Insomnia and improving quality of living

[giles337]

Ok, heres the deal, Over the last few days i have been having great trouble getting to sleep. I've tried going to bed late, early, eating right before sleep, and going to bed starving, reading till I feel sleepy, and going to bed stimulated, and everything in between, and It still takes 3-4 hours of simply lying in bed till i drop off.

Knowing how sensible and helpful some of you people are I would like to ask for help with this, as well as general improving quality of life, and making me feel better and more postive about stuff. Anything is appreciated. TIA
-Giles

[Luis Antonio]

Gilles, my recipee is simple, but not often used by many.

DONT HAVE COFFE.

Coffee is very addictive, I'm really in love with it. But avoid it, or drink it only in the morning.

DONT LET MUSIC NEARBY

or your sleeping quality falls dramatically.

RELAX RELAX RELAX

When you go to the bed, and turn off the lights, close your eyes, think about something, concentrate on that. And breathe deep, many times, till you feel your body is relaxed... it is possible that you wont notice. I'm used to it, and when I do it, I just fall asleep.

If you cant find anything to concentrate, concentrate on your breathing rithm.

[dragon wench]

I find a recording of gently falling rain to be very soothing and helpful in drifting off to sleep. Focusing of breathing, as Luis says, is good too. Just make sure you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.. this tends to be far more meditative

In extreme cases, I will take one or two Gravol (powerful anti-nausea medicine), because it really knocks me out. I only do this for one night (it is a poor idea to take medication for sleeping on a regular basis), and the resulting sound sleep usually serves to get my sleeping pattern back on the right track.

[werebeargoddess]

I usually listen to the radio. Sometimes soothing music, like what dragon wench said, can help. Or try herbal tea; that doesn't have any caffeine in it, and it can be pretty soothing.

[giles337]

The problem with relaxation tapes, is the fact that they stay running, thus waking me up later in the night. I tried taking a pill before sleep, and it worked, but as you say, natural alternatives are better. Unfortunately, unlike you, I still cannot sleep afterwards, it seems to upset my bodyclock by forcing it to sleep.

[jopperm2]

try a melatonin pill or the like.

[Zelgadis]

Maybe you should try increasing your activity level durring the day. If that doesn't work, at least you get the added benefit of being in shape.

[Magrus]

Ok, Insomnia is my thing unfortunately, and unfortunately, I have yet to conquer it. My record has been going 2 months with roughly 20-22 hours of sleep spread throughout those 2 months total. Sleep deprivation does strange things to you in case you've yet to realize this.

For me, I don't quite fall asleep, and haven't done so on a regular basis for the better part of half my life. I pass out once I exhaust myself. Physical exhaustion doesn't matter I've found. I have an extremely over-active mind and it keeps me up at night. What helps me, is to find some sort of focus for it. I listen to music with lyrics I enjoy, and read once in bed until I pass out. Sometimes it takes me 15 minutes, sometimes 7 hours. Drinking helps rarely, but generally doesn't do anything beneficial at all. What most find odd is my tendency to listen to hardcore and metal as the music I fall asleep to. It's calming to me and therefore it helps me relax to fall asleep.

I tried running and working in the yard until I was too exhausted to do anything at all, the only thing I got from that is an hour nap or so before waking up, still too tired to do anything but with my mind racing and keeping me awake laid up in bed. I use a combo of video games or writing until I start to find my thinking go quite fuzzy and then I head off to bed and read until I pass out.

My question to you would be, are you exceptionally stressed or nervous lately? Have a bit of an anxiety problem, or worrying too much? If so, chances are no amount of physical exhaustion short of working until you drop will make you fall asleep, it would be your mind keeping you awake and you need to either work that until it shuts down on you, or work through what it is that is making you worry/stressed/nervous or anxious so you aren't feeling that way any longer.

People have suggested medications, melatonin, altering my diet, etc., none of it truly made enough of a difference with me to warrant continuing with any changes made. I can suck down drinks with caffiene in them or avoid it altogether and still end up WIDE awake for days on end. I'm most likely quite far from the normal case in those aspects though so if something you try doesn't succeed after a few tries, go to something else.

The most important thing to keep in mind though, drugging yourself into falling asleep, however you do so isn't healthy sleep. You need natural, healthy sleep to get the rest you need and knocking yourself out with pills and such isn't healthy for you to do more than once in a great while. Depending on that can be nearly as unhealthy for you as not getting any sleep at all.

