Sleep woes

Ooo, a bridge? How much?

Melatonin. This is a chemical that the brain produces naturally to relax you and you can buy it as a supplement. It’s not a sleeping pill so you can’t get addicted nor do you wake up with the ‘drug hangover’ the next day. It helps to bump you asleep and you stay asleep.

Check it out on the web 🙂

Sex before bed works for me.

#35 – really? Do tell! As for the bridge, I’d only be interested in it if it has views of Sydney Harbour!
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Dazzlar said :

#32 – wow! this sounds amazing and like it could really work for me. Where do I get it?

troll-sniffer has them, but i have them cheaper and have a bridge that may also interest you… 🙂

#32 – wow! this sounds amazing and like it could really work for me. Where do I get it?

Re-reading your original post & comments … +1 for meditation and relaxation music/therapy. There are CDs available which will guide you through a meditation with calming music. I use this simple meditation technique when i can’t sleep …

Relaxing in bed, lights out and only quiet calming music on (if anything) to help muffle any other noise and distractions. Try counting your long slow breathes, 1,2,3,4 in … 1,2,3,4 out. Imagine with each breath inhaling fresh rejuvenating (white) air and exhaling old stale (dark) air. Eyes closed, focus on a single image (usually a bright globe of light) in your mind this helps to remove distracting thoughts by having a single focus while breathing. Imagine the light being breathed into your body, warming and calming your body with each new breath.

Practice it a few times … it works if you can distract your mind and find ‘single mindfulness’. Exercise after work, herbal tea, or #5 Juice Terry’s suggestion might be other solutions. Namaste! 🙂

astrojax said :

otherwise, reiki will also help :)~

I’m in the process of developing a Reiki-like distance sleep therapy course. Once you’ve registered and paid the upfront deposit I will send you an s-meter (managed to get a couple of these second hand from a wacky church and have swapped the ‘e’ for an ‘s’). Once you have taken the nightly s-meter test, you simply phone me the readings and I will draw out just the right amount of your Guleia (trademark registered) energy (the sleep deprivation energy we all have stored in our minds) and you can sleep soundly. Guaranteed.

Disclaimer. While the Guleia treatment and s-meter work for most people there is no guarantee that the system will work for you. By accepting this treatment you acknowledge that it may not work as advertised in every circumstance and you agree to make no claim on the founder nor franchised agents of the Guleia system as to the efficacy or proven scientific capability therein notwithstanding the inadequate use of legalese in this paragraph to hide true intent and purpose.

Perhaps you have cronic fatigue or something similar? Stress can bring it on. I hope you find the solution & get better soon!

a good pile of the latest publically available government policy documents could help…

of course, the advice about seeking professional help is good – and as for warm evening beverages, milk, not tea (though chamomile might be good, and it needn’t be hot – steep and let cool, drink at will) is best.

otherwise, reiki will also help :)~

Exercise.

Lots of it.

By days end I would have ridden 160km this week (16km ride to work, 16 home, repeat 5 times).

I also have a young daughter who I have been getting up 3 to 4 times a night to change and feed, yet still full of energy.

Sleeping problems need not always be accountable to ‘sleeping problems’, sedentry lifestyle and poor eating habits are among a myriad of daytime activities that can cause sleeplessness

Oh and +a bazillion for getting a reference to Dr May in Deakin sleep clinic… That got my obstructive sleep apnoea sorted quick smart about 8 years ago – never felt better.

Of course, you could OD on valerian skullcap too – that should help.

you need to see your GP to discuss. Have an anxiety assessment. The other thing I have done is set a routine – like you do with a baby. This allows the body to “prepare” for sleep. Meaning you do exactly the same things every night before you go to bed – say for 40 mins. Mine is shower, brush teeth, pee, read for 15 mins, lights out. This works really well. Its one of the things sleep specialists recommend too. Good luck!

I think a lot of people suffer in this way. You need to go an see your GP to get some help, especially if none of the other suggestions here work for you. For quick relief without a prescription, try taking half of a Restavit tablet (these are a non-prescription sedative/antihystamine readily available from the chemist) about an hour before bed. They don’t zonk you out, but I find they help me to get back to sleep if I wake up during the night. Obviously just a short-term survival measure though – you need to see your doctor.

Regular exercise works for me.

I have always had trouble with sleeping, particularly during stressfull times. In the last couple of years I have discovered a love for cycling, and it has made a huge difference to my sleep paterns.

At the moment I ride just for the sake of it once or twice a week, and commute on a bike whenever it is practical. If I am having trouble sleeping, I’ll force myself out of the house for a ride, even for just 20 minutes, and it really helps.

From the reading I have done about it, I understand that getting your heart rate up and the endorphins (SP?) flowing regularly is the important thing, you don’t have to be super fit or anything. Try and find something you like to do, whether it be walking, kicking a footy or shooting some hoops at the local school.

You have already got a stack of great suggestions here. Whether they work or not is totally up to you.

The key to it all is that the right answer lies inside you. You created your unique situation and you have the solution inside you. “But how do I find it”? That’s the challenge.

