hello

[SteveW]

Good Luck

[Amanda_George]

How did last night go?  Just take things really slowly and you'll get there in the end   

[milkyjoe]

well. i did something really bad and drank alcohol at 3am and then slept. its not the answer i know and i hate doing it. i dont  even drink when my mood is fine.

[Amanda_George]

I'm sorry you drank overnight, I just worry because alcohol is a depressant is all   

[milkyjoe]

yeah i feel like an idiot for doing it. im gonna try and not care if i dont sleep anymore. see how that rolls.

[Amanda_George]

Sounds good to me!  Can you maybe nap on the sofa during the day or anything like that to see how it goes?  How about exercise... can you maybe just walk up and down your street a few times to physically tire you out too?  What about eating... how close to you going to bed is your last meal of the day?   

[milkyjoe]

Hi I can prob lie on sofa and watch TV and see what happens but I get anxious if I try to sleep. I used to go for walks awhile ago, could prob do that again but I'm just too tired. I eat around 3 hours before bed

[Amanda_George]

Maybe put a really boring channel on the telly then go and lie on the sofa watching it... not trying to sleep or anything, just to see what happens?  Do you have a hot or cold meal before you go to bed?  I'm just thinking that maybe you could swap meals for a while because we had a hot lunch and Steve's snoring away on the sofa and I'm tired too, so if you usually have a hot meal for lunch, maybe try a hot evening meal before you go to bed sorta thing?

[SteveW]

Hi Joe. It occurred to me that your sleeping problem might be bad enough that you need to go beyond your GP. In practice this means Sleep Clinics. Unfortunately there are probably less of these than are needed. But you might live close enough to access one of them. This link takes you to a page that has a search facility.

     http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/sleep-disorders/find.html

[Pip]

It's worth getting checked out with regards to your sleeping.  About three or four years ago my husband was referred to the sleep apnea clinic at our local hospital.  It turned out he stopped breathing 58 times in an hour so has had a machine with mask to help him sleep better.  When my husband uses it which isn't often he sleeps much better.

[milkyjoe]

Yeah I'm gonna mentioned it when I see the docs next. I usually sleep no problem. But when my depression hits my sleep always goes first. I'm thinking my citalopram just doesn't work anymore. Been on it for years

[Amanda_George]

It was the same for me before I got the right dosage of AD and AP and still is when I forget to take the pills!  Maybe ask to be referred to a Psychiatrist 'cos meds are their specialty?  There is help out there, sometimes it just takes a while to find the right combination unfortunately.

[milkyjoe]

Yeah imma mention that. Got my first cbt session tomorrow so I'm hoping that will help

[Amanda_George]

Good luck tomorrow, Joe!  I hope it goes well for you!

[milkyjoe]

Thanks Amanda :-)