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Learning to enjoy sleep again?

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SemeCircle

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Aug 14, 2016
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The only thing that keeps me coming back to opiates, is for the sleep it brings. Any else had this issue, and know of any ways to start enjoying sleep again? Obviously, you can move onto benzos, but I want to go all natural rather than replacing one addiction for another. Currently in the UK, so melatonin is not an option sadly. I have dabbled with 5htp, but mild results so far.

What's everyones thoughts?
 
What is your sleep hygiene like? I find opioids actually don't help me sleep unless I'm in withdrawal from them.
 
@Toothpastedog - Thank you for your response. My sleep hygiene(I've always adored that term!), is OK. I think largely, I find sleep really boring! I feel like I'm wasting time with it, and just end find it hard to get myself into a positive mood about sleeping. It oddly feels like a chore. However, when I'm on opiates, I roll around my bed like a cat, drifting in and out of sleep. I love it! I can do that for 2-3 days, only waking up to take more drugs and eat, but I hate sleeping sober. Although I do agree, opiates do make me feel less with it the next day, and do interfere with my routine(e.g. healthy eating, work etc.)
 
Right, so when you say you sleep better on opioids, what you really mean is you find it easier to be in bed, because it doesn't sound like your getting all that much sleep on them! They actually are shown not to be all that great for actually getting good, deep sleep.

I'd suggest try things like a relaxing guided meditation for when you go to lay down. A body scan in particular. You can find some good ones on the ucla.marc.edu website.

Try not using your bed for anything but sleeping (well, sex is okay too), don't watch TV or use the computer or your phone for an hour before bed every night, have a small snack before bedtime (like cereal and milk), stop using caffeine after 12 noon, and don't exercise for at least two hours before you plan on going to bed. If you do all that and then try and stick with it, you should find yourself falling asleep a bit easier.

Do you get any exercise during the day? Even just going outside and walking around can help a lot.
 
What a well-rounded, concise answer! Thank you. I've been meaning to try meditation for ages, so if this helps out with my insomnia then I'll have killed two birds with one stone.

Quick question however. I've just looked through the guided meditation audio, which look great - http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

Will this not interfere with avoiding screens, phones, electronics before bed? I imagine as long you're only glancing at the screen to press play, and not pausing and checking all the time then it's only a small necessary evil?
 
Naw, I think you'll be fine. Just download it to your phone or something and hit play. A few seconds of screen won't kill ya, it is more the staring and reading for more than what it takes to hit play is more the issue.

Just setup the track on your phone as a single song on a single playlist, so that when it ends it doesn't repeat or move onto another one. That way when the guided body scan is over you won't need to mess with your phone again, you can just lay back and fall asleep. The longer the body scan the better, I forget if they have a 30 minute one up there or not.

Lemme know if you don't like Diana's voice, I can put you on to a number of other ones. There are also lot of mindfulness resources in the MBHR resource sticky.

Glad I can be of help!
 
toothpastedog said:
dude that is just he ptsd talking
Click to expand...

I would really prefer to be awake all the time. I dislike being asleep. All my dreams are nightmares. I don't understand the appeal to inactivity.

I used to love sleep when PTSD first came on, because I couldn't cope whatsoever, and I'd sleep in 18 hours a day. Only lasted a few months.

I now can't stand doing that. Just my personal experience.
 
Sometimes I guess I feel like that too, but it is rare. I so love sleep. I wish I could live without it, but I love it so.
 
I used to love sleep after a good bender :)

Always used to greatly enjoy the deep, dark, dreamless "coma-esque" sleep I'd get after a rigorous routine of psychedelic hallucinogens and/or synthetic stimulants the night(s) prior. That kind of sleep can be attained through non-drug related physical exhaustion, but exercise is kind of a double edged sword when it comes to sleep, for me anyway...too much too close to bed often puts me in a state of vigilance and anticipation, i.e. unable to sleep.
 
It is interesting how fucked up our circadian rhythm gets when we misuse substances for long stretches of time. And how hard it is to get back into them, for sure. Exercise is the only thing that has helped me, but it is like smart exercise - like biking as opposed to weight lifting. Cardio seems to be the ticket for helping my brain heal :)
 
Captain.Heroin said:
I hate sleeping.
Click to expand...

Captain Heroin, that sucks that you hate sleep! At least in my view it does, you are probably perfectly ok with it, haha.

Sleeping is in my top three activities for sure. I've always loved my sleep. Even when I was a kid I looked forward to nap time...not being able to sleep is like hell for me, only worse.

In any case, I'm guessing that you are far more productive than I am!

Seme -

Toothpastedog had great advice - the only thing I would add is that hot showers help me. Also, I use a sound machine for white noise. Personally, I like the rain ones because rain is also in my top three things I love. But they have all different kinds, I ran across a "washing machine" sound machine awhile back. It made me laugh but there must be a market for it...

- VE
 
I enjoy "ambient sounds" before sleep as well. My favorites are rain & ocean surf
 
I love the sound of the fan, air conditioner or waterfall (yup, I live in a very urban environment).
 
I fall asleep to harsh noise walls and stuff like that. Ambient stuff works too but it's a tad underwhelming for me.
 
i sleep with a fan blowing on me inches away from my face, it keeps me cool and helps me sleep due to the white noise it generates.

this here is my #1 tip- when you decide it is time for bed, turn YOUR PHONE COMPLETELY OFF or if you need it for an alarm in the morning like I do, put it on AIRPLANE MODE so no one can call or text you. You see when people are playing on their phones in bed minutes before they want to try and sleep, that bright light stimulates the brain and fucks your sleep pattern up

so idk if you are one of those people that is addicted to their phones and lays in bed with it, but just turn the dam thing off before you go to sleep and make sure your room is pitch black, not even light from a clock.... try these tips
 
Ooo! Good tip! I normally just silent my phone, but that makes even more sense. Thank you for that morsel mrsnowygrainius :)
 
mrsnowygrainius said:
i sleep with a fan blowing on me inches away from my face, it keeps me cool and helps me sleep due to the white noise it generates.

this here is my #1 tip- when you decide it is time for bed, turn YOUR PHONE COMPLETELY OFF or if you need it for an alarm in the morning like I do, put it on AIRPLANE MODE so no one can call or text you. You see when people are playing on their phones in bed minutes before they want to try and sleep, that bright light stimulates the brain and fucks your sleep pattern up

so idk if you are one of those people that is addicted to their phones and lays in bed with it, but just turn the dam thing off before you go to sleep and make sure your room is pitch black, not even light from a clock.... try these tips
Click to expand...

yeah I deliberately have it so it can't wake me up, unless my alarm goes off :)

the blue light in computer screens keeps you awake

you can use a program on desktop computers to go greyscale or redscale and get away from the colors that cause awakeness.

NSFW:
what-is-blue-light-why-blue-light-filter.jpg
 
CH, I was about to write about the same as you.

Newest iOS by the way has option for automatically changing spectrum to less stimulating during chosen hours (standard is 22:00-06:00).
 
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