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I'm sick and tired of not being able to sleep!

polarmystery

Diamond Member
Why is it, that every time I try to fall asleep my body acts like a washing machine trying to get comfortable in my bed, and it takes up to an hour and a half if not more to fall asleep? It's always the same pattern. Lying on my back, lying on my side, lying on my stomach just to repeat until I fall asleep on my stomach. I am not a depressed person, I work out, I don't have any stress in my life, I have a good diet, all that jazz. I don't understand. I've been on every sleeping pill prescribed to me and none of them work, they just make me sleepy but for some reason I am unable to go to sleep. It is getting annoying and I am extremely envious of all my friends who can fall asleep within 30 minutes or so and wake up after 8 hours of sleep. I also wake up in the middle of the night and I have no idea why. Sometimes it's to use the bathroom but more often than not, it's for no reason. It's like my body can't ever get comfortable when I try to sleep and my mind is always racing with some random song stuck in my head. Anybody else go through the same hell I am? I just don't understand! Ahhh!!!!


/weak rant
 
Perhaps you need a new mattress? its obvious you cant seem to get comfortable. As for your mind racing, try to clear it. maybe meditation or doing something soothing such as reading before bed might help.
 
I will provide a little background on me so you understand what was going on with me and how I ended up overcoming similar issues.

In 2005 I went to Iraq for work. I was there for about a month. It wasn't a big deal and wasn't very stressful. I just moved though life as normal. After 2-3 months after I returned I started having trouble sleeping. I would get in bed and lay there forever without being able to fall asleep. When I would fall asleep I would wake up about every hour. This went on for about 6-8 months. I went to the doctor. The doctor asked all the questions like, "Are you having troubles at home or work?". I didn't feel any immense stress. Life seems like it always had. I never had much issue with stress because I am pretty laid back. He prescribed some ambien. That would help me get to sleep BUT I would still wake up. It was really frustrating to be exhausted because I couldn't sleep. I would stay up to 2-3am before getting in bed. I would wait until I was just exhausted and get in bed. I would still wake up at least every hour.

Eventually my wife and I decided to take a vacation. We decided on a cruise because I could drop everything in life. No cell phone, no internet, no work related calls. I got on the cruise and I pretty much passed out. It was the BEST week of sleep in well over a year. I quickly realized that my sleeping problems were all stress related even though I didn't feel stressed. I didn't have any symptoms of stress because I just go with the flow but I was stressed. It wasn't until I could drop everything in life did I get better.

I came home from the cruise and I had no problem sleep for a good long while. So my problems were all stress related even though I had no idea I was stressed. Now I know I am getting stressed when I start having issues sleeping.
 
been there .....done that....for years. now if i wake in the middle of the night I get up eat something, take 2 aspirin then a shower so hot my skin turns pink, then i sleep like a baby. ymmv.

 
almost every night I have the same problem as you to fall asleep...
I don't take any pill, before going to bed I drink something hot (I'm not sure about the translation, maybe camomile) but unless I'm really tired it takes a couple of hours for me to sleep.

I think I should try with some sport, maybe I should go swimming like I used a couple of years ago, or I could have a run in the park before dinner. I could even try to go to the gym...
Otherwise I can try with a book... after some time I really can't keep my eyes open 😀
 
Originally posted by: Elganja
I share your pain 🙁

this. i have a dr. appt in february to attempt to get some ambien or lunesta or something. tylenol PM doesn't work, nothing OTC works. melatonin doesn't work either.
 
I have noticed that when I eat close to when I go to bed I have a hard time falling asleep/staying asleep... even when what I ate was not heavy or sitting in my stomach.
I would try not drinking any caffeine drinks after around 4pm and not eat much as a snack or eat dinner late. See if that helps.

Also, it sounds silly, but when I cannot sleep (which is rather often) if I move to a place other than bed, like the couch, I am able to fall asleep better.

Oh, also, do you have anything "running" in the room? Like a fan or a white-noise machine? It could be that it is too quiet in the room.
 
Ahhhh, why is this so familiar to me? Let me put it this way. During the time i finished my MBA and got employment i couldn't fall asleep for hours. Sometimes i even skipped nights. But when i got employed and i got two jobs, i started sleeping fine. It's still the same situation. I get up at 07:00 go to work as a Research and Development officer from 08:00 till 16:00 . Then i take an hour rest and go to honorary work as a financial analyst from 18:00 till 23:00. This is a hell of a mental work. So when i get back home and decide i want to go to bed, i fall asleep even before i hit the pillow.

