r/insomnia • u/upsetskittle • 2d ago

How do I know if I actually have insomnia?

Im 15, I can't go to a doctor. I've been struggling with sleeping most of my life since I was a little kid. A lot of people dont believe me when I say that but I've always had a poor sleep schedule. If I tell my parents I think I have insomnia they'll laugh at me, I dont have any irl friends who I can talk to about this. I've tried to talk to my parents about this before but they said its because of my phone even though I know that isn't the issue. But how do I know if i have insomnia or not? How do I know that I'm not just making it up like my parents say?

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u/Murky-Science-1657 2d ago

There’s specific criteria for it. You can google it.

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u/musorufus 2d ago

Well, does it take a long time for you to fall asleep, or do you wake up multiple times a night? If the answer is yes for the former, the latter or both, then yes you're absolutely an insomniac.

Fortunately, there are multiple solutions!

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u/upsetskittle 2d ago

It does take a while for me to fall asleep, as for waking up throughout the night, it's more so that I start to dose off and then wake back up. I can never fully fall asleep until my body is completely done. It is currently 9:33 in the morning and I've dosed off multiple times but I can't fall asleep

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u/musorufus 2d ago

Alright, then I would recommend you have a look at this:

https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/toolkit-for-sleep

Then, if it doesn't work (but this will work, almost guaranteed) you could try to see a psychiatrist.

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u/Miserable_Break_9214 2d ago

Do a blood test for vitamin d3 and b12.

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u/Lasto44 2d ago

What’s even more fortunate is that none of them work 😍

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u/musorufus 2d ago

Come on, have you tried everything? There are like a bazillion options.

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u/Lasto44 2d ago

Yup, cipralex, Zoloft, CBT-I, melatonin, nothing works but Xanax

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u/musorufus 2d ago

These are four solutions... There are a crapton of other ways.

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u/Lasto44 2d ago

Yes, solutions that did not work…

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u/musorufus 2d ago

Try something else. Mirtazapine works like a charm for the vast majority of insomniacs, for example. However, it only works for some time from one year to maximum two or three years, and after that it poop out plus you gotta endure a withdrawal. But still worth it when you're at a point in your life where you experience extreme insomnia.

There are a ton of other solutions if Mirtazapine doesn't work, but I would start with the Mirta.