anyone else hate trying to fall asleep?

[Kyle]

Same thing w/ me...so jealous of the GF, she can fall asleep w/in a min. Basically any time...she travels a lot- falls asleep before the plane takes off and doesnt wake up...takes naps during day but still can fall asleep @ will at night...sickening

Melatonin seems to help cut the time that I lay awake though, still takes a while

 

[rh71]

you try rubbing one out? you think I'm kidding?

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: rh71
you try rubbing one out? you think I'm kidding?

I must be doing it wrong, wanna come help? :lips:

 

[SoulAssassin]

can't believe only one person suggested melatonin, normally I can't fall asleep for anything but once I'm out I'm out. One 3mg melatonin usually puts me to sleep. It's not strong enough that if you took one at noon it would put you out but it also doesn't make me feel like crap the next day. Give it a try, you can get it at GNC or a ton of other places.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
i've had sleeping problems for as long as i remember, it usually takes me an hour or 2 to fall asleep, but it gets worse as i get older, to the point where i dread the "normal" time to go to sleep. tylenol PM doesn't work, nor does benadryl.

some nights i just watch tv or dvds or nef until time to work because it's easier than laying there letting your mind run wild.

OK, I guess we all know something about this. I don't have that problem a whole lot, but sometimes. More for me is waking up and if I start thinking about things, have trouble getting back to sleep. Thoughts:

1. If you can't get to sleep you aren't tired enough. Do you exercise much? If not, take up some strenuous exercise. Bike 25 miles a day, or swim a couple of miles. Run, get into pickup basketball, weight training, something.

2. Some reading material really puts me to sleep. Try reading stuff like that. Watching news on TV after a while makes me sleepy!

3. Take care of business. I find that when I have issues I am not addressing in my waking hours I wake up and start dealing with them in the middle of the night. Sometimes planning your next day ahead of time, really thinking things through (maybe making a list) can put you in a frame of mind where you don't have to think about stuff at night.

4. They say that bright lights inhibit sleepiness. Have the lighting dim for a while before you want to sleep.

5. Noises don't help if you want to sleep. If your environment is noisy, try ear plugs. Silicon are the best to shield the noise.

6. Sometimes I get so tired, so sleep deprived that it's paradoxically hard for me to fall asleep. It happens rarely, but I do eventually go to sleep.

7. Don't eat before going to bed. Try to not eat anything at least 3 hours before bedtime. Otherwise you're apt to get indigestion and this will make it difficult to sleep.

8. Once in a while I'll take a pill. If I know I'll have to stay up later than usual the following night (and I want to be in top form for it) I'll drop a vicodin to make sure I sleep well before the next day.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: villageidiot111
Sometimes the simple solutions are best:

When I can't sleep I just close my eyes and consciously control my breathing, taking slow deep breaths. It puts me out even when I'm on a caffeine rush.

Yeah, I mentioned sleep issues to a guy I knew some years ago and I've never forgotten his response. He said he could fall asleep anytime he wanted. He just slowed down his breathing and went to sleep. Another person told me, "I can sleep on any drug!" I'd mentioned my being able to go to sleep even when caffeinated.

Originally posted by: badkarma1399
Smoke weed before bed.

Works too.

 

[venkman]

run, exercise
meditate
read a textbook (this never fails for me)

DON'T
--------
Watch TV/Use the Computer
Eat Sugar
Think
Keep a Clock visible
Do Crack

 

[BurnItDwn]

I hate trying to fall asleep too. Often when my body is ready to shut down my brain isn't. ADD I tell you, it makes it impossible to fall asleep except for during meetings at work.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
I hate trying to fall asleep too. Often when my body is ready to shut down my brain isn't. ADD I tell you, it makes it impossible to fall asleep except for during meetings at work.

I have this problem as well. When I try to go to sleep I lay their thinking about everything.
Solution for me is a drug called seroquel. Even a small dose of it is enough to put me out .

 

[rudeguy]

Sleep is a mystery to me.

I cut out caffeine after noon, got Ambien from my doc....tried everything. I am now resigned to the fact that I sleep in 3 hour increments.

 

[Kaido]

Go over and post in the Health & Fitness forum...I had major problems falling asleep before I decided to turn my health habits around. I started eating better and exercising...that cut down my time to fall asleep from 2-3 hours to under less than an hour.

 

[JujuFish]

What I can't stand is being afraid my alarm won't go off on time, so my body compensates by waking up 2 hours early.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: JujuFish
What I can't stand is being afraid my alarm won't go off on time, so my body compensates by waking up 2 hours early.

Get two alarms. We have one near the bed (cell phone alarm) and one across the room (has a 9V battery in it for backup in case the power goes out) so that we have to get up and walk across the room to turn it off.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JujuFish
What I can't stand is being afraid my alarm won't go off on time, so my body compensates by waking up 2 hours early.

You need a better alarm system.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
I hate trying to fall asleep too. Often when my body is ready to shut down my brain isn't. ADD I tell you, it makes it impossible to fall asleep except for during meetings at work.

I have this problem as well. When I try to go to sleep I lay their thinking about everything.
Solution for me is a drug called seroquel. Even a small dose of it is enough to put me out .

Getting up for a minute and writing down the solution for all of the stuff on your mind is supposed to help with this.

