discussion Nervous to talk about insomnia with nurse practitioner?

[zasderfght]

Hey! 

 

My nurse practitioner is a wonderful lady, but let me explain why I'm feeling how I feel: 

 

I've struggled with insomnia since last year. So bad to the point where I take an ungodly amount of melatonin, Unisom, and/or high CBD-gummies, and I fall asleep for maybe 3 hours. If I actually do sleep 6-8 hours, it's interrupted. When I can sleep 6-8 hours uninterrupted is more rare/infrequent than it is common. This is bad because on the days I truly don't sleep, I feel super nauseous and have to take my Zofran. This, fortunately, isn't all the time, but not getting proper sleep drains you. 

 

My therapist seems to think mindfulness works for everything, and the one time a sleep meditation worked for me, I still woke up hours later. Because I'm already prescribed Xanax for panic attacks, I'm kind of embarrassed to ask for another medication. I don't want to feel like a pill-head, but the truth is, I just cannot sleep naturally. I've even tried teas and supplements, OTC meds similar to Benadryl. Nothing sticks. And I'm not on any antidepressants or other drugs that could cause insomnia. 

 

I guess you could say I feel guilt because while I do incorporate more meditations, and I've seen some reduction in anxiety-- to the point where I don't think antidepressant medication for anxiety is appropriate at this point-- I'm nervous my therapist is gonna think, "I'm telling this guy to meditate to fall asleep, but instead he's taking a pill." 

 

Any thoughts? I might just end up bringing my insomnia to my NP anyway because sleep is super essential, and I deserve to live a normal life. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by zasderfght

[EtherealCat]

reading that suggests that your therapist is a bigger problem than the insomnia 

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, EtherealCat said:

reading that suggests that your therapist is a bigger problem than the insomnia 

That's a fair point. When I went on antidepressants for depression last year, she tried to be as supportive as she could be, but she's a little too au naturel for me. Sometimes drugs have their place and are absolutely necessary. While I feel I don't need antidepressant meds., that was what catapulted me out of my depressive episode last year. 

[Bloodflowers.]

I struggled with insomnia (still do sometimes) and was on medications. I couldn't fall asleep because I was feeling too anxious and always worrying about something. Then when hours passed by, I catastrophysed my insomnia even more, making it even more difficult to fall asleep. Unfortunately mindfullness is what helps me fall asleep and being mindfullness is extremely difficult at some nights. It's a war between my mind and me. So... you have to think about positive things (and convince yourself with those positive thoughts the same way your negative thoughts convinced you, which led to anxiety and therefore insomnia) to help yourself relax with positive thoughts, your body shuts down when it feels safe and you get sleep when you have no worries. It's hard sometimes to feel relaxed when you feel like catastrophy is happening, but that is the only way how I managed to get sleep finally.

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, Bloodflowers. said:

I struggled with insomnia (still do sometimes) and was on medications. I couldn't fall asleep because I was feeling too anxious and always worrying about something. Then when hours passed by, I catastrophysed my insomnia even more, making it even more difficult to fall asleep. Unfortunately mindfullness is what helps me fall asleep and being mindfullness is extremely difficult at some nights. It's a war between my mind and me. So... you have to think about positive things (and convince yourself with those positive thoughts the same way your negative thoughts convinced you, which led to anxiety and therefore insomnia) to help yourself relax with positive thoughts, your body shuts down when it feels safe and you get sleep when you have no worries. It's hard sometimes to feel relaxed when you feel like catastrophy is happening, but that is the only way how I managed to get sleep finally.

Thanks 

 

Yeah, anxiety really messes you up. There's days I'm randomly nauseous for no reason. Sleep? Forget it. Sometimes I'm too hungry or not hungry enough. If you were able to sleep better, maybe there's hope for me! 

[Bloodflowers.]

7 minutes ago, zasderfght said:

Thanks 

 

Yeah, anxiety really messes you up. There's days I'm randomly nauseous for no reason. Sleep? Forget it. Sometimes I'm too hungry or not hungry enough. If you were able to sleep better, maybe there's hope for me! 

