UGH Insomnia

[nicktheslayer]

I couldnt sleep last night, i think im slowly turning into an insomniac.
Today, im running on 3 hours of sleep and a half cup of coffee.
:yes:
This sucks.
I also dont have my school ID, so i cant eat lunch today. I didnt have anything for breakfast either. bleh. so very, very bleh.

Is anyone else here an insomniac?

 

[bennyb]

I go through periods of not being able to sleep that maybe last a couple of weeks... or at least I will sleep very little. On average it takes me anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours to fall asleep... which is way longer than it should be.

I am aware of a few techniques to help improve sleeping patterns... the joys of being a psychology student for the past 7 years

1) Diet and exercise. I hate it when people say that to me but its true. Healthy, balanced diets and regular exercise help. We live in an age of convenience and so people are active. A lot of the time when we go to sleep we are mentally tired, but because we are not physically tired a person can experience sleeping problems.

2) Turn the lights off. Sounds like an obvious thing to say but the photo receptors in your eyes are very sensitive. Any light in the room can stimulate brain activity, which is the last thing you want when you're trying to sleep. Even something as simple as a digital alarm clock can cause some people to stay awake because some corner of the room is being lit up, no matter how minute the light source is. We are diurnal creatures (as opposed to nocturnal) so our brains are wired as such that we require darkness to sleep properly. The darker, the better.

3) Avoid stimulants and certain types of food before trying to sleep. Caffeine is the biggest... as far as I'm aware, caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in the world and is a very effective stimulant. I would try to avoid drinking anything with caffeine maybe 3-4 hours before trying to sleep. Water is your best bet. Or milk. Also, try to avoid sugars and carbohydrates around that same period. Carbs and sugars are used as an instant energy source and aren't going to help you sleep. If you must eat carbs, try complex carbs as they take longer to break down and have a steady release of energy - but do try to eat them earlier in the day.

4) Don't just lay there. The worst thing people can do is lay awake for hours and hours. Your bed needs to be a place you associate with sleep, not laying awake. If you can't sleep within 10-15 minutes the best thing to do is to get up and do something, but something that is going to slow down your brain activity and help you wind down like reading. Anything like computers or television before bed is generally a bad idea because of the previous suggestion about photo sensitive cells in your eyes. The light from laptops, computers, television, etc. creates a lot of brain activity and does not help you get off to sleep at all. Also, I have read somewhere (I forget where) that people who have less things in their room tend to sleep better. For example... this makes me slightly hypocritical, but oh well haha... in my bedroom I have two televisions, at least 4 games consoles, my DVDs, all my books, my laptop, my bass guitar, my weights bench... basically everything I do is in my room. If my room had just my bed in it, I can't possibly associate this room with anything other than sleeping. The more you train yourself into associating your bed as a place to sleep, the easier it should be to fall asleep when you go to bed. Even something as simple as using your bed as a place to sit on a regular basis can impede your association of it being a place of sleep.

5) Regular sleeping times. Again, sounds common sense but I can guarantee that not everybody here regularly goes to bed at the same time but applying yourself to understanding your circadian rhythm (internal 24 hour body clock) will help you get used to sleeping at certain times and getting to sleep more efficiently.

Sorry if I went on a little too much there but that's my basic knowledge of poor sleeping patterns and insomnia... hope I've been some help

Oh, and I am aware that preaching about how to fall asleep more efficiently and claiming it takes me up to 2 hours to fall asleep makes me a massive hypocrite but oh well, such is life

 

[Ganondorf]

I often will not sleep, or merely lay motionless and awake for many days. It is brought on by a lack of work with me, and when I cannot sleep I merely know I need to think deeply or work on some artwork or something, or I will remain restless and sleepless. Laziness is a horrible foe.

 

[Elvenknight]

I sometimes have difficulty falling asleep, mostly because my mind is going a zillion miles an hour, especially when I try to sleep. I usually turn my radio on, and just listen to music for an hour or two. Often fall asleep between the hour and two.

