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Creepy Insomnia

D

Dick Turpin

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Messages
1,058
I’m pretty sure there is an insomnia thread on here somewhere, but I don’t think a creepy Insomnia thread so thought I’d start one.

I have been suffering mild insomnia for around 20 years now. It flares up from time to time and it’s not nice, and sometimes bloody creepy hence my post.

I woke up on Monday morning at 7am as usual but did not experience any sleep at all until 11pm last night, and this was only aided by around 4 pints of beer and 2 large glasses of wine.

I say it’s creepy because yesterday afternoon with 31 hours of zero sleep, I’d start to see a man on my periphery sitting next to me in my kitchen – I’d quickly turn my head, but of course there was nothing there. This happened countless times. Then the constant sound of someone running up & down the stairs. I’d go and check and the sounds would stop – I was home alone.

Then two people whispering (sounded like a man and a woman) coming from behind, I’d turn, and the whispering would stop. I’d turn back around, and it would start up again.

Of course, I’m not saying this is fortean in any way, and I know it’s the lack of sleep causing me to see & hear things. I’ve never suffered insomnia this bad before, so the visuals and acoustics were little unnerving.

Anyone else a sufferer on here, and any tips that you could give..?
 
Floyd1 said:
Try a bottle of wine and four pints Dick.

I went through a period of seeing the Grim Reaper out of the corner of my eye.

Hang on- is this the house with the radiator mystery and the wood found under the table?
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It is Floyd. It is. No wonder they use sleep deprivation as a tool for torture. It was bloody awful. Rest assured mate I've comed armed to the teeth for tonight.

Off licence owner is well pleased lol
 
Dick Turpin said:
I’m pretty sure there is an insomnia thread on here somewhere, but I don’t think a creepy Insomnia thread so thought I’d start one.

I have been suffering mild insomnia for around 20 years now. It flares up from time to time and it’s not nice, and sometimes bloody creepy hence my post.

I woke up on Monday morning at 7am as usual but did not experience any sleep at all until 11pm last night, and this was only aided by around 4 pints of beer and 2 large glasses of wine.

I say it’s creepy because yesterday afternoon with 31 hours of zero sleep, I’d start to see a man on my periphery sitting next to me in my kitchen – I’d quickly turn my head, but of course there was nothing there. This happened countless times. Then the constant sound of someone running up & down the stairs. I’d go and check and the sounds would stop – I was home alone.

Then two people whispering (sounded like a man and a woman) coming from behind, I’d turn, and the whispering would stop. I’d turn back around, and it would start up again.

Of course, I’m not saying this is fortean in any way, and I know it’s the lack of sleep causing me to see & hear things. I’ve never suffered insomnia this bad before, so the visuals and acoustics were little unnerving.

Anyone else a sufferer on here, and any tips that you could give..?
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My sister has insomnia and has said that on occasion , she hears things like this ,too. She mentioned ,not long ago , hearing 2 men talking in low voices. She couldn't quite catch what they were saying , but thought they were irish accents. Very odd.
 
Floyd1 said:
Try a bottle of wine and four pints Dick.
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I think there's a comma missing.
.........

I suffered from insomnia on and off as a teen. For me it was associated with my brain working overtime as if it didn't want to shut down. The closest I came to hallucinations was I would often have a flash of what seemed like creative inspiration right before finally succumbing to the sandman, but it always failed to produce anything when I woke up. I have experienced sleep paralysis hallucinations and lucid dreaming, which I think is closer to what Dick Turpin described.

I wish I could offer suggestions for relief. The only thing I can say is that my sleeplessness is/was often associated with a mild fear that "something" would happen when I was unconscious. Having someone awake in the house when you're trying to sleep may help.
 
I'm not your father @Dick Turpin but I would go easy on relying on booze to help you sleep.

Have you tried herbal remedies?

Maybe some light self-abuse?

When I was in my twenties and couldn't sleep I would read things like 'Winnie-the-Pooh', the 'Alice' books or any of the children's books I'd read as a child. For me it was comforting going through those stories again and although it engaged my brain it did so so in a gentle, un-invasive way that helped me relax and get to sleep.
 
I might fall asleep if I've had wine, but only for very short time and then it keeps me awake.

Have you tried minimizing all light sources? I can't sleep with much light. Even my alarm clock has dimmer light for the numbers. I have had to cover alarm clocks that only have one light setting.

I also don't ever look at the clock when I'm trying to sleep. Clock watching does not help.

I have had nights of no sleep, but never longer than 24-28 hours. I know that I can function on one night of no sleep, so I have learned not to stress if I am not sleeping for one night.

