Sleeping tips?

[Ed O]

I'm only 20 and already having these problems. Can't wait to see hat problems i have when I'm old!

A lot of it can come and go. I used to have sporadic problems sleeping.

Then I got a divorce.

Ed O.

 

[Sug]

I was gonna post this but you beat me to it

Ed O.

We will all assume you were otherwise engaged as to why you were unable to "beat" him to it.

 

[blazerboy30]

Be more active and get tired.

X

Doesn't help.

 

[Rodolfo]

The over the counter sleeping pills will knock you out, but the next day is horrible. I use melatonin from time to time if i need to get up early when my sleep schedule is going to sleep late. 3mg, 30 min before bed should do it for ya'. No sleeping pill hangover the next day at all.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

Its pretty insane how prevelant this is.... i have recently been having issues the last week as well.... last night i didnt go to sleep till 430...and i had to wake up at 730 FML

I think im going to try melatonin tonight

 

[mook]

1. Lay there and try counting backwards from 100 to 0. So fucking boring. Works 50% of the time.
2. Have my wife read to me. She's English, and the monotone reminds me BBC, which my parents always used to listen to when I was a kid. Works 20% of the time.
3. Rub one out. Works 10% of the time, but even when it fails it ain't all bad.
4. Go lay on a couch and put on a Tivo'ed episode of Charlie Rose, volume low but audible. Because of the black background, it doesn't project much light into the room, and the low murmur always puts me out in a matter of minutes. Unless somebody is on that I really enjoy, but that's why I always have 3 episodes sitting there in line. There's always at least one episode with some French filmmaker or Norwegian architect or similar boring shit. Works every time.

I also find if I get lots of exercise during the day, I don't have problems sleeping at night.

 

[BlazersBlood]

2. Have my wife talk to me.

Fixed.

 

[MARIS61]

Judging by your screen name, turn out the lights and listen to this:

[video=youtube;-EILNvJ2y2I]

If that doesn't work try the long version:

[video=youtube;HX2q9sacvss]


Exercise a little (push-ups, squats...) and stretch before bed.

As for sex, I find the real thing more effective than rubbing one out alone. If you're doing it right.

 

[DaRizzle]

2. Have my wife read to me. She's English, and the monotone reminds me BBC, which my parents always used to listen to when I was a kid. Works 20% of the time.

this had me rolling

 

[Run BJM]

I'm only 20 and already having these problems. Can't wait to see hat problems i have when I'm old!

I'm in the same boat. I'm 20 and rarely get to sleep before 3 AM. A few weeks ago I was up to see the sunrise almost every day for a while. Doesn't matter how early I get up and excersize doesn't seem to make a difference. Absolutely can't get to bed before about 2 AM and typically later. Almost all of my sleep problems are trouble falling asleep but lately I have been getting up really, really early and unable to get back to bed. My mom has always been the opposite though- gets to bed fairly easily but rarely stays asleep for more than a couple hours at a time. Can't wait to get old lol.

I drink a lot since I'm in college which always makes it easier to sleep but I don't really have any techniques to get to bed when I'm sober. Every so often I'll take Nyquil if I've got something important the next day and really need the sleep. I used to REALLY freak out while having bouts with insomnia because obviously in high school you've gotta get up before 7 AM and get through a 7 hour day. I've really come to grips with it more lately and accepted it. Its very tolerable when I know I only have class a few hours a day and often not until the afternoon but I'm not looking forward to getting a 9-5 and having these issues again.

 

[Colonel Ronan]

I'm in the same boat. I'm 20 and rarely get to sleep before 3 AM. A few weeks ago I was up to see the sunrise almost every day for a while. Doesn't matter how early I get up and excersize doesn't seem to make a difference. Absolutely can't get to bed before about 2 AM and typically later. Almost all of my sleep problems are trouble falling asleep but lately I have been getting up really, really early and unable to get back to bed. My mom has always been the opposite though- gets to bed fairly easily but rarely stays asleep for more than a couple hours at a time. Can't wait to get old lol.