 

[Meego]

I lay awake for hours because my imagination is overly active. Basically I turn all the lights off, get comfy and listen to music and let my mind drift until I fall asleep. That's how I deal with it. Oh and wearing an eye mask/blindfold works too. Hope that helped! Also, don't spend too mcuh time online or drink/eat anything with caffine or sugar in before sleeping.

 

[NorthApple]

Very aptly named thread- I hear you, mate. The slightest interuption to my regular sleep habits, and it throws me out for weeks. Which kinda sucks because I'm not the most organised person in the world, so any piece of last-minute homework, a test I'm nervous about and cram for, a book I pilfered off my brother that looks interesting, or even just an interesting conversation on here and I can be up until 2-3 in the morning easily before I even notice what's happened and that I needed to be asleep hours ago >.<

Usually I'm not too bad when I actually lie down to go to sleep, provided I don't wake up in the night/am sleeping in my own bed... otherwise I have no chance. So I suppose it's not true "insomnia" anymore, per say... I just think it's got to the point where my brain's started functioning through the tiredness and sort of gotten used to constantly feeling shattered, so I stop noticing it. It can't been good for me though, I look like a zombie most mornings and don't feel much better than one either.

Anyways, bennyb's tips are pretty good, as are everyone else's... though I have to say turning out the lights completely sometimes helps, but other times it seems to keep me away longer because I get so bored lying there in the pitch dark. I'd say try turning all the lights out first, and then if you've been there for more than 40 mins, try letting a little bit of light in (whether you open the curtains a tiny bit or steal a nightlight off a younger sibling, or whatever, just something. I find turning the landing light on as being too bright personally, but sometimes a little light can help if you've been led there in the dark for ages, which feels so futile). That's just me though.

Music's probably your best bet, if you can find a way to listen to it. I'm kinda paranoid about headphone wires, so I don't normally listen to it myself but I could definitely see it being helpful XD Try finding your most comfortable position in your bed as well, that can really go a long way towards helping you drift off. For example, I like lying flat out on my stomach with the covers pulled right up, all snuggled up and warm and comfy :3 Find your best position, and try adding pillows or taking away pillows until it feels... awesome. Like your bed should feel. That kinda links in a little with one of bennyb's points, because if you can associate being comfortable with sleeping, and your bed with being comfortable, it can help get you in the right mindset :3

Most important thing is to be disciplined- "I will come off the computer before midnight and I will go to sleep. I will come off the computer before midnight and I will go to sleep. I will come off the computer before midnight and I will go to sleep." Sadly, this is the step I utterly and completely fail at, but you have to try your damnedest to pull yourself away from distractions ahead of time, so you leave yourself enough time to drop off without it being too late.

--
Obviously prevention is best, but even best laid plans can go to waste (and I should know) :\

I can't vouch for caffine's effectiveness first-hand (tea/coffee is so gross :C ), but I'm pretty sure it helps... sugar also sure helps. If you find youself really really tired one day, make sure you grab some sweets/candy... things like toast/cereal are best for breakfast but if you start half-falling asleep during the day, some sugar'll give you a little energy boost for a while (plus it makes you feel better XDD). I'm not sure that's good for you in the long run, but eh, sometimes it's just what you need XD MAKE SURE YOU EAT SOMETHING THOUGH!

Also, cold water on your face in a morning reeeeally helps wake you up. Trust me. Especially if you're having trouble opening your eyes- treat it as you would any other swelling: putting a cold compress of some kind on them helps a lot. Even if it's just cold water on your fingertips.

Anyway, it's 00:44am here and LOL what a surprise, I'm lurking around on the internet instead of sleeping Naughty, naughty North! You will go to sleep.

 

[nicktheslayer]

Well, nothing really changed in my sleeping behavior. Except that i couldnt sleep. I think i might have been sick, because the next day, it felt like i was being punched in the stomach and head repeatedly, so blehh.