I also have skullcap, catnip, lemon verbena, mint, hops to use in a steeped herbal tea. I hate camomile and have learned that people with ragweed allergies can have allergic reaction to it. Lavender is tricky. Too much and it's a stimulant, so I tend not to use it.

Yoga poses for sleep (no they are not elaborate nor difficult ones). There are certain poses (internet is great for this) that help sooth your parasympathetic nervous system.

Meditation. Again, this does not mean the type where you fight to not think of anything. More like concentrating on relaxing your body and letting thoughts come and go.

Also "progressive muscle relaxation" practise. This too can be found on web.

Sometimes nothing works, but sometimes something does help.
 
I would advise against getting boozed up to get off to sleep. It just means you will have to get up to wee more.
Maybe deep breathing exercises before you go to bed will be the healthier option?
Also, tail off drinking any fluids before going to bed.
 
brownmane said:
I might fall asleep if I've had wine, but only for very short time and then it keeps me awake.

Have you tried minimizing all light sources? I can't sleep with much light. Even my alarm clock has dimmer light for the numbers. I have had to cover alarm clocks that only have one light setting.

I also don't ever look at the clock when I'm trying to sleep. Clock watching does not help.

I have had nights of no sleep, but never longer than 24-28 hours. I know that I can function on one night of no sleep, so I have learned not to stress if I am not sleeping for one night.

I also have skullcap, catnip, lemon verbena, mint, hops to use in a steeped herbal tea. I hate camomile and have learned that people with ragweed allergies can have allergic reaction to it. Lavender is tricky. Too much and it's a stimulant, so I tend not to use it.

Yoga poses for sleep (no they are not elaborate nor difficult ones). There are certain poses (internet is great for this) that help sooth your parasympathetic nervous system.

Meditation. Again, this does not mean the type where you fight to not think of anything. More like concentrating on relaxing your body and letting thoughts come and go.

Also "progressive muscle relaxation" practise. This too can be found on web.

Sometimes nothing works, but sometimes something does help.
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My boss (also a sufferer) has advised an app called headspace. You follow the steps on the app and it calms the mind apparently..................Nah, there's 3 more cans of stellar in the fridge lol.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Then two people whispering (sounded like a man and a woman) coming from behind, I’d turn, and the whispering would stop. I’d turn back around, and it would start up again.
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I get this quite often, occasionally whispering but more usually something more like a distant conversation in another room. It has been happening since my preteen years and actually find it quite comforting now; a familiar sound (though I know it’s entirely generated in my head) as I’m trying to drift off. I have also struggled with insomnia since I was a boy but I haven’t found a cure yet. What I have found is that booze definitely isn’t a sustainable solution for it.
 
Sorry to hear this Dick.

I have had insomnia all my life.

For me, it is caused by lack of fulfilment, lack of happiness and a brain that is ideas/creative based.


My main cure is prevention.

Fresh air/walk in the day, not eating my evening meal too late.
But at the same time I cannot sleep on an empty stomach...so a small night snack helps.

If I have things on my mind, make a list of them to do .... the next day.
Then leave it alone.

Avoiding my mobile phone after about 10.30pm helps, just one work or chore related email can make me too alert and mildly stressed.

Go into a zone around 10pm or 10.30pm where it's only about you.

Get into bed and read.

Reading fiction helps...just something to take my mind off anything work related.

That said, I am a night owl and get far too little sleep...something I have to work on.
 
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I am another member of Insomniacs International. Too many concussions, anxiety, post-covid neurological shenanigans, etc.

I once was up for more than 48 hours. I too heard vague whisperings, and my vision was oddly blurred. I think there are many different solutions, and what will work for someone will likely change over time. Right now, I am on restricted caffeine, more exhaustion, no electronically lit screens within 3 hours of bedtime, no light nights, silence, and ambien.
 
Thanks for you concern Vic old boy. Its bloody horrible isn't it. My Mother is also a life long sufferer, although she is now under treatment with the Royal London for some newly found treatment for the ailment.

All her life she's had it and at the ripe old age of 84, she's now getting medical treatment for it. I'll find out what the Royal London in dear old Whitechapel advises.
 
It may seem that alcohol helps you relax and fall asleep, but it's more likely to interfere with your sleep. According to the Sleep Foundation, more than 2 glasses of alcohol can decrease sleep quality for men by 39% (good sleep quality apparently defined as longer periods with fewer disruptions). Alcohol interferes with natural REM cycles. My experience is consistent with this!
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/alcohol-and-sleep

The recommendations offered in the posts above are great, and I find Victory's suggestions especially helpful, even though I'm not a night owl. I also need a few miles of vigorous walking at least several times a week. Walking helps my head as well as my body.

