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Insomnia

Jingled

Jingled

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Anyone have any tips or tricks to deal with insomnia and start sleeping better? I've gone through phases before where I don't sleep well but nothing like the past month or so. Some nights I can't get to sleep but the biggest problem is waking up after a couple of hours and not being able to get back to sleep. I'm starting to feel like a zombie. I'm hesitant to take anything because of the grogginess most sleep aides cause the next day. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
In no particular order:

1. Have a 1-2 hour walking-running-cycling (whatever is OK for your fitness level) tour outside either before or after dinner. Every evening if possible.
2. Severely reduce the time in front of a smartphone, TV and computer.
3. Drink a cup or mug of camomile tea in the evening.
4. If possible (i.e if there is no extra noise, sunlight etc), then keep the windows open of your bedroom. I like, when the room is not warm, but blanket is.

I am 46 years old.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
Pretty solid advise by lauri. I would just add that if you drink coffee to try to stop.
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^^^ THIS ^^^

Go cold turkey on coffee and all caffeine for 21 days and see what happens. If that doesn't work I do have other, more aggressive advice but try cutting caffeine first.
 
Melatonin, melatonin, and melatonin. It’s a naturally produced chemical that “turns your brain off”. I usually don’t have a hard time sleeping, but every once in a while something comes up. It’s usually when I’ve been worked up about something. I take one or two of those pills and am asleep in minutes.


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Prepare to live your life in the depths of hell.

I kid, I kid. Kind of.

I deal with chronic insomnia and have done so for the better part of 2 decades.

I've sought professional help across the years, done sleep studies, been to specialists. Some of us just won't ever really sleep normally I've learned.

Psychological help, like talk to a therapist, could help if the issue is anxiety or depression that might have a proximal cause. Long-term anxiety or depression, and you really need to talk to a professional. That's the best bet if that is causing your insomnia.

The advice above is all great. I would add to develop a routine, do the same things every night before bed.

Couple other things: no smartphone use for a full hour before you go to sleep. 2 hours is better; the room temperature can be a trigger to wake or to sleep, be sure that it is a few degrees cooler at night. I live in socal, so that means aggressive air conditioner use; only use bed for sleeping and other purely bed-related stuff. Don't go to bed then watch TV or even read or anything. Only go to bed when you are ready to sleep; try a weighted blanket, the weight can signal your body to both relieve anxiety and to sleep.

I have problems both going to sleep and staying asleep or getting back to sleep when I wake up. The part you are dealing with can be the most frustrating. I'll try actually getting up for a bit when I can't get back to sleep. Don't lie there and fret about it, this can build frustration and make things worse. Sometimes I'll get up, go sit in a dimly lit room and read, from a real book, avoid the temptation to get out your smartphone or tablet or even computer or watch TV. These all are too stimulating and will guarantee I'm up. But most often I'll sit there and kind of like meditate. Listen to the sounds, be aware of my body, looking around the room without focusing on anything. Usually just 10 or 15 minutes and I'll be nodding back off again.

That's kind of the last one. Done kind of meditation before bed can work really well, both to get to sleep and stay or get back to sleep.

If nothing is working I'll use some melatonin, in extreme circumstances I have an array of prescription and non-prescription sleep aids, but I hate them all.

When it gets really bad I'll sometimes try true biphasic sleep for a while and plan to go to bed a little earlier and actually get up for an hour or two in the middle of the night, then do my normal bedtime routine again and sleep for another few hours.

Good luck, I hope you figure out what works for you.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Prepare to live your life in the depths of hell.

I kid, I kid. Kind of.

I deal with chronic insomnia and have done so for the better part of 2 decades.

I've sought professional help across the years, done sleep studies, been to specialists. Some of us just won't ever really sleep normally I've learned.

Psychological help, like talk to a therapist, could help if the issue is anxiety or depression that might have a proximal cause. Long-term anxiety or depression, and you really need to talk to a professional. That's the best bet if that is causing your insomnia.

The advice above is all great. I would add to develop a routine, do the same things every night before bed.