I drink a lot since I'm in college which always makes it easier to sleep but I don't really have any techniques to get to bed when I'm sober. Every so often I'll take Nyquil if I've got something important the next day and really need the sleep. I used to REALLY freak out while having bouts with insomnia because obviously in high school you've gotta get up before 7 AM and get through a 7 hour day. I've really come to grips with it more lately and accepted it. Its very tolerable when I know I only have class a few hours a day and often not until the afternoon but I'm not looking forward to getting a 9-5 and having these issues again.

It seems as though your body clock is just fucked up? When I had to change my sleep pattern up, I just exhausted myself until I had to sleep at 12/1 AM and kept it up until my body got used to it. I used to get to sleep at 4 or 5 AM before I started 12-hour work shifts but now I can quite easily fall asleep between 10PM and 12AM. Even on my days off, I can fall asleep at 3 or 4 and still wake up at a reasonable hour (that would be 12 or 1PM for me!).

I remember having issues sleeping back in high school. Laying in my bed for hours knowing that I have school in a couple of hours used to give me the worst feeling and I'd start raging at myself. "WHY THE FUCK CAN'T YOU SLEEP?!"

 

[mook]

There's quite a bit of evidence that alcohol isn't that great of a sleep aid. It puts you out, but it's not so hot at getting you into deep REM sleep.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article7015007.ece

Research shows that although one person in seven — and more than a quarter of insomniacs — uses alcohol as an aid to sleep, it actually disrupts sleep, even at comparatively low levels. The more we drink, the more tired we end up. A recent survey conducted for the Department of Health found that 58 per cent of people were unaware that drinking alcohol could disturb a good night’s sleep. The problem isn’t just ignorance — the evidence of our own experience seems to defy the research findings.
How can alcohol be bad for sleep when it so clearly makes me nod off?
There is a real difference between making you go to sleep and sleeping well. Studies have shown that alcohol does, indeed, make you go to sleep more quickly, at least if it’s not drunk in excess — it has a natural sedative effect. However, once you are asleep it disrupts what scientists call “sleep architecture” — the pattern of sleep and brain waves that leaves you feeling refreshed in the morning. We need the right balance of REM sleep (dreaming sleep) and non-REM sleep (including deep sleep), and alcohol disturbs this.
“Alcohol can mean that sleep is no longer refreshing, because the brain can’t perform the normal restorative job it does during the night,” says Jessica Alexander, of the Sleep Council, which provides information about sleep and health.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

Tried Melatonin annnnnnd it worked.

Problem is i might have already been sleep deprived from the night before so its hard to judge....

If you have sleep issues, i would give it a try

 

[MysteryMan]

Yea i give up and gonna get some melatonin for tonight. Last night i think i went to sleep at 2 and woke up at 6 and just lay in bed for a couple more hours. This is torture and can't take it anymore. Thanks for all the tips, hopefully I'm out tonight

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

So MM?

 

[jlprk]

Melatonin became famous 40 years ago and it was a natural miracle drug because it's not addictive like the ones they had till then. TV ads used to sing, "Try Sominex tonight and sleep...safe and restful sleep...sleep...sleep." Good tune. I sing it all the time.

 

[Master Shake]

Burn some herb

 

[MysteryMan]

AAAAAAAAAAND it didn't work. I'm going crazy now! I definitely felt the effects of melatonin but it seemed to be focused on the wrong thing. I'm starting to think I have sleep apnea like crandc mention because it feels like i have shot of energy or adrenaline shot into my body all of a sudden in the middle of the night. I can feel my pulse pounding hard and keeping me awake. I barely had trouble falling asleep but i once again woke up at 4:30 and then couldn't sleep until 7 for a couple hours. It's hard to explain but it seems like my whole left side is awake and my right side is exhausted and ready to sleep. hear anything like this?

 

[mook]

I was starting to get sleep apnea when I weighed a lot more. I dropped about 45 lbs and it solved that problem without me even noticing it.

