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I Suck At Sleeping

bluemanthief

bluemanthief

Bluelighter
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Apr 14, 2010
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In a small white cube, surrounded by non-believers
So, for pretty much, all of my life, I have never been a good sleeper.

Pretty much, I like to stay up late, I sleep in too much, and sometimes get crappy sleep.

Usually the reason I stay up late is because I'm not tired, and oftentimes, when I lay down early, my mind will be so restless I will just lay awake forever. The other problem is I sleep in too much, and I am just getting tired of it. Everytime I wake up in the morning, it is damn near impossible for me to stay awake, and most days I feel like taking naps.

SO, I have seen Melatonin, but never tried it, I would like to know if it would help me with these problems? Are there other natural sleep aids or supplements?

Thanks BL for any replies and advice!
 
I have used Melatonin and it did seem to help, at least at first. I have heard others say that it has also helped them sleep. If you take too much you can feel groggy in the morning. Valerian is also supposed to help but I never found it to do anything.

Meditation just before bed also helps with the racing mind. I hate that. Which is why I'm awake at this hour tonight...
 
Sleep hygiene, as it is sometimes called in medical literature, is the answer for many people's sleep problems.Some sleep hygiene practices:
  • A period of wind down before bed
  • maintaining the same wake up time regardless of when you got to sleep
  • not using the bed for anything other than sleep & sex(no tv watching, web surfing, or reading in bed)
  • leaving worries to another day, beds are not for brooding
  • Some people need a truly dark environment for quality sleep, look to minimize ambient light from street lights, electronic devices, etc


I'm saying all that believing it would help, had I the discipline. I have succeeded in good sleep hygiene only a few brief periods in my life. Melatonin really works well for a lot of people and I hope that it is an easy answer for you.
 
I have the same problem. Reading a book can help to clear your mind and relax you. You can also try some of those self-hypnosis/relaxation CDs. Or maybe some relaxing music like this.

Why is your mind restless? I'm not sure, but it might be because of some mental problem like anxiety or depression. That's my problem a lot of the time. If that is the case, you could see a counselor and try to fix it.
Enki said:
Sleep hygiene, as it is sometimes called in medical literature, is the answer for many people's sleep problems.Some sleep hygiene practices:
  • A period of wind down before bed
  • maintaining the same wake up time regardless of when you got to sleep
  • not using the bed for anything other than sleep & sex(no tv watching, web surfing, or reading in bed)
  • leaving worries to another day, beds are not for brooding
  • Some people need a truly dark environment for quality sleep, look to minimize ambient light from street lights, electronic devices, etc
Click to expand...
Yes. I don't just need a dark environment though... it also needs to be cool, quiet, clean and comfortable.

Here's a full list of sleep hygiene techniques...

http://www.umm.edu/sleep/sleep_hyg.htm
 
Fix a bedtime and an awakening time. Do not be one of those people who allows bedtime and awakening time to drift. The body "gets used" to falling asleep at a certain time, but only if this is relatively fixed. Even if you are retired or not working, this is an essential component of good sleeping habits
Click to expand...
why? this isn't the way my body feels
 
I have the exact same problem and was just going to make a topic about it!

Recently whenever I go to bed, usually around 2-3am (I'm far too awake before then) I just end up lying there until about 8-9am, before i finally nod off, it's horrible. I just lay there for hours thinking about anything and everything and even though I am tired I just cannot get to sleep. I think the main problem is I'm kinda stuck in this pattern and atm I'm doing fuck all during the day so I have nothing to actually be tired from...just sitting at a computer most of the time really...
 
In my experience melatonin is only good for holding sleep, it may have slightly helped me drift off to sleep but not noticeably - placebo may have played a role. But once I was asleep the melatonin aided me in continuing to sleep without disturbance for a good few hours, I woke up feeling slightly groggy each time I tried however a cup of tea solved this. It is quite nice though, it may help you but maybe the problem lies with excess energy, have you tried doing exercise during the day? Or a better diet? Try reading a book before sleeping rather than TV or the internet if this is what you currently do, as these keep your mind racing before sleeping thus causing it to be more difficult to drift off.

Hope this helps.
 
Haha, I thought I was the only one that said they suck at sleep. Melatonin (mainly necessary while setting up a sleep pattern), a consistent sleep pattern, sobriety and exercise are probably the main things that I have found to help. These things have helped me wake up easier and feel better on a daily basis, I recently have been doing this off and on (week durations) and notice such a huge difference in how I feel that it makes me question why I do drugs when sobriety feels so much better.
 
marsmellow said:
Circadian rhythm. Maybe you have something in your environment that's disrupting it?
Click to expand...
i feel "pep" at night. i feel more creative, energetic, happy, curious, and motivated during the nightime. in the afternoon i feel really tired and sometimes a little "flat" (just like bleh")

this has always been a psychological component to my insomnia

but even when waking up the same time each day (and getting into bed the same time at night) for quite a while, e.g. if it's not summer, i'll still get insomnia sometimes. and even then when my rhythm is for the most part regular and i'm sleeping at a similar time each night, i still "feel better" at night

i've had trouble sleeping since i was really little though...
 
