Sleep Disorder

[ThaiPauly]

My Wife can't sleep longer than 3 hours every night.

She will go to bed at 10pm and then wake about 1am and get no more sleep.

She has been to hospital on many occasions and been given several meds to take but they have very little effect. This has been going on for about 4 months now.

As time goes by she is looking more and more tired and the strain is becoming obvious in her face as well as her energy levels taking a beating.

Does anyone know if any hospitals (especially in Chiang Mai) have sleep disorder clinics or has anyone had any experience of this before and what happened to rectify the problem?

Thank you in advance of any helpful replies.

TP

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Suggest you do a Google for: sleep clinic chiang mai

Several hits pop up.\

Mac

[Kitsune]

The medical answer to sleeping disorder is sleeping pills.

I would not go that way yet.

I would first try to eliminate the psychological side: is she worried/depressed/anxious?

I used to have that problem and it turned out to be something I really did not expect.

[uli65]

try Melatonin 6 mg. it will help

[h90]

My wife needs extreme little sleep (but doesn't look tired), but often she take a short nap during the day. Can you wife maybe take a nap during the day? Not really help the sleeping disorder but improves life quality.

[Sheryl]

There is a sleep clinic at CM Ram.

I woudl agree with suggestion to take Melatonin - in her case, I would try taking it when she wakes up at 1 AM, maybe read for a little while (something soothing..maybe a Dhamma book) and then go back to sleep.

Suggestion for napping during the day is also good. As is suggestion to look for underlying causes.

Is she by any chance going through the menopause?

[h90]

There is a sleep clinic at CM Ram.

I woudl agree with suggestion to take Melatonin - in her case, I would try taking it when she wakes up at 1 AM, maybe read for a little while (something soothing..maybe a Dhamma book) and then go back to sleep.

Suggestion for napping during the day is also good. As is suggestion to look for underlying causes.

Is she by any chance going through the menopause?

For me the effect of Melatonin is zero, but some believe it helps.

For some people it helps if they drink beer......don't want to promote alcohol consumption but some people, specially women drink a small glass of beer (or wine) and fall asleep. So take this suggestion with some doubts.....

Other people sleep excellent with the TV.

If you sleep together try to sleep separate. I am a good sleeper, but if you wake me up 3 times in a row, I can't sleep at all anymore. So it might be possible that you move or snore and disrupt her sleep, even if both of you don't know.

Without adding more tension, you can simply leave the bed when she fall asleep. If she usually just sleeps 3 hours it won't be too hard to wait. You can tell you went hungry and turned on the TV while eating and fall asleep on the sofa.

So you avoid to make it a special situation of sleeping alone and make her more nervous (I think everyone who sleeps just 3 hours for a longer time is pretty nervous).

Eating: Some people can only sleep with a full stomach (me, as more in my stomach as better), while many others need an almost empty stomach. If she changed something on her eating (got vegetarian, on diet, end a diet) it might be something to look at.

Being serious is also thing. Financial troubles, sick family members etc etc

[tutsiwarrior]

There is a sleep clinic at CM Ram.

I woudl agree with suggestion to take Melatonin - in her case, I would try taking it when she wakes up at 1 AM, maybe read for a little while (something soothing..maybe a Dhamma book) and then go back to sleep.

Suggestion for napping during the day is also good. As is suggestion to look for underlying causes.

Is she by any chance going through the menopause?

menopause is something to consider...my wife's sleeping habits have made it such that she cannot look after the house any longer, her daughter has taken up the slack, fortunately...up all night and sleeps all day and is consistent with other patterns that I have noticed...

usually a western trained doctor would need to make the diagnosis as thais don't usually attribute bad sleep to anything medical...I have been trying for years to get my wife to see someone without success...it can be a heart breaker...

[JAS21]

From past experiance with my wife who is hugely better now ... have a look at CFS ... it covers a multitude of don't knows.

Very early in her illness she couldn't sleep at night but was tired all day. One advice I was given was cut the plug of the tv and also take a load of vitamins ... I'll find the list and also search out the other sdvice she was given.

She relapsed after menapause but additional treatment has helped a lot. She will never get back to being a gum bunny again or work hard in the garden but manages to play golf.

PM me after reading about CFS if you want ...frequently Fibromyalgya (wrong spelling) also developes.

Good luck

I

[ThaiPauly]

Thanks for all your helpful replies.

I don't know if she is going through the menopause at the moment , nor does she, but she is at the right age (48)

We went to our local doctor yesterday who said that only counseling will have any long term effect. She believes that there is some underlying problem here. My wife says she has no worries at all, but of course there may be some underlying problems that even she is not aware of, so it's worth pursuing.

However she prescribed Seroxat 20mg and Zalepion and Zolpidem.

When she went to the local hospital previously they gave her Tranmed 5 Sertraline Alpruzolen and Lorazepam all of which have had zero effect.

