Is sleep such a fickle thing?

I have a very important weekend ahead
I have a big family wedding tomorrow and I will be spending time with my family friends and boyfriend which I am really looking forward to, I have also had most the week off also to prepare and I cannot sleep.

This has happened me loads of times before and has bugged me (usually before events that make me nervous)
I am not particularly nervous about it or even dreading it, it also happened during the week when I have needed or had the opportunity to sleep I couldn’t.
When I am working I always look like I need to fall into a coma and my boyfriend now expects me to fall asleep every evening I see him.
I contemplated having a drink an hour ago but there’s nothing in the house and I'm getting annoyed now.:mad:
I know I’ll bump into someone tomorrow also that will tell me I look tired:rolleyes:
Has this happened to a lot of people before?
Feel free to share time where you really needed to sleep and just couldn't.

bronte

This happens all the time with me.
My dad was taken into the A&E in st James's on hallowe'en night with back spasms which seemed like something much worse at the time.
As a result haven't slept in a bit! and am going a bit mad!

An Citeog

Yeah, I tend to have permanent bags under my eyes. I never seem to be able to go to sleep if I go to bed before 2am. Oh well, coffee is my friend!

AlmightyCushion

I can never sleep. When I go to bed I generally just lay there for hours before sleeping. I just can't empty my mind especially when there's a lot on it.

Wertz

Before starting new jobs or flying off on holiday or other stressful sh*t, I'm like this....even a smoke won't lay me out. You end up with about 3 hrs sleep, have half a head most of the next morning then you're grand.
Normally I'm out cold before I manage to swicth of the light...

Ruu_Old

I am always thinking about something or another but this week I've been very busy at work so out like a light most nights. Other nights, hear a small noise and keep getting up to check what it was (very light sleeper. )

SimpleSam06

coolsmileygirl wrote: »

I contemplated having a drink an hour ago but there’s nothing in the house and I'm getting annoyed now.:mad:.

Well step one, lay off the sauce. Nothing messes up your sleep patterns like alcohol.

il gatto

I have a particular problem sleeping when I know I really have to. If I know I have an early start or a long day ahead of me, I lie awake until I'm guarenteed only 3-4 hours and am resultingly f@cked the next day.
I work nights as well, and finish at 4 o'clock. People ask me why I stay up until 6,7 or 8 o'clock and then sleep in late next day. It bugs the sh!t out of me. I always ask them how often they come home at 6 and are in bed by 7, but even then they don't get it. It's hard to wind down enough to sleep after coming in the door from a busy work place.
Read a book and have some hot non-caffein drink maybe? By the way, taking a week off to get ready for a wedding? Nice. My cousin got married last August, and I was in two minds whether to take the night off before it (I did).
Actually, if I make this post just a bit longer, you'll have dozed off by the end of it. Has anyone ever seen that film where........zzzzzzzzz:D

Black Swan

coolsmileygirl wrote: »

Feel free to share time where you really needed to sleep and just couldn't.

Hey! It's a quarter past one AM in OC and I'm wide awake. You could start a club. Where do I sign up?

Ghost Train

have the same problem, my brain just doesn't want to switch off if it's thinking about something

One thing that can usually send me to sleep (not that I ever think of using it :rolleyes:) is one of those relaxation cds, that talks you into a deep relaxed state. Paul McKenna has a really good hypnotic one with one of his books, only problem is at the end of the cd he counts backwards from ten, getting louder and then shouts "NOW WAKEUP" :mad:

Terry

Tar, do you want this?

kelle

I have an 11-month-old baby that sleeps beside me, she wakes up loads of times during the night for feeds/cuddles and I haven't had an interrupted/full night's sleep in nearly a year. Makes me laugh when the experts say you MUST have 8 hours per night.

Jesus Wept

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I can never sleep. When I go to bed I generally just lay there for hours before sleeping. I just can't empty my mind especially when there's a lot on it.

I think it's because most of us aren't cut out for the 24 hour day. See my 6-Day Week plan.

An Citeog

kelle wrote: »

I have an 11-month-old baby that sleeps beside me, she wakes up loads of times during the night for feeds/cuddles and I haven't had an interrupted/full night's sleep in nearly a year. Makes me laugh when the experts say you MUST have 8 hours per night.

