Sigh, another sleepless night.

[LinkasZelda]

Hey Escapisters, I'm sure many of you have had your sleepless nights and issues.
I've never been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder, so I'm gonna pin it on stress or something.
It's 3:16am and I cannot, for the love of god, close my eyes. Whenever I do, they feel like they have springs attached and just want to stay open.
And I have to "wake up" at 5:30 to go to work.

Besides laying down with the lights off and closing your eyes, what are your at-home remedies for getting to sleep? The last two nights I've been up until 5am and had to wake up at 9 or 10, so getting minimal sleep.

 

[Axzarious]

I try to mentally fatigue myself. Usually this involves puzzles or working on some sort of project that takes alot of mental energy. Some say to excersize to exhaust yourself, but I have found that useless as my mind seems to run on a completly different reserve than my body.

Try puzzles or reading/researching some sort of subject that interests you that could seem like 'work' in a way.

 

[Cavan]

exercise, better moderation of caffeine/sugar/food in general intake several hours before you want to go to bed, not looking at any screen for at least an hour before you go to bed but better if you allow more time.

exercise is the best, ideally long distance or interval based running, or just walking at a decent speed if running isn't your thing.

edit: chiiru?

 

[loodmoney]

If you do find yourself awake at some God-forsaken hour, a solid piece of advice is don't stress out about sleeping. Instead, just lie in bed and try to stay awake. Counter-intuitive, yes, but better than worrying yourself by thinking how much sleep you're losing. (A helpful reminder: that 8 hours thing is bullshit. It is a supposed average, not a target.)

 

[Owlslayer]

well, i don't have much problems sleeping, but a lot of people might find this helpful:
I find it really relaxing. And of course, exercise helps a lot. If you can totally exhaust yourself, you should sleep like a baby. Also, no Coke or coffee a few hours before sleep.
But other than that, i cannot help ya, pal.

 

[larysalove]

Do you might if the remedy is a litte unorthodox? I would recommend heading over to your local weird health specialty store/new age store and buying some herbs. Chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, valerian root, hops, etc- some, though, should not be consumed and should be more burned or an oil dabbed on the forehead or stuffed into a pillow and sleeping with that beside you.

But the most important thing to do is to find the root cause of the sleeplessness. Are you stressed out about your personal or professional life? Are you trying to go straight to bed from doing something mentally stimulating (like playing a game or solving complex mathematical problems)? Are you eating right before bed? Are you drinking too much caffeine too late at night? Don't do any of those things. And you could always try reading. Whenever I can't sleep late at night I'll pick up an actual book (nothing electronic) and no matter how interesting the book is it puts me right to sleep. I think it has something to do with my being more tired then I think I am.

 

[dmase]

Egh fatigue inducing natural pills are kind of expensive but if you can't seem to feel tired go to GNC get a bottle of that. Its not a sleep pill it just makes you feel tired, i never noticed any side effects and its not addictive, or not as far as i'm aware.

Besides that what everybody else is saying, exercise during the day especially running.

 

[lettucethesallad]

Go for a long walk, make yourself tired. Take a long shower. Drink some warm milk. Read a boring book.

 

[SillyBear]

Hey Escapisters, I'm sure many of you have had your sleepless nights and issues.
I've never been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder, so I'm gonna pin it on stress or something.
It's 3:16am and I cannot, for the love of god, close my eyes. Whenever I do, they feel like they have springs attached and just want to stay open.
And I have to "wake up" at 5:30 to go to work.

Besides laying down with the lights off and closing your eyes, what are your at-home remedies for getting to sleep? The last two nights I've been up until 5am and had to wake up at 9 or 10, so getting minimal sleep.

You may be experiencing long reaching caffeine effects. Have you consumed amounts of caffeine that your body is not accustomed too within the last forty-eight hours? This is often the case with sleep problems experienced by people who don't usually have troubles sleeping.

Are there any important events or situations in your personal life that are causing stress or thought? These can be sub-conscious or outlying factors that you may not realise you are even thinking about. On top of this, if you have been unhappy or felt upset recently this may be effecting your sleep and is not an uncommon reaction to negative emotional stimuli.

Those are just two out of many thousands of reasons, and the two most common, but this could simply be a phase and it is one that everyone goes through. All of us have a few rough nights back to back once in a while. Make sure you are drinking enough water and engaging in as much physical activity as possible. A walk or two every day does wonders.

If this problem persists for anymore than three more days, see a medical professional.

 

[herts]

Maybe try some exercise at some point during the day, just not too close to bed because it can have the reverse effect and keep you awake longer. someone else has said it but try not to stress too much on falling asleep. I have problem with anxiety and in the past if i've be anxious about not being able to sleep when i have stuff on the next day it's only made things 10 times worse.

Not being able to sleep can feel pretty darn lonely and depressing, Hope you get it sorted.

 

[shaderkul]

Lay on your bed and try to stay awake. Works all the time.

 

[nukethetuna]

I don't schedule my life around sleep. I sleep when I am tired. If this means I only get 3 hours of sleep before work, it means I take a 5 hour nap when I get home.

Eventually your body will adapt to any sleep schedule you want!

 

[SillyBear]

I don't schedule my life around sleep. I sleep when I am tired. If this means I only get 3 hours of sleep before work, it means I take a 5 hour nap when I get home.

Eventually your body will adapt to any sleep schedule you want!

This is not sound advice and I do not suggest the opening poster follows it. Whilst you may believe you body has adapted to a sleep schedule, the opposite is more likely to be true - especially when the sleep schedule doesn't involve enough hours and is chaotic. Hormones can turn into your worse enemy if you aren't sleeping enough and can affect your emotional state and even your physical state, with a greatly increased chance of heart disease, weight gain and a difference in neurological activity.

Three hours is not adequate before any stressful or busy event and it is especially not adequate for work. Whilst everyone has different tolerances to sleep, I don't believe anyone is doing themselves any favours by sleeping only a few hours before work. This can run years off your life and you will not be able to go like this for a long period of time without consequences. Whilst you do slightly catch up with a five hour nap after you get home, this is not a behaviour you will be able to attain throughout life and it is also not enough sleep to catch up to what you did to yourself earlier in the day.

 

[Zantos]

After much counselling for stress related sleeping disorders I found two that stood out. Both involve getting into a comfy position first.

The first is to just imagine being in your favourite chill out place. Mine's sitting in the sun on a deckchair on a quiet beach in Greece. Takes some practice, but you pick up the ability to stop all your other thoughts and worries interrupting your chill-out after a few nights.

The second is to just lie there and concentrate on each part of your body, starting at the head and just moving down to the toes and back up. Distracts you from everything else.

If you're struggling with getting comfy you might want to try adding or removing a pillow or two, or maybe using a lighter or heavier quilt. All down to personal taste.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

I just read Wikipedia articles until I fall asleep.

 

[ChuQue37]

I think of something really, REALLY sad until I cry myself to sleep.