r/insomnia • • Sep 02 '26

r/insomnia Community Discord!

9 Upvotes

Hi all, we are implementing a dedicated community discord server for [r/insomnia](r/insomnia). This is very much a work-in-progress in its early stages, but our goal was to create a space where people could offer peer support, share helpful information, and chat during sleepless nights. If you join, please adhere to the same rules as would on this server. We have almost no members currently but hopefully that changes soon!

Invite Link


r/insomnia • • 7h ago

Terrifying experience on ambien

8 Upvotes

I’ve been taking the occasional 10mg ambien described by my doctor for over 2 years with no issue. Like many people I have a few funny stories about seeing weird things or having crazy dreams but nothing that worried me. Until last night.

I was feeling extremely anxious and upset and took a pill because I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep without it. Even while taking it I thought “I wonder if this will make things worse?” I suppose I may have just locked myself into that mindset at that point and doomed myself then and there. About a half hour later, oh my god I went totally insane. Total gibberish, wild thoughts. Ended up texting with 2 crisis hotlines at the same time, and since they’re text messages they are preserved for me to read over and over again. The things I was saying were terrifying (75% gibberish which made it scary). And the worst part….I now remember that I continuously would get out of bed, go to the bathroom, and TAKE MORE PILLS. I think my brain thought they “weren’t working.” Had I been a little stupid I could have potentially died. I miraculously woke up in time for work on time the next morning, but it too until noon before I started feeling like myself. And another several hours before I started putting the pieces together.

So yeah…no more ambien for me. At least not for a long time. Let this be a cautionary tale to be careful when taking them in a vulnerable mindset. And maybe put your phone in a lockbox.


r/insomnia • • 10h ago

I guess it shows (I am not surprised)

12 Upvotes

Somebody just asked me if I am OK and if I sleep enough, just by looking at my face. Of course I am not surprised because I know that sleeping less than 15 hours a week on average, sometimes less than 10, doesn't give me a rosy complexion, but yes, it's so hard.

This is affecting my health in other ways too. I get sick all the time and without a reason, for example I get a cold when it's warm.

Insomnia is just a curse.


r/insomnia • • 3h ago

Sleep diary

2 Upvotes

A sleep diary for two weeks tells you a lot: when you got into bed, roughly when you fell asleep, wake-ups, when you got up, and how rested you felt. People are often surprised how much time they spend in bed awake. It's also the starting point for setting a sleep window in CBT-I.


r/insomnia • • 6h ago

i would beat myself to sleep

3 Upvotes

I hate it when icannot fall asleep. How on earth do I rest??? EV1 in my family sleeps so well. Only I have this problem!!!!


r/insomnia • • 1h ago

Feeling guilty for not using my time wisely

• Upvotes

I get home from working, I come home, I lay down. I don’t sleep. I go to bed and I feel guilty that I didn’t use my time wisely by doing chores or a project or any of the 100 other things I could do. Does anyone else feel like this?


r/insomnia • • 1h ago

Somniphobia

• Upvotes

Please excuse my poor English. I’m not sure if anyone will respond, but I just need to share the absolute shitshow I’ve been going through this past month.

In truth, this whole situation has been dragging on since May, when I experienced severe stress due to a breakup and some family issues. I’ve been living abroad for five years—perhaps that’s relevant, too.

Back in May, I developed a debilitating case of insomnia. For 10 days straight, I struggled to fall asleep—there were even nights where I didn’t sleep a single second. Worst of all, I couldn’t even lie still; my anxiety was so intense that I would sob and pummel my pillow. Those were truly horrific nights. At the time, valerian root and tryptophan helped, and the stress began to subside—but the terror of insomnia, and the resulting fear of not being able to fall asleep (a vicious cycle), have stayed with me.

Throughout the summer and into September, the fear of sleep would return on certain nights, keeping me awake, though I’d ​​usually manage to fall asleep a day or two later (driven by "sleep pressure"). Things were, on the whole, relatively stable.

But now, in October, it’s become an absolute disaster. For the past three weeks, I’ve been haunted by a phobia of not being able to sleep, along with an aversion to my bed and the very idea of ​​having to lie down at night. Meanwhile, if I go a night without sleep, I feel physically awful. I’ve started keeping a notebook to track how much I sleep; it fluctuates anywhere from 4–5 hours a night down to zero. On rare, "good" nights, I manage to get about 7–8 hours, but those have become truly few and far between.

