Forgive me if this post sounds a little terse...I have slept maybe 3 or 4 hours in the last 3 days. No, I was not out late partying for the Super Bowl. This happens every few weeks, for no reason I just go days without a full night's sleep. Even then, a 'normal' full night's sleep for me is around 3-4 hours, which I know is unhealthy but even under normal circumstances I just can't fall asleep easily...sleeping pills have only sort of worked in the past, but I don't really like the idea of taking drugs to fall asleep anyway. On top of that, my diet and exercise habits aren't bad either (60 minutes of activity a day, no eating before bed, no junk food, etc.). It's infuriating, and it's seriously fucking me up in school...been going on for years. I just can't take it anymore...help?
Can't sleep...help?
- Thread starter renegade7
- Start date
http://job-india.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/32.jpgrenegade7 said:
...sanest, most obvious course of actions.
As a side note : I had my problems in the past. I replaced coffee with yerba mate and everything seems to be alright since then.
Sleeping pills are the quick fix help in extreme cases like this one, but be careful with that shit. seriously, most of the ones strong ones to help true insomniacs can be addictive, and getting off of them, even if you're not addicted, can be...rough, to say the least.
alternatively, try Martial Arts of some kind, particularly any styles that focus on mental discipline, Yoga might help too, One of my friends says that Yoga is the only reason he can sleep these days.
Maybe some sort of meditation to clear your head before you sleep, or even just something like doing a long run or some workout that exhausts you.
that's all the things I can think of. insomnia sucks. good luck with that.
alternatively, try Martial Arts of some kind, particularly any styles that focus on mental discipline, Yoga might help too, One of my friends says that Yoga is the only reason he can sleep these days.
Maybe some sort of meditation to clear your head before you sleep, or even just something like doing a long run or some workout that exhausts you.
that's all the things I can think of. insomnia sucks. good luck with that.
As a fellow insomniac, I fully understand your pain.
Can I ask if you're either a heavy caffeine user or are you currently under any additional stress?
I see you've stated you're in school. High school? College? University? And with that, could I take your age?
I know you don't want to take drugs, but have you tried more herbal solutions (I don't mean pot). I find Valerian pills are very good. I've recently started taking them and I get at least 7 hours a night.
As for yoga, it's never worked for me, but I've known people that it has been good for.
Can I ask if you're either a heavy caffeine user or are you currently under any additional stress?
I see you've stated you're in school. High school? College? University? And with that, could I take your age?
I know you don't want to take drugs, but have you tried more herbal solutions (I don't mean pot). I find Valerian pills are very good. I've recently started taking them and I get at least 7 hours a night.
As for yoga, it's never worked for me, but I've known people that it has been good for.
I take it you're not in any stress or dealing with any other problems other than lack of sleep? It doesn't got to be big, even a small minor problem that could be the cause of the lack of sleep.
Not sure if this will work for you but I was having problem sleeping last Chistmas but I read that for some bizzare reason, position yourself from the side (left or right) help you get to sleep. Oh and laying on your back supposely doesn't work.
Also you probably know this but don't play any game if you going to sleep right after as the game will have given you a active mind, making it run for a while. If you do want to play a game, give it an hour inbetween when you off to bed (e.g. you finish a game at 10pm and go to bed at 11pm).
I also read somewhere that if you struggling to sleep, you may aswell get up and do some kind of a relaxing activity. I don't know which activity are suitable but stuff like exercising is bad iea. I think it was reading and watching a non action film will help (March of the Penguin supposely help).
I admit I am having sleeping problem at the moment but my is cause by anxiety and stress (I fall alseep somewhere at 1am but I wake up at 6am and cannot fall back to sleep) so I wish you a more lovely sleep.
Not sure if this will work for you but I was having problem sleeping last Chistmas but I read that for some bizzare reason, position yourself from the side (left or right) help you get to sleep. Oh and laying on your back supposely doesn't work.
Also you probably know this but don't play any game if you going to sleep right after as the game will have given you a active mind, making it run for a while. If you do want to play a game, give it an hour inbetween when you off to bed (e.g. you finish a game at 10pm and go to bed at 11pm).
I also read somewhere that if you struggling to sleep, you may aswell get up and do some kind of a relaxing activity. I don't know which activity are suitable but stuff like exercising is bad iea. I think it was reading and watching a non action film will help (March of the Penguin supposely help).
