I haven’t slept for a week.
Goodmorning, I haven’t slept for a whole week now at the time I’m supposed to be sleeping. I am convinced that I have insomnia. My mind has been going from one thing to another like it’s not calm. Is it stress? I tried going to sleep earlier around 2 am going on 3 o clock but I couldn’t so I stayed up again. I don’t know what to do and how to stop this. It’s currently 6 am right now. Yesterday I stayed up until 3 PM and kept going back to sleep between the times. I am exhausted but I can’t seem to fall asleep, my mind thinks about other stuff and not focused on resting. This affects my head really bad which makes it feel tight if I even think about something stressful it will get tensed up. This has been going on for about 2 years now. I’ve told my mom about it but she doesn’t think anything of it. I have to calm myself down or else it will get tensed up again. I’ve been sleeping in the day time but not at night. Meaning I sleep when I’m not supposed to be sleeping because I have schoolwork to do but I catch up on it at night. It’s a repeated cycle. I’m so exhausted.
You need medical advice. Your mom should take you to the doctor. I went a week without barely sleeping and eating and I ended up having a psychotic break and went to the E.R. because I was having hallucinations. They put me in the psych ward for 3 days and got me on some meds to help and I'm doing OK now. Insomnia should be taken seriously.
I hope you get better soon ❤
@SweetPea321 Hello, thank you replying. It means alot :) I haven’t told my mom that I didn’t sleep for this whole week. She thinks when I stay in my room all the time and barely talk because I haven’t got any sleep that I’m depressed. I don’t tell her that I didn’t sleep because then she will want to take my phone away at night. I don’t think that will even help now tbh because my mind starts thinking about one thing then another, which is why I decided to stay up again. And I’m glad to hear that you are doing better now :”)
Hi @strwberryhearts How are you doing now? Any better? I can see why you didn't tell your mom. It would suck to get your phone taken away at night, but maybe too much late night screen time isn't helping. I'm guilty of that too. When I feel myself start to get tired I listen to guided relaxation on my phone and close my eyes. Then I fall asleep. Maybe you could try that. There are many good guided relaxation videos on YouTube.
I hope you're ok 👍
I use these apps from the Play Store-
1. Sleep Easily Meditation by Shazzie
2. Guided Relaxation Sleep Learning Hypnosis by Randy Charach
They work great for me.
I had suffered insomnia in the past too. Getting only less than 10 hours of sleep per week. The only thing that helped back then were medication. I think even if you haven't told you mom you haven't slept all week, I'm sure she's able to sense it. If you don't want to tell her, and want to try and resolve it on your own, maybe try some herbal teas that help with sleep? If you're up all night on the phone, maybe to try and spend less time on it before bedtime hours? Give yourself restrictions. Do some breathing meditation in bed. Focus only on breathing, think only about breathing in and out, relaxing your muscles as you go. Relax each limb one by one, really "feel" the muscle relaxing. Hopefully this will prevent your brain from thinking of one thing to the next.
Otherwise, you should get some medical/professional help.
@strwberryhearts
@Jaeteuk Hello, I’m sorry to hear that as well. Do you still have insomnia or the pills helped? And those sound like good ideas, thank you :) I drink tea sometimes when have some in the house but I don’t fall asleep. And no she doesn’t sense it or anything. She just thinks that I’m depressed when I sleep all day or stay on my phone. Basically she just gets mad at me like yesterday. I feel like people hate me tbh/ feel like a bother because of it.
I've been medication-free for the past 6-8 years. I've recently got some worries, so I think the insomnia has returned. I had been waking up before 4am for the past week or so, and it doesn't matter what time I fall asleep. It could be sleeping at midnight, or 1am.. I'd still wake up before sunrise. Organic Chamomile tea is supposed to help with sleep, there are other herbal teas too. Rooibos is another one, it's non-caffeinated. My Aunt has drank the Rooibos for the past few years, consistently, and she says it has helped with her sleep. She's often stressed with work and her rebellious kids.
Although our mothers may sense something, they may not express it in a way that we could accept it, but I realized, at least with my mother, I could tell she notices that something is off. Knowing that I have depression though, she doesn't really voice it, unless she sees that I'm in a good mood, or she gives me a heads up that she might say something triggering.
@strwberryhearts
@Jaeteuk I’m glad to hear that you are medication free!
Oh no, I hope you will be okay and that you get back into regular sleeping routine again :( I know how you feel, I sometimes wake up before sunrise as well. It’s the worst because then, can’t go back to sleep. Another thing that can help is listening to rain sounds, lofi music, stuff like that. I used to listen to that and fall asleep with it on and phone running hot once I woke up. I tried listening to it recently but I can’t seem to get sleepy listening to that at the moment.
@strwberryhearts
Hello, I feel so sorry that you’re not sleeping at all, it can be absolutely exhausting and mentally, not to mention physically, draining especially on someone who has school work to focus on. Have you tried speaking to a GP about these issues? Or reaching out to friends?
Do you mean your mom will take your phone away at night or altogether? When my daughter was in HS, she had these kinds of problems sleeping. She would go longer actually. We took her to a Dr who then recommended a psychiatrist and therapy and she was prescribed medication to help her sleep. That didn't work and they kept upping the dose. Finally I went back to the beginning and started checking things off again. No caffeine or esp energy drinks four hours before bed. Snack right before bedtime and a warm bath or shower. Lights out. All of it. Then I noticed when I would go to check on her, every single time, she had her phone in her hand. Talked to the psychiatrist and that keeps your mind stimulated and people will get bored before they get tired and pick their phones up before their minds have time to relax. So, no later than midnight, she would bring her phone to me. Settling down checklist was still used but it took about a week for her to get used to. Now she's out on her own and will deliberately leave her phone in another place in the house so that she can't just reach for it at night. And she's still sleeping well.
@conscientiousCucumber3824 She will take it away at night if I told her. I’m glad to hear that ur daughter is sleeping well and not staying up! :)
Knowing that screen time (use of phone) before bed keeps the brain stimulated and affects your sleep, you need to be strict with yourself. Control the time you use your phone before bed, even if you don't want your mother to take your phone away completely, you need to keep yourself away from the phone. Whether that be leaving it in a different room, and putting it in a drawer away from the reach of a hand. Studies show that the blue light emitted from devices like your phone, suppresses the melatonin that is produced to help you sleep. So, if you're already having trouble falling asleep because of racing thoughts, looking at the phone will only be another reason for you to not fall asleep.
Not being able to get a good night's sleep for even one day, affects how we function the next day. So, if you haven't been sleeping for more than a week, you must do something about it. It is your choice in how you want to make the situation better. Self-discipline and self-control in this case, is crucial to turn the problem around. You need to stop doing things that may affect your sleep, and start doing things that will help you sleep. Herbal teas, relaxation techniques, breathing techniques, putting your phone away, meditation, etc.
@strwberryhearts