The Sleep Thread! Everything about healthy sleep.

[GrymReefer]

Anything and everything that has any relevance to sleep should be discussed in here!

Just remember to be polite and keep an open mind.

Bigots and bygones will be dealt with.

There is no right answer, but I'm sure there is plenty of wrong ones!

We are all in this together to help ourselves!

Try to refrain from advocating illicit drug use to help with slumber. Recreational drug use isn't exactly a pillar maintaining a "Healthy Living."​

 

[GrymReefer]

Post feedback and if you would like more alternative choices of supplements to promote healthy sleep! Remember this is the healthy living section so unless the pharmaceutical is actually prescribed to you then it isn't exactly advised to attempt the common mistake of self medicating. We are not doctors and we should leave that job up to them. I'll be revising and correcting the structure of the first post along with providing more depth to it's theoretical benefits that were devised from reputable scientific journals and case studies.

I know it isn't much for the time I've spent on it a the moment, but my compulsiveness can cause me to have the viscous cycle of being too critical to my own work. So I tried make it sound, reasonable, user-friendly, and convey some legit information.

 

[-=SS=-]

Little adjustments can make a big difference to quality of sleep. Two things that have improved sleep for me:

- Ensuring room and accommodation is dust free. Dust mite allergy tends to render my nose blocked by morning, which means mouth breathing, dry mouth, snoring, all of which disturb my sleep.
- Ensuring back muscles are tension free. Spending 5-10 minutes using a tennis ball and hockey ball to relieve muscle tension. A massage would be best, currently single so I make do. Sleeping for hours with muscle tension tends to result in minor pain, and that discomfort disturbs quality of sleep for me.

 

[GrymReefer]

Little adjustments can make a big difference to quality of sleep. Two things that have improved sleep for me:

- Ensuring room and accommodation is dust free. Dust mite allergy tends to render my nose blocked by morning, which means mouth breathing, dry mouth, snoring, all of which disturb my sleep.
- Ensuring back muscles are tension free. Spending 5-10 minutes using a tennis ball and hockey ball to relieve muscle tension. A massage would be best, currently single so I make do. Sleeping for hours with muscle tension tends to result in minor pain, and that discomfort disturbs quality of sleep for me.

Ahhh I like that take on ensuring the utmost quality with sleep. I'll try to do a little research on the magnitude of environmental dysfunctions and distractions and it's affect on entering into sleep. Thanks for the post. I wouldn't have probably thought of that as it's not something that I've experienced. I can relate to you on the latter issue with excessive muscle tension leading to an inability to relax. Most of the time I usually just give up and enjoy the subsequent insomnia episode it provides.

If I recall I think that specific form of soft tissue tension release is called myofascial muscle release. It has something to do with strain counter-strain release techniques. The more relaxed your muscle fascia is the less restriction there is to it's natural mobility.

Lumbar positioning and maintaining as much neutrality in our erector spinae is often under estimated in diagnosing back issues. Along with the lower lumbar group, our gluteus maximus/minimus, hamstring group (semitendinosis, biceps femoris, semimembranosus) gastrocnemius/soleus, and even reduction in the total in our ankle flexidorsian mobilization can lead to a substantial dysfunction in the superior muscle and joint groups.

 

[-=SS=-]

Ahhh I like that take on ensuring the utmost quality with sleep.

If you're going to spend a third of your day doing something, better do it well On that note.. mattress or sleeping material.. it's the one investment that spending well is worth every penny and can make a massive difference. Having said that sleeping on a hard floor for one night can do wonders for your back.. that has been my experience and of friends, it's like it gives your back a chance to realign.

Any pressure points or tension will inevitably lead to minor pain after hours of resting in one or two positions.. this irritation from the body can fuck your sleep up as it pulls your consciousness away from deeper sleep, especially in the early hours of the morning when you've done a lot of recharging already. I've noticed that poor posture during the day (desk based lifestyle) carries over into the night. For example, my current setup has my monitor on the left, so I twist slightly when sitting. At around 5/6am during sleep I will notice my hips are twisted in that direction and this causes pain in the end.. all because my muscles spend so much time in that position during the day.

The best sleep I ever had was after a day roaming the countryside, followed by a hot relaxing bath, and sleeping on this old spring mattress that was like sleeping on a fluffy cloud. The next morning I felt like superman, was incredible. Unfortunately that is not my typical state of affairs!!

 

[SmokingAces]

I've noticed since quitting fucking with stims my sleep is much better and it's just 3 weeks - a month since I had my final fucked up session. I think we underestimate how bad staying awake for 1 day even is.

 

[RedRum OG]

Most traditional drugs really fuck things. Alcohol, caffeine and strong stimulants particularly. Even if you feel like you're coming down they still really fuck with REM cycles. Avoid that shit like the plague within 5-8 hours of bedtime, depending n how sensitive you are. I've also noticed weed kills my dreams (or ability to remember them ) and that can't be good. Opiates really make my sleep "light"... Even 8 hours of continuous sleep feels like a nap and I wake up not rested. During my worst opiate addiction with IV heroin I never slept more than 3-5 hrs a night. My opiate nod felt almost indistinguishable from my actual sleep

Even sleeping pills, trazadone, ambien, etc make your sleep lesser in quality but I guess shitty sleep is better than no sleep

Tl;dr drugs=bad. Very very few don't affect your sleep negatively at least a little. Even if you don't notice it

Everyone is different though, and if sleeping pills or weed helps you sleep and wake up feeling rested, good for you.

