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The Big "I Can't Sleep" Thread - Insomniacs Unite!

Whosajiggawaaa

Whosajiggawaaa

Bluelighter
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Jul 9, 2011
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How to get a good nights sleep ?

I've been on 15 mg midazolam and 25 mg hydroxyzine for 4 years. I slept fine last year, but now and this whole year I go to bed at 12 then wake up 3-5 hours later every night and have difficulty falling back to sleep without taking anotherpill. I was recently prescribed lormetazepam which I take 1mg in conjunction with 15 mg of midazolam but to no improvement. Damn I'd give anything to sleep how I used to 9-10 hours every night consistently. Any input or ideas would be appreciated or even suggestions for a new medication ?
 
http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/07b/003990-papaver-rhoeas.jpg

Papaver Rhoeas. The red corn poppy.
After an unsuccessful start on Citalopram, (which gave me insomnia) which i still had after taking,
I decided to give these a try.

I pick the petals, Then air dry for 3 - 5 days.
Instructions:
Pick petals on a HOT SUNNY DAY
Use dry petals, Approx half a teaspoon, then work your way up (if necessary) To 2 teaspoons of dried petals.
Put them in an empty tea bag or strainer.
Infuse with boiling hot water for 15 minutes.
Add Strawberry or normal Ribena , And enjoy


Quote from a Forums:

Actually Papaver Rhoeas contains an alkaloid in the petals called Rhoeadine, which can aide in sleep but doesn't induce euphoria, I'll have to dig through some sites to find the link to the story about it... I remember the story said something about Mothers taking 'Corn Poppies' and making tea with them to help put their children to sleep in the 40's and 50's. My father has had luck with them as an alternative to Benzos as a sleep aide.
Corn Poppy
Click to expand...


*Note this*

In that picture you will see that there is like a Dark purple cross in the center of that poppy. Apparantly these are mutations that have formed over time.

http://www.aphotoflora.com/images/papaveraceae/papaver_rhoeas_common_field_poppy_flower_10-06-04.jpg

Seee, not all of them have them.
Make sure you dont pick Papaver Somniferum!


Apparantly the petals contain a trace amount of morphine
 
highhooked said:
Get a nice workout in before bed whenever possible. Thatll relax the mind nicely and get rid of all the racing thoughts which in turn makes it easier to sleep.

I find that this works for me i dont know all the facts.
Click to expand...

This used to work for me before i started on citalopram, But now it dont work at all. im just wide awake for hours on end.
Usually though, it should knacker you out and make you go to sleep though your right.
After doing 12 mile bike rides and lots of walking in one day, I still lay awake for 5 hours so i decided to try the papaver rhoeas
 
Cool thanks for the feedback. Yeah I usually workout in the day (morning) and found that it hasn't helped me :/, maybe I should try it closer to sleeping. I will investigate these poppies, should I try look for them at nurseries, health shops ?
 
I just pick them in the wild and lay them out on trays to air dry out.
What country do you live in?

It takes me about 30 minutes to fall asleep still, but what happens is, that feeling you get as your falling asleep occurs and i find it really hard to wake up.

A bit like in the morning when you wake up extra early for something ...

The only downfall is , say your having a bad dream, you cant get out of it
 
For me...

No sugary snacks for at least two and a half hours before bed, no laptop or TV two hours before bed, get into a solid routine of waking up and going to sleep at a certain time, when I try to sleep, I imagine something relaxing and repetitive (like two dancers) or try muscle relaxation. :)

EDIT: Oh, and make sure you stay out of the place you sleep for things like reading, going on the laptop etc, so you thoroughly associate it with sleep. :)
 
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5pg3ma.jpg


A recent harvest, Took me a couple of hours zooming around on my bike and finding spots the corn poppy are growing but,
I think theres about 20 tea bags worth in there. All dried and cut up .

I highly reccomend this method, as you describe difficulty in staying asleep, ie you wake up and cant get back to sleep.

This works best at that, rather than getting you to fall asleep in the first place (But it helps with that a bit too)
 
Well in my opinion milk is best for sleep. If we drink milk before sleeping we can get a better sleep and can sleep well. For a better sleep we should avoid to eat before sleep.
 
I can't sleep unless I work out. If I don't work out for several days I get probably 4-5 hours of sleep a night before I wake up.
 
Well there are an easy ways to get the good night sleeps that are

Try to take dinner 2 hours before going to bed for sleep
Always eat simple and light food in the night
Try to avoid from over eat

ROCHESTER HILLS Exercise
 
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Do you toss?
Do you turn?
Do you toss and turn?

There are few things in life as infuriating as when lying in bed, absolutely wide awake, stressing about not getting to sleep which in turn keeps you awake even more and to add insult to injury, your brain seems to think that this is the perfect time to panic that you're life is not going anywhere and worry about all the bad decisions you've made.