Wishing you the best! Sleep deprivation feels rotten, and it sounds like you've got a god awful case of it, Dick Turpin. :(
 
Mythopoeika said:
I would advise against getting boozed up to get off to sleep. It just means you will have to get up to wee more.
Maybe deep breathing exercises before you go to bed will be the healthier option?
Also, tail off drinking any fluids before going to bed.
Click to expand...
I don't know. I had a bottle of red, two beers and two cups of tea last night and was fine.
I find that casseroles/stews keep me up wee-wise, strangley enough. (And white wine).
 
Floyd1 said:
I don't know. I had a bottle of red, two beers and two cups of tea last night and was fine.
I find that casseroles/stews keep me up wee-wise, strangley enough. (And white wine).
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The only time I've slept through the night in the last many years was after a particularly indulgent beer festival, when I assume I was too drunk to listen to bladder alerts.
Looking back, things could have gone a different way. :thought:
 
pandacracker said:
I'm not your father @Dick Turpin but I would go easy on relying on booze to help you sleep.

Have you tried herbal remedies?

Maybe some light self-abuse?

When I was in my twenties and couldn't sleep I would read things like 'Winnie-the-Pooh', the 'Alice' books or any of the children's books I'd read as a child. For me it was comforting going through those stories again and although it engaged my brain it did so so in a gentle, un-invasive way that helped me relax and get to sleep.
Click to expand...
Can I ask, what counts as "heavy" self abuse?
 
Spring Heeled Spud said:
Can I ask, what counts as "heavy" self abuse?
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Spicoli.jpg
 
Dick Turpin said:
I say it’s creepy because yesterday afternoon with 31 hours of zero sleep, I’d start to see a man on my periphery sitting next to me in my kitchen – I’d quickly turn my head, but of course there was nothing there. This happened countless times. Then the constant sound of someone running up & down the stairs. I’d go and check and the sounds would stop – I was home alone.

Then two people whispering (sounded like a man and a woman) coming from behind, I’d turn, and the whispering would stop. I’d turn back around, and it would start up again.
Click to expand...
Have you heard of the Third Man?

This is the phenomena caused by severe mental and physical exhaustion where the person thinks there is someone else present and there is not. There is a thread here which is much shorter than I remember. :thought:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-third-man.60801/
 
escargot said:
The only time I've slept through the night in the last many years was after a particularly indulgent beer festival, when I assume I was too drunk to listen to bladder alerts.
Looking back, things could have gone a different way. :thought:
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I've been wondering about this lately. Some nights I will be up two, three times in the night for a wee. Other nights I can go right through to 8am, but I've drunk exactly the same amount of fluids. I know this for certain because, on work nights, I have one cup of coffee before I go off to work and then nothing until a cup of tea with my dinner when I get home, as standing for seven hours on a till means only one toilet break, so I can't risk too much fluid.

The other night, having been home all day, I risked an extra mug of coffee mid afternoon and had to get up four times in the night.

Sorry, I know this isn't insomnia (for which you have my deepest sympathy), but it's a related issue.
 
Min Bannister said:
Have you heard of the Third Man?

This is the phenomena caused by severe mental and physical exhaustion where the person thinks there is someone else present and there is not. There is a thread here which is much shorter than I remember. :thought:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-third-man.60801/
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No Min, I'd never heard of the third man before.(well apart from the Orsen Wells 1949 film lol)

I did read somewhere though that Sir Francis Chichester when sailing single handedly around the world back in the 1960's, reportedly say that for much of the journey he accompanied by a presence egging him on, which is obviously the third man.
 
catseye said:
The other night, having been home all day, I risked an extra mug of coffee mid afternoon and had to get up four times in the night.

Sorry, I know this isn't insomnia (for which you have my deepest sympathy), but it's a related issue.
Click to expand...

About once every six weeks I have a night where I need to pee five to six times before I can get to seep.

On such nights, I pee out way more fluid than I have drunk in the hours leading up to going to bed.

I suspect this happens in the early stages of a cold or virus, when my body is trying to expel toxins and fight the infection.
It can also be caused by an allergic reaction to a food...in my case to onions...or to animals..in my case cats.
 
I have not been able to sleep at all without prescribed medication for some decades now.

When I was in the hospital with a broken ankle, the attending physician decided that the medication I was using at the time was not safe for long-term use, and cut me off. I did not sleep at all for the duration of my stay, a bit over four days.

Though I did not perceive any unusual entities as such (aside from the ones in the Doctor Who re-runs on the telly), certainly after the first 30 hours I felt an oppressive presence in the room.

As an addendum, the new medication that my primary care physician prescribed henceforth has worked just splendidly for the many years after that event. With very few exceptions, I get up each day feeling refreshed and full of energy.
 
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