Does anyone else have it? How do you remedy it? I spend at least two hours in the bed every night.. just waiting to fall asleep.
I repeat a single sentence over and over and over. Somehow that always puts me to sleep. Sort of like counting sheep.
When I was an RA on campus I would drink until I fell asleep. It's not terribly sustainable, but it works. Otherwise I stay up for one full night so that I can reach a point of exhaustion (like tonight). The next night I fall right to sleep. If not I repeat. Protip: after 3 nights of little to no sleep, the world is a mighty wierd place.
I sufferred with insomnia for years, and even now have a hard time sleeping. I would go a week without sleeping, or just get up to 4 hours sleep a week. I actually functioned normally though. Don't know how... I literally tried everything to help my insomnia, nothing worked. Sleeping tablets didn't do anything, neither did drinking. I didn't have anything with caffiene in it and even changed my diet to see if that would do anything to help. But after the number of years I went with only getting a few hours a week, I kind of just got use to it and my body adjusted. Now that I am pregnant, I sleep loads! I am ready for bed come 7pm, but go to bed around 9pm. I get up to 10 hours sleep a night most nights. But I know once the baby is born it will be back to my normal routine of not sleeping. The best thing that you can do if you have insomnia is speak with your doctor. I did and he just told me I had depression (mind you, the same doctor can't even get my name right with my medical card sitting in front of him... and he misdiagnosed my daughter for 12 months and it almost cost her her life. I changed doctors). Put me on the tablets, which I took for 3 months and it didn't help. After that I just thought, screw it, and just got use to not sleeping. I got loads more done and my writing was doing fabulous. Now that I sleep I just can't write anymore... it bites! I can't wait to not be able to sleep again to be honest. But the best thing to do is to talk to a doctor about it, they can help to find the route to the problem and also help you to find a way to change your sleep pattern. One thing I do stress though, even if you can't sleep, laying in bed and resting is very good for your body, and closing your eyes for a few hours is the best thing you can do for your eyes. I used to just lay in bed for hours with my eyes closed, it was the only rejuventation I got most nights, and it was definitely better than the nights I would stay up getting everything done. Insomnia used to be my best friend and I miss it!
I write. I write until I feel ready to sleep. It doesn't always work, but it's more productive than sheep counting.
I read. Not quite to the point of physically falling asleep with the book in my hands, but for as long as I can with the words still making sense. Once I get to the point where the words are simply incoherent squiggles on the page, I turn the light off and try to drop off. If that doesn't work, I get up, wander about for ten minutes, read blurbs of books, make a few notes, then try again. Normally, this works for me, but twice in the past week it hasn't. Personally, I think it's down to stress (exam results on Thursday).
I like to work myself to exhaustion. Whether it be through writing, physical exercise, massive video game sessions, you name it I will try and do it. I just keep going until my inner monologue can't finish a word let alone a sentence. I can't tell you how many times I've gone for a 2+ mile run at 3 am just to be able to sleep.
I get it about once a year. About the most maddening thing you can do is try to fight it. Like others have said, just try to occupy yourself with something. Perhaps you won't sleep at all this night, or perhaps you'll only catch an hour or two, but rest assured, you will sleep eventually. This fact always brought me comfort for some reason. Even when I ned to go put in a ten hour day at work and haven't slept a wink. It'll all workout in the end.
Do you eventually fall asleep though? ... that's how I am (takes two hours to fall asleep), always have been, probably always will be. The easiest time I have at actually falling asleep (less than an hour!) is days when I exhaust my body by swimming. Maybe do some swimming laps? hehe
I went to the doctor about my sleep problems, and he recommended that I take melatonin before going to bed at night. Usually, I'll take one and then lie on the couch with my eyes shut with music or a movie playing in the background. I don't like taking the melatonin a lot, though, so when I don't want to do that, I just read or watch a movie until I start to feel more sleepy.
I dont suffer from insomnia exactly, but for a long time I had trouble getting to sleep and sometimes went without it. A doctor prescribed a tried and true sleeping aid called Trazedone, and it works very well. I dont like to be on pills, however, and sought other alternatives, including Lord Kyle's. What I did end up doing was determine why I wasnt sleeping and found out it was mostly anxiety --when I laid down, all I could do was stare at the ceiling in a quiet panic. I downloaded a lot of Comedy Central Stand-Up specials and some comedy CDs to try an ease my anxiety, at least in the evening. I sleep like a baby now, for the most part without prescription. So I guess the point I'm trying to make is if there is a reason you're not sleeping, and in most cases there usually is, try to figure out why you're having the problem and take said steps to remedy it. If nothing works though... Trazedone has lovely side effects.
I have problems sleeping if I: A.) Know that there's something important I have to do the next morning which would require me to be well-rested. 2.) Am unemployed. In the second case, a feeling of being unproductive usually keeps me up, I suppose in hopes that I'll be able to achieve better productivity by being awake longer. I spent the summer of 2007 being completely unable to sleep at night. I tried everything, including staying up for 48 hours straight. And I still couldn't get to sleep before the sun came up. Someone told me, "Read a book, it'll relax you." Next thing I know, I've read the book all the way through and it's 7am.
Read, write, listen to music, watch videos and play computer games until you're so dead tired, you fall asleep instantly. That's what I do. Incidentally, I go to bed around 1-5 AM every day.
Buy an insurance policy, any policy from any company. Leave it on your bedside table and before going to bed, try to read and understand the fine print. I guarantee you'll awaken in the morning, refreshed from a good night's sleep and the insurance policy will be right on the floor where it fell as you collapsed onto your pillow. Did I say I've been in the insurance business for 34 years? LOL
Exercising an hour or two before bedtime can help, or so I'm told. Insomnia has never been a problem for me. I just don't require as much sleep as some other people. But I go to sleep easily, and wake up about five hours later, ready to face the day.
Meditation helps me, resting the cage of chattering monkeys that is often my mind after an evening spent writing or reviewing. I find it's a wonderful way to wind down before bedtime.
I've read that there's two kinds of sleepers. Those who drop off in the first ten minutes, and "slow sleepers," those who lay in bed for an hour or so before falling asleep. Slow sleepers also require extra sleep to reach deep sleep, and thus sleep longer. I'm a slow sleeper. I require about ten hours a sleep a night or I'm exhausted all day.
You're going to laugh, but try yoga. Bikram yoga if possible. *or even just try stetching for 10 minutes before bed.
Ooh, I'm seconding this! I used to do yoga, and when I started doing it right before bed, it helped me get to sleep a little faster. Also, I used to write in my journal right before bed to help clear my head. And I kept a journal by my bed so if I woke up in the middle of the night I could write down why I woke up, what I was dreaming about, how long I was awake, etc. The writing helped me keep my head clear, and also if sleep issues get to the point where you need to see a specialist about it, you have the journal to help them figure out what's going on.
Forget sleeping pills...I suggest chamomile tea. Chamomile has been used throughout the ages as a very effective sleep aid. Also, reduce stress in your life, have regular eating habits, and cultivate a regular sleeping schedule. You may have to get up earlier than you would like, and you may have to retire to your bedroom earlier than you would like, but you'll be all the better for it.
the best thing you can do to make you sleepy is to read a book in bed... for best results, do it lying down, not sitting up... one most often falls asleep after just a few pages...
I always heard that you're not supposed to do stuff like read or write or do homework in bed. Then your mind thinks that the bed is a place where you work, rather than a place where you sleep... but I always read in bed. My mind is crazy anyway, I might as well confuse it a little more.