During the day, I live in constant dread of the night ahead. I’ve abandoned my hobbies and often put off tasks because I haven’t slept enough. My life has become entirely dictated by insomnia. I realize that my anxiety—and the very fear of not being able to fall asleep—is what’s preventing me from sleeping, but I just can’t seem to get a handle on it. I’m unable to overcome it. It’s even difficult for me to simply lie in bed. At night, during a panic attack, I become so agitated that I might start pacing around the room or wake up my mother—because I’m terrified of being alone in those moments—and I end up sobbing like a baby. I hope you won’t laugh at me. If anyone has ever dealt with a phobia of not being able to sleep and managed to overcome it, I beg you to share how you did it. Is there any hope? I’m just completely worn out.


r/insomnia • • 5h ago

Ansiedade social, transtorno ansiedade e insônia.

2 Upvotes

Eu vivo no inferno a 10 anos. Sofro de ansiedade social, ansiedade e insônia a 10 anos e aqui estou. Eu passei todos esses anos sobrevivendo e perdir essa luta, tentei de tudo que estava ao meu alcance, infelizmente acho que não tem jeito. Eu desenvolvir a ansiedade social na adolescência, quando estava sofrendo uma pressão externa r interna pra começa a me relacionar com o sexo feminino. Eu lembro que na infância eu me relacionava com ambos os sexos, mas na adolescência me tornei mas timido.

Lembro que além da questão de relacionar eu sofrir com muito bullying e exclusão, dá infância até adolescência, simplesmente por não se encaixar como uma pessoal padrão. Eu era gordo, careca e negro, pode parece que estou exagerando, mas sofrir preconceito pela minha cor de pele na escola muitas vezes e isso me gerou muitos traumas mais pra frente.

Tenho pais que me criaram de uma forma extremamente rígida e baseado na religião cristã evangélica. Muitos dos traumas que passei passar pelo oque passei dentro e fora de casa também, até hoje não consigo me sentir bem e confortável na presença deles, até pq me privaram de viver e se eu não seguisse oque queriam eu era punido, muitas dessas regras eram rígidas e relacionados a religião deles que eles impuiam a mim.

Voltando para a adolescência aonde desenvolvir tudo isso. Eu estava perdido e não me sentia amado por nada e ninguém, a pressão pra ter amigos, namorar e dar certo eram grandes, eu já tinha tentado me relacionar com algumas garotas, mas quando eu não conseguia por ser muito inseguro e timido, algumas se interessavam outras me rejeitavam. Aos 16 anos eu estava casando de fracassar e decidir mudar meus comportamento e personalidade, assistir vários vídeos de como me relacionar melhor com o sexo feminino, como atrair e me relacionar bem. No fim, eu me vir no começo muito inseguro com essa abordagem, até pq eu nao estava sendo eu mesmo, tava construindo algo para as pessoas aceitarem e gostarem, mas não necessariamente essa pessoa seria eu mas sim quem eu estava construindo por cima.

Passei quase dois anos me relacionando exatamente do jeito que fui ensinado pelos esses falso coouth de relacionamento. Construindo uma imagem para as pessoas, mas por dentro eu estava sofrendo de medo, insegurança e ansiedade. E se eu não tiver oque dizer? E se eu ficar sem assunto? Não posso ficar tremendo, as pessoas vão perceber. Esses eram alguns dos medos que passei, lembro de decorar oque iria dizer quando chegasse perto de pessoas que estava conhecendo, lembro de não me permitir ficar em silêncio por muito tempo e acharem que sou desinteressante e me julgarem por não dizer algo. Essas crenças foram entrando pouco a pouco, até virar verdade. Até que me vir ansioso em toda situação sociais que pessoas estavam envolvidas, eu me sentia desconfortável com amigos, família, todos. Nesse caminho do desastre desenvolvir uma paixão por uma garota e achei que a única chance de ficar com ela seria se eu fosse esse personagem interessante que criei, até pq até aquele momento eu tinha oque eu nunca conseguir alçança sendo eu mesmo, ter pessoas ao meu redor, garotas querendo ficar e conversa comigo, mas eu estava doente e não queria aceitar, no fim veio as tonturas, mente e corpo ansioso, tentando pensar sempre a frente, no que dizer, como responder da formar certa. De uma hora pra outra eu já sabia quem eu era, eu tinha acabado de me transformar em um completo estranho pra mim mesmo, já que me adaptei pra caber no mundo de todos e finalmente ser aceito, eu conseguir em parte oque queria, mas em detrimento da minha saúde mental.

