Anyone get insomnia?

I have always imagined insomnia to be no sleep at all, night after night. So I guess it's how you define it.

Once every few weeks I'll go to bed, toss and turn and end up going back down stairs. Usually watching TV until about 4 or 5 am (I then have to be up at 7 am). So I guess you could call that a very mild case.

The reason I had never classed it as insomnia is because I had an over active thyroid and causes everything to work at a speeded up pace. I had just put it down to my mind and imagination raceing.

I've just googled it and I guess the Answer is yes I do get insomnia.

The NHS page has tips and methods which other suffers find helpful.

I find it really hard to switch off so always have to stick on a movie while in bed (usually one I've seen a million times before so im not encouraged to stay awake and see the end) just to stop random stuff running around in my mind, I'm usually asleep within 10 minutes. My tv in bedroom has a sleep function so it turns its self off, my OH does work late quite a bit which makes watching a movie possible if his not working late I sometimes lay with my iPod playing an audio book and that works the same.

For years reading and TV always did it for me. I would literally fall asleep with my book in my hand or wake up the next morning with the TV still on.

I think this is the difference between not being able to get to sleep and 'insomnia'. Nowadays nothing helps.

NHS website says insomnia is more common in women and usually comes with age, that's a double wammy for me.

I suffer from insommnia and the best way to resolve it has always been to not care. That might sound bizarre but if you worry about having missed some sleep you will then struggle to sleep properly and then will worry more about missed sleep and it becomes a cycle you are trapped in. If you find you are waking up because there are things on your mind make sure you have a notepad beside your bed and write everything and anything you are thinking of down. Make sure you are still going to bed at the same time each night. Make sure you have a wind down routine (which is different for everyone). My last bout of insommnia most recently had to be dealt with by anti anxiety tablets. I wasn't anxious about lack of sleep but other things and couldn't switch it off so it was the best way to deal with it. If you do wake up don't just lay there as that doesn't help - it gives you the opportunity to lay there and worry abotut he lack of sleep you are having. Instead either read or get up and do soemthing rather han thinking.

Not sure if that is much help or not but I am a long time sufferer but know not to care if I miss sleep because it just makes matters much worse.

I think this must be why i'm just a 'mild' sufferer and hadn't really thought that it was insomnia until I googled the symptoms.

I know within half an hour of getting into bed if I'm going to be able to sleep or not. It doesn't worry me and I don't give it a second thought. I just get up (so as not to disturb H), take a blanket on the sofa and watch Tv and do some knitting or something.

For me it got really bad about 12 years ago. I had a bad nights sleep and stressed about it because found it difficult to concentrate at work and then it carried on and on. I eventually went for 8 weeks without sleep - I started havign petite mals because of it and was eventually prescribed anti-ds (sleeping tablets don't work on me - in fact a variety of drugs act in different ways with me alas).

To not care is so the way to go - to be able to go 'ah well, nevermind' is the state of mind to mak sure you don't get in that situation, so six years ago I had a week of not sleeping but didn't care and it jsut lasted a week.

Apologies if I sounded dramatic, that certainly wasn't the intention ...

Thanks for all your replies. I used to get this quite frequently whenever I was worrying about something so although it's only happened three times this week, I was concerned it would follow previous patterns so I'm trying to nip it in the bud. I googled it as well but I thought I'd get 'real person' tips, if that makes sense. Pittabre, I took my computer into the kitchen this morning as I've read that staying in bed could actually worsen it as you just think "I MUST get to sleep!" and I just wrote a braindump of what I was thinking. Don't know if it's stuff that's making me anxious but I needed to get every single thing out. I got back to sleep around 7.30/8am and slept until 11 again but that sleep where you fall in and out of dreams - I'm still a bit woolly headed! I think though a notepad might be better as I'm not sure if the computer would be too much of a stimulant.

Yup since my teens and earlier I have suffered sleeping problems. I used to read, on the advice of my school nurse, but that was no good as I love reading so ended up quite happily staying up round the clock with a book! Nowadays I stick on old TV shows, such as Family Guy, American Dad, that I've seen a million times and that lulls me off. I do wake up quite a bit so never get a full night's sleep. I have also started hypnotherapy, this worked for the first couple of sessions, but isn't really having an effect anymore but not sure what else to try.

I have recently started suffering from this, and I think is job-anxiety related. It's horrid. Sunday night is the worst.

Any tips?

I can fall asleep on a sofa, in a car, on a train, but put me in a bed and I'm screwed...

I would suggest you have created an association. If it is extrene anety then drugs are very helpful - sertaline was smashing for me about four years ago.

What's your bedtime routine and your bedroom set up like?

Oh sorry I should have clarified, it does not happen alll the time. Sometimes it's just I have my cases and clients running around my head and I can't switch off. I think I need to think about a routine, eg reading etc