I'm a 23 year old female and i've never
suffered from any sleep problems in the
past so just need some advice. I
recently came back from a 2 week holiday
in dominican republic and had to take a
course of malaria tablets (2 tablets as a
single dose for 1 week before I went,
whilst I was there and for 4 weeks when I
returned). I finished my final dose
last tuesday and had my last (or what I
hope is my last) sleepless night last
night (sunday).
Do you think this is why i'm having
trouble getting to sleep? I just don't
understand it. This has been happening
since I got back from my holiday (so just
over a month now). I'm scared to go to
bed in case I can't fall asleep, whereas
before, I loved my sleep and never had
problems getting off (even if I did have
things worrying me). I'm also finding
that I get really hot in the night
sometimes but I know this isn't the reason
why I can't get to sleep.
Also, I just thought - before I went on
holiday, I used to go to the gym a minimum
of 2 times a week and for a good few weeks
before I went, I was going about 4 or 5
times a week. I was also eating more
healthily - i'd have porridge for
breakfast, ham salad for lunch and then
oven chips and chicken for dinner. Well
when I went on holiday, I didn't do any
exercise, apart from swimming, and I ate
what I liked which was basically junk
food. Since coming back, I haven't been
back to the gym and I haven't really
changed my eating plan back to the way it
was. I'm skipping breakfast a lot and
then eating chips or jacket potato with
cheese and beans for lunch and then my
usual dinner of oven chips and
chicken/steak etc. Could this be why?
It doesn't happen every night that I can't
sleep, but it does happen about 3 or 4
times a week. I'm getting really upset
with this now. I've bought some
sleeping pills and they do get me to sleep
but I don't want to have to rely on
these!
When i'm lying awake at night, i'm just
thinking about stupid things like when I
passed my driving test (which was 5 years
ago), my holiday, just things like that.
I have nothing worrying me at the moment,
except from not getting to sleep. I'm
thinking that maybe i'm suffering from
insomnia because i'm so paranoid of not
getting to sleep that this thought keeps
me awake. I seem to sleep ok at
weekends, when I know I don't have to get
up so is it this? If so, any tips on
how I can cure myself?
Please help!!!
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rIcHrD
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 19
Posted: 01-28-05 09:06am
Insomnia sleep problems are of many types
and have many different causes. The
experiences can be:
-difficulty falling asleep
-early awakening from sleep
the former one, which you seem to describe
experiencing is associated with anxiety.
The cause of anxiety can be numerous,
ranging from psychological to psychiatric
anxiety disorders. As you seem to
describe your experiences as increasing
with anxious thoughts and worry about
sleep, as well as on weekdays relative to
weekends, the most likely cause is
psychological.
Changes in the length of sleep are more
indicative of serious problems, be it
shortening or lengthening, especially
where this appears progressive. You don't
describe this, so I don't think you have
anything to worry about there.
Early awakening from sleep is associated
with depression, but is usually associated
with increased sleep length and could
potentially be serious, depend on the
cause. If the cause is understood to be
psychological, then there is no immediate
concern.
Difficulty falling asleep, but with normal
sleep length (including daytime naps) is
quite common and associated with change of
environment, so if this is all you're
experiencing you really don't have
anything to worry about. Just try and use
sleep-aiding strategies to get yourself
sleeping and waking on time and over time
your circadian rhythms should reset to
your 'normal'.
