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ITinMN t1_jbm5a9m wrote

I have anxiety, depression, it takes me hours to fall asleep, I've tried all sorts of medications, I didn't even have a cellphone for most of my life, etc. I can't nap, and once I wake up for the day that's generally it, how can I sleep normally?

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SnoozeMD t1_jbmmjli wrote

Hi, /u/ITinMN. What you describe sounds exhausting! There are many factors that impact people’s ability to fall and stay asleep and mental health conditions - like the ones you mentioned - are very closely linked to disordered sleep. In fact, they’re so closely linked that negatively-impacted sleep is part of the diagnostic criteria for both conditions!

It also sounds like you have tried many different options and still have hope of finding what works for you. It may be worthwhile to reach out to your family doctor, psychiatrist, or sleep physician and work with them to identify what symptom is causing the greatest impairment and working on improving that as the first step.

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Wirraway-Wonderer t1_jbwf8lb wrote

What's the point of this AMA when a common sleep condition like this is answered with: waffle, waffle, see your family doctor, waffle.

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Toilet_Punchr t1_jc0wzlp wrote

Making a Diagnose over the internet on Reddit is shady af. You have to be diagnosed more thoroughly. „I have anxiety and depression“ is not enough.

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ITinMN t1_jbmmwdt wrote

Yeah, I've worked with (and am continuing to work with) all of the above. Unfortunately, this has pretty much gone on my entire life. And really sucks, since it means I have hours less to do stuff per day than everyone else (and even when I'm up I don't feel very "awake"). Blah.

Thanks for the thoughts.

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SnoozeMD t1_jbmqru7 wrote

From having previously lived in Mpls, I appreciate that this can be even more challenging in the winter and I would encourage you to continue working with your team towards improving your mental health and your sleep! There is a bidirectional relationship between mental health and sleep and it can be difficult to know which came first if things have been ongoing for years.

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ITinMN t1_jbmr5cs wrote

I've actually only lived in the Twin Cities 3 years (2 in Minneapolis and 1 in St. Paul). These problems followed me from Massachusetts.

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oneiria t1_jbq5wbv wrote

Also a behavioral sleep medicine specialist may be a good fit for a case like this.

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hairybushy t1_jc73456 wrote

Do as you want, but microdosing with shroom made me help to sleep well. My head stopped running while trying to fall asleep. r/unclebens have a lot of link to help starting with this.

I don't search a debate here, only to show you an option.

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