Oh Insomnia - i Hate Thee

[killer_carlson]

I cant sleep more than a few hours at a time for the past 3 months or so. Damn it sucks. It started with a run of 2 of our toddlers waking up and crawling into our bed at night, and kicking and crying which would wake me up. We have stopped this habit, but the waking up hasnt gone away.

Getting headaches during the day which i never get, and im sure the lack of sleep isnt helping. The more tired i get, the more i lie awake thinking. Best sleep i am getting some days is a nap on the couch.

Anyone else get insomnia? What are the solutions that worked for you?

Ive got a killer headache right now but need to try to get some more rest.

[kermitology]

Newborn won't sleep right now, so I'm feeling similar.

[ripTDR]

Occasionally working a night shift I get it real bad as well.

Never more than three hours a night. I would get real tired but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would start to "think" about things too much. A sign of stress for sure.

As for a solution? First off I confronted my stress(school) by working harder at it. I also made a conscious effort to eat a lot healthier and get at least a hour a day in exercise.

Melatonin helped too.

I know how bad it can be. Ive lived a couple summers high up in the NWT where we had direct 24 hr sunlight. Sometimes it would be so bad that I would almost be in tears cause of the crappy sleeps of no more than 2 hrs.

[SeeBass]

Just a little bit of pot about 45 min before bed.

[loob job]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Newborn won't sleep right now, so I'm feeling similar.

I'm in the same boat, 5.5 month old decides two a.m. is two p.m. and wants to be wide awake for a couple hours.

[Puppet Guy]

I had it bad about six years ago, to the point where I was yelling and bursting into tears at random times during the day. It was caused by stress and went away when I dealth with the big issue. I later found that drinking red wine (but not other forms of booze) would knock me out.

[nickerjones]

I had this problem when I had back surgery. Mine was contributed to the fact that pre surgery I was on a cocktail of Opana , Oxycontin , Neurotin, and Zanaflex. ( first two are heavy pain killers, then a nerve pill, and a muscle relaxer) all put me to sleep on their own put them together and all you do is sleep. Well after surgery I wasn't near as much pain so I just stopped taking them. I couldn't sleep at all... I went to my doctor and they had me try a couple sleeping pills. I was only on light doses for about 7-10 days and after that I was good.

[93Hound]

I get a little dose of Insonmnia every now an again where I just lie awake and just cannot seem to get any rest. this may go on for a couple of days.
When I was a kid I took martial Arts. They had a breathing exercise that I still use today when I am restless and the mind is going 100 miles an hour. Yoga has the same kind of relaxed breathing. It will put me right out and I can actually have a pretty good sleep.
Lie on your back with yoru palms facing up, snug against your body. The idea of the breathing is to try and concentrate on the force of air and where it's going. As you breathe in, imagine you can feel the air going in through your mouth, down your throat and into the bottom of your stomach. As you breathe out, imagine the air going from your stomach and traveling to your spine. Breathe in and imagine the air comming up your spine and to the back of your throat. Then breathe out and feel it release yoru body.
This can be very difficult to get a t forst but believe me when you get it the first time you WILL feel relaxed. My 8 year old daughter does it as well when she is restless at night.
Good luck

[skudr248]

Stress, god damn, only way to confront it is it face the problem, and start working on it harder I guess, though procrastination is my second biggest problem, which brings up my stress, its the worst

[Daradon]

I've had bad insomnia since I was a child. Since I hit 30 it has gotten a bit better, but the thing that has worked the best for me recently is getting more exercise. Get a good amount of cardio, (an extended duration at some point) but you need to do it in the first half of the day. If you do it later in the day the endorphins/adrenaline will keep when you try to sleep.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I cant sleep more than a few hours at a time for the past 3 months or so. Damn it sucks. It started with a run of 2 of our toddlers waking up and crawling into our bed at night, and kicking and crying which would wake me up. We have stopped this habit, but the waking up hasnt gone away.

Getting headaches during the day which i never get, and im sure the lack of sleep isnt helping. The more tired i get, the more i lie awake thinking. Best sleep i am getting some days is a nap on the couch.

Anyone else get insomnia? What are the solutions that worked for you?

Ive got a killer headache right now but need to try to get some more rest.

