A brief (?) history of my insomnia

I've set up this blog to share with you how I overcame chronic insomnia. I had insomnia for 2 years, but as of 6 weeks ago I've slept every night - and for on average more than 6 hours - without fail. I want to share my solution as I know there are lots of other people in a similar situation. However it won't work for everyone. But if you have insomnia and PCOS, diabetes, impaired glucose levels or insulin resistance, then my solution may also work for you. I have a common endocrine disorder - the polcystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) - which I finally discovered to be the cause of my problems.

My insomnia started at the beginning of 2007 and lasted 2 years. There are a number of things that happened around early '07 that may have had a part to play in setting it off - neighbours playing music at all hours of the night, being woken by a pigeon at 5am each morning, the pressure of having started post-graduate study, undergraduate teaching... the list could go on. For the rest of '07 I dealt with the insomnia mostly by ignoring it. I became moodier and more emotional than usual and was often very tired, but I carried on. At this stage I was usually still getting some sleep each night. I did try to tire myself physically. I kept up my usual activities (yoga, gym, swimming) and also started training for a marathon. But even this didn't work - some nights I didn't get a wink of sleep even after running more than 20km! I sometimes used the over-the-counter sleeping pill Restavit, but found it quickly lost its effect. By the end of '07 I thought I'd try to relax more, and so quit my extra-curricular activities, reduced my physical activity, and stopped working after 6pm in the evenings.

In 2008 my sleep deteriorated further. I had a few sleepless nights a week and not much sleep on the other nights. Finally, before a 3-week trip overseas, my GP prescribed me Stilnox. I ended up sleeping the nights I took it and not sleeping the nights I didn't. After I returned home I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and put my studies on hold for 2 months.

After a net search I found a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme called "Sleep Better Without Drugs". I began the programme, as well as regular sessions with a sleep psychologist, acupuncture and continued with yoga. Overall my sleep improved (although I also made dietary changes over my 2-month break that with hindsight, would have been beneficial in regards to the PCOS/insomnia link). I continued using the techniques and resumed my study. However I was still frequently underslept and the emotional distress remained. After another trip overseas at the end of '08 - during which time I resumed taking Stilnox - I again hit rock bottom. The breakthrough came during another net search in early January when I found a link between insomnia and my other health problem (to which I'd given little thought for some years), the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I found plausible pathways linking the two and read stories about women with PCOS who also had insomnia.

The following day I changed my diet and began taking supplements (supplements recommended online for women with PCOS and by the woman at the local health food shop my partner visited for me). I hardly slept for the next 2 nights (although we were camping), but have slept every night since. Most nights I now sleep for 5-7 hours.

I thought this background might be useful for some people. The entries to follow will describe in detail what were for me the solutions. I hope they will help you too.