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How can I get rid of insomnia?

H

HeyGuy

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I get insomnia at times. How can I get rid of it? I don't take benzos or sleeping pills. I also don't take any stimulants like coke, speed, etc. Only caffeine in coffee Caffè or mate in the morning or early afternoon, and not at night. Weed keeps me awake even if it relaxes me since it's an Indica.
 
What are you're activities before sleep? Do you exercise at all? How often do these insomnia spells occur? What have you tried in the past? What dosage of caffeine do you take?

Just need a little more information, but it's nice to see it's probably not stemming from any drug habits.
 
Looking to good sleep hygiene and habits. For instance, cut out all caffine in the afternoon, exercise in the morning if possible, eat healthy. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even weekends. Turn off any blue light sources (tablets, PC, phone, tv, etc) two hours before bed. Use the bed for sleep and sex only. Other things that also help are eating at least an hour and a half before bed. Taking a warm shower/bath. Limiting sugar consumption. Also try to relax by not thinking about stressors before bed. Meditation and/or reading (nothing serious or stressful like the news) are a good way to ease your mind before sleep. If weed is keeping you up then try not doing it in the afternoon. I know weed used to keep me up and really interfered with my sleep patterns even though it was relaxing. If you're taking it medicinally maybe try a good quality CBD oil as that doesn't have psychoactive ingredients.

Of your sleep schedule is messed up consider taking 1mg 2 mg of melatonin to help get it back on track. Melatonin is a hormone that is produced in the body that regulates the sleep cycle. It's natural and not addictive, and isn't a sleeping pill in the traditional sense. Also, less is more - taking double or triple doses isn't going to make you fall asleep any quicker or for any longer. Most melatonin suppliments are way to extreme in dose, it really should be about 1mg and there are many that are 5mg - 10mg which is too much. If you take too much you may have a headache the next day and generally not feel well.

Other suppliments that help with sleep are magnesium, l-theanine, and Relora. None of those are addictive. Magnesium is very relaxing and often we don't get enough through diet alone. L-theanine is a compound found in teas and is a glutamate analog which can help reduce anxiety and stress. Relora is fairly new helps decrease cortisol levels. I have tried it and it is very relaxing and does increase the quality of sleep. None of these mentioned in this paragraph will make you immediately tired or anything, and many people take these throughout the day for anxiety. In my opinion they do increase relaxation and the quality of sleep when taken before bed.
 
Something that works for some people: take a shower or bath. Don't dry off, just get right in the covers soaking wet. Works best when the room temperature is below 70 degrees F, 21.11C.
 
What's your level of exercise like? If you're not too active, increase that. It helps a lot. And hey, even if it doesn't you'll still be fitter.

Meditation. Learn to practice mindfulness, that's something that can really help if you find yourself laying in bed unable to sleep.

Valerian. People have mixed experiences with it and it can lose its effectiveness over time but it definitely helped me. I think the trick is to use sufficiently high doses (equiv to 2g dried root) and don't use it every night. Not sure where you're located but health food stores usually sell it.

Don't lay in bed for hours stressing over not being able to sleep, it's a really negative self-reinforcing thing when it comes to insomnia. If you can feel that kind of unhelpful thought pattern coming on, get up and do something else for a bit then try again. You want to break the association so you're not going to bed thinking 'shit I hope I can sleep tonight...my mind is too active...I don't think I'm going to sleep well' rinse and repeat for hours.

One trick I employed, passed down from my insomniac father, when you're in bed and feeling the above just remind yourself that even if you're awake, you can still get the benefits from laying in a cool dark room and relaxing. You're resting your body, and if you can put some mindfulness work in practice, you'll be resting your mind too. It's not quite as good as a proper sleep no, but it's definitely something.

Hope some of this helps - I suffered from 18 months of severe insomnia some years back (like 4 hours of unbroken sleep was a good night and at least 2-3 nights a week I wouldn't sleep at all) and it's a special kind of hell that people don't understand unless they've experienced it. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
 
These are my tips for the best sleep, I get a solid 9 hours of restful sleep EVERY night...

don't eat NOTHING up to 15 minutes before going to bed, if you do theres food just sitting in your stomach and you will be lying down so how can your body digest that quickly? it can't...

exercise during the day if you can

keep your bedroom PITCH BLACK, cover any digital clocks that may light up the room (I just throw a t- shirt over my cable box that displays the time)

keep a blowing fan next to your bed (for white noise and to keep you/ your room nice and cool)

THIS IS MY MOST IMPORTANT TIP------ you must turn your phone off, or on airplane mode (for an alarm if you need). Turn it off the moment you walk into your sleeping area/ room, this means no texting, no nothing because the ultra bright light from the phone stimulates your brain seconds before you are trying to go to sleep, so just don't even fuck with it, do all that shit before you go in your room
 
I have insomnia as well and am going to take some tips from this thread as well. A few tips from me though:
- sleep mask to keep any light out. I have blackout curtains, keep the lights off, and wear a sleep mask. so when I open my eyes, I can see little bits of light
- melatonin
- developing a good routine and keeping on a good schedule
- not looking at your phone. I'm so guilty of this.
 
