Insomnia help

[Ashenstar]

So, I have always had insomnia. I remember being about 3 or 4 and laying there in bed staring into my room and the nightlight long after mum had gone to bed.

I had insomnia during my teenage years as well. I would just sit by the window and stare out into the night.

I never really sleep well.. or even feel rested after sleeping.... but this 3 hours a night business is killing me! I am SO cloudy mentally.

So, I have tried melatonin, sleepy time tea, and finally I went to my Dr. and got some pills. I should only need one.... but one does nothing for me. I could up it to two.... I also don't have a tolerance for them since I take them sporadically when I think it's going to be needed.

Any advice?

I will probably go back to the Dr. to get stronger stuffs.... but I really am not a pill popper.

What do people around here do to get some needed sleep?

 

[Sparrow]

Sleep with my girlfriend.

 

[Ashenstar]

You think I should sleep with your girlfriend? *raises eyebrow*

Actually, I sleep horribly next to my boyfriend. I heat up for no reason.. to the point where he can't be touched by me since it's uncomfortable. He calls me a furnace. However this does basically mean no cuddle sleep for me or the bed would go up in flames.

 

[flow]

The best advice I can give is that in order to sleep at night, you MUST be active during the day. That means getting up at a reasonable time, exercising, etc. Stay away from caffeine in the evening.. try to limit your bed activity to sleeping and sex only.. things such as this. I'm of course, also an insomniac. I can never fall asleep, but I refuse to take drugs for this problem. I cope!

 

[Agent Intellect]

Some people swear that getting good exercise during the day helps; I assume this would probably help balance the circadian rhythm by increasing metabolism during the day. I can attest to this, to a degree. I have insomnia, but probably not to the extent you describe (and mine seems to wax and wane in severity), and on days when I work (I have a very physical job) I generally have a much better time getting to sleep.

You could also try, if you don't already, taking vitamin supplements in the morning to help increase metabolism, and lay off sugar or caffeine laced foods after about 3 in the afternoon (I have a horrible coffee addiction and have only successfully got my cut off time to about 6 PM) and all foods after dinner (no bed time snacks). I also find that reading before going to sleep helps, staying away from TV and the computer and so forth for a good hour before going to bed.

This may sound strange, but another thing that has helped me in the past is to pretend - focus your imagination on one thing, essentially playing (but all in your head). This helps to keep the mind focused and away from wandering to various subjects, which tends to be something that keeps me awake, especially if my mind is doing what it naturally does when allowed to idle: worrying about the future and regretting the past.

I'm not sure if any of this will be all that helpful, and it's certainly not fool proof, but these are the methods I have devised through my time as a fellow insomniac.

 

[Sparrow]

Do what I do, listen to music.

 

[Ashenstar]

Hmm.. all sound advice, thank you.

I rarely drink caffeine and never in the afternoon.
I also make sure to try not to eat to close to bed time.

I am not exercising anymore due to severe anemia. Hmmm.. gotta fix that.

Even when I was working out 4-5 times a week.... i don't think my sleeping was much better. Hmm, that was last summer... so far away. lol

I don't use my laptop near bed since light keeps you up.... .does my iphone count?

Don't watch TV.

And I never do anything in bed besides bed appropriate activities.

*thinks*

Even if I am able to fall asleep.... I've also recently developed a strange new habit of waking up to get a bite to eat. Never have been a night snacker before. I will fall asleep around 11. ( after tossing for 2 hours) and then wake up at around 2 and feel the need to nibble on something and then go back to bed.


I can't listen to music ....... it just keeps me up.

New mattress may be in order... ?

I need to figure this nonsense out! lol

 

[Slyphee]

Have you tried ice baths?

2. Use ice baths to provoke sleep.

Japanese have longer lifespans that do most other ethnicities. One theory has been that regular ofuro or hot baths at bedtime increase melatonin release, which extends lifespan. Paradoxically, according to the Stanford professors who taught Bio 50, cold is actually a more effective signaller for sleep onset, but it could have no relation to melatonin production.