Also, it got me in trouble. I texted my friend at 1:00 in the morning when i should have been asleep, and my dad found out. He wont listen that i was texting because i couldnt sleep, not the other way around.

I have no phone or ds now, and they have to take my laptop before i go to bed. This week sucks.

 

[Ghosi]

I myself am a little bit imsoniac. I worry so much about what I am doing, kind of like a workaholic, that I cannot go to sleep.

I try two things that might/might not work in this case:

1. Clear my mind. As stated above, my main reason is that I worry. If I clear my mind, I will be peaceful and can finally stop my mind and drift to sleep.

2. Slow down my breathing. It sounds pretty stupid and crazy, but it is true. If you slow down your breathing, you get more relaxed and you prepare yourself for sleep. During when you sleep, you breathe slower anyways, so this technique works.

An alternate thing that you can do is use scented spray and pillows to help you get calm and relaxed. I cannot use these because they give me nightmares, but maybe you can.

 

[Cabbage]

I pretty much have insomnia. On a regular night, it takes about two hours for me to get to sleep. On a bad night, maybe two and a half or three. It's depressing, especially when I have to wake up at seven in the morning for school.
Scented spray on pillows? I have asthma. That wouldn't work for me.
Anyways... What I use to go to sleep is music. I pretty much breathe music, so it works for me. I also daydream, (But is it really daydreaming at night?) and that helps me sleep. It relaxes my mind. But that's just what I do.

 

[Bachelor Frog]

I pretty much have insomnia. On a regular night, it takes about two hours for me to get to sleep. On a bad night, maybe two and a half or three. It's depressing, especially when I have to wake up at seven in the morning for school.
Scented spray on pillows? I have asthma. That wouldn't work for me.
Anyways... What I use to go to sleep is music. I pretty much breathe music, so it works for me. I also daydream, (But is it really daydreaming at night?) and that helps me sleep. It relaxes my mind. But that's just what I do.

Please learn what insomnia is. Insomnia is the inability or near inability to sleep. What you have described is restlessness.

 

[bennyb]

Please learn what insomnia is. Insomnia is the inability or near inability to sleep. What you have described is restlessness.

There are numerous types of insomnia depending on the frequency of occurrence and the particular experiences of insomnia. I can say with a great deal of confidence that what Cabbage described is not acute or chronic insomnia (the more well known and more problematic forms) but it could very well be sleep-onset insomnia. Basically it is a person's inability to fall asleep when they want to.

 

[Hooch Is Crazy]

I don't know if this is insomnia, but I find it extremely hard to sleep unless I'm really comfortable, the rooms really dark, and there's almost no noise. Otherwise I just cannot sleep at all. Can anyone help me with this?

 

[bennyb]

I don't know if this is insomnia, but I find it extremely hard to sleep unless I'm really comfortable, the rooms really dark, and there's almost no noise. Otherwise I just cannot sleep at all. Can anyone help me with this?

Sounds difficult but try and make a note on what positions you find most easy to drift off to sleep. I say it sounds difficult, a lot of the time when we're in that in between stage of being almost asleep we might shift our position, but generally try and think of the position you last remember being in before falling asleep. Chances are this is the most comfortable for you.

In regards to darkness and noise, you can buy special curtains that completely black out your windows (or at least I think you can... I'm sure I've heard of them). Also, like I mentioned in my original response, try to remove anything from your room that gives off any light, from digital alarm clocks right up to little standby lights on a TV set. Just keep the room as light-free as possible. Alternatively, wear a sleeping mask. In terms of noise... the only thing I can think of is using ear plugs, although I don't consider them to be particularly comfortable. Unless you invested in completely sound proofing your room, ear plugs are possible your only option. Or, if you live in a busy road, there might be less background noise if your bedroom was one at the back of the house, away from the road.

Just a couple of thoughts.