Cures for Insomnia

The Sweeper

I'm currently sitting at this PC with my eyeballs somewhere around jawline level because I am utterly exhausted. Every night for the last six weeks or so I've had the same experience - come 3am and BING!!! I'm awake. I stay awake for one to two hours, then drift back off asleep and get up at 7 to go to work.

This is seriously interfering with my ability to function on a level above that of a parsnip in the afternoons, my knuckles are beginning to drag on the groud and I'm in serious danger of drifting off mid afternoon and electrocuting myself by dribbling on the keyboard. I need help. I've tried a load of things to stop these nighttime awakenings and they're not working, so here it goes:

Anyone got a definitive cure for insomnia?

SantaHoe

Guh, tell me about it...
I find it so hard to sleep, I have to wait until it's painful to stay awake before I can successfully nodd-off to sleep.
In some cases having a 24-hour day before I feel tired enough to sleep.

I hear laying off caffene and getting a good dose of excersize is the best cure for insomnia.... yet I still sit here and guzzle coffee all day
Then there's things that might be on your mind, bothering you... creeping into your thoughts as you drift off to sleep.
Best thing to do I think is to see your GP, and have a wee chat, he'll be better qualified to advise you, as I think it could be any number of things causing your insomnia... he might perscribe some good sleeping pills. (which work great btw)

Dr. Loon

I often can't sleep for shít and I believe it has alot to do with drinking loads of coffee. I went to the doctor, because I got bvadly run down from lack of sleep, and he wanted to prescribe me sleeping pills, but I didn't want to take them. It's not natural!

I get caught in a viscious circle... I think so much when I go to try and sleep that I can't. I think it's when my mind kicks in and really weighs up all the crap that goes through my head during the day, and tries to put everything in a little bit of order or somethin. So then I don't sleep, and the next day I have to drink shít loads of coffee to stay awake, thus, keeping me twice as awake the next night!!! :mad: Quite annoying.

Cures?? I've been told warm milk before you go to bed. Otherwise, yeah, apparently exercise helps. I'd say get off whatever stimulants (coffee, coke, smokes) etc...etc or cut down on them during the day.


I'd love to hear if anyone knows of any other cures!

El_Presidente

I suggest regular exercise, every day after work. Do something that leaves you totally drained then don't drink any coffee for the rest of the evening.

Do this for a couple of days in a row and you should be able to get to sleep a little easier.

irishguy

Anything of that nature is to be kept off of this board.

Victor

Get some exercise in the evening (i.e. walk home from the CS LAN).

eat earlier in the day. Avoid greasy food (and especially cheese - it makes you dream too much).

Drink less liquid, but especially Don't drink any stimulants in the evening. However, I suspect a little alcohol might help you sleep.

Check if there is somthing specifically keeping you awake (e.g. ultrasonic rodent deterrent or the like)

Hayden

Hummm A sledge hammer and a cell phone to call 999 when u hit the deck some times works

Yes exhaust yourself in the evening,don't eat after seven-when you get hungry/thirsty have two cans of draft guinness-relieve your bladder and if you aint exhausted-go back out even if by now it the dead of night and weed the garden-still not sleepy?,weed next door and so on..............,have anothe can of draft,relieve yourself again and fall into bed;)
mm

Enygma

Actually alchohol can make insomnia worse. So try not to drink. Unless of course you drink yourself into a stupor, then I guess the only option is to sleep.
Insomnia isn't really an illness, it's a symptom of something else.
Depression, stress, those types of things. If it gets worse or stays the same I'd recommend you go see your doctor.
Otherwise go to your local chemist, you can get herbal sleeping tablets (natural, legal ) for a few quid. Believe me those things work!
I don't feel that it's a matter of tiring yourself out, you're tired anyways, you just can't sleep. What you need to do is relax your head. Chill out for a while. Don't worry about not being able to sleep. Have a bath before you go to bed.

Waking in the middle of the night for a few hours is usually either stress or depression, if you can think of anything that might be making you either of these then think about how you can stop them.

Oh and Good Luck!

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by irishguy

original comment was removed

Oh believe me I know! I probably have a bit of a smoke almost every night, and I still lay awake just thinking. I reckon the solution for me is to cut down on the coffee, and exercise more....