Hoje estou preso dentro da minha mente aos 27 anos, mas estou 10 anos preso em remédios controlados e com a mente ferrada sem conseguir dormir e morando com meus pais autoritários. Não consigo encontrar uma saída.


r/insomnia • • 2h ago

no onset, only sleep maintenance problem with excessive dream

1 Upvotes

I have been suffering from sleep maintenance insomnia with excessive dream

I can only sleep 3 to 4 hours at one time no matter what how tired I am

It's weird because I have no trouble going into sleep, but it's just like my brain never sleeps

I'm pretty sure this is neurological problem

I just wanna ask if anybody's going through the same experience

I'm at my wits end and I need some help

I don't know what to do anymore


r/insomnia • • 2h ago

subs to scroll through?

1 Upvotes

just wondering, do you guys have certain subreddits you scroll through on nights you can't sleep? I get bored of my feed despite being in a lot of subs, I don't see variety very often. I just want some subs I can go down a rabbit hole with late at night while trying to avoid the stress from not sleeping.


r/insomnia • • 6h ago

Need an alternative to Trazodone

2 Upvotes

I have been taking Trazodone for roughly 14 years. I have always had sleep issues. For a while the Trazodone felt like a miracle drug for me because I was finally able to fall asleep and sleep thru the night. Recently I began to wonder if the Trazodone was part of the reason I was so tired during the day and causing me to have issues getting up in the morning. I sort of did my own experiment with taking half of my dose of Trazodone with a 10mg of baclofen (muscle relaxer from years ago) I had the best nights sleep and woke up ready for the day the next morning in a way I never have before. Im wondering if theres a medication I could talk to my Dr about that would better suit me the way that combination did. I know it can be controversial to play around with medications but when you have struggled with insomnia and sleep issues for as long as I have, you become desperate for relief. I will be seeing my dr next week and I just want to have some information before hand that I can look into myself to prepare for the conversation with my doctor. Any advice or experiences, positive or negative, wpuld be appreciated!


r/insomnia • • 7h ago

Has anyone tried building their own eeg machine before to measure sleep

2 Upvotes

This might be kind of obscure but I've been waiting months to do a sleep study. Because it's taking so long and it's so tedious - I was wondering if I could just do it myself. I know the quality may not be the same, but I've seen DIY solutions online. Does anyone know if it's safe - my understanding is you can connect electrodes to an amplifier which then connects to a computer roughly speaking. Is there any real risk of electrocution? I just want to measure my sleep more accurately.


r/insomnia • • 4h ago

Problemas de sueño

0 Upvotes

Estoy tomando Media pastilla de lorazepam 2,5 mg, media pastilla de risperidona 2mg, una pastilla de clonazepam 2 mg y 1 pastilla de eszopiclona 3 mg y no puedo dormirme temprano estuve tomando esto durante 1 semana pero lo máximo que llegue a dormir es a las 3am ¿es raro no poder dormir en un horario normal luego de tomar toda esa medicación?


r/insomnia • • 20h ago

Just developed Hyperarousal Insomnia and I’m super scared

19 Upvotes

I have a history of being a great sleeper my whole life. The type of person where my head hits the pillow and I’m out for at least 8-9 hours. I did have a week long bout of insomnia when I was 21 that went away.

Last week Monday is when my life changed and I have felt hopeless ever since. Monday night I had issues sleeping. I tossed and turned in bed. I knew I had to wake up early which put more pressure on me to sleep. I maybe got 2 hours.

The next night I felt I had to sleep and I suddenly got very hyperaroused while trying to drift off. Like I was hyper vigilant of the act itself and was in nearly constant fight or flight with adrenaline surges blocking my sleep drive. I slept 3 hours.