Can anyone relate? I don't have an issue with sleep these days with my Kratom habit, but I used to be far too energetic to sleep. As a child I was an insomniac, staying awake for days on end, usually staying up to write crazy shit on the walls and write poetry and whatnot.

If you have any advice, tips and knowledge on the art of a good night's rest, then here's the place to compile it!

Top Tips For Ensuring A Good Night's Sleep:

Practical
  • Exercise during the day - this is one of the best sleep-inducing methods. Heavy exercises makes a great difference to how easily you nod off at night.
  • Make SURE you have a scheduled sleeping pattern and don't just stay up until 4am for a few days, sleeping until 12pm then mixing it about again. If you stick to say 10pm, then your body will habitually feel tired at that time and help induce sleep, whereas if you don't have a set pattern, your circadian rhythm has no restful habit to adhere to.
  • Have a hot bath just before bedtime. Put a few drops of Lavender Oil into it. Relax.
  • Meditate! Employ some relaxing breathing techniques. I find what can keep me awake is the incessant worrying. When you meditate, it relaxes you and helps quash any woes or worries.
  • Keep the TV off in the bedroom and dedicate the bedroom to nothing but sleep (and sex).


Dietary
  • Reduce Caffeine and Sugar, consuming no Caffeine after 5pm (depending on when you go to sleep of course, but no caffeine after 5pm is most appropriate imo)
  • Consume Whole Milk before bed. Warm it up, if you like. Any hot drink can relax you but milk is especially good.
  • Lettuce is soporific and may help induce sleep.
  • Honey relaxes you...combine this with a hot drink. Not too much of course, but a touch of glucose will help your brain "turn off" orexin, a neurotransmitter linked to alertness.
  • Turkey sandwich on wholemeal bread can help induce sleep in those seeking it.
  • Banana's contain melatonin, 5HTP and magnesium.
  • Oats are also great! A wee bit of porridge with honey drizzled on (milk, oats, honey) and sliced banana is great for helping you sleep.


Herbal and Supplemental
  • Chamomile
  • Valerian Root
  • Hops
  • Passionflower
  • Diphenhydramine
  • Catnip
  • Calea Zacatechici
  • Cannabis
  • Magnesium helps relax the muscles and reduce stress/anxiety. A very good relaxant when used in conjunction with Chamomile and Valerian
  • Melatonin
  • Mulungu
.


There are plenty of methods to relieve insomnia. The root of the problem is what should be addressed though, in most cases. That is, try to find out if it's stress causing your anxiety as more often than not the two are interlinked.
If you exercise frequently, mediate nightly, eat a healthy, well-balanced diet free from caffeine and too much sugar and enjoy Chamomile and Valerian etc before bed, it should make a huge difference to your Sleep Hygiene.

Do you have any tips or tricks? Even if you don't, but you would just like to talk about how it stresses you the fuck out, the come in here.
Hell, if you are trying desperately to sleep but to no avail, then switch on your computer and come on here to see if we can help, if you really want!

/discuss
 
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Great post! I'd like to throw melatonin into the herbal remedies!

I do morning cardio + intense weight training in evening + plus work 8-10 hrs. a day and STILL have trouble sleeping.

Some things i've recently incorporated to get off the benzos:

Some "me" unwind time with simple TV shows and some canabis before bed.
Keep the bedroom TV off. This has become a place simply for sleeping so my mind goes in that "mode".
I still have to take a prescription to clear my head but it is non-habit forming unlike benzos.
 
You are absolutely spot on with the idea about keeping the bedroom for nothing but sleep. I definitely have more trouble sleeping when I sit in my bedroom watching TV all day, then try and get into bed watching TV for a bit. The bedroom should ideally be separate from day-to-day life.

Melatonin! I forgot about that one! Have never actually tried it....do you recommend it?

It's strange that you have trouble sleeping after all that hectic schedule....however that very well could be because of the adrenaline running all day and doing the weight training too late in the evening. I never do exercise after 6pm as it keeps me alert and awake for a while with all the hormones flying about.

There are many reasons why we may have trouble sleeping though, some of which it would be impossible for anyone over the net to help with unfortunately unless they knew your medical history and your mind well! Is it a really bad struggle each night for you, HeavyMetal?
 
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I totally forgot about valerian root and I have the actual root in my kitchen along with some passion flower and some california poppy. Those ingredients combined make for a very relaxing tea and sometimes I add mint leaves. Im mad now because last night I maybe got an hours worth of sleep due to my anxiety issues which is weird because I was pretty doped up too on my meds which most of them are fairly sedating. I believe in the power of herbal remedies though I just forgot about them as I was stressing out about not being able to sleep and getting myself more worked up. I have a nice laundry list of herbs that I keep in my cupboard to make custom teas. They definitely come in handy.
 
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