Anyone here have insomnia? Sleep tips?
 

Once again im up at 3 in the morning because I just cant fall asleep. It happens pretty intermittently, sometimes I just cant stop thinking randomness which leads to my problem. I get songs stuck in my head too which doesnt help at all. I dont want to revert to sleeping pills, any tips??????

Try taking some Melatonin. You can 'google' it and read up. It's a natural body hormone...sort of...that is normally produced in the brain but as we age it doesn't produce as much. It's non-Rx at any pharmacy...many brands. No AM hangover either. I think it comes in 1 mg or 3mg size. Try the smaller one first just before bedtime. Really hellps me. Dunno if it applies here or not, but alcohol in the evening will also wake you up in the early AM.

+1 on the melatonin. No groggy feeling the next day either. Once I take it for a few days and get back into the rhythm, I'm okay for months and don't take it at all. Few days on it, good for months. Cheap to buy.

*Weird side effect* not everyone has this, but I get incredibly vivid dreams. Not usually nightmares, just brilliant technical, long lasting, well remembered dreams. That said, when I do have a nightmare, it's a doozy!

angela

+1 to that it, helps you stay asleep. Like a lot of things, as you age there tends to be less of it. It is more that you were not dreaming enough before than more vivid now. It helps you maintain REM sleep somehow.

Try getting off or cutting down on caffeine. If you drink coffee, switch to green tea for a while. What do you do when you wake up at 3 AM? Do you hurt anywhere? Do you dream, can you remember your dreams? I keep a pen and paper on my nightstand, just in case I dream about something clever that might turn out to make me independantly wealthy.

I suck at sleeping, too. Some things that have worked for me:
1 - If I'm not tired, don't go to bed. Stay up, read, work out, anything. But I don't go to bed until I'm actually tired.
2 - Do physical labor during the day. A good solid workout really helps me out when it comes to sleeping.
3 - Drink more water, less caffeine. It sounds silly, but it works. Even sillier, when I'm on more water, I'm often more alert then when I'm on a pure caffeine diet.
4 - When it's time to go to bed, stop and read for a few minutes. Avoid techno-thrillers, horror novels, and the like. Pick something calming and slow. The classic example is the Navy's Nuclear Reactor Plant Manual -- chapter 24 of Volume 5, on the maintenance and repair requirements for small nuclear valves is a favorite of mine.

Good luck, and relax. :)

Try Yoga, or other meditation to calm your mind. it's all in your head. pay attention to your thoughts and what's going on.
stay away from spiked drinks like Coke or Red Bull.
drink some red wine to relax you before sleep.

I have satellite TV and they have those commercial free digital quality radio stations. When I have trouble sleeping I tune into the mellow classical or jazz station... the "new age" station is guaranteed to put you out in fifteen minutes. I also have one of those noise makers next to my bed that does five or six different sounds, ocean waves, rainfall, etc. that helps me dose off.

This sounds like a description of ME! I had never heard of melotonin for insomnia but I will be buying some.

Tell the truth, is there something deeper on your mind? There is on mine. I get all caught up in all the every day things too but under it all is a distant looming cloud about my personal relationship. Nothing critical (yet) but it is on my mind. Do you have some underlying thing in mind?

I can't usually sleep during the daytime and rarely take a nap... unless a NASCAR race is on and I sleep like a baby.

You are probably my long lost brother. Wow.

Ok- tips from a lifelong insomiac who has acheived a reasonable control of it:

1. Some kind of physical exercise every day. Even if I am totally zonked from a hard day of mathematics or whatever, my body needs physical motion. You don't have to go lift weights or run a marathon, but go for a decent walk after work. This is non-negotiable.

2. No caffeine or chocolate or heavy sugar anywhere NEAR bedtime. A good before bed meal is something like cereal or oatmeal.

3. If time permits, and if you are in a bad stretch, try a hot shower about 30 minutes before bed. As your body cools, it naturally wants sleep.

4. The melatonin comments are right on- I take it every night. You don't really feel anything from it, and its nothing like a sleeping pill. I think it may help with STAYING asleep. It also has been shown to help with reducing the occurrances of migraines. Another problem for me.

5. Turn your clock around. No looking at what time it is, or how long you've been up. This is information that will only serve to piss you off, which will send your brain up.

6. Kind of random here, but stay the HELL away from decongestants at night (other than anti-histimines). Frickin sudafed makes my brain run through scenerios all night, and until I learned this I thought I was crazy one time.

7. If you lay down to go to sleep and it takes too long and frustration is creeping in, get out of bed and leave the bedroom. Put the TV on something, get a bowl of something or a banana and burn an hour. Then try to sleep. Repeat this until it works. Tell yourself that you are going to stay up all night, so you don't get disappointed if it doesn't work each time. Apply these rules to if you wake up at 3 also.

Sometimes though, it just won't work. Generally, I think for me about half of the time that I have problems its stress related. The other half are seemingly out of nowhere. An all nighter isn't the end of the world, but once you get like 3 sleepness nights deep, its doctor time. And have someone drive you, you'll be an animal at that point.

go into retirement and then figure that eating and sleeping is a waste of time.

it worked for me.

I vote melatonin as well.

I take it occasionally if I know I will have trouble sleeping. Its not a 'drug', and thus there are no side effects. Just take it about 30min before you want to sleep.

Not to state the obvious, but avoid caffeine after 3pm.

Thanks for the melatonin tip, I will have to pick some up very soon.

I read last night while trying to fall asleep that working out before bedtime actually keeps you up. Very confusing

a good excersise, like lapping for 1/2hr, will keep your heart rate up for a few hrs.
Same thing with smoking a joint.

a walk around the block is another story.

That is why you excercise in the AM. Gets your heart rate and metabolism up, puts you on a fast idle, so to speak. Physical activity during the day flat makes you sleep better, when you are worn out you sleep.

You also want to have a bright light in your face in the morning, walk in the sun is ideal thing to do. You are still a pretty primitive mammal, despite what is tossed around in the "What about God" thread. Animals often run in a diurnal cycle, affected by photo(light) period. You sort of reset your internal clock when you do this, to the point that you can change it prior to a trip overseas to avoid or mitigate jet lag symptoms.

Also, read up on what is served for lunch at seminars. Seems like certain foods are a no-no. Puts everyone to sleep. Well, bring it on at bed time, I guess. Sleep is a weird thing, more of a state of mind than anything, unless you're just wiped out.

I get to bed between 11:00 and 1:00. Always been this way.

I have a CD that we listen to every night for the last 11 years straight.
Soundtrack to "Blade Runner", from Vangelis.

Usually snoozing by track 4. If I wake up to take a whizz, I hit play on the way back to bed.
I've heard that disc WELL over 8,000 times, now. Good lulla-bye

Last night I was up until 3:00, though.



KT

I go to bed between 12:00 and 12:30 a.m. and get up at 4:30 a.m. Reasons:

1. I worked full time and went to school full time. I get home by 10:45 p.m. then do the homework till midnight. I body got used to it.
2. Now I do not go to school. However, I found out that I love 'being alive' and do not want to go to sleep.

:)

If you're up at three and don't wanna take any meds...have a cup of warm milk...no *****. The tryptophan will put you right back to sleep.. BTW, a hot turkey sandwich will do the same ;-)

I've been taking two three mg melatonin tabs at night for almost 15 years. I sleep OK without it, but as some have said, it seems to make me sleep better through the night. All of the above is good advice. Another thing is going to bed & getting up at the same times is supposed to help.