Insomnia.....why? And what can I do about it?

This is seriously driving me nuts. I am awake most nights for 3 hours, from about 2-5am. I have been seeing an acupuncturist for pregnancy sickness, and I mentioned the insomnia to her last week. She put some little needles in my ears, which I was to leave in for five days, which would hopefully help. Well, they did! I had six nights of beautiful, blissful sleep. I took the needles out on Monday, as I was told to do, and then last night I WAS AWAKE AGAIN FOR THREE HOURS. I am so tired, it's awful.

I have been hoping to wind down the acupuncture now, as I've been doing it for almost two months, and it's sending us broke :lol:. Is there anything else I can do? Is this pregnancy related? I don't remember having anything like this with DS.

Please help me!

Hi Janie, I don't have any answers for you but I am in the same boat and pretty much the same awake hours too. It is driving me batty and I feel so tired all the time.....I've been thinking of acupuncture too.

I will be watching the responses with interest and good luck!

I dont have any answers for you either hun, unfortunately it is part of pregnancy and unfortunately it only gets worse. I now wake ever 1 and a half hours to go to the toilet and change positions. Most of the time I dont get back to sleep before getting up again!

Again, someone with no answers but can totally sympathise. I am awake from around 3am every morning at the moment. Awake until around 4am, then my alarm goes off at 5.30am and I am knackered.

Don't know why or what to do about it. I also get acupuncture for the sickness so might just mention the insomnia too!

Hugs
Sue xx

I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping and found that Valerian really helped (it's a natural remedy). Perhaps you could check with the chemist if this is okay when pregnant.

Hope that you are sleeping well soon.

what about rescue remedy or brauers sleep and insomnia spray?? i use that and it seems to help. :hug: glad the accupunture worked though!! can she just give you the spare needles and show you where to put them?? cheeky i know!

I suffered really badly with insomnia in my first trimester and last! I know in the last trimester it was that bad that the OB and midwife suggested restavit (which is a behind the counter sleeping tablet). I have a feeeling its not safe until later in pregnancy but speak to your care provider. It might be worth checking.

Hope you get some sleep soon :hug:

You poor thing. I can totally empathise.

I had insomnia in both of my pregnancies during the last trimester, waking at a similar time as you and unable to get back to sleep for hours. I discovered Phenergan the second time around. It is given to treat morning sickness, but a side effect of it is drowsiness. I researched it and there is no evidence of harm to the baby or danger to the pregnancy (one would hope not, either, if docs are using it to treat MS!! I just wanted to make sure for peace of mind). It worked wonders for me - I took 1/2 a 25 mg tablet before bed most nights towards the end if the pregnancy, and slept wonderfully. It's available over the counter. Another option safe for pregnancy is Benedryl, although I'm not sure about taking it long term and didn't research it in depth; unlikely that there would be much info on long term use in pregnancy anyway.

Long term sleep deprivation like that is awful, especially when you're awake for hours. Both times the sleep deprivation from having a newborn has been a walk in the park compared to the pregnancy insomina. I don't think think I could have continued working without the Phenergan second time around. HTH

I have to say, yes unfortunately it is a part of pregnancy. I woke the same hours as you for just about the whole of my pg with ds. However, i don't want to scare you, but unfortunately it has not gone away for me :( My ds is almost 2 years old, I have been suffering insomnia since falling pg with him and it hasn't gotten any better. I think after your pg you should continue with the accupuncture because it obviously works well for you. Hope I haven't scared you, sorry.. but just wanted u to know that it can get worse.

Thanks everyone for your input :). I am definitely going to look into some herbal remedies, thanks for all the ideas. I seriously think I will go insane if this continues for all of this pg! So I need to find something that helps!

Sirenz, I will keep that in mind, although it's hard to imagine being awake on my own with a baby around :lol:. I crashed all the time when DS was little. Breastfeeding makes me especially sleepy, so I might just have to do that for a long time LOL. Thanks for letting me know though.

Although I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's kind of nice to know I'm not alone ;).

I used rescue remedy when I was having problems sleeping in the last month or so of my pregnancy. I would go to bed around 11 and was rarely asleep before 4am. The rescue remedy helped when I started using it which was a huge relief, but the last 2 weeks I was back to not sleeping.
I hope you find something else that works for you soon. :)

Magnesium tablets can help - it not only helps you get to sleep, but promotes good, solid, deep sleep once you're there. Also good for leg cramps, which are more of a problem when you get further along ;) And there is a fair bit of research behind good-ol' milk before bed being a good natural relaxant, too - doesn't have to be warm, just a glass right before bed is supposed to help.

I can fully sympathise. I am a bit of an insomniac at the best of times, but worse when pregnant. :rolleyes:

I remember the leg cramps in the second tri from last time, OUCH!!!! I took magnesium then, maybe I'll start it now too, thanks. Unfortunately I am dairy intolerant, so the ole glass of milk is no good for me, thanks anyway.

Am looking into the Bach stuff today :)