Insomnia

[Eo]

Heh... I just can't get to sleep at night. Either I'm hyper, or even after I've gone to bed and turned out the light, it takes me hours to sleep. Anyone else? Advice?

[Tuna Consuma]

I'm a pretty bad insomniac, and I don't know what do about it I'm afraid. But I can't even sneak onto the computer, so I just have to wait until the morning.

[Eo]

Can't sneak on the comp? I pity you... it's going to be 1:00 in five minutes, hehe... Actually, I'm just assuming it's called insomnia, going on the crazy desctiption in Topsy Turvy... Ugh, it's especially bad when you're tired and STILL can't sleep.

[robot]

I seem to have chronic insomnia. It doesn't bother me all that much, though. It's when I actually get to sleep first that it's a problem. I tend to get extremely exhausted after a night of helping out customers at work and fall asleep fairly quickly when I get home. After about two hours of sleep I wake up. "Bright eyed and bushy tailed" {a.k.a. annoyed as all hell and wishing I had sleeping pills lying around somewhere}.

[SpiraLethe]

I can't sleep 'till the early morning. No matter how many times I try to correct my sleep pattern, it doesn't happen.

[Christopher]

Overtax your brain by enjoying yourself somehow, read, think about time travel, that kinda stuff.

[iconoplast]

Well, having had insomnia for 2 1/2 years, I might be able to help, but then again, mine hasn't gotten much better, so... That aside, I *can* tell you what my doctors told me.

Make sure you're getting at least 30 minutes of exercise at least 6 hours before you want to go to bed (yes, every day). It will temporarily wake you up (hence why you want 6 hours minimum between exercise and bedtime), but it wears out your system in the end, if that makes sense.

Don't drink or eat anything with caffeine (oh, how it pains me to say that) after 4 PM.

Use your bed ONLY for sleeping -- no reading, watching TV, etc. That will teach your brain that when you're in that location, it's sleepy time, no exceptions.

Make sure you have a bedtime ritual, and stick to it. That will prepare your subconscious mind for sleep. If you, say, change into your pajamas, brush your teeth, and turn out the light beforeyou crawl into bed, make sure you do that every night, and preferably in the same order.

If, after all of that, you still can't sleep, do something that does *not* stimulate your brain, and do it in a dimly lit room (sorry, Chris, but stimulating your mind will just wake you up more in the long run and you'll get into the habit of the later time being your bedtime). I've found mostly mindless things like playing solitaire or the like tends to help the most.

Progressive muscle relaxation can also help most people. Basically, you consciously tense all of the muscles in your body while you're lying down, and then slowly progress mentally up your body from your toes to your head, relax things... so if I were to do that, I'd think to myself, "Okay, now I'm going to relax my toes, now my feet, now my ankles..." and so on. It's a conscious way to force your body to relax and be in a better place to fall asleep.

Try not to use any sleeping pill, even if it's over the counter -- there's always a high risk of dependency because your body will come to rely on the chemicals before it can sleep. If none of that works and you still can't fall asleep, talk to a doctor before taking any medication, and make sure they know that you've tried all of these things.

For those having trouble adjusting your bedtime to an earlier time, try moving it in 15 minute increments, and just be patient -- it takes 2-3 weeks for your body to fully adjust to a new bedtime.

[Christopher]

If, after all of that, you still can't sleep, do something that does *not* stimulate your brain, and do it in a dimly lit room (sorry, Chris, but stimulating your mind will just wake you up more in the long run and you'll get into the habit of the later time being your bedtime). I've found mostly mindless things like playing solitaire or the like tends to help the most.

Who should we listen too hmmm? Doctors or Chris?


I suppose what I mention only works for me...usually I just read one of my books for a few hours until I fall asleep (makes finding the page I was at a pain,and the book winds up in an interesting new place every day).

[autechre]

another couple of mind things that are supposed to work are, linking your fingers, and then tensing them, having a cup of milo or hot chocolate, and having your eyes in a downward position *because it supposedly has a calming effect* i'm not sure how effective these could be for you, since i'm not an insomniac myself, only learnt those things through stress relief talks and yoga and meditation classes and books,

i have no problems sleeping, in fact, thats actually my problem, i can't function with less than 8-9 hours sleep every night, i had 6 hours sleep for 5 days and couldn't crawl out of bed for chocolate or anything, i had the worst headaches, and skipped school for a day to recover. it was this week actually

[Keith]

Meh i have been an insomniac for years but I guess I'll go try Iconoplast's strategy!

[jellyoflight]

I'm not much of an insomniac, but I often find it hard to get to sleep, and a few years back, when I was 9 or 10, I was routinely waking up between 2 and 5 in the morning for no reason. I get it off my dad...

I make sure I never drink tea/coffee or anything with caffine in after half past 4 and before I go to bed, and when I'm in bed, I listen to music. Calm music. ^_^

[Shoelace]

When I can't sleep I just read until my eyes hurt and drink warm milk

[Eo]

Holy crap. No caffiene? After four? Your doctor is SADISTIC, I'm tellin' ya.

I once managed to get to sleep by reading (Legend of Tinuviel) but that only made my dreams even WIERDER. (See the post about my dreams XD)

I dunno if any of that works, but I will not relent my caffiene... and if you're still an insomniac after that, why bother?

[Experiment]

Overtax your brain by enjoying yourself somehow, read, think about time travel, that kinda stuff.

Pah! Thinking about time travel overtaxs your brain? Rookie...

Although, I do have some form of Insomnia, so I know some good things to do.

Pretty much all of Iconoplast's ideas are right on the mark. However, make sure you do not do any exercise any time close to your bedtime, as it will not tire you out, it will just get your body energized. Also, don't do any high-stimulus (computers, videogames, TV) things for about a half hour to an hour before bedtime. I reccomend reading, or drawing instead. Also, if you can't fall asleep fairly quickly, get back up, and do one of those low-stimulus activities for about fifteen minutes, then try again.

I seem to have a surefire way of getting to sleep, all I do is read a section of my C++ Primer, it starts to shut down my brain after a while (unless I read something interesting, but they go through great pains to make sure it isn't).

EDIT: Hey, I didn't know we filtered the N-word. Wiggy.

Last edited by Experiment on Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Sapphire Faerie]

My brain is too overactive and my thoughts are too uncontrollable, so for me, I don't get into bed untill I'm about to drop, because if I find myself laying in bed trying to sleep, my mind will run away with itself and make me crazy.