Sleep Gains and Insights
NOTE: This is my final summary of what worked for me. This is not meant to be an evidence-based process or suggestion for anyone else.
Sleep Progress and Reflections
Alright, what’s up, peeps?
I’m feeling really good after about a solid week of sleep (and 2ish weeks of better sleep). I’ve been journaling about all these sleep issues I’ve had over this month–I’ve journaled about them a lot. I’ve had a lot of treatment and tried a lot of things, and I think, for me, this feels like the very first time that I actually feel like I have a good tool/method.
Previously, I’ve tried various things–again, I’ve journaled about these already–but I’ll just briefly go over what I’ve tried before getting into what really worked for me.
Bottom Line Up Front: Sleep Study and Doctor Visit
I went to the doctor this last time and did a sleep study just to make sure I didn’t have any breathing issues. Technically, I have minor breathing issues, but apparently, they’re not medically significant enough for them to do anything or care about. So, I kind of have to handle that on my own. The easiest thing I can do is sleep on my side, which I’m not the biggest fan of. I typically switch between my back and side during the night anyway, but apparently, that’s the easiest, least disruptive way of improving my breathing.
Doctor’s Offer of Sleeping Pills & My Skepticism
When talking to my doctor, he offered again sleeping pills. I’ve turned them down in the past out of fear, mostly based on what I’ve read. Some of the heavier sleeping pills are basically tranquilizers. They don’t necessarily make you sleep–they just make you unconscious. According to some evidence, they might not even truly help; they just sedate you. You wake up groggy, and technically, you still don’t get real sleep–you’re just unconscious.
For me, that sounds almost worse. If I’m going to wake up tired, I’d rather wake up tired from how I naturally slept rather than from being drugged, right?
But my doctor said that there’s a range of medications. Again, I’m super skeptical about pharmaceuticals in general. However, he mentioned one called hydroxyzine, which is technically an allergy medication (an antihistamine) but is often used off-label for insomnia. It works by calming the central nervous system.
I don’t know off the top of my head how the other ones work, but at least I understood how this one functioned. He also recommended melatonin. I’ve used melatonin before with mixed results. I’ve even used something similar to hydroxyzine (or maybe exactly it) before, but I felt like it didn’t work.
What melatonin and hydroxyzine both did for me in the past was make me wake up in the middle of the night, except I’d be incredibly dehydrated, have a headache, and still have a hard time falling back asleep–with a lot of drugged-up grogginess.
So, I told him no.
But then I thought about it.
I said, “Okay, if you say this is the softest medication you can recommend, I’ll try it with a lot of skepticism, but I’ll give it a shot.” At this point, I’m reaching the stage where I care less about how I arrive at a solution and more about just getting results.
Results: Hydroxyzine & Sleep Patterns
I’m really happy I did.
I’ve been tracking my Oura Ring data and my mood, and overall, they’ve improved a lot. I had almost a month-long insomnia episode, which, for me, generally looks like a yo-yo or rollercoaster–one night, I’ll sleep 3-4 hours, and the next, I’ll sleep 7-9 hours. It’s very inconsistent.
It always feels hard to get out of this cycle. It’s like I know I should be averaging a reasonable sleep amount–not too little, not too much–but the moment I overthink it, the next night, I won’t sleep much at all.
That said, I didn’t feel like it was necessarily stress-related, but just that, once I get into these cycles, I feel stuck.
Anyway, to the point: Hydroxyzine actually worked. Since it theoretically calms the central nervous system, for me, it felt great. I had no trouble falling asleep before–my issue was staying asleep. But now, even if I do wake up in the middle of the night, it’s very brief. I almost don’t even remember it.
I’m dreaming a lot.
I wake up the next day with a little grogginess; maybe I sleep slightly more than normal, but in general, I feel amazing.
Looking at my Oura Ring data, I can actually see where I started with the rollercoaster pattern–and then came out of it. Now, my sleep is almost a stable line. As long as I go to bed at the recommended bedtime (between 11 PM and 12 AM), I feel great.
Compared to before? I don’t wake up feeling bad. Emotionally, I feel much better.
Comparison to Past Sleep Solutions
I’ve done sleep journals.
I’ve taken CBT classes.
I’ve done general counseling.
I exercise. I eat well.
None of it seemed to truly help.
Even though this involves taking medication, it feels like a great, reliable way to break the cycle. I needed a guaranteed way to calm down for a week or two so I could sleep. Once I established a good sleep pattern, I felt normal again and could function.
The good thing is: If I get another insomnia cycle, I can restart the medication as needed. It’s not something I have to take all the time. It just smooths things out when I need it and allows me to reset.
Current Status & Final Thoughts
Today is my first day stopping it.
According to my journal, I’ve been taking it for about two and a half weeks. I’ve been taking a super low dose–the doctor recommended 10 mg, but I’ve been taking 5 mg (splitting the pills he gave me).
It’s funny–he even told me, “If one doesn’t work, take two,” which would be 20 mg–but for me, 10 mg is way too much.
Talking to my therapist, reflecting, and even discussing this with ChatGPT, I’ve realized that I seem to be super sensitive to anything that affects my central nervous system. I don’t think the why really matters–maybe it’s because I’m a smaller person (which is true), or maybe I just have a higher sensitivity. Whatever it is, I just need to be aware of it and adjust accordingly.
I now know: Take less first. Try a smaller amount before assuming I need more. Even if it’s against the doctor’s orders.
Conclusion & Future Plans
This has helped me a lot.
I feel good going forward.
I feel like I finally have a solid tool to deal with this. Obviously, I need to see how it holds up in the future, but it’s the best solution I’ve had so far.
Going forward:
I’ll continue tracking my sleep with Oura Ring.
I’ve tagged my medication days/times (about 90-95% of the time), so I’ll be able to compare data trends.
KEEP MY BEDTIME BETWEEN 2315-0015
AS NEEDED 5 mg of Hydroxyzine helps me stay asleep throughout the night
At the end of the day, I’m super happy with this.
Sleep has been a lifelong challenge for me. Even as a kid, I struggled. It’s shifted and changed, but now I finally have a solution that worked once–and I feel confident it will work again.
And the best part?
It’s not something I need constantly. As long as I follow a good bedtime, the medication isn’t necessary until I hit another cycle of insomnia.
Now I feel that I can finally move on to my dreams and goals that I planned out for the year! I’m not upset that I had this month; in fact, I’m happy to have a solution going forward if this arises again.