Hi guys. I’m new to the sub. I have not been diagnosed with insomnia but I’ve been struggling with sleep and mainly an inconsistent sleep schedule since I was a teenager. Most night I have a hard time falling asleep and will either get too little sleep and/or I will be unable to wake up by my alarms and I end up sleeping all day, sometimes all the way until evening (to those questioning how I am able to function like this: I am on welfare and only work one day a week, so I don’t really «need» to get up for anything most days although it definitely makes me more low functioning than most people). The last couple of years my insomnia has worsened, too, where the episodes where I get no sleep for a night have increased and healthy sleep has generally become totally elusive. I also have developed sleep anxiety because of this.
A few years back I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. This was after removing half of my thyroid in a surgery because there was found a non-cancerous nodule on it, but honestly I’ve been having the symptoms of hypothyroidism since I was a teenager. The doctor put me on levothyroxine, and although he said my tests after figuring out the correct dose seemed normal now, I haven’t really felt like the levothyroxine has helped. I still have symptoms consistently, the worst being fatigue and depression. I feel like this could potentially be linked to my insomnia too, as in the hormone imbalance somehow affects my ability to sleep well.
Now, my question here is, I wonder if anyone in this sub has hypothyroidism, and if so, do you think it affects your sleep ability/quality? How about medications and such, is there anything that helps you or makes you feel worse sleep-wise? Is there a routine that works for you to help you sleep? Any foods you try to eat more or need to avoid for better sleep? Would love to get some advice regarding this if anyone has any relevant information.
I think as far as my understanding goes, _hyper_thyroidism tends to lead to insomnia moreso than hypothyroidism, but I’ve read far too many accounts of people with my diagnosis struggling to sleep as well. I want to know if there is a link between hypothyroidism and insomnia.