 

[JujuFish]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: JujuFish
What I can't stand is being afraid my alarm won't go off on time, so my body compensates by waking up 2 hours early.

Get two alarms. We have one near the bed (cell phone alarm) and one across the room (has a 9V battery in it for backup in case the power goes out) so that we have to get up and walk across the room to turn it off.

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: JujuFish
What I can't stand is being afraid my alarm won't go off on time, so my body compensates by waking up 2 hours early.

You need a better alarm system.

It's only failed once, like a year ago, but ever since then if I need to get up early, I usually wake up at least an hour beforehand. It's worked perfectly since then but I can't get it out of my damned subconscious or something.

 

[Eli]

Try melatonin and Valerian root.

Works well for me. Of course, you can fight it.. it's not that powerful. But it will help.

Oh, or smoke some marijuana.

One of the hardest things for me when I quit smoking is being able to fall asleep.

 

[Eomer of Aldburg]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: JohnCU
i've had sleeping problems for as long as i remember, it usually takes me an hour or 2 to fall asleep, but it gets worse as i get older, to the point where i dread the "normal" time to go to sleep. tylenol PM doesn't work, nor does benadryl.

some nights i just watch tv or dvds or nef until time to work because it's easier than laying there letting your mind run wild.

OK, I guess we all know something about this. I don't have that problem a whole lot, but sometimes. More for me is waking up and if I start thinking about things, have trouble getting back to sleep. Thoughts:

1. If you can't get to sleep you aren't tired enough. Do you exercise much? If not, take up some strenuous exercise. Bike 25 miles a day, or swim a couple of miles. Run, get into pickup basketball, weight training, something.

2. Some reading material really puts me to sleep. Try reading stuff like that. Watching news on TV after a while makes me sleepy!

3. Take care of business. I find that when I have issues I am not addressing in my waking hours I wake up and start dealing with them in the middle of the night. Sometimes planning your next day ahead of time, really thinking things through (maybe making a list) can put you in a frame of mind where you don't have to think about stuff at night.

4. They say that bright lights inhibit sleepiness. Have the lighting dim for a while before you want to sleep.

5. Noises don't help if you want to sleep. If your environment is noisy, try ear plugs. Silicon are the best to shield the noise.

6. Sometimes I get so tired, so sleep deprived that it's paradoxically hard for me to fall asleep. It happens rarely, but I do eventually go to sleep.

7. Don't eat before going to bed. Try to not eat anything at least 3 hours before bedtime. Otherwise you're apt to get indigestion and this will make it difficult to sleep.

8. Once in a while I'll take a pill. If I know I'll have to stay up later than usual the following night (and I want to be in top form for it) I'll drop a vicodin to make sure I sleep well before the next day.

I don't know about you but when eat a huge meal before I got to bed I just fall asleep so quickly and into deep sleep. There is something about getting really full you just feel so lazy and sleepy. Although this does depend on what you eat, not a huge sugar bowl or caffeine.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I do, but for kind of a weird reason. I've got this fear of losing consciousness. It's difficult to explain, but I'll try. Some nights, as I'm very close to sleep, a scary thought will enter my head. I become aware that I probably won't remember what I was thinking at the moment I go to sleep ever again. That though distresses me greatly, because it seems that the entity that I am at that exact moment will die if I lose the thread of consciousness that's keeping it alive. Suddenly my mind doesn't want to go to sleep anymore, and I get the feeling that I really am looking death in the face. Most nights I go to sleep without this odd notion even entering my head, but when it does I will often spend hours trying to turn my thoughts to something else for long enough that sleep can sneak up on me. In the end I guess it's true, what I feel when I have one of those nights. After all, what do I really share with that person now, besides common memories. He WAS who I was but I have moved on, and he will never be again.

 

[Cawchy87]

Melatonin is only good for getting over jet lag. It's use is not recommended for extended periods of time (longer than 3 weeks)

L-Tryptophan helps me go to sleep some times.

Cannabis is by far the the safest and most effective sleep aid out there. Well, safe medically... not legally.

It's important to look at things like your bed, your pillow, temperature in your house etc. Personally I sleep better at a warm temperature.

 

[JohnCU]

can't smoke MJ too many random drug tests, rather be insomniac than fired

 

[fstime]

They're some people who can simply fall asleep like it was turning off a light switch, I am not one of those people.

I sleep when i'm tired, period.

And I don't like the thought of taking pills/medication with the fear of not being able to sleep without that kind of stuff if you try getting off it.

A hard workout at the gym gets me tired, try going before you plan on sleeping, and don't take it easy on your body.

Edit: another tip that will work very well if combined with my above advice is to get in bed after your workout and read a REALLY boring book. I mean boring, something like your textbook for your most boring class. My psychology prof once told me he did this.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Melatonin is only good for getting over jet lag. It's use is not recommended for extended periods of time (longer than 3 weeks)

I've been taking it for 9-10 years almost every night.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Insomnia sucks. I've gone from Tylenol PM to Ambien to Ambien CR to Ambien CR + CPAP, finally to where I am now with Valium + CPAP.

 

[Cawchy87]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
Melatonin is only good for getting over jet lag. It's use is not recommended for extended periods of time (longer than 3 weeks)

I've been taking it for 9-10 years almost every night.

Google it.