Sleepless

[Former Member]

I have only had about four hours of sleep during the past four or five days and it's freaking me out. Any advise? 

 

[rustle]

Yep. Get your ya-yas out (work out, run, whatever), take a shower and go to bed with a glass of milk. Silence the internal dialogue and still yourself.

[LJH]

Something is bothering you bro. Find it and crush it. You need peace in order to sleep. Peace is when the whole world seems to be in harmony with you and vice versa.

[A.J.]

There are times I am unable to wind down and sleep.  I end up tossing and turning for the whole night.  I am not recommending a course of action for you, but there are times when I take the allergy medicine Benadryl as it will make me go to sleep.  Some people it doesn't help, but it does help me.  It is sold over the counter as a sleep aid and as an antihistamine.  Anyways, I know what it is like to not be able to sleep.  Hope you figure out what will work for you.

[Fishwings]

Your local food store may have Melatonin pills. They're relatively harmless in low doses as it's the natural hormone produced when humans enter dark phase, go check it out.

[Zombie]

Maybe obvious, but make sure there's no physical issue e.g. lumpy mattress, temperature regulation [too hot / cold], pillows not supportive [too hard / soft / wrong height] etc.

Don't go to bed stuffed full of food, sugary stuff and alcohol

Wind down before you go to bed so your brain's not buzzing

Make the area around your bed tranquil e.g. switch off your iPhone, iPad etc

Keep a pen and pad by your bed - if something pops into your brain to worry about write it down so you can forget about it until tomorrow - when it most likely won't seem important anyway.

Sleep tight - and don't let the bed bugs bite

[Ieshwar]

Maybe you could try some yoga breathing exercises to relax while in bed. It helps to clear your mind. I haven't actually used it myself to sleep but my boyfriend does and it works for him. Worth a shot. 

 

Cheers

Ieshwar

[Fishwings]

If all fails you can

 

 

 

In all seriousness, the hormone PRL is released during orgasm and it has several effects, one of which will make you sleepy.

[sat8997]

I have only had about four hours of sleep during the past four or five days and it's freaking me out. Any advise? 

 

Four or five days? Whimp! Try that for twenty years. World class insomniac here. I had to wait for my kids to grow up before I would take any sleep medication, and that's only good for five to six hours. Try the yoga, it is relaxing so that helps.

[Bumblebee]

I never use to sleep at night until recently, I still get insomnia occasionally but not so much since I started exercising harder as well as working all day.

 

Here are some things that sometimes help me to fall asleep:

Reading a book with a really dim light.

Keep your bedroom at a cooler temperature.

Having a warm shower or bath a few hours being you want to sleep.

A relaxing pillow spray - lavenders good

 

A warm drink and a small snack before you go to bed (strong chamomile tea works great)

Don't eat or drink anything with caffeine after midday (including chocolate)

Don't nap during the day.

 

Go to the toilet before starting your bedroom routine (seriously nothing is worse then being nice and cozy and about to fall asleep and then having to get up to go to the loo and then not being able to get back to sleep).

Turn all electronic stuff off in your room, get rid of any clocks with an illuminated face or numbers.

 

Having a small fan run next to my bed, making some background noise (and cutting out traffic and other noise outside my room), keeps me cool and circulates the air in my somewhat stuffy room, makes me sleep, I can't sleep without it running now.

 

Listen to some soft, slow mellow music and do some breathing exercises.

Wake up at the same time every single day, even on weekends or if you haven't had much sleep the night before don't try to 'catch up with sleep' by sleeping in all day.

 

Try and go to bed the same time every night, if you can't sleep after 15mins, get up and do something quiet for 15mins before trying again.

Try not to stress out about falling asleep or whatever time you have to wake up in the morning, it'll probably keep you awake all night.

 

Take a pseudoephedrine or another drowsy antihistamine or cold tablet.

Over the counter sleeping tablets will probably knock you out, but they generally make you feel drowsy and lethargic the next day.

 

If you've got racing thoughts, get up out of bed, sit down somewhere quiet and with dim lighting and write down everything that your thinking.

Don't exercise after 6/7pm, exercising too close to bed time will keep you awake. If you can, do your exercises when you wake up or around lunch time.

 

If all else fails (or if its getting close to your wake up time) get up out of bed and start your day a bit earlier. You'll probably fall asleep easier the next night.

 

If you still can't sleep more then a few hours a night for over a few months and your sleeplessness is making getting through your day difficult, then try and get an appointment with a respiratory specialist or a sleep specialist. You might have sleep apnoea or another disorder that could be stopping you from falling/staying asleep and sleeping tablets only mask the problem not solve it.