I don't know where to start. I've been on medication since I've moved out of my parents house at the age of 22-23ish, so I've been medicated for a total of maybe 5-6 years now. My psychiatrist started me on (I forget it's been so long) a medicine and it wasn't working, so he switched me to Cipralex. I'm on the highest dose, 30mg. To help me sleep, I was on Nozinan but came off of it because of certain side-effects I read about it. He gave me something for sleep and it's not working and not everything is covered since I have basic drug benefits from welfare.

Anyway, since the sleeping pill switch, I've been laying awake for HOURS on end. I go to bed tired, but I'm unable to sleep. I can lay awake for 3-4 hours, sleep a little and constantly wake up or wake up early. There was only a few nights I managed to sleep for an hour and then be up for 4 hours and fall back asleep. My mom said she noticed my moods have been horrible. I'm short, irritable, feel blah, I'm tired all the time and lately, I can't seem to keep my eyes open during certain hours of the day. This past Thursday was the worst day for me (I knew my mom had to have bloodwork on Friday and had to be up for 7am). I came back from a movie late and got home around 1:30, took a shower and I was wide awake until 3:45am. I slept lightly until 4:30 or so and I have no idea what happened for the next hour. I was wide awake at 6am and had a hard time keeping my eyes open throughout the day.

Last night was the first time I slept ok. I have possible sleep apnea, so I wake up quite often to go pee.

If my insomnia continues, I don't know what I'll do. I have an appointment with my family doctor on Wednesday to see what sleeping pill options I have. I'm so tired... all the time.

Do you guys have an advice or suggestions? I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight. I worked today and I'm so tired (as it currently stands).

Well when you lay down to sleep do you have any noises on in the background? What is going through your head after you close your eyes?? I obviously can't say how much is chemical, but humor me in thinking about those two things??

My sleep test results came back. I have severe obstructive sleep apnea. So, that's probably part of the reason why I'm not sleeping well at night.

When I close my eyes, there's no noise in the background. Sometimes I think about things and sometimes I don't.

Have you tried white noise, music, a familiar movie?? Sometimes it can ease things. :3

Or just count backwards. I heard this might help as well. Or just try to think of some mathemathical things and try to solve them. Or you could do what I do if I can't sleep. I use to read a lot and I then use my eBook. I lie down in bed, read read read and whenever I feel VERY tired and my eyes close all the time by themselves I just turn the eBook off, put it quickly away and almost the same moment I fall asleep.

You could always try this. :o

But I hope you're getting everything sorted out soon. Your sleep problems sound terrible. :( snugs

My Doctor is setting up an appointment with MediGas for the CPAP machine. He said the condition will improve if I lost weight. I've already lost 20 pounds. I'm working on it ._.

Last night I was able to fall asleep, but woke up really tired. I had to take a nap at 4:30

heyo, chronic insomniac here

honestly, consistency in your sleep schedules and nightly routines helps a lot. go to bed at the same time, follow a routine, and don't do things in bed that your brain associates with you being conscious. tv, phone, whatever. literally just use your bed for sleep so your brain goes "hey, i'm laying in this thing, so that means it's time to shut off and rest." essentially, condition your brain to associate specific things with sleep (bedtime routine, bed) and likewise dissociate things that aren't connected to sleeping to that routine. like, don't lay in bed looking at your phone or on your laptop or whatever because your brain then goes bed = awake activities.

also, avoid taking naps in the middle of the day when you're feeling tired because that can make it harder to sleep when you need to. exercise and a healthy diet helps a lot as well. and sometimes when you can't sleep it's best to get up for a while and do something else, then try again in a half hour or so because you also don't want your brain subconsciously associating bed with restlessness.

i also find kava and/or valerian root teas before bed help a lot (i like yogi's kava tea it's really good!) but they're sedating herbs so ask your doctor before trying either of those because they can interact with some medications.