I decided to test the effect of combining 10-minute ice baths, timed with a countdown kitchen timer, one hour prior to bed (closer to bed and the adrenergic response of noradrenalin, etc. won’t allow you to sleep) with low-dose melatonin (1.5 – 3 mg) on regulating both sleep regularity and speed to sleep. The icebath is simple: 2-3 bags of ice from a convenience store ($3-6 USD) put into a half-full bath until the ice is about 80% melted. Beginners should start with immersing the lower body only and progress to spending the second five minutes with the upper torso submerged (fold your legs Indian-style at the end of the tub if you don’t have room). I’ll talk about the fat-loss and sperm-count benefits of this in future post.

The result: it’s like getting hit with an elephant tranquilizer. Don’t expect it to be pleasant at first.

Source

 

[Ashenstar]

No....I must admit that never really crossed my mind. O_O

 

[flow]

you will NEVER catch me in an ice bath. Ever.

 

[Starfruit M.E.]

Serioiusly??? I've always felt tired when I'm really warm and dry. And I can't sleep with wet hair. I wouldn't think a nice wet ice bath would help.

 

[Slyphee]

Haha well it's an option! He's also got 4 other methods to induce sleep on his site although some of them you have to actually be able to sleep to do.

 

[Ashenstar]

Yeah.. even when I get warm and drowsy ( I tried hot baths) I just find myself waking up again.. sometimes 3-4 times.

Ice baths sound horrible ... but I'm just so curious (or stupid) I would consider trying it

 

[Latro]

How much melatonin have you been taking at a time? I haven't had outright insomnia (worst I've had is laying awake for 90 minutes or so, and that's quite rare) but take 1 mg melatonin each day to get better rested. I've been doing this for a couple weeks now, and I think it helps a little. Depending on the amount you take it can be counterproductive, though.

 

[Ashenstar]

Just the dose on the bottle... whatever the hell it is.

I actually try and stay away from melatonin since I have not had great experiences. I seem to get nightmares when I use it... or it puts me in a half sleep that frightens me. Too sleepy to get up or move.... to aware to be asleep.

 

[Latro]

Just the dose on the bottle... whatever the hell it is.

I actually try and stay away from melatonin since I have not had great experiences. I seem to get nightmares when I use it... or it puts me in a half sleep that frightens me. Too sleepy to get up or move.... to aware to be asleep.

That varies from bottle to bottle. 3 mg is not atypical for bottles (my local GNC sells 3 and 1 mg bottles; I have a 1 mg bottle) and 3 mg is a pretty substantial dose.

 

[Sparrow]

Drink energy drinks in the morning. You'll feel so fucked up and tired that you'll just drop dead at night.

 

[Starfruit M.E.]

I know a lot of us have problems with insomnia, but it might help to keep in mind that
the treatment may depend on what kind of insomnia you have...

1. Transient insomnia lasts from days to weeks.
   
2. Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of between three weeks to six months.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomnia#cite_note-5
3. Chronic insomnia lasts for years at a time.

I just have transient insomnia... but it's really bad when I have it. I might lay down in bed at 9pm and stay there until 4am... not sleeping... even if I have to get up at 5am, and got up at 5am the day before. And nothing seems to work to fix it. There was one night where I didn't sleep at all, and then the next night I still couldn't sleep until around 3am. And there was simply nothing I could do. So naturally I'd just try to put up with it. But I can't imagine that going on year after year...

 

[Words]

the only one that works for me: forced closure of the eyes. it does take a few hours..but by then I'll be thinking about so many things: possibilities, events, ideas etc. The sooner I get into that mode, the sooner I wake up (or fall asleep in this matter).

 

[Agent Intellect]

Could also try Valerian Root. If you do, though, I would warn you that it smells terrible.

 

[Starfruit M.E.]

Valerian root doesn't sound very reliable, and it wouldn't work for some of the rest of us (might take weeks to start working right), but it might be worth a try for the OPer.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

(this might be a double-post, since my first copy of the post got tagged for moderation approval! :-O !)

I try to remember the dreams I had from my previous night. I remember them, mull them over, imaging doing more in them..

I think that recalling the dreaming state of mind is a good way to bring sleep upon one. At least for me.