 

[SmokingAces]

Yeah man I'd have to agree with you. Do any of you go to bed earlier at this time of year, when the days are shorter? I certainly feel like I could sleep for longer as the night is longer. I'm going to start going to bed progressively earlier this week. I just want to hibernate and train hard til I get back to education and work at the beginning of next year probably now I've straightened out my priorities.

 

[garnet888]

I use to have difficulty to sleep soundly. The littlest noise awakens me and its hard going back to sleep. What worked for me is a supplement called melatonin. Although these tips are helpful too..

 

[PerfectDisguise]

I'm prescribed Mirtazapine and it works wonders for my sleep. I almost always have vivid dreams which are pleasant for the most part. My routine before bed is to not use any electronics an hour prior to going to bed. During this time I just read, and by the time the hour is up I fall asleep within a few minutes. I honestly don't think I could get good sleep without drugs, I used to sleep terribly.

 

[RedRum OG]

Exercise is absolutely magic. For me the best window is 2-4 hours before sleepy time. Any earlier and I get restless again, any later and it keeps me up. I prefer weight lifting (as I absolutely love some HIIT 5-6x per week, about 50-90 minutes per session) though cardio will be better than nothing. Lifting really helps my chronic restlessness ... Makes my muscles feel like orgasmic jello. Reminiscent of opiates.

Also, a light snack (low carbs, medium fat, high protein) seems to help me a lot. And being hydrated helps too. Basically the healthier your diet and lifestyle, the healthier your sleep, it is a positive cycle, each side improving the other side.

Also, as is common knowledge, electronics right before bed is bad, though I still fall to temptation sometimes. Reading or meditating to get yourself tired is infinitely better.

As a chronic insomniac, implementing a positive mindset before bed works wonders. In this "go go go" age we live in, thinking along the lines of "the time for acting is over, I will enjoy myself and think of stupid, meaningless, fun things. I will get my responsibilities done tomorrow, there is no need to think about that or plan it out now. There is nothing I can do about solving my problems at this moment"

 

[SmokingAces]

Healthy sleep coincides with a healthy routine. For me I am at my peak performance getting up around 7am and being in bed by around 11-11.30. I never used to but now I need my 8 hours or as close to 8 hours as possible.

It is good to let your mind wind down before bed. Some comedy, a book, meditation - all good before bed. Meditation really helps clear my mind.

Drugs, alcohol and benzos in particular (two things many people use regularly before sleep) really mess with your REM sleep and will soon catch up on your health because of this. Recently I drank every night for a month - 6 weeks. I found in that time my physical performance was not near what it was after just 1 week clear of alcohol. I don't find cannabis a problem provided you stop smoking 1.5-2hours before sleep.

Not eating for 2-3 hours before bed is also good advice for optimum rest.

 

[-=SS=-]

Not eating for 2-3 hours before bed is also good advice for optimum rest.

Yeh +1 to that. That's one thing that disturbs early morning sleep for me.. having my GI tract kicking in and telling me I need to crap whilst I'm busy trying to dream. But a bowl of frosties at 11pm is hard to resist sometimes..

 

[RedRum OG]

One last note, the more precise your schedule the better. For a period in my life I got to bed at 11-11.30 99% of the time and woke up at 9. My sleep was amazing and woke up feeling restful and energetic every day. Now I sleep anywhere from 10pm-3am and it feels shitty.

 

[SmokingAces]

Hard to be good and go to bed early every night though man. I think what's more important is the sleep at the other end. Even if I go to bed at 3am so long as I get 8-9 hours I'm usually good the next day.

 

[nuttynutskin]

Anyone have any advice for someone with SAD trying to reset their sleep schedule? In the summer when I'm doing good I would typically sleep from 7am-3pm, but now that it's dark all the time and the weather is shitty I've become completely nocturnal. Yesterday I slept from about 10:30am to 5:30pm. The quality of sleep was OK but my sleep schedule is completely counterproductive for this time of year.

 

[Pretty_Diamonds]

A glass of milk. Fresh pillow cases. Not too hot. Focus on my breathing for at least three minutes (clear the mind).

 

[LearntYoung]

Pfff, sleep!?

Spoiler: MB WARNING

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Spoiler: Truth

 

[LearntYoung]

Stupid maximum image amount... I wasted half an hour on collecting those.

 

[Grinders Kiefers]

Anyone have any advice for someone with SAD trying to reset their sleep schedule? In the summer when I'm doing good I would typically sleep from 7am-3pm, but now that it's dark all the time and the weather is shitty I've become completely nocturnal. Yesterday I slept from about 10:30am to 5:30pm. The quality of sleep was OK but my sleep schedule is completely counterproductive for this time of year.

I haven't tried it myself, but you might look into light therapy. I've been considering buying this lamp.