The first bit of awareness that might help you is that anything you fight against, will fight back even harder, because you are giving it energy. That applies to every addiction, every bad habit, anything you don’t want to have in your life. You need to stop fighting against it and let go of it. (You might need some help with that)

The problem with all the different drugs you can take, is that they are designed to either replicate or fight against a chemical reaction that happens naturally in your body. By learning that you can control anything that happens in your body, your mind and your emotions (not an easy thing to accept or learn because it goes against everything our society and our media tell us) the quality of your life, your health and your happiness will skyrocket. (I speak from personal experience)

The problem with these comments is that as people read them, they have to go through the filters of their existing beliefs first, and what arrives is totally different to what I actually wrote.

Good luck with your journey.

facet said :

I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea (stopped breathing over 600 times per night). After treatment, I feel fantastic. See you GP get some tests done. The technology for testing and treating sleep apnea has improved a lot in recent years.

facet – what treatment were you given for this ?

Daily exercise (a good session, not just a walk) I find helps alot of things, state of mind, clearing my head etc. Just not too close to bedtime thats all. You really have to persist and after a couple of months and see how you go. Good luck! 🙂

Maybe you need to eat more and/or better food. Energy does not magically appear. Your body needs fuel

I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea (stopped breathing over 600 times per night). After treatment, I feel fantastic. See you GP get some tests done. The technology for testing and treating sleep apnea has improved a lot in recent years.

Last year I was feeling particularly stressed for a few weeks and whenever I had a bad night’s sleep and was busy the next day it seemed to all catch up with me, often in the afternoons, and cause something similar to what you describe.
Though it’s not that common for me, at various times I’ve had trouble sleeping and years ago I worked out a trick of doing something repetitive that requires a certain amount of concentration. It usually involves going through the alphabet thinking of things in a certain category, eg names, cities, countries, etc.
I hope things get better for you soon.

A few things I use occasionally to get to sleep (or get back to sleep)
– I think about gardening and planning new areas of my garden (do you have a hobby that you enjoy that involves planning something)
– eat/drink something sugary – a mars bar, a teaspoon of honey or sugar, a sugary drink – sometimes low blood sugar stops you sleeping
– ear plugs – I have fairly good hearing and putting ear plugs into at least one ear cuts down noise that I don’t even realise is annoying me
– if none of the above works, a couple of panadol removes discomfort and sends me to sleep (even if I am not in pain !?)

Get some anti-anxiety stuff from your doctor. …. allows your brain to shut down and go blank and not worrying about everything.

Xanax/Alprazolam works great

I had the same problem and found a relaxation audio track settles me down now.

If you have a iphone, I would recommend the apps “Deep Sleep” and “Relax” with a Scottish hypnotist Andrew Johnson. ($3.99)

Although it sounds a bit mumbo jumbo, he just guides you to relax through controlled breathing, relaxing your body and a music track. Its a 15-20 min track that knocks me out quite well.

Neuroprogtammer 2 sheesh!

Think I need to get to sleep…

Neuroprommar 2 that is…

I use Transparent Software’s Neuroprammer 2. It is an entrainment prorgam – plays what sounds like white noise that your head can get in sync with. It has a heap of different programs – sleep apnia is one.

I used to have times where I’d get no more than 2 hours sleep – I use the package regularly and haven’t had sleep problems since starting. Using the program allows me to get 5-6 hours sleep and feel great. Of course I aim for a bit more than that and can get readily.

NP2 has some funky programs too like OOB but you will need to get used to such programs to get anything out of them. They’re pretty cool though.

I know that there’s a 30 day demo – google it and have a crack I reckon.

Hot shower 2 hours before you wanna go to sleep.

If your anxious keep a notepad by your bed, then if your awake constantly worrying or thinking about it, you can write it down and look at it in the morning.

Drive around Canberra documenting our driving habits

fresh sheets – there’s nothing like a sleep in nice, fresh sheets.
temperature – lighten the doona, keep a little cooler rather than too warm.
ambiance – a CD of a tropical thunderstorm… leave that playing (on repeat) and fall asleep to the sound of rain and thunder. Or light classical music. Best sleep 🙂

If you can’t sleep due to worrying etc… try to do something to distract yourself, such as read a book or watch some tv for twenty minutes or so. I have found both work for me as it takes my mind off what ever I am worrying about and allows me to sleep. Other than that take VG’s advice.

maybe you have sleep apnea

Don’t stay on computer at night, and don’t watch tv in bedroom. drink horlicks before bed, maybe have a read.

Learning to meditate can help you “empty” your mind of the worry.

I am kind of the same. I have a really hard time getting to sleep at night, and then I feel like I am getting my best sleep around the time I am supposed to get up – which leaves me feeling a bit tired and drowsey all day.

I ended up getting the Sleep Cycle app for my iPhone, and it does actually seem to make a big difference. Basically you set the time in which you need to get up, and the app will wake you up within 30 minutes of that time when you are in the lightest part of your sleep cycle.

If you don’t have an iPhone, you can buy wrist watch type devices that do the same thing.

You were close to a solution when you said “pull yourself together”. Drop the ‘together’ and you’ve got your answer. Works every time.

I sometimes have a half-cup of warm milk which does the trick, drink it sitting on the bed (legs on the floor) then lay down.

Less turning and more of the other one can help too.

Wrong place to ask. See your GP and ask for a referral to the sleep clinic in Deakin if necessary

A teaspoon of cement in a glass of water will probably help with all your issues.

It’s possible you may have some issues with anxiety, which would affect your sleep and go towards explaining why you can’t shut your brain down – I would recommend visiting your GP for an anxiety assessment.