So i guess it's easy to understand at least in my case. The more i use my brain the easier to fall asleep. On the contrary, a friend of mine who lives on a pension (earned it in Iraq) does not feel the need to sleep since he plays games all day and all night.

What about all of you? What do you do for living?
 
Take 80mg a day of prednisone, then you'll be so wired that you won't even try to sleep for days at a time.
 
Originally posted by: Lola
I have noticed that when I eat close to when I go to bed I have a hard time falling asleep/staying asleep... even when what I ate was not heavy or sitting in my stomach.
I would try not drinking any caffeine drinks after around 4pm and not eat much as a snack or eat dinner late. See if that helps.

Also, it sounds silly, but when I cannot sleep (which is rather often) if I move to a place other than bed, like the couch, I am able to fall asleep better.

Oh, also, do you have anything "running" in the room? Like a fan or a white-noise machine? It could be that it is too quiet in the room.

Negative. I make absolutely sure that it's as dark as it can be and that if there is a noise it is constant (like the AC) so I can drown it out.

I'm starting to think it is stressed induced as I haven't had a real vacation in almost 2 years. Going with the flow but it's not that stressful. I remember the last time I was able to really fall asleep I was young before high school, and I remember my dad HAD to wake me up, not me waking up in the middle of the night.

*shrug*
 
I thought this was a parody thread after LS8's thread.

Srsly though, I am in an awful sleep schedule but its all due to stress. Good luck, you'll find your way.
 
Originally posted by: polarmystery
Why is it, that every time I try to fall asleep my body acts like a washing machine trying to get comfortable in my bed, and it takes up to an hour and a half if not more to fall asleep? It's always the same pattern. Lying on my back, lying on my side, lying on my stomach just to repeat until I fall asleep on my stomach. I am not a depressed person, I work out, I don't have any stress in my life, I have a good diet, all that jazz. I don't understand. I've been on every sleeping pill prescribed to me and none of them work, they just make me sleepy but for some reason I am unable to go to sleep. It is getting annoying and I am extremely envious of all my friends who can fall asleep within 30 minutes or so and wake up after 8 hours of sleep. I also wake up in the middle of the night and I have no idea why. Sometimes it's to use the bathroom but more often than not, it's for no reason. It's like my body can't ever get comfortable when I try to sleep and my mind is always racing with some random song stuck in my head. Anybody else go through the same hell I am? I just don't understand! Ahhh!!!!


/weak rant

I had the same problem when I was really stressed. Have a lot of stress right now?
 
Originally posted by: shocksyde
Originally posted by: polarmystery
Why is it, that every time I try to fall asleep my body acts like a washing machine trying to get comfortable in my bed, and it takes up to an hour and a half if not more to fall asleep? It's always the same pattern. Lying on my back, lying on my side, lying on my stomach just to repeat until I fall asleep on my stomach. I am not a depressed person, I work out, I don't have any stress in my life, I have a good diet, all that jazz. I don't understand. I've been on every sleeping pill prescribed to me and none of them work, they just make me sleepy but for some reason I am unable to go to sleep. It is getting annoying and I am extremely envious of all my friends who can fall asleep within 30 minutes or so and wake up after 8 hours of sleep. I also wake up in the middle of the night and I have no idea why. Sometimes it's to use the bathroom but more often than not, it's for no reason. It's like my body can't ever get comfortable when I try to sleep and my mind is always racing with some random song stuck in my head. Anybody else go through the same hell I am? I just don't understand! Ahhh!!!!


/weak rant

I had the same problem when I was really stressed. Have a lot of stress right now?

A little, but a lot less than I used to. I just moved from Texas to Maryland and I have a great job now and my finances are a lot better. I left behind a lot of my friends sure, but everything else in my life could not be better. I'm staying in a hotel right now (being paid for by new company) waiting for the movers to come pick it up and deliver it to my new pad. Other than that, everything's fine. I'm at a loss here... 🙁
 
Originally posted by: lupi
Take 80mg a day of prednisone, then you'll be so wired that you won't even try to sleep for days at a time.

I hate that crap. I've been on it twice in the past year. I once tried to use nyquil to counter act it's effects. It was the worst feeling I've ever felt. So mentally and physically tired but unable to sleep.
 
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