Here's a song that relevant: (British Sea power - To get to sleep)

Spoiler

Took a pill last night
Just to get to sleep
Put me on my back
Not on my feet
Propylene across your eyes
To take me to the land of sighs

Had a drink last night
Just to get to sleep
Put me on my back
Knocked me off my feet
Filled my skin with ethylnol
To find some peace, to let it fall

Eight hours a day - call it twenty years
There's a place you can go
Free of lust, cupidity and fear

Oh it left my heart broken
It took my breath away
A lesson open
A little more each day

A little eyesore
A little Nytol
A little heartache
A little soothe-all

Melatonin, a little dose
Takes things to a peaceful close
Commerce runs through your veins
And takes you from this waking plane
Industy on your side
To do what you do
When you get tired

 

[Darby]

Ive had mild insomnia for...as long as I can remember. When I did a moderate amount of physical exercise regularly, I slept well, but after about 6 months it stopped working. I sleep better when I feel happy(in general), or maybe I'm more happy because I'm sleeping well. also, I don't notice insomnia as much, because not only is it mild, I can usually get to sleep, it just takes me at least a half hour. and thats after trying, not happening, going online for x hours, coming back, and then waiting for a half an hour. Most often, I think it is caused by a feeling of unfinished whatever, so once I get my mind going, and I finished planning out, figuring out, or fixing whatever problem I was having, I tend to sleep much better, and often fall asleep right after

 

[Cavallier]

I’ll talk about the fat-loss and sperm-count benefits of this in future post.

Really?

*ahem*

Anyway, I've had a bit of trouble with insomnia but it's always been stress related...when I'm stressed out about work or class I can't sleep. I've yet to really figure out how to deal with this though. When it gets really bad I just work out more vigorously than normal at the start of the day and then by the end of the day I generally pass out.

I agree that knowing the kind of insomnia you have might be helpful. Though, perhaps you should get that anemia thing taken care of first and then perhaps work on the insomnia...kind of an irritating solution though since the sleep deprivation is more problematic at the moment. :/

 

[shadowdrums4]

I've always had bad insomnia too or at least I thought. I learned in the summer that it's really my sleep schedule is way off. I have never been able to get more than 2-3 hours at a time but that starts adding up. I monitored my schedule (sort of) this summer and what I found is I'm up during the night, sleep from about 7 am to 9 am then I'm active again for another hour or so before falling back to sleep around 11 am I wake up again around noon then around 5 get tired one more time (times kind of vary but it usually evens out to about 4-6 hours 6 on a really good day)

Music doesn't put me to sleep but I do sit and drift in it at night if my mind is getting too active. I may drift for a few hours until I fall into a small microsleep, then I turn my mp3 player off and immediately try to sleep, focusing on the song I just heard. That usually works pretty well for me. Mine's considered severe when I talked to my doctor but I am somewhat learning to function. The doctor says what's happening when I drift into music is my brainwaves slow down enough to get rest even though I'm not getting actual sleep which is why sometimes I feel more rested on a couple hours of that then my occasional 8-10 hour crashes.

My insomnia is post-traumatic induced so it's considered harder to treat without pills. Unfortunately my asthma/allergies prevents me from being about to take antidepressants (rhythm guitarist from Hawthorne Heights died from not being told that antidepressants and inhalers don't mix) or sleep medication. (I know I'm just one big mess, I have mild hypoglycemia too.)

I do want to try the playing in your head thing. I'll let you know how that works for me tonight. I'm a huge caffeine addict that doesn't help. I used to practice when I couldn't sleep but it turns out things that get you emotionally excited should be avoided so if you really love reading (as I assume most of us do) that may not help too much unless you can find a really boring book like Ethan Frome.

I'm in the no ice bath boat. If I get too cold my asthma doesn't respond so well.

 

[birdsnestfern]

Drink Tart Cherry Juice, even just 1/3 cup before bed does it.

10 Health Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice

Tart cherry juice is rich in nutrients and a simple addition to almost any diet. Here are 10 benefits of this increasingly popular beverage.

www.healthline.com