[Chanak]

@giles: Like Magrus, I'm a veteran insomniac. I've experienced 72 straight hours with 0-2 hours sleep more times than I care to remember. Insomnia is one of the symptoms of depression. It can also be due to other causes. In the case of depression, it recurs and while you may correct your sleeping cycle for a time, it will lapse right back into oblivion, leaving you staring at the ceiling after 48 hours of no sleep. My first suggestion: see a doctor. Insomnia sucks, sleep deprivation bites, and you need to rule out other medical causes before you seriously consider depression as the cause. As I know from experience, it is possible to be clinically depressed and not be aware that you are. Reason: depression is not always caused by circumstances in one's life. It can be caused by body chemistry, as it is in my case.

Anyway, IMO, there is nothing wrong with using sleeping aids such as pills to battle insomnia. The important thing to me is to avoid using habit-forming drugs - ones you develop a tolerance and a physical dependence to. That can suck worse than the insomnia. You also want to avoid sleeping aids that leave you feeling groggy when you wake. Using pills, you can approach re-establishing a sleeping schedule as follows:

1. Prepare for bed and take the sleep aid at the *same time* every night, even on the weekends.

2. After you take the sleep aid, establish a ritual for yourself: DW had a great idea in her post. Play soothing sounds at an almost inaudible volume (ie, so low you can barely hear it). When you're dealing with sounds and sleep, it's important to use sounds that remain constant in volume level (no swells, like most music). Get comfy and read a book.

3. After 30 days, reduce the sleep aid dosage you take. If the standard dosage is 2 pills, take one and a half. If it's one pill, take half of a pill. Remember, continue your bedtime ritual faithfully (low volume soothing sounds, reading, etc.) the entire time - that's important.

4. Reduce your sleeping aid dosage again after 2 weeks have passed. Continue the pattern already established. If you were taking half a pill, you should try sleep pill-free. If you were taking a larger dose, reduce it every two weeks until you aren't taking anything at all.

The goal here is to condition your subconscious to associate your bedtime ritual with what I like to think of as "crainial shutdown." We are creatures of habit, and the subconscious is a tenacious habit-keeper. I still think you should see a doctor anyway - insomnia can be a symptom of a variety of problems.

EDIT - I should mention that I haven't suffered from insomnia for almost a year now. In my case, it was a matter of taking medication for bipolar disorder. I don't need to use a sleep aid myself - the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor drug I take on a daily basis stops my brain from keeping me awake for days on end like it used to. (Interestingly enough, for several years I would not remember my dreams. Once I started taking the medication, I started remembering my dreams again)

[VonDondu]

Giles, if you don't have a history of insomnia, then you shouldn't worry too much about not being able to sleep for a few days. It's not uncommon, and it will pass. I strongly recommend that you avoid taking any chemical sleep aids--they can really mess up your brain. If you take vitamin and mineral supplements, try taking a large dose of calcium (500mg) and magnesium (200mg) without any vitamins, or at least avoid taking any Vitamin C at the same time. (Magnesium citrate is a fairly potent laxative.) I've tried time-release melatonin before and it seemed to work better than standard melatonin, but I have chronic insomnia, and I still say that you should avoid trying to solve a temporary problem like yours with a pill.

Good hard work is the best cure for sleep difficulties. I'm not talking about mild exercise like walking or intensive exercise like weightlifting; I'm talking about steady activity for several hours that wears you down eventually, such as carrying lightweight boxes up and down stairs all day long or reshingling a roof or painting a house. Just make sure you avoid mental stimulation (like computer games) after you're done. Have something to eat that's rich in carbohydrates, then take a warm bath and go to bed. You shouldn't have any trouble trouble falling asleep after that.

[Yeltsu]

I had the same problem a couple of months ago, I had trouble falling asleep at nights for a few days. What I did was that I drank a cup of hot milk with honey in bed, that made me go to sleep alot easier.

I don't know anything about sleeping pills, but I would advice against it, I don't think it is good for the body if you "force" it into sleeping. (although the method Chanak posted might work) but remember, I don't know anything about sleeping pills, I just think it sounds unhealthy.

[giles337]

Ok, again, big thanks to all who helped Last night I had a fairly good nights sleep, which came from a combination of physical exhaustion, and interestingly, talking to friends on the phone before going to bed.So either my friends are helpful, or extremely boring Hopefully I'll be able to sleep again after getting some sort of rythm back... Many thanks again for all the help.
-Giles