What do you do for insomnia?

[Owlbehere]

This is driving me crazy! I think it started when my dad wrecked his car (he is fine now just had to have surgery to fix his arm). I was at the emergency room from 10pm to 6am and had been up that day since 8am. When I got home around 7am I slept all day. I think this threw me off even worse than I have been. That was a little over a week ago.

Now I can not get to sleep at night. I toss and turn, keep looking at the clock, and usually the last time I see is 3am. I have to get up around 8 for work. Then I usually crash after work and take a nap. That of course makes it harder for me to get to sleep at night. Sometimes even when I'm tired and don't nap, when night comes around I'm wired and can't wind down to sleep.

What should I do? I just need to switch my body back. Sleep at night, Awake at Day. LOL I really need my Boyfriend to come stay with me a few days. Anytime he cuddles with me, as in puts his arm around me as I rest my head on his shoulder, I fall asleep in minutes.

[Northernguy]

I just lay in bed and watch tv hoping to fall asleep!lol
There are aids you can get to help you through the rough nights!
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about it.

[Owlbehere]

Yea the Tv bit doesn't work... I get too into what I'm watching lol

[Cristoff]

Simple Solution that I have used in the past:

Take Excedrin P.M. every night for one week at the same time, giving yourself a good 7-8 hours of sleep. If you wake up at 6:00 a.m., take them at 10 p.m.

After a week, you can stop taking them and it should reset your internal clock.

[bigbad-ratman]

one thing that works for me when i get too out of wack, is when i would want to take a nap, i would instead get up and do some light exercise. maybe jump rope for a minute or two. not enough to wear you out, but just enough to get you heart going and your body to wake up. you can do it several times throughout the day so when you go to bed you should have been up when you are supposed and are now ready for bed. it sucks but i have been where you are.
if you are not against otc meds, melatonin has helped me. or if i have had a really bad day i take a shot or two of liquor right before bed, (but i dont drink any other time so that puts me out pretty good).
good luck.

[Owlbehere]

I may try an OTC... I couldn't do the Liquor part, I'm allergic and my reaction is my heart rate and breathing speed up ;) not conducive to a relaxing night sleep lol

I just need to reset my internal clock as Cristoff said... :\

[terrapin24h]

it's rare, but when i can't sleep I take a double dosage of nyquil. Your problem is that you are napping when you get home. You must force yourself to not nap.

--chris

[Northernguy]

You could also do a water change every time you want a nap!lol
Doing water changes at night after lights out is suppose to be less stressful on the fish too!
Just don't fall asleep with the hose on!lol

[cocoa_pleco]

I rarely get insomnia, its usually about 1 night every 2-3 months now.

something weird is if i take a swig of Mezcal (the Mexican alcohol with the worm in it) it knocks me out for that one night i get insomnia

[Owlbehere]

I have not been taking naps this last week no matter how much that one patch of floor looks ;) TRYING to force myself to get sleepy enough to sleep at night. I even took my dog on a long walk the last two days.

NorthernGuy seeing as my tank is by the foot of my bed... It could be possible to fall asleep with the hose on :)

Once again... No alcohol... I'm allergic lol...

Thanks for the suggestions... I may try some

[HorrorShowRot]

I work at night and sleep during the day:) thats my solution:)

[dragoonwoman]

When I find myself lying awake unable to sleep, I get up and grab a book. Doesn't seem to matter what KIND of reading material it is - fiction, reference, even catalogs. After 10 or 20 minutes, my eyes start to close down and I take that as the cue to go back to bed.

No worries about side effects either! You can do this EVERY NIGHT if you have to.

DEFINITELY cut out the day time naps though!!

[Owlbehere]

Thanks everyone! Unfortunately reading is like the tv I get so into it I cannot go to sleep because I want to know what happens next... Happens every time I pick up a book... I guess I could read something a little more complicated like the UC Davis equine veterinary manual

[Rue]

I have an on-going issue with insomnia. Now when I can't sleep for 4-5 nights, I take a sleeping pill for a couple of days. Then I'm ususally back on track until the next episode.

But...in a pinch...I find that Tylenol Night-time Cold medicine will also make me sleepy (other brands don't work as well for me).

Don't take this medicine for more than a couple of days.

[Owlbehere]

Most things like Tylenol and such knock me out for a while because I never take them... Baby aspirin usually kills any pain. I just picked up Tylenol pm. Its Tylenol with out the pain killer. Just the sleep aid. I don't like to take artificial things but I hope it will help me get back on track.

[Deleted User]

I listen to audio books, or to like a documentary type show I can follow without having to watch. With my eyes closed, I usually fall asleep pretty fast.

