Insomnia

[col]

Anyone else suffer,any tricks to help?I came off nights on friday morning,limited myself to one hour before dinner so i would be ok for friday night,and still didnt get away till 330 ish in the morning,woke at 8 am and couldnt get away so got up.Thought i would be ok for saturday night,but low and behold didnt get to sleep at all,we were going out at six on sunday morning,when we got back at ten i grabbed an hour about 12 till 1,i didnt want to stop myself sleeping on sunday night as im on earlies,went to bed about half ten,and lo and bloody behold,here i am,not single blinking wink,im as sick as a parrot,had to phone work and tell them i wouldnt be in.Any ideas to stop this happening greatly appreciated.

 

[beanzontoast]

There will be others who will advise about a warm bath, avoiding caffeine etc... all the usual things. None of these works for me IME. My difficulty getting to sleep was mainly due to me having things on my mind. I solved it by keeping a pad by the bedside and always jotting stuff for the next day down before I went to sleep. If I wake in the night and start thinking of something I need to do or remember, I scrawl things on the pad without even turning the light on. (Some hilarious decoding needed next day on occasion!). Seems to work for me.

 

[Keith Oates]

I thought I was the only one that did that BOT, the really annoying thing is that most times what you are thinking about is not really important. Sorry col, that's not really helping you but my answer is just try to relax. The old trick of laying on the bed and then gradually working from your feet up to the top of your head telling and letting each part to relax as you go, it does help but not always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[col]

Thanks guys,but like now,im wide awake,and iv only had say two hours sleep in fourty eight hours,and i havnt been aware of my mind being more active than usual,though i do know what you mean,its so annoying now.

 

[graham56]

Yes,but i don`t lose any sleep worrying about it.

 

[Andy in Sig]

How about going for a longish run in the evening so that you are physically tired before going to bed? "Proper" tiredness seems more healthy than post work knackeredness.

 

[col]

How about going for a longish run in the evening so that you are physically tired before going to bed? "Proper" tiredness seems more healthy than post work knackeredness.

Good point,but i felt like i was ready for bed both times on sat and sun,just seemed to wake more as the night went on.Im still too heavy for running though

 

[Andy in Sig]

A seriously hard walk with a bit of weight on your back (e.g. small rucksack with 30 lbs of magazines stuffed into it) also does the trick. If you've got a hill near where you live, so much the better. You need to walk hard enough so that e.g. you could still talk to a companion but that would make you a bit breathless. An hour of that should sort you. Back home for a hot bath and you should be ready for a serious kip.

 

[rich p]

spanking the monkey might help

 

[ColinJ]

spanking the monkey might help

Getting somebody else to do it for you would be even more efficacious !

 

[PashleyPrincess]

You could try meditation. It's a skill that you have to work on but it really helps to empty the mind. You can pick up CDs that can get you started with correct technique.

 

[col]

cheers for all the suggestions,i think ill go the way of spanki er meditation

 

[marinyork]

Rooibos tea. It relaxes slightly I think which makes a bit of a difference, also seems to dehydrate me less when I do sleep. Other than that I have no cures. Sleep is a bit of a taboo subject, everyone assumes everyone else gets 8hrs a night and it's just not true. I find once you get beyond the expectations of getting so much sleep or at particular times, that makes it slightly better. Still friggin' annoying though.

 

[Night Train]

I only get about 3-4 hrs of sleep a night. I have lots going on inside my head but gave up writing it all down. Mostly it is design images and I have ended up being wide awake researching a design all night.

I tried lying on my back and doing relaxation excercises and then woke myself up snoring. By the time I turned over I was back to square one and awake again.

Sex worked but only when I was with someone I was really happy with into in a big way (no pun intended).

What I do now is I cat/power nap during the day and live with the 3-4 hours a night. I have taught myself to lay back in a reclining chair or on the sofa, clear my mind and deep sleep for about 15-20 minutes. I can do it now and wake just before my phone alarm goes off. It makes up for the loss of a couple of hours at night most of te time but I don't know if it is any good for my overall health.

 

[barq]

Unfortunately thinking or worrying about whether you are going to sleep seems a sure fire way to stay awake.

I get prescribed sleeping pills but only use them rarely. The knowledge that I can take them seems to reassure me and then I sleep. Weird isn't it?