Insomnia

[radger]

If I wake up in the night and don't immediately go back to sleep, I will stay awake until ten minutes before my alarm, when I will plunge into a really deep sleep, then wake up feeling rubbish.
To avoid this, if I find I can't get back to sleep, I will get out of bed and go and do something else for a while until I feel sleepy again - have a cup of tea, read a book, watch the telly or similar. This usually is very successful
(especially if, like last night, Mr Radger has managed to put three layers of duvet on me so I wake up panicking that I am actually in a kiln)

 

[col]

Cheers for all suggestions,i went to bed last night after forcing myself to stay awake all day thinking that i would be ok,i lay there for an hour getting more worried that i wasnt going to nod off,then i woke just before the alarm this morning,so all ok for the moment.

 

[Arch]

I sleep with the radio on, tuned to radio 4. Not too loud, but just loud enough to hear without struggling. I'm ok now, but there have been times inthe past when I've struggled to sleep through having stuff on my mind and having the radio burbling quietly in the background helped - like if it was silent, I could think more and that kept me awake... Voice radio is good, as there are rarely sudden loud bits like with music...

I think a lot of clock radios have a sleep function so it'll turn off after an hour, but I just leave mine on...

 

[hubgearfreak]

borrow someone's 3 year old for a bit. you'll be struggling to stay awake till 10pm, and resent the little swine when he wakes you too early at 7.30am

 

[beanzontoast]

I sleep with the radio on, tuned to radio 4. Not too loud, but just loud enough to hear without struggling. I'm ok now, but there have been times inthe past when I've struggled to sleep through having stuff on my mind and having the radio burbling quietly in the background helped - like if it was silent, I could think more and that kept me awake... Voice radio is good, as there are rarely sudden loud bits like with music...

I think a lot of clock radios have a sleep function so it'll turn off after an hour, but I just leave mine on...

Two nights running I've fallen asleep listening to the podcast from ITV4's TdF coverage on my mp3 player. I find it interesting - obviously not enough to keep me awake though!

 

[Night Train]

I have a video I sometimes use to send me to sleep. It is one that I do normally find fascinating but late at night it makes me nod off.
It is a Vintage Comercial Vehicle Magazine video called Scammell Recovery and shows Army Kinematograph Service Training films on how to use the various Scammell Pioneer tank recovery units in 1942-3. Very interesting but the upright, stiff upper lip, dry British narrative produces zzzzz within 10 minutes.

 

[domtyler]

~~~*WAKE UP*~~~

 

[col]

~~~*WAKE UP*~~~

Uh what?? TUWAT

 

[Arch]

I have a video I sometimes use to send me to sleep. It is one that I do normally find fascinating but late at night it makes me nod off.
It is a Vintage Comercial Vehicle Magazine video called Scammell Recovery and shows Army Kinematograph Service Training films on how to use the various Scammell Pioneer tank recovery units in 1942-3. Very interesting but the upright, stiff upper lip, dry British narrative produces zzzzz within 10 minutes.

Oh, that's excellent!

 

[Paulus]

Cheers for all suggestions,i went to bed last night after forcing myself to stay awake all day thinking that i would be ok,i lay there for an hour getting more worried that i wasnt going to nod off,


I think that therein lies the problem, the more you can't sleep the more you are worring about it. Try to clear your mind, read a book, or go and get a drink of water, anything to break the cycle. Then try to relax and go back to bed.

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

You can do some acupressure points on yourself. Just press or rub these points for a couple of minutes each.

(Kidney) KI3 - Halfway between ankle and achillies - on the inside of ankle/foot
(Pericardium) PC7 -, middle of inside of wrist
(Heart) He7 - On the ulnar (little finger) side of the inside of the wrist.


More info/point location advice here:
http://www.acuxo.com/library.asp?firstResponse=Disharmoney Heart/Kidney&condition=Insomnia&point=KI3

If you still have probs, then proper acupuncture might help. A practitioner can be found here: http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/