Insomnia

[Fenix]

Sucks. I hereby declare this the Official Insomnia Thread.

Anyone else have it? Like, not "Oh noes, I shouldn't have drunk that coffee" but real, diagnosed chronic insomnia? Lemme tell you, it sucks. I spend my nights sitting around playing the bass.

What do all y'all do at ungodly hours of the night/morning?

[JBL]

Man insomnia sucks.. I don't have that kind of problem but I can imagine how it feels.. sometimes I start thinking about a lot of things. and the more I think, the less I can sleep and it never stops.. when this happen.. I usualy fall asleep like 2-3 or 4 hours after going to bed.. so I guess that's pretty much a start of insomnia.. good thing it rarely happens..

so I understand what you live even if I don't totally live it.

[mc2]

I have insomnia. I go to bed at 11pm. Keep on rolling, thinking stuff. I don't actually fall asleep until around 2-3am. Then I have to get up at 7am. So I only get something like 4-5 hours of sleep. And yes it really really sux.

The main problem is that I keep on thinking things when I'm lying down on the bed. Whether if it's things happened in the past, or my imagination taking me to places, It's very annoying. And I don't feel tired at all during the night at 2am. It is when I get up at 7am, that's when the tiredness kicks in, real bad.

Nowdays, whenever I have insomnia, I'd find something constructive to do during the night. Like coming onto this forum :P. And I think recently I've found several solutions to insomnia.

The best solution from my own experience is to exercise during the day. I'd prefer exercising in the late afternoon, like 4-6pm. Exercise during the day really makes me go to sleep real fast in the night. Apart from exercise, I find that physical/manual labor is also very effective at helping me fall asleep at night. And very importantly, do not take an afternoon nap!! If you are really really tired, make sure your nap is no longer than 20 mins.

[JBL]

oh yeah.. naps are very deadly when it comes to deal with insomnia...

I remember when my gf came to my place for a few days (hmm I won't explain why, but we can't see each other often, this is quite a friggen long story) and we both had insomnia... however I'm pretty sure it's for other reasons.. lol

[Fenix]

Yeah, like with what mc2 said, exercise kind helps....I walk about six miles every day. That lets me get to sleep at bout 3. Normally though, I fall asleep at 5.

My mind just won't shut down. I hate it.

[JBL]

Yeah, like with what mc2 said, exercise kind helps....I walk about six miles every day. That lets me get to sleep at bout 3. Normally though, I fall asleep at 5.

My mind just won't shut down. I hate it.


If i find some more tips against insomnia I'll tell you.

[Fenix]

That would be awesome. I'm literally at the point where I'm toying with the idea of going to the docs and getting Ambien or something prescribed.

[burkid]

i hate insomnia too. i consitently get 3-5 hours of sleep each night so that if i happen to get 8 or so hours i feel even more exhaused. ive been on this forum till 1-2 am the past couple days so i fall asleep faster :-\

[Fenix]

Yeah, I hate the nights where I get six or more, cause (A)It makes me feel like crap the next day, and (B)It makes me feel worse cause I did manage to sleep

[josh]

lol. i experienced insomnia when i was still going to school. i would go to bed around 12am and i kept on thinking about stuff and i would finally get to sleep around 4am and i should wake up at 5. but now is a different thing. i got to bed at 8pm and wake up 11am the next day! ugh!

[Warsaw]

Personally i have never had any insomnia before. I go to sleep at 12PM and wake up at 7AM pretty much every day. I wonder what time it is in New York right now. Anyway i heard counting sheep helps. And if you are really desperate you can try eating a lot right before you plan on sleeping. After eating i always feel sleepy.

[Fenix]

New York?
I don't have the patience to count sheep, and I'm not big on food period....=/

[mc2]

Another possible solution is to NOT eat anything 3 hours before you go to bed. Say you go to bed at midnight, DO NOT eat anything past 9pm, except water and milk. Eating just before you sleep can keep your brain awake, because your brain is constantly instruct your stomach to digest and instructing your intestines to absorb. Even if you do fall asleep, eating just before going to bed means you'll lose the crucial part of your deep sleep period where your brain truly rests itself.

Another possible solution is DO NOT do or watch anything exciting 3 hours before you sleep. Watching an action movie til 11pm is one of the biggest contributor to Insomnia. Try to make yourself bored and dull your brain for 3 hours before you head to bed.

As well, make sure that you are actually tired at around bed time. So try getting up before 8am at the latest, and try not to take any nap during the day. By the time it's 10 or 11pm, you'll be very tired. Manual labor, like moving furnitures around the house can also help make you "tired" at night.

Oh yeah, with the food thing. NO coffee or tea after 1pm, just like your liver needs time to process alcohol, your body also needs time to process the caffene.

But these are just solutions that worked for me, it might not work for you though...

[Fenix]

I'll give them a try tomorrow, it's too late now.

I'm always tired at "bedtime", it's just I cannot sleep. My mind whirls at a million miles an hour. Drives me nuts I tell ya.

[ArchLimit]

Nowdays, whenever I have insomnia, I'd find something constructive to do during the night. Like coming onto this forum :P. And I think recently I've found several solutions to insomnia.

The best solution from my own experience is to exercise during the day. I'd prefer exercising in the late afternoon, like 4-6pm. Exercise during the day really makes me go to sleep real fast in the night. Apart from exercise, I find that physical/manual labor is also very effective at helping me fall asleep at night. And very importantly, do not take an afternoon nap!! If you are really really tired, make sure your nap is no longer than 20 mins.