I suffer from insomnia as well, sometimes its caused by anxiety (from being worried about the next day to being absolutely convinced that spiders are going to crawl up the sides of my bed *haha, I hate spiders), sometimes its caused by overstimulation, and sometimes other things. What I've learned to help is pretty much what's already been said, the sleep-hygiene thing.

But on top of that, one thing I can say that's helped me and may help you, is classical music and ambiance playlists, don't use headphones as those are very uncomfortable to fall asleep with (IMHO). Use a really low volume, like background, just something for your subconscious to focus on instead of racing thoughts.

If you like to read, try reading something before bed, but choose literature wisely. Getting too enthralled into a book will only keep you up longer, wanting you to continue reading. Try short stories or research-based texts. Boring enough to allow you to wind down, but interesting to you enough to make you actually want to read it. I also find that this fills your head with thoughts of wonder that usually put me to sleep.

I've tried melatonin to absolutely no avail and when my insomnia was really bad I tried Remeron and Trazadone, both of which did knock me out but waking up in the morning was torture. Now, on nights that I can't sleep, I take a small amount of Trazadone to put me in the "hypnotic" state and I find that that allows my mind to wander and wonder me to sleep, instead of focusing on things to be done or things that bother me.

Worst comes to worst, see your doctor, primarily a psychiatrist. Unless nothing else works, try your best to steer clear of benzodiazepines (Ambien, Xanax, Valium, etc) as they kind of lessen the quality of your sleep.

Hope you find a solution, sleep is the key to a positive next day.
 
qwe said:
i feel "pep" at night. i feel more creative, energetic, happy, curious, and motivated during the nightime. in the afternoon i feel really tired and sometimes a little "flat" (just like bleh")
Click to expand...

This is my exact same dilemma too.

I feel extremely creative and curious, ill do mass researching through various topics which interest me, i get more done at night then i ever do during the day. For the last 6 months i had been sleeping in until 11am and later, only within the last 2 weeks have i made major adjustments to my sleeping pattern so that i wake-up at 6am, and it's helped considerably in terms of lasting energy and motivation throughout the day.

Even with waking up that early though, i still find myself wide awake going through dozens of websites,forums and articles on an array of topics late into the night ;)
 
I also have chronic sleep problems; its a frustrating thing, to simply not be able to sleep even when you know your body needs it.

things that have helped in various amounts for me in the past:

Melatonin - 1mg to 3 mg. no noticeable difference using 3mg rather than 1mg
Valerian - Still taking this one, maybe just out of habit. 3x450mg
Kava Kava - can't remember the dosage
*Chamomile
*Lemon Balm
*Hops
*rose
*spearmint
*orange blossom
*the above have all been found in various sleepy/relaxing tea mixtures

OTC- Doxylamine Succinate (unisom like tabs)
- Diphenhydramine (benadryl)

I personally just have issues sleeping that haven't been helped much by any of the above but I still take melatonin occasionally and valerian pretty regularly.

IMO melatonin is great for when you need to readjust your sleep schedule (like when flying/traveling) but not for when I am just having everyday sleeping issues.
 
also, sleep hygiene type stuff has probably helped equally as much as most of the above 'herbal' or OTC remedies.

I have also been on various Rx dtuff to help, none of which had any lasting effects
Ambien
Trazadone
Xanax
 
I use this combination:
1500mg Methocarbamol
5mg Melatonin
40mg Zolpidem
60mg Remeron (bear with it, the side effects go away after a few months)
60mg Dalmane

I'd had trouble sleeping all my life, until I met with my psychiatrist and we came up with this cocktail. IT WORKS! Keeping in mind that I have an abnormally high tolerance to CNS depressants, for all I know such a combo given to the "uninitiated" could be dangerous.

SEE YOUR DOCTOR, DO NOT DOSE YOURSELF!!!
 
wtblife said:
... I can't believe your psychiatrist is okay with that T_T
Click to expand...


She's very forgiving and liberal. She knows my pill popping past and my unusually high CNS depressant tolerance. We didn't just jump into that regime, rather eased into it over the course of a year or so, as I would build a tolerance to Dalmane (which was started at 15mg) Remeron (started at 7.5mg) et cetera

I've been on this cocktail for a little over a year and have slept very well every single night.

Every now and then, we try to decrease one to find the "minimum effective dose"

Right away, and sometimes for weeks while we try a lower dosage (of Dalmane for instance) I toss and turn like mad; as soon as the dose is upwardly adjusted, I sleep fine.

I took my mix of sleep aids about 45 minutes ago, so you can see, I am cogent.

I could (but would never) drive; I do not get heavily sedated. Just moderately.
 
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