Flare Sci-Fi Forums: sleep habits... No, it's not what you think...

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Posted by Manji (Member # 550) on :

For the past few months, I've had one of the worst bouts of insomnia. I've been unable to fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, and then around 6am, my eyes pop open and I'm awake. I'm pretty tired right now, but each time I lie down, I just can't seem to fall asleep. Between this and moving in with my folks, and the stress of not being able to find a decent place to work. Ragnarok is quickly approaching...

Well I'm going to give it another try.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Stress, perhaps?

Try lying down and not thinking. Kind of hard (I tend to get some song stuck in my head), but sometimes it works. Sounds like you're suffering from a lack of REM sleep, where not your body but your mind is tired. This is where my medical knowledge ends. If you want, I could always whack you upside the head with a two-by-four...

Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :

::raises hand:: My name's Chris, and I'm an insomniac.

::group members:: Hi, Chris!

::sexy lady group member:: I'll help you sleep.

Anyway, I've had recurring bouts of insomnia for two years now. It started right after one of my more severe depression episodes of recent times. That started the cycle, and then the stress of becoming a resident assistant in the dorms continued the problem. After my first semester as an RA, the stress multiplied because we had massive staff conflicts. Those were pretty much constant up until I left residential life last December. Then it was replaced with the stress of having to resurrect my grades and find employment and make ends meet.

I'm still suffering from insomnia. At times, I could go two days without any sleep because I physically not make myself sleep. I'd try, but I'd lie awake staring at the cracks in my ceiling or at the blinking light on the smoke detector. Now, it's eased a bit. When it gets bad now, I can only sleep three to four hours. When it's not so bad I can sleep six hours. Right now, I'm taking Tylenol PM to help me try and get my body synched with a normal schedule again. It's probably not the best of solutions, but it does enough to relax me to the point that I can get a normal seven to eight hours of sleep.

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

quote:
Sounds like you're suffering from a lack of REM sleep, where not your body but your mind is tired. This is where my medical knowledge ends.

Is there a beginning to your medical knowledge?

Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :

I have somewhat of the opposite of what you have. I get TOO MUCH sleep. I go to bed around 4 - 5am, and don't get up until 3 - 4 pm. I usually wake up around noon, but then my eyes hurt to open and I just feel extremely tired, and I fall right back asleep. I've done this almost every day this summer.

Posted by Jernau Morat Gurgeh (Member # 318) on :

I think that there are a few things that affect a person's ability to sleep. The most important is mindset, if you can't relax, you won't sleep. Make sure you relax, consciously make sure none of your muscles are tensed. Also, try to create circumstances in which it isn't important to get to sleep (eg when you don't have to get up for work the next day), so you won't be saying to yourself, "Damn! I need to get to sleep". If there isn't pressure, you'll relax easier.

Another thing that can help is to eat well (preferably hot food) before you go to sleep. This causes a natural drowsiness that many experience as "midafternoon slump" during the day after eating dinner (It's caused by the body shunting blood to the intestines to digest food). Apart from that, there's the usual recommended hot milky drink (Ovaltine, Horlicks, or hot chocolate).

Dunno if that helps, but those are things I make sure of.

Posted by Michael_T (Member # 144) on :

Oooh, I need to buy more Ovaltine...

Anyway, if those don't help, try Unison. It works when I need my family to sleep early.

Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :

I've had insomnia all my life. You get used to it, and 5 hours sleep a night counts as a good rest for me. Doctors are always reluctant to prescribe anything, they blather on about stress, getting more exercise, and so on. And besides, the drugs don't work, they make you worse. . .

Matt: your body clock is just screwed. You're getting about 10 hours a night which is certainly more than usual, but if you could just start going to bed earlier and move the whole cycle about 6 hours forward you'll be fine. I'm sure you've tried that, the thing is to get up in the morning (say about 11 to start with) and STAY UP. No matter how tired you get, no napping, go out, get fresh air, whatever.

Manji, sounds like stress to me. You just gotta remember that no matter how much you might hate not having your own place to live, being at your parents' is far better than being on the streets. At least you're able to wake up, once I'm asleep I usually stay that way. Your environment can make a huge difference. I'm virtually all moved into my girlfriend's house, spending most nights there, and even after months of spending at least 2 or 3 nights a week there I still find getting to sleep an intensely variable experience. Partly it's because I have very exact pillow requirements and I'm looking forward to bringing my own pillows over.

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

That, plus she probably pecks away at your forehead ridges, Lee.

Posted by My Publically Displayed Name (Member # 256) on :

In my experience, there are two solutions that will put you out:

1). Take pills. Not recommended. You might grow dependent on them, and there's also the issue of unwanted side-effects.

2). Work out. Recommended. If your mind is tired, but your body isn't, you won't fall asleep. But, if you tire yourself by bycycling, lifting weights, squashing etc, falling asleep will become much easier. Plus, it keeps you fit.

However, neither option deals with the underlying mental problem - you need to figure out what it is, and do something about it (don't think shrinks right away ).

Posted by Jubilicious (Member # 99) on :

Now... what to do for the people with strange illnesses like mine that are always physically tired but can't get their minds to shut up?

Posted by My Publically Displayed Name (Member # 256) on :

Find a few good crossword puzzles, read a college-level mathematics book, or something

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

I have a very special book for that, Jubes. It's called "Sovereignity & Security In The Arctic." It's a collection of essays & papers about Arctic security issues presented at a conference in Toronto in 1989. I've owned it for 6 years & STILL have yet to finish it once.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

A thread titled "sleep habits" that's about sleep habits and I'm not supposed to be able to suss that out? I call foul.

Posted by LOA (Member # 49) on :

Insomnia. It's a great friend of mine. We've known eachother since I was about 15 years old. My frist bout with it lasted 6 months, and by the end of it I was sleeping only about 16 hours a week.... One day though, it just randomly went away, and I started sleeping normal again. After a few months it came back, and it's been a pretty steady cycle in my life since then, though never as bad as that first bout.

I sleep about 6 hours a night when I'm not going through a bout....when it acts up though, 4 hours of sleep is a miracle.... you get used to it. My body does very well now, but if the bout goes on for too long (say, more thna about 3 weeks) my mind gets all cloudy... *shrug* I get through. Miserably, I'll admit, but I still make it.

My last Dr. was a BAD Dr. she put me on Paxil to stop my insomnia. I wasn't depressed though. She said it flat out. But I was on it anyway. Well, it worked... the insmnia stopped, but instead I just couldn't get OUT of bed... and the side effects were BAD.... after two months, I took myself off, because she wouldn't.... so I don't recommend that.

Try to find the stress in your life causing it, but good luck. Sometimes it's hard to do. It could be completely not stress related, too... maybe it's just how you are?? You can try Tylenol PM, Benedryl, or Melatonin to help you sleep. Those all have been recommended to my by health professionals... they may work for you. It just depends on what is going on.... Good luck though... I feel your pain

Posted by Michael_T (Member # 144) on :

Ok, tire out your body is a good idea to physically get yourself into bed. But if that doesn't work try having sex for three hours.