Hey, that's a good suggestion, it works for me as well. But here's one for you in case you wanna try it out. I find that listening to music with HEADPHONES really helps. I'm talkin like, loud beat-filled stuff, and most times the music starts getting too noisy and I start getting a lil dizzy. I usually fall asleep soon after that. Hehe, I just read what I wrote and I just realize how weird I might sound. Maybe i have a brain tumor...

...anyway, works for me.

[mc2]

Thanks for the advice ArchLimit :)

And I forgot to tell Fenix this:

In order to fall asleep, you body needs a decrease in core body temperature. From about 100F to 96-97F. Your body cools down by sending heat to your hands and feet, the heat is then evaporated off. Now this usually occurs when you are on the bed. So one of the reasons that you have insomnia is that your body temperature is too high. I've had a similar problem to this before and cooling myself down is actually quite helpful to reduce insomnia.

I understand that it's summer right now in the northern hemisphere, and if you have air conditioner, lucky you :). Check and see if your face is heated up when you are in bed. Mostly likely that it's too hot in the bed for you to fall asleep. Try reduce the thinkness of your blankets. Or sticky hands and feet outside the blankets for heat to escape from your body faster. Or even rinsing your hands with cold water and help decrease your core body temp to fall asleep.

I hope this will help you. It's certainly helped me with my insomnia :)

[Fenix]

Ooh, that's a good one. I like my warmth, so I often bundle up, and use space heaters. I'll give that one a try tonite.

[burkid]

i find its much easier for me to sleep when my room is cold, because i can always cuddle more with my comforter, but when its hot (like now :'( ), you cant do more than not use a blanket.

[mc2]

That's what I hate about summer, especially that I don't have air conditioner. In winter, it seems that you can keep warm as long as you thinken or add layers to the blanket. But in summer, it's too hot to sleep even if I don't use a blanket, and a fan is completely useless, just blowing hot air around the room.

Anyway, Fenix, have my remedies helped much? :)

[-LT-]

Thanks for the advice ArchLimit :)

And I forgot to tell Fenix this:

In order to fall asleep, you body needs a decrease in core body temperature. From about 100F to 96-97F. Your body cools down by sending heat to your hands and feet, the heat is then evaporated off. Now this usually occurs when you are on the bed. So one of the reasons that you have insomnia is that your body temperature is too high. I've had a similar problem to this before and cooling myself down is actually quite helpful to reduce insomnia.

I understand that it's summer right now in the northern hemisphere, and if you have air conditioner, lucky you :). Check and see if your face is heated up when you are in bed. Mostly likely that it's too hot in the bed for you to fall asleep. Try reduce the thinkness of your blankets. Or sticky hands and feet outside the blankets for heat to escape from your body faster. Or even rinsing your hands with cold water and help decrease your core body temp to fall asleep.

I hope this will help you. It's certainly helped me with my insomnia :)

Thanks for the advice. :powerup:

[Protosscommander]

Well i think if you have an insomnia just try to drink more coffie hehe just joking.

[Major Willy]

I'm up right now, 2:00 and I'm not even close to tired.

Insert giant picture of an unhappy face here.

[ArchLimit]

3AM here... Just finished my new sig! W00t! This is why I'm an insomniac, I love doing sh*t when no one can bug me. Pure solitude.

[Fenix]

4:34 AM, and I'm gonna attempt bed.

[Nikzad]

Reading. Reading of any sort puts me to sleep. Listen to Knights of Cydonia or Soldier's Poem or other songs that are gentler than a band's typical sound...here's a list of songs that I used before my iPod got jacked :'(
Streamline - System of a down
Question! - ''
Aerials - ''
Highway Song - "
Lost in Hollywood - "
Lonely Day - "
Roulette - "
We Believe - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Don't Forget Me - "
Under the Bridge - "
Death of a Martian - "
Scar Tissue - "
Venice Queen - "
This Velvet Glove - "
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Feuer und Wasser - Rammstein
Ohne Dich - "
Mutter - "
Wo Bist Du - "
Stirb Nicht vor Mir - "
Spring - "
No Rain - Blind Melon
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero - "
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand - Primitive Radio Gods
Losing My Religion - REM
Anything by the Postal Service probably


I have more but definitely check out those , even if you don't like the band (ie even if you don't like SoaD, check out the songs I listed because they are probably not the type of music you would expect from them)

Also, I find that it is much easier to fall asleep if you have a lamp on a nightstand by your bed, so you don't have to get up to turn off the light. Or if you have a TV, you can use that and turn it off when you are ready to sleep. Finally, I like to have the room pitch black, so as to minimize visual stimulation, and a fan going (it cools me down, as well as producing a constant whirring noise to drown out the sound of turning in your bed and the little noises that can keep your mind going) Hope this helps, ese.

[burkid]

I love doing sh*t when no one can bug me. Pure solitude.

yes, if theres any plus of insomnia, its the freedom of solitude. at 1am i can do pretty much whatever i want, get what ever i need to done, but earlier in the day i just feel restricted because of responsibilities.

12:32am here, ive been standing on a parking lot for 9 hours a day every day this week (marching band). just got back from a party for finishing the week. i havent been able to get anything done this week because its been 'wake, shower, eat, band for 7.5 hours, come home, shower, eat, band for another 2.5 hours, sleep' repeated every day this week and ive gotten the most sleep i have in months this week because of it.

mc2, the cold water works very well for me, thanks :powerup: