Hello Ladies,
My son is now 4 months old. For the past 2 months I have had extremely bad sleep insomnia. I know when my little man sleeps at night I should be sleeping too, but I just can't. My thoughts and mind are racing. I cannot relax. I try making myself a hot drink, but that doesn't even calm me down. It's now 4am and for the past hour I've just sat here crying about how I can't sleep. Surely I should be exhausted as I've been awake for almost 48 hours and looking after a 4 month old. Has anyone felt like this before? The last thing I want to do is go see a dr so they can prescribe me pills to sleep! Is there any natural remedies that anyone knows of? Or even a natural pill from the health food shop.
Sleep insomnia after pregnancy
Sleep insomnia after pregnancy
Posted in:
Self Care
4 Replies
It sounds like you might have anxiety if you can't sleep because you having racing thoughts. I'd see your GP.
I'd doubt you'd be able to take any natural remedies or prescriptions relating to sleep if you are breastfeeding as it will go through to the baby in your breastmilk.
If you're not sleeping due to not being able to stop thinking I'd start trying to meditate so you can clear your mind and relax your body.
I know your frightened of pills but it sounds like it might be part of your solution. You can not afford for this to continue. Sleep deprivation is equal to being drunk and is a major contributor to accidents. Melatonin coukd be a possibility it's naturally occurring in the brain and doesn't knock you out so you'd still hear the baby cry etc. it switches your mind down. The stuff you buy in health food stores is pretty unreliable as the doses vary widely from almost nothing which makes it useless. So I'd go to my GP. Also organising some counselling/CBT to help teach me to switch off which your GP can refer you to.
I had the exact same problem - my insomina lasted 8-9 months in total. I tried everything. The problem is the more you don't sleep, the more you worry and obsess about sleep. The anxiety increases every day you go without sleep. I didn't want to take any meds either but it was the only thing that brought the anxiety right down and allowed me to sleep again. Sometimes, the first type you try may not work. And it takes around 3 weeks in general for the medication to reduce your anxiety levels so that you can sleep throughout the night. I ended up on Avanza which also has the side effect of making you a bit sleepy. Hope that helps.
Yes I had the same issue with my youngest who slept throught he night from 2 weeks. However I slept maybe 2 hours. It was a major sign of PND for me. My doctor presribed and depressants aswell as anti anxiety tablets. I went on with about 2 hours sleep a day for about 5 months in total.
Please see a doctor. Not only is no sleep dangerous to your body and can make you quite ill but it is also dangerous to drive. Lack of sleep can cause all sorts of issues.