I admit I am having sleeping problem at the moment but my is cause by anxiety and stress (I fall alseep somewhere at 1am but I wake up at 6am and cannot fall back to sleep) so I wish you a more lovely sleep.
18, senior in high school. Barely drink any caffeine, unless I really need to stay awake, though I don't often need the help. My courses are somewhat difficult but nothing stressful enough to make me miss sleep over.weirdsoup said:
And I also tried the yoga thing, didn't really leave me with much more than a few achy muscles. The thing is that exercise makes me feel tired, but once I get into bed I start to feel awake really quickly.
Well, obviously checking in with a doctor wouldn't hurt, but I suppose I could give some advice:
First off, 3-4 hours of sleep is perfectly healthy. Don't listen to that shit on "you need X hours of sleep every night." Every body is different, and sleeping habits fall in a bell curve, some need more than 8 hours, some need less than 8 hours to function properly. EDIT: Admittedly you probably need more in your case, but just wanted to put this out there.
From the sounds of it you likely have a minor case of insomnia. Have you changed your habits since you started losing sleep? Has the place you sleep in changed? What about whether or not the sound quality is the same?
For instance, I have to have a fan on if it isn't raining outside in order to put me to sleep, and a friend of mine has to either listen to music or smoke a joint to fall asleep.
Again, if you can't find the issue relating to your environment or habits, than I would definetly suggest speaking with a doctor. (though sleep is actually a field of psychology/biology.)
First off, 3-4 hours of sleep is perfectly healthy. Don't listen to that shit on "you need X hours of sleep every night." Every body is different, and sleeping habits fall in a bell curve, some need more than 8 hours, some need less than 8 hours to function properly. EDIT: Admittedly you probably need more in your case, but just wanted to put this out there.
From the sounds of it you likely have a minor case of insomnia. Have you changed your habits since you started losing sleep? Has the place you sleep in changed? What about whether or not the sound quality is the same?
For instance, I have to have a fan on if it isn't raining outside in order to put me to sleep, and a friend of mine has to either listen to music or smoke a joint to fall asleep.
Again, if you can't find the issue relating to your environment or habits, than I would definetly suggest speaking with a doctor. (though sleep is actually a field of psychology/biology.)
Do you spend much time in bed other than to sleep? When you said that exercise made you tired but getting into bed made you awake, I wondered if your mind might be anticipating something more interesting than sleep. If so, you might consider trying to use the bed only for sleeping.
Also, what do you commonly do in the 30-60 minutes before trying to sleep? Anything that requires large amounts of concentration, effort, or stress can make it much harder to wind down and fall asleep.
Also, what do you commonly do in the 30-60 minutes before trying to sleep? Anything that requires large amounts of concentration, effort, or stress can make it much harder to wind down and fall asleep.
Try doing as many push ups as you can before you try to sleep, like, just get down on the ground and do like... 1000 push ups without taking a break, just do so many push ups you puke all over the floor and pass out from exhaustion. Not only will you sleep, but you will also get excersise... which is apparently a good thing.
I'm fairly sure that this will only increase your heart rate and while it will tire you out, you will be alert for a while which isn't good.White Lightning said:
OT:
I had trouble sleeping throughout last year, well, 2010, and over time I just came up with some...techniques I guess to help. Of course I wasn't as bad as you, but it can't hurt to try.
Firstly I used to worry that I wouldn't get enough sleep, and then would lie awake worrying, then I would get frustrated, angry, sad, all while lying in bed. It was pretty messed up.
Soon I just realised that there was nothing, NOTHING, I could do to make me fall asleep quicker. Getting angry, or worried, wouldn't solve anything. Even if I only got a mere hour of sleep, I would still be able to function for the next day.
So now, if I'm worried like that, I just lie in bed an accept the fact that the ONLY thing in the ENTIRE WORLD that I have to do right now is just be as comfortable as possible. That's the only requirement that I have in the entire universe. Just be comfortable. Lie there, warm, but not hot, with some blankets. And just be comfortable.
I know that sounds stupid, but when I finally came to realise that the only thing I could possibly do was just be comfortable as possible I found sleep so much easier to get.
The only thing you have to do, your only job, the only thing anyone is asking of you, is to just be comfortable. It doesn't matter how many hours of sleep you get, someone, somewhere in the World will always be getting less. Just lie there and be content!