 

Yeah, I even made a discussion thread about it here on ATRL

 

 

Didn't use it in a long time since I haven't been struggling with sleep for some time now (thankfully), I should probably post some good YouTube videos that helped me with my insomnia battle

 

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, Bloodflowers. said:

 

Yeah, I even made a discussion thread about it here on ATRL

 

 

Didn't use it in a long time since I haven't been struggling with sleep for some time now (thankfully), I should probably post some good YouTube videos that helped me with my insomnia battle

 

Can you DM me them or post them here? Thank you so much

[getBusy]

1) I'm sure your NP (and anyone in the medical field, honestly) has seen MUCH WORSE than what you're describing here, so I don't think they will judge you. And if they do, find another one bcause they're supposed to help you, not judge you.

 

2) This is way more common than you think, I know a handful of people who take several different things to fall asleep (ranging from CBD gummies to prescription drugs). 

 

Hope you get this figured out - sleep is so important.

[Femalien]

I started getting horrible insomnia in 2018 and basically went crazy and took all kinds of pills to help me. I lowkey felt cuicidal because I couldn't function.

 

The sleep specialist i saw, after excluding sleep apnea with a sleep study, basically explained sleep hygiene to me and left me with the following quote: "sleep isn't something that you do, it's something that happens to you."

 

His point was that if you are sleepy enough, you will fall asleep no matter what and it's out of your control. But if you have messed up your sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm with these fractured sleep patterns and habits thay you describe (the same ones I had tbh), your body simply has to relearn how to sleep normally because it has forgot.

 

To wrap it up, I basically had to learn the difference between feeling tired/fatigued and actually feeling sleepy. I felt like **** all day in a way where it felt like I could go to asleep at any time, but I wasn't truly sleepy, aka truly feeling such heavy eyelids that i couldn't stay awake if I tried. 

 

In order to feel truly sleepy again, I had to stay up super late until I basically couldn't stay awake any longer, and then wake up early afterwards, because you have to establish an early time to wake up at no matter what. You eventually accumulate a sleep deficit that will make you so tired you'll fall asleep at night way easier and stay asleep because the sleep will be more dense. You then have to maintain a strict wakeup time going forward so that this becomes the new pattern, and your body will forget how to br an insomniac just like it forgot how to sleep normally in the first place

[Bloodflowers.]

10 minutes ago, zasderfght said:

Can you DM me them or post them here? Thank you so much

 

 

She is great, I watched a bunch of her videos and she helped me a lot!

 

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, Bloodflowers. said:

 

 

She is great, I watched a bunch of her videos and she helped me a lot!

 

Omg I love her! Her videos about panic attacks are great! 

[Pacify Him]

Are you physically active/keep up with exercising? The older we get, the less we are able to sleep. Do you drink caffeine?

[ChapelHooker]

I get why you feel this way. In my experience, being 110% honest with medical professionals you deal with is always the best choice. If they are professional, there is no judgement.
 

Tell your nurse everything you wrote down here. This will make it possible for you to get the best care possible. Even if that means taking another medication. Sleep is essential. And you might need less of your other meds if you get better sleep as well. 

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, Pacify Him said:

Are you physically active/keep up with exercising? The older we get, the less we are able to sleep. Do you drink caffeine?

When I don't feel nauseous/lethargic from not sleeping, I try to hit the gym 3x a week. I also try to get half-hour of pelvic stretches in. I also do not drink caffeine as it makes me jittery and anxious. 

[zasderfght]

2 hours ago, ChapelHooker said:

I get why you feel this way. In my experience, being 110% honest with medical professionals you deal with is always the best choice. If they are professional, there is no judgement.
 

Tell your nurse everything you wrote down here. This will make it possible for you to get the best care possible. Even if that means taking another medication. Sleep is essential. And you might need less of your other meds if you get better sleep as well. 

This is true. And my nurse practitioner has never judged me. 