I also take melatonin each night, which is just OTC and natural, but I don't really know that it would be good for a younger person (or me even but I use it). If it's really bad and I cannot sleep (rare), I will take Xanax... I have a low dose "as needed" prescription for that for when I get too wound up / worried about things (I only take it maybe 1x a month at most unless something really upsetting is going on).

[Aeonflame]

I usually have a coke and read a book...despite the caffeine, it works like a charm.

[Deleted User]

Oh, something else that may brand me as way too sappy, but it almost always helps me fall asleep and also to feel happy. Every night, I say my prayers but it's more like a listing of all the people and things in my life that I'm happy to have. All the things I think make me lucky. It usually makes me feel really drowsy and fall asleep content. It's like a list off of people, pets, situations, items and attitributes that make me feel blessed and happy.

(and no, I'm no "bible thumber"... the last place you'd catch me on Sunday morning is in church!)

[Nobodynotime]

Black tar heroin usually works for me!

[Aeonflame]

Black tar heroin usually works for me!


Uhhh... are we allowed to say that in here? lol

[VoidParadigm]

I love insomnia. Whenever I can't get to sleep I leap up and do a hard level or battle on a video game. The resulting feeling of accomplishment makes me content enough to lay back and shut my eyes.

[Tetris]

This isn't "insomnia" it's "poor sleep hygiene".

The good news is that it's very easy to cure.

Pick a target time that lets you get enough sleep for that night. This is the time you're aiming to fall asleep at.

There's two approaches you can take.

1) force yourself to stay awake through sheer willpower until you reach your target time. With this you can fix your problem in a day, as long as you force yourself to consistently fall asleep and wake up at the same time the next day and the day after until it becomes routine again.

2) Stay up 1 hour later, or go to bed 1 hour sooner, every day until the target time is reached. This is easier to adjust to, but can take weeks or even months depending how thrown off your schedule is.

Whichever way you choose, the key is to make sure you wake up every day at the same time. It isn't so important what time you fall asleep, as long as you wake up at the same time each day.

[lobsternoob]

My sleep and work schedule is very erratic, but Ive found the best way for me to fix going too late sleep or sleeping too late is to just go without sleep one night. I'm not even sure i would recommend this to someone else, just saying what works for me. I'm not a fan of taking anything even OTC, had my share of substance problems when I was younger and now I'm hesitant to take even prescribed drugs. I'll sometimes find myself trying to get to sleep at 6am or so, at that point I give up and just get out of bed, do some exercise and drink some water, and get through the day, you'd be amazed how resilient even the unhealthiest of human bodies are. I have a bad reaction to caffeine also so I don't use anything like that to keep awake, but I find once I'm up and moving around I have no problem staying up for a couple days(once again that's just me). I love sleeping though, and I'm constantly battling insomnia myself so I wish you the best of luck, unfortunately not everything works for everyone, so a little experimentation will hopefully help you find your best solution.

[cocoa_pleco]

I do that sometimes too, the odd night i will stay up til 4am and sleep til noon unless i work. Im thinking those rare nights would be my insomniac nights if i had to get up early

I try to get at least 8 hours and most of the time do, but ive been busy lately so its been 7 hours most of the time, tonight i can get 10-12 hours at least

[Owlbehere]

Yea, I'm not a fan of OTC but I did pick up some sleep aid. I'm not trying it yet... I drank some hot tea, cooked my dad some dinner, and cleaned the kitchen... It's 10:50 and I'm ready for bed yay! The OTC is a last resort. But it will be interesting to see how it works. Benadryl makes me hyper and caffine does not... I'll try the sleep aid if I still have problems and on a weekend when I have nothing to do the next day. Just to know if it helps and how long I will sleep. I wouldn't want to take it and over sleep or it keep me awake all night before work :p thanks everyone and goodnight... I hope ;)

[Nobodynotime]

Uhhh... are we allowed to say that in here? lol

I'd hope so, it's not vulgar, its an ugly reality. Plus it was a joke. Really I just drink "warm milk" until I pass out.:hmm3grin2orange:

[cocoa_pleco]

hope no one is using propofol for insomnia though :14:

[MrJim]

I mentally go to work. I imagine myself getting up out of bed and going through the entire process, not missing any detail. Then I get in the car and drive to work. The basic idea is to get away from wondering how to get to sleep by concentrating on this distraction, and it only works for me when I focus on every detail in my mind, down to the houses I pass when I drive, the traffic lights, everything...and I rarely make it to the jobsite :)

Another thing I do is pray, I repeat the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary (though I'm not Catholic) and I find this to be a comforting way to drift off to sleep.

I've never really had insomnia~I've had nights though where I couldn't get my mind shut down because of some worry...sucks.