Couple other things: no smartphone use for a full hour before you go to sleep. 2 hours is better; the room temperature can be a trigger to wake or to sleep, be sure that it is a few degrees cooler at night. I live in socal, so that means aggressive air conditioner use; only use bed for sleeping and other purely bed-related stuff. Don't go to bed then watch TV or even read or anything. Only go to bed when you are ready to sleep; try a weighted blanket, the weight can signal your body to both relieve anxiety and to sleep.

I have problems both going to sleep and staying asleep or getting back to sleep when I wake up. The part you are dealing with can be the most frustrating. I'll try actually getting up for a bit when I can't get back to sleep. Don't lie there and fret about it, this can build frustration and make things worse. Sometimes I'll get up, go sit in a dimly lit room and read, from a real book, avoid the temptation to get out your smartphone or tablet or even computer or watch TV. These all are too stimulating and will guarantee I'm up. But most often I'll sit there and kind of like meditate. Listen to the sounds, be aware of my body, looking around the room without focusing on anything. Usually just 10 or 15 minutes and I'll be nodding back off again.

That's kind of the last one. Done kind of meditation before bed can work really well, both to get to sleep and stay or get back to sleep.

If nothing is working I'll use some melatonin, in extreme circumstances I have an array of prescription and non-prescription sleep aids, but I hate them all.

When it gets really bad I'll sometimes try true biphasic sleep for a while and plan to go to bed a little earlier and actually get up for an hour or two in the middle of the night, then do my normal bedtime routine again and sleep for another few hours.

Good luck, I hope you figure out what works for you.
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Thanks for posting this. A lot of good suggestions here.
 
bigb said:
Melatonin, melatonin, and melatonin. It’s a naturally produced chemical that “turns your brain off”. I usually don’t have a hard time sleeping, but every once in a while something comes up. It’s usually when I’ve been worked up about something. I take one or two of those pills and am asleep in minutes.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz
Click to expand...

How many mg's do you take and do you experience any grogginess or side effects the next day?
 
Jingled said:
How many mg's do you take and do you experience any grogginess or side effects the next day?
Click to expand...
Some advice on melatonin. It feels like it's mild, you'll think you need more than you really do. But if you take too much it can actually interfere with sleep. One, by disrupting your rem cycles, meaning even if you do sleep all night, you don't really rest. And another is it interferes with your body's natural ability to wake you up again. I recommend no more than 3 mg to start until you know how you respond to it. Take it a good hour before you go to bed, but not too much earlier. Smithery issue you can have with it is your body won't produce as much naturally so you need to time it right.

You also really need to use it in conjunction with a good nighttime ritual. It isn't going to knock you out. It just helps you become tired and if you facilitate that by doing some of the things at night to help you relax and allow the melatonin to work it can work really well. I have found melatonin with chamomile is pretty potent. But since it doesn't knock you out, you can keep it from working by not letting it work, just like your natural melatonin. Keep playing on your phone, doing stimulating activities like exercising too close to bedtime, etc. And those things stop your natural melatonin from working so extra won't do you any good.
 
For me a couple of keys are:

- Drinking enough water throughout the day so I'm not dehydrated, but not too much right before bed so I have to pee.

- Not eating any sweets after Dinner

- Contrary to what others have said, if I'm having a hard time turning my brain off I'll lay down on the couch and watch a nature show. It's usually stimulating enough to help me stop thinking about how badly I want to fall asleep, but calming enough to allow me to fall asleep.

- I personally don't like taking any medication or supplements, as I've had bad reactoins to them. The one I used to use, and worked well was dramamine.
 
Scat said:
I hear that 250 ml of vodka will help you sleep.
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Yep. Try an A-bomb or H-bomb, those will knock you straight on your ***. Do the weed or x first and it helps numb the needle poke.
 
Honestly when it comes to pharmaceuticals for some people CBD can help a lot with sleep. As can weed straight up. Neither ever worked for me very well, but they work well for a good friend of ours. She has chronic fatigue and insomnia (along with a host other crap like fibro myalgia) and she takes CBD on the reg and a CBD/THC mix a few times per week for pain, and it all helps her sleep.
 
Jingled said:
How many mg's do you take and do you experience any grogginess or side effects the next day?
Click to expand...

My wife buys them at Costco. I think they’re 5mg. I’m a really big dude, so I always take more than the “dose” on OTC stuff. I usually take two. I don’t notice anything in the morning. At least anything worse than my apnea filled night usually produces.


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