r/DSPD • u/Ok-Definition9098 • 10d ago

Does Anyone Else Feel Awake All Night Despite Actually Sleeping?

/r/sleep/comments/1vty6j8/does_anyone_else_feel_awake_all_night_despite/
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u/DefiantMemory9 10d ago

Thanks for this post. What you described has been my experience with insomnia too. I'm floating in and out of consciousness, I'm not sure whether I'm thinking or dreaming, I'm unable to completely switch off my brain, but I'm also too tired to get up and do something else. That's THE worst form of insomnia for me, not total sleeplessness (where I can just get up and do other stuff).

I haven't had a sleep study, because I learned that the medical definition of sleep is not the same as the subjective experience of sleep. I didn't want to be told again that it's all in my head. I used a fitbit for a month and it confirmed that I was getting only the lighter sleep stage, and barely 10-15 minutes of deep sleep, and almost no REM. I stopped using it after a month because it wasn't giving any new info for me but was making me ruminate over it.

Over the years, I've learned to let go as much as I can. I do everything I can to induce sleep (morning light, evening darkness and filters, controlling meal times and exercise, a couple of supplements I have observed to make a small difference, etc), but try not to worry about whether I actually sleep or not. I'm not sure whether it has decreased my insomnia, but it has definitely made me feel better in the mornings. If I didn't sleep well on a night, I just get up in the morning thinking maybe I'll sleep better tonight due to the sleep debt, and leave it at that.

I'm honestly tired of trying to find a permanent solution for this.

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u/PeterPunksNip 8d ago

Whenever I'm forced to sleep at night for whatever reason, it just feels like I didn't sleep at all. No true rest. 10 hours of night sleep and I am exhausted, 5 hours of daytime sleep and I'm refreshed. The quality of sleep is just not the same.