There's so much conflicting evidence when it comes to the optimal amount of sleep. I usually aim to get between 6 & 8 hours a night, but invariably end up with 5. It depends on the person and whether their body is adjusted to getting less sleep.

watna

Unfortunately I need more than 8 hours sleep a night to be functional but I rarely get it. I'm a bit of a worrier and I can't just switch off at night. Especilly if i have something big on/a busy day the next day. What's really annoying is that mf has no problems going asleep, ever. As soon as the light goes off he's asleep, even if it's really early. If I want him to stay awake for a while and talk to me I have to keep the light on to make sure he doesn't drift off! He just that skill where he can fall asleep whenever he wants, it makes me so jealous!

xzanti

This may sound weird but I find if I can't sleep, I try to think about a dream I had the previous night and concentrate on it and it helps me drift off..

I got asleep at around 6 and sprung awake at 9 and because I worried how drink would effect me in the day , I didn't have anything until 8 and took it easy I lasted up way past a few people and was fine the entire weekend.
Thank god I wasn't too bad because of it although a couple a bottles of lucozade black helped me along I guess it was just one of those things

KIVES

Always seems to be you lie back and try and think about not thinking about thinking of drifting off to sleep-it's a constant game of cat and mouse within the brain...endlessly maddening yet perversely interesting...if it twas somebody else who had the problem sleeping that is; not quite as absorbing when the jokes on you though

smirkingmaurice

Once i slept in the coffee dock in maynooth for 2 hours,flat out,sheer exhaustion ,dreamt that I was falling to earth in a wooden spaceship with window frames but no glass panels in place though.Anyhow, to make a long story short,as I was entering the athmosphere flames came licking in the windows and starting singing books and things that were lying around inside the spaceship,I went mad, started screaming and stuff,then I woke up. I had that reoccuring dream for about a month,couldn't make head nor tail of it,scary though

KIVES

smirkingmaurice wrote: »

Once i slept in the coffee dock in maynooth for 2 hours,flat out,sheer exhaustion ,dreamt that I was falling to earth in a wooden spaceship with window frames but no glass panels in place though.Anyhow, to make a long story short,as I was entering the athmosphere flames came licking in the windows and starting singing books and things that were lying around inside the spaceship,I went mad, started screaming and stuff,then I woke up. I had that reoccuring dream for about a month,couldn't make head nor tail of it,scary though

Researchers at Aberedeen University found that your 64% more likely to have a hyperactive dream if you fall asleep a)during the day...b)In a public place and c)Upside down...strangely,the idea of cheese causing heavier dreaming has a touch of dietic/scientific truth...there's a substance in cheese which triggers something in the brain into producing more vivid imagery - my cousins Father used work in a cheese factory in the midlands-he'd be forever nibbling away at the cheddar so much so that when he drifted off to sleep,the family would have to lock all doors and windows - seems he took off sleepwalking to Mullingar one night and only released the error of his ways when he stepped into a manhole on the road from Multifarnum

smirkingmaurice

Had about 3 cups of strong coffee last night before bed, mentally I was fine, relaxed and able to deal with the whole relaxing thing, however physically I couldn't rest, kept thinking, shuffling, and having to go to the toilet. Moral of the story, dont drink too much coffee before bed, 1 cups enough

mormank

Smoke a joint.

watna

KIVES wrote: »

Researchers at Aberedeen University found that your 64% more likely to have a hyperactive dream if you fall asleep a)during the day...b)In a public place and c)Upside down...strangely,the idea of cheese causing heavier dreaming has a touch of dietic/scientific truth...there's a substance in cheese which triggers something in the brain into producing more vivid imagery - my cousins Father used work in a cheese factory in the midlands-he'd be forever nibbling away at the cheddar so much so that when he drifted off to sleep,the family would have to lock all doors and windows - seems he took off sleepwalking to Mullingar one night and only released the error of his ways when he stepped into a manhole on the road from Multifarnum

Working in a cheese factory is my dream job... mmmm all that cheese!