Here's Why You Can't Sleep: There are 11 Types of Insomnia. Eleven!

Can't sleep? Here's an article from Health.com that explains everything you'd want to know about the 11 types of insomnia (Yes, there are 11! If one didn't get you, the others will.)

One of the weirdest is paradoxical insomnia, where people complain of sleeplessness, but actually slept through the night:

Paradoxical insomnia is a complaint of severe insomnia. It occurs without objective evidence of any sleep disturbance. Daytime effects vary in severity, but they tend to be far less severe than one would expect given the expressed sleep complaints.

People with this disorder often report little or no sleep for one or more nights. They also describe having an intense awareness of the external environment or internal processes consistent with being awake. This awareness suggests a state of hyperarousal. A key feature is an overestimation of the time it takes them to fall asleep. They also underestimate their total sleep time.

Another feature is that the degree of sleep deprivation reported seems improbable. Their level of daytime functioning is likely to be only moderately impaired. Objective findings of fairly normal sleep duration and quality tend to result from an overnight sleep study. These findings are much different from their perception of poor quality sleep.

Link - via One Large Prawn


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I have had such issues with sleeping that I created an online forum/community for people with such issues haha. Fitting, I named it cantsleep.com ;)

I used to drink so much nyquil it lost its effectiveness.

Jimbo, i know a few people with sleep apnea and they say exactly the same thing as you, getting used to the mask is actually the hardest part. After that, you are happy and can finally enjoy sleep again.
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I have had sleep apnea for many years. One of the signs is LOUD snoring, often interrupted by silence and gasp for air. This is a birth defect that causes the tongue to slide to the back of the throat and block air. When the brain detects oxygen levels dropping, it wake the body up. The result is NEVER reaching level 4 deep sleep that brings rest. Being exhausted all the time is just one of the symptoms and after work naps are common.

Tell your doctor! There is help and it may result from a couple of night sleep studies but it is well worth it. I have a CPAP machine that pumps forced air into my lungs allowing me to sleep like a rock. Getting use to the mask or nose/ head strap apparatus is the hardest part. But like wearing glasses, you soon adjust. This can be life threatening if left untreated or if it gets worse.

Lunesta is a God send also!! :)
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Argh! Insomnia is the pits. I try to sleep but I can't so what do I do...I try to zone out in the most comfortable way possible. I turn off all the lights and focus on one point on the ceiling and then start counting backwards. Eventually, if I don't become cross-eyed I fall asleep.
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S--WOW! I've been known to suffer a variation of that one. My version is called "HowFarCanIPushMyDNABudgetOnAccessories"....

I also suffer from a raging case of "TryingToAchieveLevel100InDungeonSiege2"

--TwoDragons
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Hi, 'psychophysiological' is an awfully big word for anxiety and an obsessive mind. I bet - if you are like me- this overactive mind is not just troublesome at night. I found 2 books helpful: Gayle Greene: Insomniac (infuriating because there seems to be no medical help), and Siegfried Haug: I Want to Sleep - Unlearning Insomnia (Very good and readable if you want to take control of your runb-away mind; probably most helpful if you already had some exposure to therapy)
J.
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