[cocoa_pleco]

When im overworked i get some weird shiz though, if i have to get up at say 7am, my mind gets weird during the night and it registers 1am or 2am as 7am. One time i kept going and got to the shower before my mind registered WTF am i doing 6 hours before i have to get up and one time i was almost at the car before it registered. It sucks, and my mind just goes on cruise control and follows routine without registering anything

I get sleep paralysis sometimes too, the nasty ones. my worst was i opened my eyes looking out of the window at a full moon and i couldnt move, and my neck was numb and electrified and i had the common symptom of feeling that aliens are around me.

[Neon]

I got a pile of books beside my bed , I just switch on the light and read...another good idea would be to go downstairs and look at fish in the dark...don't just stay in your bed....

[Owlbehere]

So this was a slight change last night. My body and eyes were ready for bed but my mind was not. It was a slight step in the right direction. I just watched tv and looked through a magazine until my brain shut off for the night. I ended up going to sleep around 1 instead of 3 :) I got up around 7:30. And although it was only 6 hours of sleep I don't feel like I need to go home and nap. Normally walking in the door of work I feel that way.

Im at work on a day off so that could be why it was different. I normally only work Mon, Wed, and Fri. The vet I work for had a freak accident though. She burned herself with a cigarette and mosquito spray! So I'm here in the office by my self answering any phone calls.

[mommy1]

Owl, tonight about an hour before you go to bed try drinking a cup of hot chamomille tea sweatend with a little honey. this always helps my children when they cant get to sleep.

[Lady Hobbs]

Take a couple Tylenol PM for a few nights to get yourself back on track.

I also can't sleep more than a couple hours at a time but for me that's normal and I don't have a job. Big difference.

[Owlbehere]

Mommy 1 - I actually did that last night. I think that is what helped. My mom keeps a whole slew of different herbal teas in the house.

Hobbs - I actually picked up something yesterday for a last resort. Its called simply sleep, I think, and it is Tylonol Pm with out the pain killers.

[Rue]

...and i had the common symptom of feeling that aliens are around me.

I occasionally have that happen too...and then I wake up fully, realize the bedroom door was left open and both cats are staring me down in the dark...:14:

[cfgsteak]

This works for me, i read the advice in a backpacking magazine (its hard to sleep on a little pad in the mountains after hiking all day believe it or not).

Eat some bread (some kinda of carbohydrate) and some cheese (or another dairy product). The combo will seriously make you tired and ready to sleep (Think: warm milk).

[Red]

Watch tennis or golf, that always gets me.

[Owlbehere]

I love tennis... but maybe golf because it is boring to me (My grandfather was actually semi-pro in Japan) or football because it confuses me and wears me out trying to keep up lol.

[Lady Hobbs]

Yea, I'm not a fan of OTC but I did pick up some sleep aid. I'm not trying it yet... I drank some hot tea, cooked my dad some dinner, and cleaned the kitchen... It's 10:50 and I'm ready for bed yay! The OTC is a last resort. But it will be interesting to see how it works. Benadryl makes me hyper and caffine does not... I'll try the sleep aid if I still have problems and on a weekend when I have nothing to do the next day. Just to know if it helps and how long I will sleep. I wouldn't want to take it and over sleep or it keep me awake all night before work :p thanks everyone and goodnight... I hope ;)

Avoid caffeine for several hours prior to going to bed. Tea has more caffeine than coffee! This includes chocolate.

You're better off with a long, hot soak in the tub than the tea.

[Owlbehere]

The bedtime tea I have is decaff. Its Sleepy time tea with chamomile.

[Owlbehere]

Little update... I have been doing everything possible to wear myself out during the day... its working. And after a hot shower and a cup of sleepy time tea, I have been going to sleep around 11pm and getting up around 7:30 with no problems. One thing to help me wind down after lights out... I remembered when I couldn't sleep at night when I was little, like 4-8 years old, my mom would put in an Enya tape and play it for me... I love how relaxing Enya is and when I'm super tired and my mind won't stop enya helps shut it off. Its like meditating only not XD. Ahhh sleep.

[Rue]

Congrats! ZZZZzzzzz.....

[Lady Hobbs]

Good. Not being able to sleep in a pain. Hard to turn the brain off at times.

[Chazbot]

Good luck Owl!!

I've been an insomniac for years. I HATE it! I've tried everything from diet and schedule changes to relaxation techniques to OTC meds. NOTHING seems to work on me. I'm just about ready to talk to my doctor about Ambien or Lunesta. With my luck, they won't work either. :hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

Guess who was sitting here at the computer still playing games at 6 AM?

sheeesh

[Rue]

Guess who was sitting here at the computer still playing games at 6 AM?

sheeesh


LOL...I guess that's one solution to the insomnia problem! Ready for a siesta yet?