The next night I slept 0 hours. Followed by 4.5 hours and 5.5 hours. I believe I had a normal-ish night on Saturday. But still full of adrenaline rush early so I transferred to the couch, felt sleepy and then went back to my bed.

Last night was awful. I didn’t fall asleep until 5am and I slept for 1.5 hours. Every time I closed my eyes to relax, adrenaline surges.

At this point I’m at a loss and it’s only been a week. I don’t want this to become chronic. I have an urgent care appointment to discuss meds like Amitryptaline. But I’m worried that won’t work for me.

Not sure how to ever get rid of this. Any advice is appreciated.


r/insomnia • • 9h ago

Sleep issues are all over the place

2 Upvotes

Does anyone else have completely unpredictable sleep?? I can be tired and sleepy, and not fall asleep... or energized, and fall asleep immediately. I often wake up at 1am (go to bed every night at 10pm); sometimes awake only for a few minutes, sometimes need a cup of hot milk or sleepytime tea and it takes an hour or two to get back to sleep. Unpredictable every single night, and it's maddening. I live in a quiet area, very dark at night; routine days (I LOVE routine, thrive on it), walk daily, and eat healthy. Sleep issues since childhood, but nothing has ever been found to be the cause. I just wish it was predictable enough to figure out what would help.


r/insomnia • • 13h ago

How do you deal with insomnia caused by random thoughts?

4 Upvotes

I’ve been struggling with insomnia since childhood. Whenever I try to sleep, my mind keeps wandering. Random thoughts, movie scenes, memories, or literally anything start playing in my head, and I just can’t switch my brain off.
I really want to sleep peacefully, but these thoughts keep me awake for hours. I don’t want to rely on medication, so I’m looking for natural ways to deal with this.
Has anyone experienced something similar? What helped you fall asleep?


r/insomnia • • 6h ago

Quviviq (4th night)

1 Upvotes

I've been prescribed Quviviq, after I've tried around 5 or 6 other prescription sleep medications and several over the counter ones. While Quviviq addresses my main issue of even falling asleep quite well, it has now made me unable to sleep through the night. First night I woke up after roughly four hours. Second night it was the same. Third night it was 2,5 hours and tonight I woke up after 2:20 hours... on top of that I have extremely vivid, realistic and somewhat disturbing dreams and while I can handle those, it's obviously still annoying...

Has anyone else experienced this and maybe has any tips? Maybe my sleep hygiene is bad? Though I try my best to wind down properly, put my phone away and have a familiar audiobook on, very quietly (I'm used to this my whole life and it does calm me down). I don't drink caffeine hours before going to bed, I make sure to have dinner at least 4-5 hours before taking Quviviq. I just wanna sleep.


r/insomnia • • 7h ago

Trazodona par insomnio

0 Upvotes

Hola, como les ha ido con trazodona para dormir?

Mi medico está haciendo el cambio de eszopiclona a trazodona partimos con 25 mg, rs mi primera noche, les contaré.

Con Bupropion tuvimos que dejarlo porque NO hubo caso que mi cuerpo lo aceptara. Me hizo sentir triste y muy ansiosa. Volvimos q sertralina a baja dosis 25 mg.

Asi que estamos con sertra y trazodona por las noches.

Les cuento que tal !


r/insomnia • • 11h ago

Have any of you been able to successfully treat sleep maintenance insomnia with CBT-I or Coach Daniel Erichsen's program?

2 Upvotes

I've had this issue on and off for years and have been debating which to try first. His program is less expensive than paying a therapist $150 per session. Have any of you had luck on his program? Or is it more like "you get what you pay for"?


r/insomnia • • 12h ago

Is it still possible to get quviviq (or Dayvigo) for $25?