#1 Cut out caffeine. Doesn't matter if it's daytime only. The effects carry to the night. If you can't function without coffee then you have an underlying nutrition and endocrine issue which is probably the reason why you can't sleep. People with this kind of depletion can go one of two ways... they either sleep too much, or barely sleep at all. In both cases they wake up feeling unrested.

If you can't live without coffee, then up your nutrition level. More foods rich in magnesium. More EPAs and DHAs in the diet.

- eliminate overhead lighting in your home after dark, use indirect lighting instead
- daily movement, even if just going for a walk; get your heart rate up, sweat; gym is good
- no computer screens within 2 hours before bed
- no big meals within 3 hours before bed
- snack before bed is OK, usually something high in carbs
- bed is reserved for sleep (and sex) only, no food, computers, books or anything else in bed
- eliminate sources of light and noise during sleep

That usually works for 90% of people. If it doesn't, you can turn to herbal medicine. Valerian is not for everyone. Based on what you've said, it would work against you. People who are sedated by cannabis are usually sedated by valerian. People who are kept awake by cannabis will become manic zombies on valerian. If there is underlying neurochemical depletion due to daytime stress or poor nutrition, then stimulant sedatives like valerian and cannabis just make the problem worse. The body needs to be sedated by filling the missing nutrition. Google "nutritive sedatives" -- these are what you need.

I recommend buying whole nettle leaf (that's right, stinging nettle). Put 1 cup nettle leaf in a 1L/1Q mason jar and fill it with hot water. Put the lid on tight and let it infuse overnight. The next day it'll be a really dark green liquid. Drink that throughout the day. You'll get really nutritive energy from it and come bedtime you won't feel cracked out like you would from coffee. You can also add oatstraw (avena) to that mix if you like.

If you really want to try an herbal sedative, california poppy or milky oats tincture could be indicated here. If you have a high stress day, then also adding 1 dose of schisandra can help kill cortisol.

That's all I would recommend in a generic way. For anything else go see a trained herbalist.
 
Don't do anything exciting 2 hours before you go to sleep. Ex. bedtime at midnight; do nothing exciting from 10pm on. That means no video games, no favorite tv shows, no cooking/cleaning etc. You can watch boring TV shows, stuff that you're not interested in, some LIGHT hw, etc. This is down time, time for you to just chill, relax, and do nothing. Just get into that mindspace, just relax.

Once you feel a little bit sleepy, keep it up, close your eyes slowly hear and there, tell yourself, you feel sleepy. Go to the bedroom, but do that slow walk, like you're so tired, you are just to get into that bed. Get into bed, your body is heavy and you just fall into bed. Your body sinks in. Mhmm, so warm, so comfortable, so cozy... ahh, so relaxing. Close your eyes, and give yourself a small smile. Now start to dream, think of a fantasy (not a sexual one), hmm, dream of a perfect life, what does that look like for you? Dream job, car, spending, relationships, follow your thoughts and dream, dream big till you drift off....

If you're not asleep in 30 minutes, get out of bed, turn on the TV, and start over.
 
chamomile valerian work . you have to laye with your eyes shut and clear your mind. practice meditating
 
I struggled with insomnia too.. You know what worked well for me? I turn off all the gadgets and keep the light off. I used to struggle falling asleep because I was being distracted by my gadgets.
 
Cuttoff caffeine at noon every day. Quit smoking cigarettes. Eliminate sugars and refined carbs and saturated/trans fats. Exercise mornings. Meditate/yoga 30 mins a day.

Bada-bing-bada-boom

Love peace positivity,

-GF
 
All my life I thought I was a night owl. I would get a burst of energy around 10pm after I got the kids to bed and work til 1, 2 or 3 am. Whenever I did go to bed at a decent hour I would toss and turn for hours, unable to fall asleep. I refuse to take prescription drugs or OTC sleep meds, prefer natural everything. I can't drink coffee past 11 because that makes it worse. And like you, weed makes me hyper and want to clean the closets and drawers etc, rather than chill and relaxed. I started taking CBD Oil a few months ago and for the first time in my life I'm sleeping like a log and waking rested. I'm also going to bed at a normal hour, say 10-12pm and able to sleep straight through til 8 am. I'm overjoyed. The first place I bought it was outrageously expensive, but then I found a wholesaler and I'm paying half the price. Not sure if I can share websites on here or not? But if you're interested in where I get mine let me know.

Oh yes, and GOOD QUALITY lavender oil on the wrists. I'm not a fan of the smell, but it does seem to help too!
 
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