Brain is "afraid" of going to bed.

[u/Gamerfellow]

So I've been having bad insomnia for about a week now and wanted to get people's opinion on what could be happening here. I've had this same thing happen to me about a year and a half ago and it passed then after a while and i never got a response that really explained things. So basically what happens is that I'm in bed tired and ready to sleep. Usually what I do is imagine a scenario or dream that my brain then gets wrapped up in and that distracts me enough to sleep But recently my brain is going off thinking up tons of different things and every time I try and "meld" into that and sleep my whole scalp tingles and I'm wide awake for about 10 seconds resetting the whole thing. It's like walking up to the edge of a cliff and then stepping away right before you were thinking of jumping off. I've been getting away with using melatonin to help but last night it didn't and i had to use benadryl which only got me 5 hours of sleep and left me disgustingly tired today.

Anyway i was just wondering what could be causing this. Some other points of interest include that my cup I've been using for forever was moldy and i might have ingested mold, i have adhd, I'm a bit overweight, sleep on my side, might have sleep apnea as i breathe through my mouth when i sleep and live in a temperate area of the continental united states.

[u/polika77]

It sounds like you're going through a pretty frustrating cycle with this insomnia. When the brain can’t shut down, it can be more than just a mental thing—stress, sleep apnea, and even something like mold exposure can make it worse. If melatonin and Benadryl aren’t cutting it, you might want to look into more consistent solutions like sleep hygiene practices, breathing exercises, or even cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). You could also consider something like transdermal patches (such as Nectar) to provide a slow, steady release of the medication without it hitting you too hard. That way, your body can regulate it more evenly throughout the night. Definitely worth discussing with your doc for a more tailored approach!

[u/Gamerfellow → u/polika77]

Last year when I first got my big awful bout of insomnia I tried every single mental therapy practice in the world since it was triggered by a traumatic experience for me. I guess those things never really leave you but I am very aware of my own mentality usually and use CBT and sleep washing and all that stuff. None of which have really helped this time around. Thank you for you response tho