Take an aspirin occasionally before you go to bed. That'll conk you right out. Not every night because that might eventually kill you . . . . but once in a while.

Don't eat anything after five p.m.

Exercise after work. Go for a run or something. Where some energy off.

Read cheap science fiction or something cheesy in bed for a while, then turn the light out.

Cowperson

[CaptainCrunch]

Learn to take advantage of your extra time at night.

[Huntingwhale]

Insomnia is something I have struggled with since I was a child. Smoking weed did help at first, but eventually it wasn't enough. After seeing many doctors and trying various solutions, I've come to the conclusion that this is the most effective relief for myself.



You can buy Nytol over the counter without prescription. I wake up in the morning feeling relaxed and they don't make me feel all sketchy. However the most important thing for me is that they keep me asleep during the night and make it so I can immediately fall back asleep if I wake up in the middle of the night. My main issue has always been once I wake up at 3am, I'm wake for an hour trying to fall back sleep.

Nytol has been a godsend for me. Melatonin works OKAY, but I've found that you build a tolerance quite quickly to it and eventually you need to keep upping your dose to get the desired effect. I've been using them for the last 5 years and now I actually get a good night sleep every single night. Of course I don't take them every single day, and I don't mix it with alcohol. But I would highly recommend these to anyone who has trouble sleeping at night.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Take an aspirin occasionally before you go to bed. That'll conk you right out. Not every night because that might eventually kill you . . . . but once in a while.

Don't eat anything after five p.m.

Exercise after work. Go for a run or something. Where some energy off.

Read cheap science fiction or something cheesy in bed for a while, then turn the light out.

Cowperson

One aspirin?!

Heheh, first of all, lots of people take one aspirin a day for their heart and circulatory health. Yeah they have those daily dose ones now, but lots of people have taken or do take a full one anyway. It shouldn't affect your health negatively. Actually, it should affect it positively.

Secondly, if one aspirin can conk you out, it's probably not bad insomnia. I know different things work for different people but, lots of people self medicate and take overdoses of Gravol, sleep-aids, cold medicine, and even stronger prescription stuff like prescription painkillers and opiates just to get a little relief, so one aspirin seems pretty funny to me. I, like many people got prescription sleep aids once upon a time. The first type my body adjusted to within a weekend and didn't work for me, the second made me sleepwalk and do dangerous things in my sleep ala all those problems they had in the States with Ambien. Neither of those worked for me. I woulda loved if a small does of an over the counter pain pill gave me relief. I can't see this helping anyone who has actual insomnia.

Lastly, the big problem with taking pills is that even if they do work for you in the beginning, even if an aspirin did for instance, your body and mind will adapt to it quickly. Then you need to up the dose. And of course once you do that, it's a vicious cycle. Same thing with booze. One or two drinks may work great before bed for a while, but more likely than not, it swiftly turns into 4, then 6, then 12, and eventually you need to get smashed. And then you're waking up with a hangover which isn't good either. Not to mention the health risks.

So yeah, if pills are a possible solution, the best thing would be to talk to one's doctor, cause if your on the pill route you'll probably need something more powerful than aspirin, and you'll definitely want to talk and document what does and doesn't work with your doctor so you can do it as safely as possible.

And maybe hide your car keys before you go to bed!

[Locke]

I find Bourbon does the trick for me.

[Bertuzzied]

Subscribe to the Golf Channel for a few months. Best $10 you will ever spend!

[Phaneufenstein]

When I can't sleep, it's usually because of something on my mind that's bothering me.

Working out really helps for both

[bizaro86]

I find when I can't sleep it's often due to stress/something on my mind. I've found that redoxin, which is a vitamin tablet you disolve into a glass of water and then drink really helps with that.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Take an aspirin occasionally before you go to bed. That'll conk you right out. Not every night because that might eventually kill you . . . . but once in a while.

Asprin once a day (not sure if a regular dose counts) is directly correlated with a longer life expectancy.

[Rudee]

I had insomnia for years until I purchased a Phillips GoLite from Costo. It's a light therapy device that I used for 30 minutes each morning, eventually resetting my sleep/wake cycle. Thought it was a gimmick, but it worked for me after about a month of using it on a daily basis. Highly recommend it.