 

[PapaG]

As somebody who also has sleep issues, the bolded part is your biggest problem, IMO. Getting anxious and worried about not sleeping and being tired the following day starts the vicious cycle... can't sleep -> worry about not getting sleep -> worry about being tired the next day -> anxiety -> can't sleep -> etc.

How to break that cycle? I'm not sure, but if you figure it out, let me know.

That sounds more like chronic anxiety than it does a sleep issue.

 

[barfo]

I agree the anxiety seems like more of an issue. I don't sleep well, but I don't worry about it. If I lose sleep, so what? Being tired is far from the worst thing that could possibly happen to you.

barfo

 

[PapaG]

I agree the anxiety seems like more of an issue. I don't sleep well, but I don't worry about it. If I lose sleep, so what? Being tired is far from the worst thing that could possibly happen to you.

barfo

We agree on something! I used to stress not getting sleep. Then I went through about a 96 hour sleepless period about 3 years ago, as each sleepless night fed on itself, and my anxiety about sleep loss versus production at my job worsened. My doctor asked me how I felt; I said functional, and I was, so he gave me some Ambien, which I've only refilled a 30-dose supply of in 4 times in 3 years.

Now, I'll just get up and watch TV, post on the interwebs, or read a book if my mind is racing at night, which rarely happens these days, anyhow.

Sleep is overrated, IMO, and it's not something to be anxious about. I've had entire nights where I don't feel I "sleep", but I feel rested, regardless.

 

[Rodolfo]

AAAAAAAAAAND it didn't work. I'm going crazy now! I definitely felt the effects of melatonin but it seemed to be focused on the wrong thing. I'm starting to think I have sleep apnea like crandc mention because it feels like i have shot of energy or adrenaline shot into my body all of a sudden in the middle of the night. I can feel my pulse pounding hard and keeping me awake. I barely had trouble falling asleep but i once again woke up at 4:30 and then couldn't sleep until 7 for a couple hours. It's hard to explain but it seems like my whole left side is awake and my right side is exhausted and ready to sleep. hear anything like this?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Seriously, have a sleep study done.

 

[speeds]

I use whisper and relaxation videos on YouTube sometimes. I don't fall asleep listening to them but they settle me down.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

As somebody who also has sleep issues, the bolded part is your biggest problem, IMO. Getting anxious and worried about not sleeping and being tired the following day starts the vicious cycle... can't sleep -> worry about not getting sleep -> worry about being tired the next day -> anxiety -> can't sleep -> etc.

How to break that cycle? I'm not sure, but if you figure it out, let me know.

I've been there. What helped me was to accept that I wasn't going to sleep and just tell myself that at least I have to rest my body and mind. So I just lay in bed or on couch and allow myself to physically rest . . . most times I end up falling asleep.

Other tricks for me: rewatch the Blazer game, listen to talk radio, count sheep (I've done it), cut caffine out of my diet, stop using meth during the day, valium, lorazapam, ambien.

If all else fails, what I have realized about my body and mind is that even after a night of 2 hours of sleep, I'm usually just as productive at work and not feeling run down. Then I usually crash the next night. I find it remarkable how well the body can function on little sleep Once I accepted that fact, it didn't bother me if I wasn't sleeping (which is half the battle). Just make sure you get a catch up on sleep night every now and then.

 

[Rodolfo]

Classical piano music works really well for putting me down.

Have you tried to have someone tuck you into to bed? Don't knock it until you try it!

 

[jlprk]

Maybe you are nocturnal and need to sleep during the day. You may need to live a life with a night job.

In the game "The Sims" there are vampires who sleep in coffins during the day and prowl at night. If you abhor light, you could fool your body thus:

Keep the lights burning brightly all night, preferably big tall bloody red candles. Your body will think it's daytime and sleep.

Then during the day, make your body think it's night. Haunt the shadows and don't emerge until dusk. Buy thick maudlin drapes to keep out the Sun. Make friends who live the same way and reverse your meals. Good luck.