can't sleep

[ShreddedOakAviary]

It's 1:57am and here I sit having some sort of anxiety related insomnia. Last night I had a nightmare that my aviary was on fire and I didn't have enough kennels and I had to choose which birds to save. It's been a year and a half since the fire and it still causes a lot of problems in my life. If I go shopping I have to be sure to have my phone so I will know if there is a fire at home. As I drive home I look for smoke on the horizon. I know this is not a place for me to vent my problems, but at 2am I just didn't really have a lot of options.

 

[MikeyTN]

Yea all that stuffs causes you stress! I know what your feeling is like!!!! I had to get rid of my Saltwater tanks cause they were causing so much issue and a fire hazard! Too many times it could have cause my house to go up in flames while we're not home, it sprung leak here and there. Things get old and break down, replace one thing something else goes wrong. Eventually I have to think of the best thing for everyone in the household which is to get rid of the tanks. We actually have been better not having the tanks that worry me to death all the time. BUT I just have other things to worry about. Came home a month ago to a deceased Cockatiel from egg binding was a very sad thing to see after a long day of work. I hope you get some sleep, I just took some pills a bit ago to help me sleep as I need them to sleep. I get around 5hrs or less of sleep each night. I'm gonna go give it a try! Good night!!!

 

[lene1949]

Most of my dreams/nightmares from as young as I remember has been about fires... always running away from the fire.. I'm absolutely exhausted at the end of the night... I was about 5, when it started, and it never stopped... I'm now 60+ and I'm still running in my sleep...

 

[YNAMomma]

I know the feeling, I am have really really bad asthma and a terrible fear or sufficating/drowning so i have nightmares 3-4 times a week about being unable to breath in my dreams and almost dying before i wake and realize im in the middle of a severe asthma attack. So i totally understand how fears can affect you and your nightmares. They suck, I have noticed if i put meditation music or relaxation music on my ipod and pop in headphones and sleep with them on i don't have the dreams.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I really appreciate the stories and comments.... it makes me feel less alone with my fear, and brings me back to the "un-selfish" reality that all people have things they struggle with, and this just happens to be mine at the moment.

 

[antoinette]

LoL I thought I was the only one............. who can't sleep, makes me feel a little relieved, I am not on my own, and going crazy. I go to bed about 10pm, then awake at about 2 or 3am, not able to sleep again. My brain is continuously working overtime, trying to solve EVERYTHING.

Stress is definitely a main factor in my case, not happy at the work place, 2 car accidents in 13 days. Still waiting for my vehicle to be repaired, which could take up to ten days. (Insurance company tried to short pay me). Witnessing 7 car accident as they happened right in front of me. Our apartment, has changed ownership...... the list is endless............................................................

YNAMomma, thanks for the tip......... going to try it out.
music on my ipod and pop in headphones and sleep

 

[merlinsmom13]

I have insomnia too. I just can't go to sleep. I actually slept last nite, what a relief. I take benedryl everynite & wait to actually get sleepy before turning the lights out. Watching tv does help me not fixate on my thoughts. I need a tv w/a sleep timer.

We had a breakin almost 2 years ago, they stold the tv right beside Merlins cage. Everytime I leave the house I think of it. We were so lucky they didnt take Merlin. Its very hard to leave the house w/o this huge fear. Now that Dawg is gone, its worse, I did feel like she could intimidate anyone thinking of breaking in, she was locked in another room when our breakin occured. Insominia makes night time tortureous, I can't explain to my husband how horrible it is, he goes to sleep in 2 minutes & sleeps all thru the night.

 

[roxynoodle]

I also have insomnia and wake up several times during the night. Had a sleep study done and they said I woke up 46 times !!! I remembered 4 or 5.

My hot water heater set on fire back in 97 I think. Luckily my ex husband was here and got it out. But, I was coming back from working with my riding coach (horses) and as I'm coming down the road, I realize the fire department is at my house! I was so scared. I've been thinking about that a lot lately since the current water heater is the one I put in back then. I think I should replace it soon just as a precautionary measure. It's older now than the one that was here when I bought the house.

I think a house fire is one of the more devastating things a person can go through. Not only might you lose your beloved pets, but also things that can't be replaced like photographs or other sentimental items.

I have the same problem, antoinette. I can't stop thinking at night. It's like the time of day my brain is most awake. I've been this way for more than 30 years now. I haven't worked the last 2 years due to pancreatitis, but sometimes (at least once a week), I had to go to work not having slept at all the night before.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

My husband too falls asleep in about 2 minutes, and he is so lucky. My added problem at the moment is we just changed bedrooms, and it takes me forever to get accostomed to the different sounds I hear at night. I can hear the cats play at night, the baby birds move around, the rescues iin the addition move about their cages, I hear the refrigerator and the furnace, I can hear the crackling of the fire in the wood burning stove... everything! And my brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out the sounds and if there is a problem. I can even hear the horses feet hit the ground as they run past the chicken coop in their dry lot. I can hear the outside hunting dogs barking. I think I am gonna pick up some Melatonin from the dollar store later today. It's not addictive or narchotic, and it helps me fall asleep. I need a night of rest, I get up at 5am and I go to bed at 10pm and I NEED to sleep.

I do feel less alone and crazy knowing that I am not the only one who rarely sleeps at night.

You guys are great, I felt quite a bit better after I posted this thread last night and I did finally fall asleep for a couple hours

I am sorry for all your sleeping troubles. People who don't suffer from insomnia don't completely grasp how torturous it is to lie awake thinking or worrying for hours after dark.