2 Upvotes

Does the savings card actually bring it down that much? I really want to try either one of these, but I'm worried that the price is going to be insane. I have Carefirst insurance through my employer, but I'm worried they might not cover it or something


r/insomnia • • 12h ago

What’s worked for me

2 Upvotes

Hi y’all! I have dealt with endometriosis for twelve years and sleep issues pretty much the entire time. I have GAD and CPTSD. I was finally able to get a hysterectomy last November and since then sleep had been non existent! My doctor put me on 15mg Mirtazapine and 4mg of tizanidine (I take half most nights)

Since starting these two medications I’m finally able to sleep all night! I would lay in bed replaying events in my head then amping myself up about needing to be up early for work and the cycle would just go on repeat every night. I know medications aren’t for everyone but these two medications together have changed my entire world! I just wanted to share what’s helped me. Melatonin sleep aids etc have never worked for me in the past.


r/insomnia • • 1d ago

Thank you Ambien

18 Upvotes

I've had insomnia for past 30 years. 20 years ago I was prescribed Ambien. It was the best sleep of my life, but after one too many sleepwalking incidents I decided to stop taking.. & was too chicken to try it again..since then I've been on everything else from Seroquel trazodone Quetiapine Doxepin Lunesta nothing ever worked as good as Ambien. So after 20 year hiatus I decided to cautiously give Ambien another shot.. boy oh boy am I glad I did.. I wonder if my body chemistry changed over the years since I'm in my 50s now cuz now there are no sleep walking incidents. I've been on it for 6 months now and best sleep ever..


r/insomnia • • 1d ago

Anyone managed to overcome waking up after 3–4 hours of sleep and being unable to fall back asleep for hours? Desperate to hear success stories

30 Upvotes

Hey everyone

I'm hoping there are people here who have experienced something similar to what I've been dealing with over the past 12 months and, hopefully, have managed to find a solution.

I've never been a particularly great sleeper, but historically my main issue was always falling asleep. That's completely changed now. These days, I generally fall asleep without much trouble, but almost every single night, like clockwork, I wake up after 3–4 hours of sleep and struggle to fall back asleep for at least another 3 hours. Even when I do eventually drift off again, the sleep is usually incredibly light and fragmented.

I've tried quite a few medications and supplements, with varying degrees of success. By far the most effective has been zopiclone, but I'm very conscious of the risks of tolerance and dependence, so I try to use it sparingly. If I'm being honest, I've probably already relied on it more than I'd like.

Other things I've tried include THC, doxepin, Dayvigo (lemborexant), and just about every sleep supplement you can think of. Unfortunately, nothing has consistently addressed the problem.

I'd genuinely love to hear from anyone who has experienced this specific pattern of sleep disruption and managed to overcome it. What worked for you? Did you ever figure out what was causing it? I'm also really interested in hearing any theories or possible explanations for why someone might consistently wake after 3–4 hours of sleep and then be unable to get back to sleep, despite still feeling tired.

I can't overstate how much this has started to affect my quality of life. The difference between days when I've slept properly and days when my sleep has been fragmented is enormous. On the rare occasions I get a full night's sleep, I feel absolutely amazing, like a completely different person. I'd honestly give just about anything to experience that more regularly.

I'm not necessarily looking for a miracle cure, just some hope, personal experiences, or ideas I might not have considered.

I'd be incredibly grateful for any advice, experiences, or insights anyone is willing to share. Thanks so much for reading. ❤️


r/insomnia • • 20h ago

How has poor sleep affected your ability to work out?

3 Upvotes

2 years ago I was lifting weights and doing cardio for 3 hours a day. 2 years ago my arms started shaking violently from any amount of heavy lifting and now my endurance is gone. This was after 7+ years of slowly intensifying poor sleep. Anyone experienced similar?

What has your experience been?


r/insomnia • • 21h ago

I can't find anything on this but does cutting out naps have the opposite affect on anyone else?

3 Upvotes

I've looked at the posts that mention napping and most people say to avoid or keep them short. I can find information on how short naps don't typically help you if you're sleep deprived and how you need to enter SWS to see improvements in cognition (which aligns with my experience). The thing I'm finding most people say is that naps reduce sleep pressure at night and it's better to avoid them, but in my case avoiding naps reduces sleep pressure.

In my experience, whenever I've felt tired enough to sleep and have been able to fall asleep for a nap but pushed through so I could fall asleep at night, I'd end up having later sleep onset.

Example: If I tried to fall asleep at 11 PM on Monday, fell asleep at 2 AM and woke up at 6 AM. If by 3 PM I was feeling tired enough to fall asleep and tried to push till 10/11 PM before getting into bed and trying to sleep, wouldn't be able to fall asleep till 4 AM.

I don't know how to word but avoiding the nap makes the wired feeling when I try to sleep worse.