I shall see what kind of results we get from the new batch of drugs, if nothing changes in a few days will definatley take her to the sleep clinic and request Melatonin.

I do tell her that we should sleep separately but she just won't have it, but the longer this goes on she may change her mind. JAS 21 I will look up CFS and pm you if I need further info-thank you.

Thank you to all the people who have responded to this thread. I will keep you informed about what happens next.

[h90]

Counseling if she has no worries???

I wouldn't do that.....They'll talk some additional problems into her.....

[Sheryl]

Everyone has at least some worries.

A person who wakes up at 1 AM and can't get back to sleep every single night for a long time, is almost surely troubled.

[Kitsune]

Wrong.

I had awakening at 2/3 am for months and impossibility to get back to sleep and it was not because of "worries".

Any other symptoms at all?

[tutsiwarrior]

dealing successfully with sleep disorders requires an awareness that you have the problem to begin with...preparing for sleep is a serious business and ensuring that you have the proper sleeping arrangement is utmost...

I've got hypopnea and the cpap machine hasn't been effective...now I prepare for bed when I get home from work to increase my chances that I may get 6+ hours of sleep and at least feel refreshed in the morning...

if you work, your employers require you to be alert and you measure this ability by how often you must sleep during the day...our bodies have mechanisms to alert us in this regard...some folks don't need more than a few hours sleep per night to function OK during the day...I'm 64 y.o. and need at least 6+ hours of sleep to successfully conduct my business during the day...

sleep disorders presently have an extensive literature...check out google...

and here's a tip...get the wife to import small nieces and nephews so that when you come up to bed and snuggle in you are surrounded by small bodies peacefully sleeping...instant sleep follows and it never fails...

trouble is, they get big and then there is a problem getting them to sleep elsewhere...

Edited October 26, 2014 by tutsiwarrior

[flagator96]

Thanks for all your helpful replies.

I don't know if she is going through the menopause at the moment , nor does she, but she is at the right age (48)

We went to our local doctor yesterday who said that only counseling will have any long term effect. She believes that there is some underlying problem here. My wife says she has no worries at all, but of course there may be some underlying problems that even she is not aware of, so it's worth pursuing.

However she prescribed Seroxat 20mg and Zalepion and Zolpidem.

When she went to the local hospital previously they gave her Tranmed 5 Sertraline Alpruzolen and Lorazepam all of which have had zero effect.

I shall see what kind of results we get from the new batch of drugs, if nothing changes in a few days will definatley take her to the sleep clinic and request Melatonin.

I do tell her that we should sleep separately but she just won't have it, but the longer this goes on she may change her mind. JAS 21 I will look up CFS and pm you if I need further info-thank you.

Thank you to all the people who have responded to this thread. I will keep you informed about what happens next.

Dear ThaiPauly,

The medications are the most likely culprit for her continuous symptoms. How long has she been on them? These medications that she got from the hospital can make the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis malfunction only after 2 weeks of usage. Did she stop the meds cold turkey? there is even more of a risk for insomnia and more after doing that. Even if she is still taking them they can cause tolerance problems and many interactions among each other. It is an awful cocktail of harmful chemicals that need to be weaned off slowly if not helping. Even if she had symptoms of insomnia prior to taking them, they will only make her worse sooner or later.

She probably would benefit from a basic work up to rule out general illness such as complete blood count, a full thyroid panel, liver and kidney function, glycohemoglobin, and urinalysis. An EKG might also be a good idea if she has palpitations and such.

Usually chronic insomnia, if most medical conditions have been ruled out is due to anxiety or depression or both. Cognitive behavioral therapy, and nutritional supplementation supervised by a knowledgeable medical professional will be a good choice in m opinion.

Most medicinal drugs like the ones you mentioned are highly addictive and can cause worsening of her symptoms and chronic disease that can take years to go away.

I wish her all the best.

Edited October 26, 2014 by flagator96

[ThaiPauly]

Flagator, she recently had a full health check before this problem started and was in tip-top condition 3 months ago. She has been on medication for about 2 months now.

I do worry about the amount of medication she is taking,and the long term,

She actually did sleep in another room last night away from me, but there was still no difference, she got 4 hours and was awake from 2am onwards.

All the advice given on this thread is useful, but conflicting in a lot of ways so it's making it harder for me to know what the right thing to do is.

But please keep your comments coming, I have to get to the bottom of this problem and help her resolve it.

Thank You all

TP

[h90]

Flagator, she recently had a full health check before this problem started and was in tip-top condition 3 months ago. She has been on medication for about 2 months now.

I do worry about the amount of medication she is taking,and the long term,

She actually did sleep in another room last night away from me, but there was still no difference, she got 4 hours and was awake from 2am onwards.

All the advice given on this thread is useful, but conflicting in a lot of ways so it's making it harder for me to know what the right thing to do is.

But please keep your comments coming, I have to get to the bottom of this problem and help her resolve it.

