Insomnia Anyone???

[StevieM]

to get some sleep when you have crazy insomnia??!!

You know when you are very, very tired and have to get up early and your brain is just going?

I'm ready to scream!!

What do you do when you can't sleep and you really need to?

I probably shouldn't be sitting here as this is addicting and not making me sleepy.

Thought it would be interesting to see what people do when ya just can't sleep!! And don't you hate it when your home is quiet and you know everyone is sleeping and your up hearing the birds chirping.....!! I was up late last night to and almost late for work this a.m ~~ I must have hit the snooze button for 2 hours.

Whoa. I did take a tylenol p.m (don't like to) it's starting to kick in.

So, besides sleep aids - what helps you get some needed rest ?

[firegirl]

Nothing, I have it and NOTHING works! well, beside drugs, I got a px for Ambien and Sonota. They are both great, the Ambien makes me sleep longer and harder, but the Sonota is grea it is just like feeling sleepy for real and drifting off and waking w/no hangover! But, it won't knock you out as much as Ambien will. Ambien however is better than Tylenol pm, not near the hang over and it doesn't zonk you either. It also has the sort of natural drift away. They don't seem to be addicting either. I find if I take it about an hour before I want to sleep I will get some great sleep and just a couple days kicks my insomnia jag. Sort of gets me in the routine.

I have found that if I plan to sleep, like exercise late in the afternoon early eve, light meal, no alcohol, maybe some great sex..lol or a warm calm bath it does soothe me and I will fall asleep. But, then I don't always have time for all that either!

I also sleep better if the room is really cold! Still over all I am a very light sleeper and don't sleep very much! But, my closets and drawers are all organized and I get to see a lot of the FORT!

[firegirl]

I get too absorbed in what I am reading and end up staying up to finish the book!

[StevieM]

Firegirl!! I asked my Dr. about Ambian (sp)
(saw a commercial for it)

But, she said it was only to be used for a week?!!

She said it's good for when in the hospital because they're so difficult to rest in and most people aren't there very long.

All doctors are different so she may just be against it. She wanted me to try melitonin (sp)
She's anti-sleep aids and anti-pain stuff anyway unless ? critical I guess. This with me has been going on for about a week. I feel bad for you!! I couldn't take this all the time. I really am so grouchy without my sleep!

I know I'm gonna have a hangover sluggish feeling til I drink a whole pot of coffee.

Anyway, the bath thing is a good one. My whole routine has changed in the past week so I guess this is just going to take some time. Very frustrating though!!

Then again
I drink a lot of coffee.

Oh well. I at least caught up on some stuff I had to get done on here and some e-mails I've been procrastinating about.

(got a chuckle out of the organized drawers & closets

Well the tp has hit!!

thanks an niterz!

p.s
Is Sonata an Herbal thing?

[sheela]

Originally posted by firegirl
But, my closets and drawers are all organized and I get to see a lot of the FORT!

Reading in bed always works for me.

[firegirl]

No sonota is a sleep aid as well just more mild. Yes, they only like you to use it for a week or so, but after a week it usually breaks the cycle for me.. Then I will get one again,, so I keep it around lol. I do like the Sonota better. Most things give me a hang over because I am pretty small, 5' 105 but , I would try a dif doctor to have some on hand, they aren't strong and it sucks to mess up sleep!

[Tigrazhia]

Well, speaking of closets and drawers... I have a little "game" I play sometimes when I can't sleep & it helps a lot of times....
I dont remember where I got this advice in the first place but this is how it works:

Usually when you can't sleep it's because your mind is spinning 100 miles and hour and you've got a million concerns or thoughts on your mind that you can't shake.

Well, this exercise kind of helps your mind put these thoughts away & kind of relax somehow...

Picture a dresser full of drawers. Now, open one of the drawers and put one of your concerns/thoughts in it and close the drawer shut... make sure it's closed & not half open....! Then open another drawer, put the next concern in that one and close it... continue until you have stored all your thoughts/concerns etc away in their own drawers. If one concern/thought pops back up, go back to the drawer where you put that thought, pull it out, tuck the concern REALLY WELL back into that drawer and shut the drawer again.

Let's say I lay awake and I've got the following concerns on my mind: unfinished website, story in my mind that won't let go, dog not feeling well, money problems and I gotta be at the dentist early tomorrow.

I'd picture my dresser in my mind. In the first drawer I put "website" & close it, I open the second drawer, put the "story" in it and close it, the next drawer I put the "dog" in it...and so on... now let's say I can't get my mind off of my dog being sick... I go back to the drawer I put my dog problem into, I open it and I tuck the "dog problem" in extra good, making sure nothing bulges out of the drawer, then close the drawer really tight!!

I dont know if this sounds goofy, but it actually helps a lot of times... dont know if it's got something to do with organizing my mind & "cleaning up" inside my head somehow but...
Anyways.... next time ya can't sleep, try it... what do you have to lose?

[splatty]

that's a really cool exercise, wyndemere.

i don't usually have insomnia that badly, but maybe it's because i'm chronically sleep-deprived.

if something is bothering me or for some other reason, i can't fall asleep, i usually give up, get out of bed, and do something productive until i'm tired enough to fall asleep again. if that makes me be up all night, at least i'll be tired enough to fall asleep the next night. *shrug*

i usually write. but sometimes i'll watch tv or surf or clean.

[BravoFan]

I actually get incurable insomnia about once every 6 weeks.

Nothing works so I just get up and check in at the FORT.

[cali]

My husband has had trouble sleeping for about 5 years. He had a sleep test thing done at the hospital, but they decided there was nothing wrong.

He sleeps about 4 to 5 hours a night, but that is interreupted sleep. If he could sleep 5 hours straight he'd be fine.

The doctor told him that sleep aids wouldn't work as he really doesn't have trouble getting to sleep, it's staying asleep that is hard.

I'm going to tell him about the "drawer" trick, as I wonder if he wakes up thinking about stuff

Hopefully that will help