A Quick History of Medical Professionals and me
The doctor I saw during college suggested I go to sleep before 2 AM.
One of the therapists I saw at the student health center suggested warm milk.
My psychiatrist in grad school gave me Ativan. It doesn’t make me drowsy, but it does help my racing thoughts slow down. Over twenty years later, it’s the only med I can depend on.
The general practitioner I saw as an adult-adult offered Lunesta and Ambien. Both stopped working after the third night. I didn’t even get to see the walrus.
Until 2014, various practitioners suggested the things you see on TikTik or Pinterest: yoga/meditation, exercise, no caffeine after a certain time, etc ad nauseum ad infinitum.
In 2014, my then general practitioner really listened to me about my sleep problems, and suggested I see a specialist and requested a full sleep study.
That first sleep doctor still suggested all of the usual things, but she got me my sleep study and helped me get set up with a CPAP.
A few years later, I received a letter saying she was leaving the practice, and Dr. So-and-so was taking over. I didn’t really pay attention, so when I needed a new appointment, I picked a doctor randomly from the covered providers.
His very first suggestion, without even looking at the data from my CPAP, was that I get bariatric weight loss surgery. Then he questioned why I looked upset.
I stayed away from any sleep doctors until I really needed to see something again. I chose another doctor randomly, and she was nice, but the appointment was in 2021 (I think, it could have been 2020 or 2022) and I remember very little. Everyone was still masking and her building was in a strange location.
When my insomnia became severe in 2023, I chose yet another doctor randomly. She assured me all of my data was fine! When I called for a follow up because no, seriously, something was not fine, I was told she was on maternity leave, but Dr. XYZ was covering.
Dr. XYZ suggested my problems were due to perimenopause and suggested I get labs done to test my hormone levels. I couldn’t get an appointment with my GP, so I did a telehealth appointment with a nurse I didn’t know. She immediately said no to the labs and suggested I see a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist gave me medication for the nightmares, Prazosin, which helped greatly, and also recommended me to the CBT-I doctor.
Looking back, it’s wild that I’ve been asking for help with sleep issues since college, basically since I was 18. I was 31 when I had my sleep study and got my CPAP and 41 when I started CBT-I.
