OT: Suggestions for getting to sleep?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

1 Mouse.
5 hours sleep in,
35 hours.
1 Mouse whos' body is adjusting to Zoloft.

If I start seeing elephants, I'm calling the psychiatrist to prescribe a sleeping pill.

[Randallw]

Several months ago I went a whole night without sleep. I may possibly have gotten 5 minutes at one point because I reaslied I was falling asleep and the shock woke me up. I was still in the same position. Strangely I didn't hear anything untoward and yet the next day I discovered we'd had the biggest storm in years.

Normally I don't have any trouble sleeping, especially when I take my medication.

This one time I was visiting my sister's and I didn't sleep because I had one of my halucinations and was convinced if I moved the little goblins crawling all over me would do something nasty. Then I had to go to the toilet

[Xrati]

Take a short walk outside.
Don't drink anything before you lay down (Except maybe water).
Make sure your room is quiet and dark.
Some type of protein (cheese or whatever you like) about an hour or two before you lay down.
CLEAR YOUR HEAD!!! Don't try sleeping with the worlds problems on your mind!!! The walk should help with that.

[Renegade 13]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
1 Mouse whos' body is adjusting to Zoloft.

Whenever your body adjusts to a new form of medication (or withdrawal from a medication), especially one that acts in some way on the brain, you always have the possibility of side effects such as sleeplessness.

For example, in mid-November I stopped taking a certain medication, and for about 3 nights in a row, I got about 2 hours sleep, despite laying there awake for about 8 hours each night. I simply could not sleep. However, after a few days, as my body re-adjusted to a lack of the drug, my sleep pattern reasserted itself, and I started getting decent amounts of sleep again (which, by this point, was extremely welcome!). In other words, stick with it, it sucks, but it'll get better soon.

CLEAR YOUR HEAD!!! Don't try sleeping with the worlds problems on your mind!!!

I only wish it was that easy! Some persistant worries and problems can cause many a sleepless night, without having any easy solution

[Nocturnal]

Exhaust yourself. A good long workout, followed by a hot shower and a protein-rich meal, all combine to induce drowsiness.

Melatonin is an over-the-counter hormone supplement that regulates your body's circadian rhythm. Your brain should be generating the stuff anyway according to light exposure but it's quite an effective way to set your sleep cycle - you don't actually need to take it for more than a day or two if you have a fairly consistent bedtime. Always wise to check the instructions for possible drug interactions, but it shouldn't interfere with what you're taking and shouldn't require a prescription. It's sold as a jet-lag drug.

Kill all those goddamn mosquitoes.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

From the top:

@Randall: Yeah, halucinations can be nasty.

Xrati:
1) Can't, it's allergy season. I can, however, take a short walk inside - And I do try to get five minutes of walking exercise an hour inside.
2) I have half a glass of water, otherwise my mouth feels horrible the next morning.
3) I could turn off the AC, but the air filter is a necessity.
4) I do like cheese...
5) Yeah, the Zoloft is making my mind keep on going - Keep thinking about this (Very simple) TBS I'm making to test stuff.

Renegade: Thanks, that makes me feel better.
For clearing my mind, I find it helps if I tell myself I don't have anything to worry about now but going to bed.

Nocturnal: I am thinking about adding stair-climbing to my exercise routine...
I don't have much of a sleep cycle - All over the place. Generally in the AM.
No moquitoes in my room, fortunately.


Thanks, everyone.

[dmm]

1. Read the Bible. Or the encyclopedia. Or anything that is interesting and requires concentration but is not whiz-bang exciting.

2. Don't do or watch anything exciting right before bed. See #1.

Regarding hallucinations: True story. Once I had this vivid nightmare that my wife was a vampire. I woke up yelling, and she of course tried to calm me down and get me to go back to sleep. Yeah, right, like that was gonna happen! Hey, I've SEEN the movies, baby! So I lay there for an hour watching her sleep. Finally I realized how silly I was being and fell asleep myself. Naturally, the next morning I was her bloodless zombie slave. Going on 23 years now.

[Baron Munchausen]

A late thought: I find it interesting that no one suggested music or sound. The right kind of music (classical or maybe certain 'new age' stuff) can be very relaxing. Also, there are "sound effects" specifically designed to produce changes of consciousness. Most people who use this are seeking lucid dreaming or some other 'altered state' but you an also use it just for relaxation. There are even 'brand name' CDs available that are supposed to be custom tailored to produce various effects. Some of them are plain old 'relaxation' or 'sleep' like you would expect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_synchronization

Brainwave synchronization, commonly referred to as "brainwave entrainment," is the practice of entraining one's brainwaves to a desired frequency, by means of a periodic stimulus with corresponding frequency. The stimulus can be aural as in the case of binaural beats, monaural beats, and isochronic tones, visual, as with a dreamachine, a combination of the two with a mind machine, or even electromagnetic radiation.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

DMM: 1. Already do that.
2. Don't generally do that.

Baron Munch: I could leave the radio on.

[AgentZero]

I sometimes leave the radio on. Not tuned to a station mind you, just static. I turn it low enough that it's still audible without being overpowering, and usually zonk out pretty quick. Something about the white noise seem to just make my brain shut down, which is good, since I normally spend an hour or so lying in bed waiting for my brain to wind down before I fall asleep. Normally I plan accordingly, but if I have a late night, I usually use the radio trick to hasten my departure to sleepy land.

My dad swears by cheese. Not a lot, just a few slices. Though I've heard a good number of people say cheese before bed gives them nightmares, so that could go either way.

My mom always recommends exercise, though she recommends that for everything, and I haven't had much luck with it. I've found if I exercise too soon before bed, I wind up not sleeping because I'm all wired up on endorphins, and if I do it to long before bed, my brain has enough time to re-engage thinking mode, and then I just lie in bed thinking about how tired and sore I am, and how it'd be really nice if I could sleep.

A nice cup of tea (caffeine free, obviously) also seems to work quite well. Nice and hot, just a few degrees below burning temperature and a lot of times I flop into bed and fall asleep before I finish the mug.

And of course there's always the nightcap option. Probably not a good one if you're on medication, but when I was on meds I got nice and liquored up more than once and suffered no ill-effects, but everyone - and their meds - are different. Not that I'm recommending you get yourself trashed before bed. A tumbler of warm bourbon (well, not a full tumbler ) or a glass of port usually puts me in sleepy-bye-bye mode pretty quick. Of course, you'll have to experiment with finding the right quantity that'll get you drowsy, but not balls up your sleep quality. But hey, experimenting with alcohol is half the fun, right?

Or there's the hot shower option. Slowly increase the heat until it gets to the point where you can't go any hotter without it being really painful, then stay in there for a good half hour to 45 minutes. If you react to extra-hot showers like I do, you'll leave the bathroom wondering if your body will stay functional long enough to get you to your bed.

Or, if you can afford one day of accomplishing nothing, there's always the exhaustion method. Skip a night's sleep, keep yourself going the whole next day, and try to make it until an hour or so before your usual bedtime. If you're still wide awake a few minutes after your head hits the pillow, get up and try to push on for another day. You'll either conk out a few hours later, or you'll make it right through the next day. I've only had to resort to this a few times in my life, and only twice have I made it to day two, and never any longer.