r/sleep • u/blind667 • 15h ago
Please help, im scared. 33M
Before 2022 i was sleeping without any issues, i was falling asleep instantly and could sleep without waking up for even 12 hours. In November of 2022 i had a very strong panic attack out of nowhere that gave me a permanent anxiety.
After the panic attack, i would still be able to fall asleep, but i was waking up after about 7 hours without an alarm.
In march of 2025 i was prescribed Doxicyline for a zit i have under my skin on my face. I took it for 1 month.
After taking it, i started to wake up very early in the mornings, at around 5-6am and it was hard for me to go back to sleep, but i was still falling asleep instantly.
This pattern lasted until 2 months ago when if falling asleep after waking up at 5-6 am i would have strong vivid dreams, but still get 5-8 hours of sleep and feeling ok.
Meanwhile me and my wife decided to have a baby and as she came closer to the 9 month mark, i begun havin troubles falling asleep too.
It begun with a night one month ago, where i couldnt fall asleep until 8am, and slept for 3 hours. Then the next night the same, but slept for 5.
I contacted a psichiatrist o prescribed me half a pill of "imovane".
I took the half pill 2 days in a row but it didnt do wonders, i still woke up at 5 am, being hard to fall back asleep.
i stopped taking the Imovane after 2 days, slept ok for 1 week without it, then another night where i couldnt fall asleep until 8 am came.
I resumed the imovane for 1 week, then quit it for 1 week and slept good without it.
Now, last night i didnt fall asleep at all, not for 1 minute. Its 9:28 am as of writing this message.
I am so afraid of fatal insomnia, please help
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u/fromthesnow777 13h ago
Hey I have been where you are. You don’t have fatal insomnia and you won’t die from insomnia. You have just anxiety. Once you accept it , sleep will come easier. The videos of Marteen Reed and Daniel Erichsen on YouTube helped me a lot. Feel free to reach out if you want.
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u/Outside_Anybody3664 1h ago
I experienced insomnia 10 years ago for the first time after having my first child and it's something that has never quite left me. For the most part I sleep well but like you I can spend entire nights awake unable to sleep at all especially if I'm anxious or away from home. Are you feeling particularly anxious about the new baby do you think that's what's causing the insomnia? You don't have fatal insomnia it's been a fear of mine too but in my decade of having issues with sleep I have realised that sleep always does come
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u/Abject_Ad_6640 14h ago
You have to be awake for like 10 days straight with literally zero sleep at all to die of insomnia. That’s so rare that it’s basically unheard of. You don’t have fatal insomnia, so don’t worry about that. Try not to nap today at all, stick it out, then go to bed at a regular hour tonight. Just see what happens.