[Pacify Him]

41 minutes ago, zasderfght said:

When I don't feel nauseous/lethargic from not sleeping, I try to hit the gym 3x a week. I also try to get half-hour of pelvic stretches in. I also do not drink caffeine as it makes me jittery and anxious. 

Let’s increase  that up to at least 5x. What kind of job do you have? Does it involve sitting around all day? If so, see if you can do push-ups every hour.

 

im no nurse practitioner but I’m studying nursing atm. Diet and exercise are simple yet effective lifestyle changes

[Headlock]

OP, never feel nervous to discuss medical problems or concerns with your provider, they WANT to know, they’re trained for it, and they can provide you with the proper care and plan, whether that be medications, lifestyle changes, or both, and possibly even referrals out to specialists to further investigate. Best wishes moving forward 

[Lipgloss]

I never had insomnia but bring diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting a cpap machine helped for me. Not sure if ur issues are more physical or psychological, but something to think about. 

[zasderfght]

23 hours ago, ChapelHooker said:

I get why you feel this way. In my experience, being 110% honest with medical professionals you deal with is always the best choice. If they are professional, there is no judgement.
 

Tell your nurse everything you wrote down here. This will make it possible for you to get the best care possible. Even if that means taking another medication. Sleep is essential. And you might need less of your other meds if you get better sleep as well. 

I agree! I just hope I can get prescribed something while I cope. I've tried "naturally" curing my anxiety, and it's horrible. If I don't take my Xanax in the morning, I will get nauseous, my memory will be horrible, and I will get that heart-racing/shaky-palm feeling. I've just accepted the fact that as long as I don't abuse my prescription-- which I'm very careful about using-- if it's working, why stop taking it? I'd rather take a pill and feel normal than to be an absolute basket case at work.

[zasderfght]

21 hours ago, Headlock said:

OP, never feel nervous to discuss medical problems or concerns with your provider, they WANT to know, they’re trained for it, and they can provide you with the proper care and plan, whether that be medications, lifestyle changes, or both, and possibly even referrals out to specialists to further investigate. Best wishes moving forward 

Thank you 

[zasderfght]

21 hours ago, Lipgloss said:

I never had insomnia but bring diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting a cpap machine helped for me. Not sure if ur issues are more physical or psychological, but something to think about. 

Thanks. I've been thinking about a sleep study for some time! 

[zasderfght]

On 3/22/2023 at 11:57 AM, getBusy said:

1) I'm sure your NP (and anyone in the medical field, honestly) has seen MUCH WORSE than what you're describing here, so I don't think they will judge you. And if they do, find another one bcause they're supposed to help you, not judge you.

 

2) This is way more common than you think, I know a handful of people who take several different things to fall asleep (ranging from CBD gummies to prescription drugs). 

 

Hope you get this figured out - sleep is so important.

Thanks! And I agree. It so is. 

[zasderfght]

21 hours ago, Lipgloss said:

I never had insomnia but bring diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting a cpap machine helped for me. Not sure if ur issues are more physical or psychological, but something to think about. 

Probably both, but I do have generalized anxiety disorder, so that can explain it. 

[fountain]

You should tell her, the most important thing is to improve your sleep and overall health and this is the path to that

 

…I should also take my own advice and tell my doctor about my own insomnia… but it’s hard, I definitely understand where you’re coming from 

[zasderfght]

On 3/22/2023 at 1:27 PM, Pacify Him said:

Let’s increase  that up to at least 5x. What kind of job do you have? Does it involve sitting around all day? If so, see if you can do push-ups every hour.

 

im no nurse practitioner but I’m studying nursing atm. Diet and exercise are simple yet effective lifestyle changes

Yeah, I mostly sit around-- I'm a teacher, so when I'm not standing, I'm at my desk. It's kind of hard to do physical exercise with my dress attire and the hard-wood floors in the building. I could go on walks during my prep periods and see if that helps. 

 

And yes, I eat pretty healthy. My lunches consist of yogurt, fruit (apples/bananas), a salad, those AppleGate/Hillshire-charcuterie things with nuts/salami/cheese. I primarily drink water. I don't have too many sweets.