Sleep (General)

[Guest]

I'm new to this, I'm generally not the sort to ask for help (I've always taken pride in solving my own problems). I can't sleep at night (or during the day for that matter). The best I usually manage is maybe two or three hours, and generally it's some time during the day. I have periodic fits of insomnia followed by a crash which lasts maybe 5 or 6 hours. The worst fit lasted about 5 days. My roommate said he came in my room and I was lying on my back laughing hysterically while playing with the pullstring for the blinds like a cat or something. The hallucinations start after maybe 3 days or so. I did it once in ROTC and almost emptied a belt of machine gun ammo at the executive officer (blanks, thank god). During shorter periods of sleeplessness (a day or two) I go all spazzo and catch myself snapping my head back and forth and twitching like a paranoid cokehead, and I get startled by, like, my desk.

When I do manage to sleep, I have constant nightmares. Really, really violent stuff. I wake myself up punching and kicking, and I'll have pains as if the zombie really HAD knifed me in the arm. I sleepwalk on occasion (I logged into my e-mail account once, and I've gotten dressed or trashed my room several times). I don't drink a lot and I don't do any drugs. I've tried screwing with my diet, excercise routine, modified or eliminated caffiene, and I'm on no prescriptions (they gave me Trazadone but I quit after a few weeks because it was doing nothing). Music doesn't work, lighting changes haven't helped, clothes on/clothes off makes no difference, and I've tried everything from a bed like a cloud to sleeping on hardwood. I've even tried drinking myself unconscious and, no, a fifth of bourbon will not knock me out. I just lay in bed and sober up.

There have been a few other really weird sleep behaviors, but I'm not quite sure how to describe them (kind of like waking nightmares when I'm trying to sleep). Someone has to be as messed up as I am, and, if so, what are you doing about it, and is it working? I'd like to think I'm not just completely insane.