Goodshape

Originally posted by irishguy
Cannabis is very good for insomnia.

nah, bullsh!t... I'm not an anti-cannabis person, but it just wont get you to sleep unless you have bong-loads of the stuff. It just sets the mind racing.... or, er... so my friend billy sez anyways :rolleyes:

Victor

Originally posted by Enygma
Have a bath before you go to bed.

Get some Epsom salts from a pharmacy (£1 will do 3-4 baths), helps you relax greatly.

Of course this means you sometimes fall asleep in the bath .....

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by Goodshape

nah, bullsh!t... I'm not an anti-cannabis person, but it just wont get you to sleep unless you have bong-loads of the stuff. It just sets the mind racing.... or, er... so my friend billy sez anyways :rolleyes:

Yeah... unless yo're really whacked, you'll just be pondering even more rediculous thoughts than you'd normally be!!

Get some Epsom salts from a pharmacy (£1 will do 3-4 baths), helps you relax greatly.

Sounds good to me! I'll give it a try

The Sweeper

Hmm, well tried a few things last night, had a cup of warm milk, rearranged the furniture before I went to bed etc.

They helped somewhat - managed to last until 4am last night before I woke up, but once I'd managed four hours sleep I didn't get back to it and ended up getting up at 5am!!

This, coupled with a few bevvies at lunch time, haven't helped much. I'm going to head around the corner to the pub at 5:30 and get BLASTED.

Thanks for the suggestion (apart from the sledgehammer one - I considered it, but I don't think concussion is the way to go)

GoneShootin

your answer lies here

1.) Force yourself to awaken at roughly the same time every day—even on weekends. A consistent wake-up time helps entrain your body’s biorhythms, and it prevents the “wide awake at midnight” effect caused by “sleeping in” on weekends to make up for lost sleep.

2.) Exercise regularly—even if it’s just a walk around the block. Exercise relaxes the body by causing muscles to tense and relax in a regular pattern. Muscles that already are tense are forced to move and release their residual tension. 3 days per week is the recommended minimum!

3.) Avoid alcohol 4-5 hours prior to sleep. Alcohol helps us fall asleep more quickly, but it always disturbs sleep later in the night. If you suffer from difficulty maintaining sleep during the night (insomnia type #2), alcohol consumption should be your first line of inquiry. Alcohol reduces REM and deep sleep, and causes frequent arousals in the latter part of the sleep cycle. Thirty million Americans used alcohol to “help” their sleep last month—but the results always are the same. More “wide awake at 3 a.m. syndrome!”

SantaHoe

Originally posted by Gone Shootin
Alcohol reduces REM and deep sleep, and causes frequent arousals in the latter part of the sleep cycle.

Hehe... arousals

stu_69

I haven't been to sleep in 3 days!! last night I just lay in bed trying to sleep, I eventually fell asleep at about 7 o'clock and had to get up at 7.15 for work. I am fu(king exhausted. I have not been able to sleep properly for about a week now. Luckily my girlfriend suffers from insomnia aswell so we end just talking all night!! I have suffered with insomnia for years ( it started during my leaving cert) but it seemed to pass when I started travelling. I have no idea why my insomnia has come back(I reckon it's the anxiety of having to come home in a couple of months).
The one cure I have found and it goes back to a previous post is copious amounts of weed!!! the good thing is it's so fu(king cheap over here and a lot stronger than the sh!t they sell back home!!!

But tonight I'm going to try that epsom salts in the bath trick.

Good Luck

Mr.Applepie

My god just do a bit of exercise and you will fall asleep and more then likely will not wake up till well into the next morning believe me!

Go for a ten minute run, cycle home from work something along those lines. There is nothing like a bit of exercise and fresh air to put you to sleep.

Other then that cut down on the coffee and listen to Henry Kissenger(is dat spelt right?)

chernobyl

i guarantee you just simple exercise and drink water will solve it.
you dont have to keep either up permanently [ well maybe the water intake ], but after a week or either swimming/running or whatever you like you will have no probs sleeping.
just and hour of your time and you will start to regain your energy.

Lump

Cannabis, does actually help you sleep easier. It relaxes your lungs, menaing that you breath slower and that you feel more relaxed. Drinking coffe and coke is a load of bollox. When I used work in the pub, I used drink ****e loads or coffee, and still come home and fall into bed. Also when on the internet till 3/4 in the morning, I would have drunk a two litre bottle of coke and still manange to fall off to sleep.



John