Thank You all

TP

well 4 hours seems to be an improvement to 3 hours, or?

Still not enough for almost all people but less critical than 3 hours.

[dddave]

A couple of very simplistic suggestions:

Do you live in an area where it would be practical to take a walk before bedtime, maybe 20 minutes or so. Moderate exercise has so many beneficial qualities and it might help her to sleep better.

Get her a set of headphones or earphones and have a music device she can listen to when she wakes up. Gentle music can be really soothing and maybe help her to drift off to sleep again.

[h90]

A couple of very simplistic suggestions:

Do you live in an area where it would be practical to take a walk before bedtime, maybe 20 minutes or so. Moderate exercise has so many beneficial qualities and it might help her to sleep better.

Get her a set of headphones or earphones and have a music device she can listen to when she wakes up. Gentle music can be really soothing and maybe help her to drift off to sleep again.

For me works best a boring book.....

[ronz28]

3 mg. of Melatonin works for me. Also no coffee or other caffeine after 2:00 PM.

[Sheryl]

You are quite right to be concerned about the medications.

Aside from the sleep meds, is she on any other medications? A number of common meds can cause problems sleeping, including PPIs (omeprazole ect), statins and beta blockers.

[ThaiPauly]

No Sheryl she is not on any meds for anything else

[mania]

I have always been a short sleeper in fact if I sleep more than 5-6 hours a day I feel bad

But your wife sounds like she is having a problem.

You know something I have seen but not tried is sleep music.

Maybe she can give it a try? There are many available here is one 8hr

Good Luck

Edited October 27, 2014 by mania

[Kitsune]

These methods are all very good for people having a hard time FALLING asleep

It's not the case here.

She falls asleep fine, but wakes up

I think when it's 3 hours only every night, something else is going on.

Are you sure she doesn't have any other symptoms?

[ThaiPauly]

I'm sure that when she goes to counseling we may know more.

I had a long e-mail from our doctor this morning saying that she definatley has some underlying issues, so it's now a wait and see situation

[cmsally]

There can be a number of causes. A friend of mine developed hyper sensitivity to caffeine. Being a nurse she had thought to cut out caffeine after midday. But when her sleeping problems continued she cut it out completely and hey presto she could sleep. But she has to avoid caffeine. She reckons with age (50's) something in her body just can't tolerate it. Apparently this is quite common in women, so she says.

[h90]

There can be a number of causes. A friend of mine developed hyper sensitivity to caffeine. Being a nurse she had thought to cut out caffeine after midday. But when her sleeping problems continued she cut it out completely and hey presto she could sleep. But she has to avoid caffeine. She reckons with age (50's) something in her body just can't tolerate it. Apparently this is quite common in women, so she says.

+1

I know a woman that reacts on a glass of coke....

[Kitsune]

There can be a number of causes. A friend of mine developed hyper sensitivity to caffeine. Being a nurse she had thought to cut out caffeine after midday. But when her sleeping problems continued she cut it out completely and hey presto she could sleep. But she has to avoid caffeine. She reckons with age (50's) something in her body just can't tolerate it. Apparently this is quite common in women, so she says.

+1

I know a woman that reacts on a glass of coke....

These are products that prevent you to GO TO SLEEP

Please note that the OP is suffering from totally different problem, which is getting waken up after 3h

The OP has no problem falling asleep.

It's a different thing all togeher

[cmsally]

There can be a number of causes. A friend of mine developed hyper sensitivity to caffeine. Being a nurse she had thought to cut out caffeine after midday. But when her sleeping problems continued she cut it out completely and hey presto she could sleep. But she has to avoid caffeine. She reckons with age (50's) something in her body just can't tolerate it. Apparently this is quite common in women, so she says.

+1

I know a woman that reacts on a glass of coke....

These are products that prevent you to GO TO SLEEP

Please note that the OP is suffering from totally different problem, which is getting waken up after 3h

The OP has no problem falling asleep.

It's a different thing all togeher

Actually no, for my friend she would sleep for about 3 hrs then wake up and be unable to get back to sleep. Then during the days as it progressed she looked more and more deprived of sleep.

[Kitsune]

There can be a number of causes. A friend of mine developed hyper sensitivity to caffeine. Being a nurse she had thought to cut out caffeine after midday. But when her sleeping problems continued she cut it out completely and hey presto she could sleep. But she has to avoid caffeine. She reckons with age (50's) something in her body just can't tolerate it. Apparently this is quite common in women, so she says.

+1

I know a woman that reacts on a glass of coke....

These are products that prevent you to GO TO SLEEP

Please note that the OP is suffering from totally different problem, which is getting waken up after 3h

The OP has no problem falling asleep.

It's a different thing all togeher

Actually no, for my friend she would sleep for about 3 hrs then wake up and be unable to get back to sleep. Then during the days as it progressed she looked more and more deprived of sleep.

Well I was in the same situation and I have not touched a coffee since 1998.