Most night I lull myself to sleep by thinking about something I am lookikng forward to and daydreaming about it.... it sounds stupid but it is a way for me to control what I am thinking about... because I can't solve financial and social problems at 2am! Lol

I have decided to attend the AFA convention in August in San Antonio, TX and I am very excited about some of the speakers, so I guess tonight I'll think about spending 3 days in Texas and all the wonderful things I might learn from people

 

[Mare Miller]

I don't know how old you are, or where you live but I've been dealing with the 'change of life' for a few years now. It totally messed with my sleep pattern, I was awake for hours at a time, in the middle of the night, ruining my daytime energy. I live in California, got my medicinal marijuana licence and I've been sleeping like a baby ever since. Not only helps me sleep but allowed me to cut my blood pressure medicine by half the dosage. I too, had a house fire. I was on a walk with the dogs, thank God my daughter was here, when I got close to home I saw smoke, heard screaming, started running and found my daughter, standing outside the slider window of one of our bedrooms with the hose going full blast into the bedroom! My son owned a large iguana lizard that was in that room and his heating timer sparked, (the electricity had bleeped on and off that morning), my daughter got the lizard cage out of the room, saved the lizard and our home. I thank God every day that she happened to be there.

 

[MikeyTN]

I got about 4hrs of sleep last night even with medication. Every so often I do sleep good though...not even alcohol keeps me asleep the whole time, ill wake up about an hour or two and wide awake...my partner pass out within 5 min going to bed....

 

[beckybird]

Starting when I was 5 years old, I have had a recurring nightmare of a man in a cowboy hat coming to my childhood house. Each time I had the dream the man got a little closer to my house. In the dream, I knew he was coming to knock at our door and I begged my mom and dad not to open the door- it seemed the man meant *Bad* things for our family. Not long after I began having recurring nightmare, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. It was a long battle and the doctors didn't think he would get better, but he did! The cancer went into remission for many years.

I did not have the dream about the man in the cowboy hat again for many years. Several years ago my dad got cancer again. The dream came back. In the dream the man knocked at the door of my childhood home. I finally answered the door...the man was not wearing his hat this time and I was shocked to find that he was good-looking and seemed very kind. So in the dream I asked the man if my dad could have more time... I said, "My dad. Please?" The man's head was bent down, and he looked up and met my eyes. He replied, "I'm so sorry, honey. Not this time."

My dad died of cancer 6 months after I had the dream, and I have never dreamed about the man in the cowboy hat again.

 

[melinda]

I too had a house fire but i was very young 8 years old. Didn't have sleeping problems till around 18. Now i sleep 3 hours total at night and take a hour nap during the day. I have my 3 birds and a foster bird. Two cats plus my two children. My hubby works out of town all week, well this time he has been gone 10 days. My brain never stops turning and worring.I alone am the one that has to keep a eye on the house and keep everyone safe. My brain wakes me up when i am sleeping demanding i get up and deal with something. Sleep pills helped for a couple of years untilmy body started getting upin the middle of the night to make sure everything is ok. After breaking a toe i just stopped taking them. Maybe one night i will get lucky and get 5 hours of sleep but i'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

It seems either insomniacs are attracted to birds, or birds cause insomnia...lol

I am going to see my doctor tomorrow and perhaps a psychiatrist. Due to the military related physical problems I have to take a rotation of Lortab and Vicodin, both of which give me anxiety attacks. No idea why, but instead of making me drowsy I get a racing heart and panic attacks. Odly most sleeping pills so far just cause short term memory loss... no sleep. Anti depressants have the opposite affect and make me angry. So, the insomnia at the moment is related to my pain meds. I quit taking everything in a desperate attempt to sleep tonight.

I am gonna go in for a full blood panel and physical.

For the record I am only 32.

I will let you guys know if anything helps...

 

[MikeyTN]

I hope everything works out for ya!!! I'm 33 here. We're broke down early....lol...

 

[melinda]

I'm just 30 lol. Its sad we make sure our fids are fed the best diet and kept on a great sleep routin. But we can't even get two hours of sleep without waking up lol. Just for the record it is 1:54am here and i still haven't got any sleep. What do you guys do when its this late? I do a lot of reading with the hope of it making me sleepy. No luck tonight.

 

[Mare Miller]

Oh my Gosh! You poor fids! You're too young to be going through this! Exercise? Maybe? I bought myself an elliptical machine for Christmas. Yeah, Grandma Moses on an elliptical, but I'll swear by it! My energy level has doubled, my medicinal has been cut in half! My husband says that I've actually started snoring because my sleep is so deep!

 

[Mayden]

I've got ME/CFS so I struggle with sleep a lot too. I hate leaving my pets for fear that something will happen when I'm away. So many horror stories of people breaking in and torturing peoples pets and stuff... it's part of the reason I always take Merlin with me everywhere I can do and I hatehatehate leaving for the entire day. (Got budgie's and Annie too but they cant come with! )

I can imagine that house fire is really haunting and it's almost like an ocd fixation on checking things and worrying if things are locked, turned off, not gonna cause a problem etc. I feel for all you guys, it's tough being anxious and without sleep. x

 

[lene1949]

Oh my Gosh! You poor fids! You're too young to be going through this! Exercise? Maybe? I bought myself an elliptical machine for Christmas. Yeah, Grandma Moses on an elliptical, but I'll swear by it! My energy level has doubled, my medicinal has been cut in half! My husband says that I've actually started snoring because my sleep is so deep!

Maybe I should do something like that... I'm always exhausted, when I wake up, because I run so much in my sleep...