night, even if I don’t fall asleep I feel very rested and calm when I get up.
A thorough physical to rule out medical issues makes sense. Have him start with that.
Thank you all so much. I had also thought a sleep clinic might be able to rule out the physical first. I’m going to ch3 k all these things out for him!
I also go to sleep listening to podcasts, but ones that won’t get me aggravated (so no news or political ones.) I put about 5 in the queue and it’s rare I even make it through the first one.
I have multiple sleep disorders, including insomnia. I went to a sleep clinic years ago and they did overnight tests. I was put on terrible drugs and eventually had to stop taking them. Now I mostly just suffer.
Same here. If I have a Coke after 8pm or so I can’t get to sleep for a long time. Another thing that keeps me up is having something to eat late at night (say, 10pm).If I avoid those two things, I’m out in minutes.
I went to a neurologist recently about an unrelated issue. My h was with me. After the full neuro work up, she asked me about my sleeping patterns. I slept very poorly, waking consistently during the night- exhausted in the morning and during the day. She turned to my h and asked about snoring and yes, I snore. He described episodes where he felt I stopped breathing. She referred me to a sleep study clinic. I was a little hesitant but felt so crappy and tired I was willing to try anything.
The process wasn’t as bad as I thought. Hooked up to lots of monitors. I took a sleeping pill so I would actually sleep. The room was like a mid range hotel room. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I returned 2 weeks later for CPAP titration. That was a little more difficult, but again I took a sleeping pill so I would sleep.
2 weeks later I was set up with a home CPAP machine. I was surprised how quickly I adapted to using it. I know sleep through the night- waking only once to use the bathroom. I have so much more energy and no longer fall asleep during the day.
I would strongly recommend a sleep study- I’m sure it doesn’t help everyone, but I wish I had done it years ago!
A relative with poor sleep discovered through adrenal gland testing that adrenal levels were going UP at 11 pm, instead of decreasing. Natural supplements seemed to help some with adrenal gland function.
This was not a normal test, and was prescribed at a more in depth medical center that uses both traditional western medical practices and other alternative methods. Diet, immune system function, biofeedback and extensive blood work uncovered multiple health issues. This led to a better overall health, which I would assume would contribute to her ability to sleep more peacefully.
If no sleep breathing issues (loud snoring or observed apnea), pure insomnia is best treated with CBT. The sleep specialists I work with generally refer to a behavioral psychologist or this online program: cbtforinsomnia.com
He has his yearly checkup in 3 weeks. I’m going to tell him to talk to the doctor about this, and he needs a work up. Thyroid, whatever they do to start the process. He doesn’t snore and never complains about walking up in the night, it’s getting to sleep. I know several things he does that are bad, bad…blue screens, different wake and bed times, he says he takes naps sometimes. Even in high school, when he was up early and bed at normal time, this was happening.
I did read about the SHUTi program and CBT therapy. I think this is the way to start, they have a program that is the cheapest at then the next level is with a doctors prescription, I might have him do that…it’s only $40 more…I wonder what else they provide.
I’ll take a look at the other ones, too…cbtfirinsomnia. I did note that SHUTi was mentioned in several psychology journals and newspapers. The things I learn from this site are wonderful!!
My kid just commented to me last night that moving to a very quiet neighborhood recently when she went to grad school had improved her sleep a lot. She hadn’t realized how much both her college and our apartment location had been impacting her quality of sleep until she got to grad school and started sleeping better. Your son may have other issues, of course, but something to consider.
My issue is not with falling asleep, but with early waking. Today I woke up at 4:30 and was wide awake and recently it has been generally 5:30 giving me only 6 or so hours. I think I managed to get another hour or so after reading a bit. But all the sleep help seems to be for falling asleep, not staying asleep. Any thoughts?
Anyone from the Detroit area remember a radio program from the 50’s called “Nightflight 760?”:
https://jitterygt.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2012/09/21/night-flight-musical-memories-from-detroits-wjr-760-am/
My parents used to listen to this every night when they went to bed, and my brother and I could hear it faintly in our rooms. I found it comforting and drifted off to sleep with the background sounds of the soft music and the lulling announcer’s voice. I had completely forgotten about it, but @oldfort’s post about the Z app sounds a lot like this program. Occasionally, I have trouble getting to sleep, so I think I will try that app. Thanks, @oldfort.
@conmoma, my son has very similar issues, at 21, and has for a couple of years. Please share anything additional you learn from drs, etc.
Thanks
I will @1214mom . I told DH about it and he thinks the program will be wasted on DS. He’s tried to tell him things that will help, and of course DS doesn’t do any of it. Keep a normal schedule, don’t sleep in late, no blue screens, etc. I said he sleeps in late because he doesn’t fall asleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. He takes naps, and has been doing that since HS. He said he still wants to sleep in between classes. I think it’s an issue and am going to talk to him about this program and everything when he’s home from school. I normally don’t go against DH’s wishes (vice versa) we typically make sure we agree on things, but I might put my foot down on this. I might make DS out in some of his own money to see how much he really wants to do this.
@ChoatieMom I remember that show! I grew up less than an hour from Detroit. But it was later than the 50’s as I wasn’t born until late 1959! Funny when you mention it I remember NOT liking it - something about the opening of it made it feel dark and kind of creepy to me!