Re: Had the NIGHT THING TOO!!!

Hi Everyone, I'm actually writing this at 1.48am because I can't sleep. My story is oh so familiar to all of yours: I'm a Type A personality who has been working in a stressful industry for the last 8 years. It all started with getting ill with 'viruses' (low grade fever, exhaustion, nausea, aching etc) that would not go away even after a couple of weeks. These 'viruses' increased with regularity over the years and took longer to go away. My anxiety only grew from worrying about the time I was taking off work! Alongside the viruses, I'd been suffering insomnia and was put on something called Dothiapin. This definitely helped with the sleep and I even weaned myself off!

Then 3 years ago my brother was killed and I went through the most stressful year at work. Needless to say, my ability to cope with stress after this has been much worse. Everything peaked when I was, once again, in a stressful job, running on adrenaline every day. My husband and I were planning to go travelling for 6 months so we just pushed this forward and I quit my job. Little did I know my troubles were only just beginning. As soon as I quit I was soooo ill. Nothing specific but day after day, the most incredible headaches and fatigue. And then the irregular heartbeats began. At this point I was ready to wean myself back off the Dothiapin but my anxiety about my heart meant I had to stay on them! By the time we got on the plane, I can see now that my body, having relaxed for the first time in YEARS, was already shutting down.

Our 6 months away was incredibly tough. I was ill more days than I was well and I contracted horrific food poisoning on several occasions that saw me laid up in bed for days at a time. We planned to end our travels in New Zealand (I'm from the UK) and working there for a few months to see if we liked it. By the time we arrived, my body was spent. BUT, the one symptom that had not plagued me was the insomnia. After 3 more weeks of lying in bed, I finally went to a naturopath who diagnosed the AF. Like all of you, I've completely changed my eating habits, have cut out all stimulants including Sugar and have reduced the wheat and dairy. My guts are a constant issue having taken such a battering while we were away and the last few months have been some of the hardest of my life. I've dealt with so much anger and depression: anger at having finally got my life back and not being able to lead one (I'm too ill to work, really have a social life or get pregnant like we planned this year). Many times, I've just wanted to end my life because this feels like a prison. This is my second month of being on the AF supplement program and I have to say, the difference has been huge. However, a week ago, me and my husband decided to cross a wire bridge over a gorge and I totally freaked out. My heart went into overdrive and I was shaking from adrenal overload afterwards. Since then, the general feeling of malaise is back again and my sleeping has got lighter until 2 nights ago, I got just 1 hour's sleep. Yesterday, I took a Nytol to avoid starting a pattern but tonight, here I am again! I feel for anyone who has insomnia because, like you say, if you can't sleep, your body can't heal. I know that my lack of sleep over the years has attributed to my ill health now. Having slept better in the last few months than I have in a long time, I'm absolutely devastated to be back in this familiar place again. I've been telling myself that its going to be one step forward and two back but with one income, there's only so many treatments we can afford! I know this is only a few nights but I don't want to go down this path again and like you, am debating the prescription drugs route. Camomile tea, rescue remedy, herbal anti-anxiety tablets don't touch me when I'm like this (in years gone by, if I wasn't asleep by about 2am, I'd knock back a shot of vodka and that was the only thing that worked)! Also, because we're not residents here, every trip to the doctor costs us a lot of money, I feel like I'm a constant drain on our money.

A question I wanted to ask you women out there was whether your menstrual cycle had been affected? This has def happened with me and I just wondered how long it takes to get back to normal.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice you've given and the experiences you've shared. Its a great comfort to know I'm not the only one. One piece of advice I will give (and will probably try once I'm off the computer) is the affect that yoga has had on me. My husband has been bugging me to try it for years but I never had the time because I worked late to often. I've been doing Yoga every week (bar the last week which may be adding to the lack of sleep) and its really helped both phyiscally and mentally. I feel so clear-headed yet calm afterwards. And you can do it at home once you know a few moves. Please please give it a go. I promise you won't be disappointed. I think the only thing stopping me doing some right now is that I'm scared of it not working. But you have to try everything, right?

Night, guys. Tweet