Insomnia anyone?

[mythil]

Pfff I know there have been a few other threads about this, well two, but they are quite old and, well they don't tend to cover what I'm bringing up..

I'm currently having, well it's not really insomnia but I find it impossible to fall asleep at the times I really should for the following day. I need to wake up by 7.30 so a rough midnight bedtime should be good, however I can't seem to get to sleep any time around.. that time. I usually end up just falling asleep at 4-5am and have a pitifull time in bed or crash for the full eight hours.

I have only had insomnia once before when I was doing things to American times so I didn't get to sleep until morning my time. After a while I didn't need to work to US time so I went back to sleeping at a respectable UK time, which was difficult for a while but I managed to work it out..

Sorry for the rambling but, well I haven't slept yet :) Anyway, I just recently started having insomnia again. The doctor checked me out. My blood sugar/pressure was "fantastic" (he checked as blood relatives have Diabetis), I am not really stressed, I'm quite healthy, well there is "nothing wrong with me" shall we say, nothing obvious at all. He gave me some low strength sleeping pills to use on a limited baises (to try and jog my patterns back into line) but they didn't even make me drowsy....

So has anyone else got any ideas?

[harpy]

I sympathise as I'm not usually ready for bed at what others would regard as a reasonable time, and then am reluctant to get up.

Exercise is the thing that make the most difference to me. Even a moderate amount helps, so I should do it more often! Have you tried increasing the amount you take?

ETA I think I've also read that when you take the exercise is important as well - so taking it too late in the day might have the opposite of the desired effect and wake you up?

[Maître]

Light makes a huge difference, try not using a light and instead leaving your curtains open - this will stimulate the production of melatonin when it gets darker (rather, light inhibits it's production), which makes you drowsy. While the same thing happens once you turn your light off and get into bed it's less effective because you are generally trying to force yourself to sleep rather than submitting to the drowsiness. It's not always practical of course, especially when it gets dark very very early, but you could try turning your lights out an hour or two before you want to actually go to bed.

Also I've noticed that if I leave my curtains open and sleep by the window I generally wake up feeling more refreshed, perhaps it's due to my body being prepared to wake up due to the light changing rather than waking up fully pumped with melatonin?

I'll just add, I only have a very basic understanding of the whole sleep cycle/melatonin thing as my medical eduation is provided by the internet, but the little I know seems consistant with my experiences and seems to make sense on an biological level. If someone understands the subject better, feel free to correct me, I'm always looking to learn and improve my understanding of things =)

[twinkle]

You could pick a weekend or a day when you don't have much to concentrate on and then just not go to bed the night before, so you get properly tired by a decent hour. Should be easier to fall asleep then and reset your pattern.

[harpy]

Not sure that always works twinkle as I did have a sleep-free night recently (worked late and then caught a 6am flight) but was soon back to my wicked old ways :) Worth a try though.

[mythil]

Exercise is the thing that make the most difference to me. Even a moderate amount helps, so I should do it more often! Have you tried increasing the amount you take?

Yeap I take plenty, I do heavy weight lifting combined with running and kickboxing/kung fu and the odd bit of wrestling.

[harpy]

Yes that sounds like plenty - but do you do it at the right time of day? ;)

[mythil]

Yes that sounds like plenty - but do you do it at the right time of day?

Well before my bout of insomnia I used to work out at 11am, maybe 12

[genisis]

I have suffered with insomnia since I was a child, so i empathize with you indeed. I have high blood pressure which is a result of my lack of sleep! how's this possible you may ask.....i did!!! the doc say's its because i become so stressed during the night as a result of my not sleeping well....and I really did! being awake while the rest of the world slept, i would here every tiny little noise, creek, or tick tock! (which would stress me) and i would somehow get really annoyed that others in my house seemed to sleep so well (ridiculas i know) so i would get up in a mood and storm downstairs making tea and sitting alone in a mood :) until eveyone else started to get up. i dreaded bed times. i have since learned to try to relax more during the night, not look at the clock once so i dont know what time it is, and calmly stay in bed saying to myself 'well i may not be asleep but atleast im resting which is better for my body and mind' keeping myself chilled and staying in bed instead of getting up as helped me a great deal (and not looking a the clock!), i still wake at night and sometimes it takes me along time to fall asleep, but i feel a little more 'refreshed' than i used too. so maybe just trying not to 'stress' about sleep will help you too, it might not make you suddenly sleep for 10hrs, but who know's, you might just cope better :-)

[Risker]

My sleep problem seems to be that I only get one chance to drift off and if something (or someone) disturbs me while that's happening I won't be able to get to sleep for the entire night. When I do get off I'm fine though, even if I wake during the night I'll be able to get back to sleep. Didn't sleep all last night, only managed to get off around 2/3 this afternoon and then only for a nap.

I used to be able to sort out my sleep by staying up all night and all day and getting to sleep the next evening by which time I'd be tired enough to be certain of getting to sleep but I feel a bit too old to pull off stunts like that any more.

I saw a TV programme a few years back with someone suffering from insomnia and the solution the doctor gave them was to have set times for entering and leaving the bedroom - say 12am-6am. Outside of these hours the person had to stay out of the bedroom regardless of if they'd got any sleep or not. It worked for them, took a few days though.

[leela]

Caffeine affects sleep too. I don't drink anything caffeinated after about 5pm, or I know I'll have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Eating a snack just before bedtime was something I used to do regularly, but I've found it much better not to if I want a good nights rest.

[dannio]

I always listen to my ipod and listen to soothing music to get me to sleep. You could try that it might help you.

[Gwydion]

^ Aye. Often music is the only thing that will work for me as well.

[twinkle]

I should have checked this thread out earlier. Gone 5am. That's going to mess up my sleep patterns for this weekend, probably :(

[twinkle]

I don't know if it works yet as I've only just finished it, but Clipper make easily the best-tasting herbal sleepy tea thing I've tried. More info here: http://shop.clipper-teas.com/organic-sleep-easy-infusion

[Terran]

^Did it work? :-)

I have a lot of trouble falling asleep too, and with staying asleep once I finally do. My doctor prescribed me melatonin, which does make me fall asleep within an hour usually, but it often gives me really vivid dreams and nightmares that wake me up several times a night which makes the whole thing kind of pointless. I've been trying to sleep without it for a while now, which is going okay. What helps me most is going to bed at the same time every day and not watch tv or use my laptop before going to bed. Listening to music is good too as it distracts you from worrying about falling asleep. And ear plugs can be great if you sleep better when it's quiet. I agree with genisis though, not worrying about falling asleep and ignoring the clock is probably the best thing.

[twinkle]

It did seem to make be drowsy and nod off fairly quickly, yes (could be because I'd had to get up early in the morning as well though).

[Gwydion]

Thanks Twinkle - will look out for that. Struggling quite a bit with this at the mo. Is poo.

[Terran]

Good, thanks from me too, twinkle, I'll see if I can find it here, trying out new teas is always fun.