ow. and also, ow.

[blueraccoon]

Insomnia struck big-time last night - I was awake from about 1am to 2am, fell back asleep until about 3:30, 4am, and have been awake since. I finally dragged myself out of bed shortly before 7am and got to work an hour early (which is not a problem; I have flex time, somewhat).

The problem is that the inevitable sleep-deprivation headache has hit me and I feel like I have an ice pick through my right eye and into my skull. I'm drinking tea and I've taken Excedrin and it's just not helping, but I'm kind of out of other options.

Do any of you suffer from sleep deprivation headaches? How do you cope? Tips, strategies, etc all welcome.

Comments

[pippa_tea]

Try a Meadowsweet tincture or try my migraine tea. I concocted this during a particularly dreadful migraine that would not quit!...and it worked!

1/2 cup Oatstraw
Dash of Yarrow
Pinch of Burdock Root
Large pinch of Meadowsweet
3 Feverfew flowers
1/2 cup Chamomile
1 black tea bag

Put herbs in a pint or quart canning jar. Take a tea kettle and boil water until the kettle whistles, pour water into jar, cap and let sit for at least 4 hours. Pour into mug, reheat in microwave- add organic milk, organic raw honey, tea bag & drink! then lay down and take a nap!

Of course, if you can't do this now these herbs are always good to have on hand whenever a moment like this strikes! *Consult your physician before using any herbs*

To prevent a sleep deprived headache, I take nightly two Alteril sleep tabs: http://www.alteril.com/

and a Melatonin 5 mg tab, along with a herbal tea to help me sleep.


I'm sure others have their own routine but this is what works for me.

[blueraccoon]

I tend to be a little wary of herbs just because I'm on a bunch of medications and I never know how they're going to react with those. I did try herbal sleeping capsules once, with melatonin in them, and had horrible nightmares, so that's not on my list of trying again any time soon :)

But I can ask my psych about some of these and see what he says.

[wanderingscribe]

Ouch. I know exactly how those feel and I give you all my sympathies. All of them.

Unfortunately, I can't really give you any real tips. I've tried using all sorts of things to cope with the pain, but nothing --other than sleep and time-- really works for me.

All I can do is prevent my headaches as best I can by getting to bed at the same time each night and use best sleeping practices to relax myself beforehand. Sorry; I'm sure you've heard that --and rolled your eyes at-- advice a lot, but sleep meds don't work for me in general so it's all I've got.

Anyway, I know how you feel, I hope you get some sleep so you can feel better, and I wanted to comment so you know you're not alone in this.

[blueraccoon]

:/ Unfortunately, the only thing that really works for me is time and sleep too. Some sleep meds work for me - most don't, but one or two do, but by the time I realized I wasn't going to sleep last night it was 2am and far too late to take anything.

Maybe I will go home after work today and lie down in a dark room...

[sciarra]

I have a buckwheat filled pillow that I nuke in the microwave and put over my shoulders for a bit. It also helps on my eyes if I am somewhere I can lie down for 15 minutes.