Ways to have a good nights sleep?
 

Hi people!

I really need some advice. I suffer with insomnia and recently it has been getting worse. I have been surviving on 4 hours sleep for the past 5 days. I don't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning and even though I am more tired than I can ever remember, I wake up 3 or 4 hours later. I am worried because my health is really delicate anyway. I can't see a doctor because doctors in my area are useless. I take Chinese medication for insomnia but recently they have not been working. The past 3 months I have been going through a bad time, which could be the reason for my sleep problem. I was just wondering if anyone knew a way to get a nights sleep? Short of knocking me over the head any sugggestions?

Eliminate any caffeine and sugar in the PM. Find a nice big boring book to read.

Thank you very much mmm, it really helps! Yes sugar could be part of the problem. Though I don't touch caffeine unless green tea has it in. I have quite a few charles dickens books, they can be a bit boring at times :)

I have a creative mind, so I usually end up going to sleep by daydreaming.
I have a very hard time sleeping, so this usually works for me.

Another suggestion - try meditating! It'll relax you, and probably help you though the bad time you've been having *nod nod*

You can just post in JF until you get sleepy... I do it lol

Read a boring book, or just relax your mind and quit thinking stuff while trying to sleep. I have Insomnia too, what works for me is sleeping at the opposite direction i usually sleep. Like if you are usually laying your head on the north side of the bed, lay it on the south side.

Green tea does have caffeine in it...time to cut that out after noon.

Yuko: I didn't think of Exercise. I used to be totally obbsessed with exercise and I never had any problems getting to sleep. I am going to try it, thank you!

Pockymepink: I'm a deep thinker and at night I can't seem to shut off my mind. Also when I know I have things I need to do the next day, it really bothers me. Then I'm thinking if I don't get to sleep I wont be able to do these things. Which makes things worse. I was practicing Zen healing which bascially is like meditation. Which is good for my nerves. I would do that everynight and it did kind of help but the person who told me about this, Zen healing was his job and he said I was not doing it for long enough. So I am going to try that again.


Iphantom: I tried that and I ended up getting to sleep in the afternoon. Time goes so quickly when I'm here. Well the good news is that last night I slept for 4 hours last night and woke up for an hour then slept another 4 hours. I only woke up 30 minutes ago. It's really strange because yesterday I felt so depressed and I slept better. I just thought I want this day to be over. Funny thing is when I'm happy I can't sleep. I tend to have these high moods that just happen and when things are really bad I have these depressed moods. I don't really have balanced emotions maybe that could be part of the problem. It is the simplest of things that make me happy. I can listen to a song that makes me feel good and I get to happy. Maybe I should stop listening to music at night.

Superheel: I sleep on both sides. If I can not sleep one way, I sleep on the other. Yes not thinking things does really help but it's not often I can do that.

MMM: I only drink green tea during the day. I'm not supposed to have caffeine for health reasons. Although I thought green tea might have caffeine. So I don't drink it everyday. As much as I like it, I can only drink one cup every other day. Are there any Japanese tea's that don't have caffeine in? Well I also drink mugi cha, Jasmine and brown rice green tea.

Thank you all for your advice, I really appreciate it!

This is another effective way, drink hot milk before going to bed. Or take a warm shower before going to bed. You might also need something to hug, my Stewie Griffin stuff toy is always there for me when I need it. Sometimes, it's ok for guys to have their own stuff toy.

I have a drink of milk and make sure that I'm nice and snug in bed. If I can't sleep, I just close my eyes and don't open them for anything because resting your body is better than nothing. If you can't sleep, don't get stressed out which I know is easy to do, just relax because otherwise you'll be even more tired the next day.
My nan says sometimes it feels like you haven't slept much but in reality you have because the body doesn't simply not sleep; if it gets that exhausted it will sleep.

Superheel: Unfortunatly I haven't got a shower, I wish I had one though it would be easier. I don't think it's a bad thing for a guy to have a soft toy, It is really sweet *_*. I have lots of them but then I am a girl. Yes sometimes when I'm feeling lonely or just need comfort I have one of my soft toys to cuddle. My favorite is a unicorn but I don't take her to bed with me because I keep her in a special place. She is also to big and has accessories on her that would be uncomfortable. :)

Tsuyako: Unfortunatly I can not drink milk. Yes when I can not sleep I get really stressed out. I end up giving in and then I get less time to sleep. I do get overtired. It's silly because I get so tired that I'm almost falling over. Thank you for advice, it really helps :) Maybe one of the problems is that the window in my room is facing the main road. So you can probably imagine the noise. Though now I have earplugs that block out most of the sound out. Although they can be uncomfortable as I sleep on my side.

I used to be the same, so I got some sleeping tablets which helped get me back on track. I didn't want to end up relying on them for sleep though, so I stopped.

If I need a good night sleep then I usually have a hot bath, make some hot chocolate, and read a book in bed. If you have something on your mind, it may be hard but try and put them aside until the morning. I always find that if your room is cluttered or electrical appliances are on it effects my sleep. If you have a computer/TV in your room don't leave it on. Make sure your bed has good, large, soft pillows and clean sheets.

Don't ever sleep during the day no matter how tired you are. I used to always fall asleep in the afternoon when I got home from school so I never slept at night. If you feel tired sit outside for a bit and let the fresh air wake you up.

That's basically all the advice I've got right now.

Do the NAZZTEH late at night and you will sleep like a baby! :rheart: :mtongue: :cool:

Wasabista: What is NAZZTEH ?

Nazzteh = "the nasty," i.e. get together with your boyfriend/girlfriend and...

MisaMisa: Thank you for your advice, it is very helpful. Well last night I stayed up until 8pm and slept until 4am and then an hour later I got back to sleep after I did some reading. I woke up about 8am. I feel really tired but I'm not going to sleep until tonight. I think what works for me is getting up early, staying awake during the day and going to bed early. Hopefully I can keep this routine.

Wasabista: I get what you mean now. That works for some people and not others. I'm one of those people who it does not work for. :o

Make sure to lie down when reading that boring book.

Like a roofie, I swear to God.

Thirdsight: The book I'm reading now isn't boring but it still works. I will have to remember to lie down when I'm reading.

Avoid eating at least three hours before bedtime as food can stimulate. Caffeineated foods and beverages such as coffee, black tea, chocolate and cola drinks, even when consumed early in the day can affect normal night sleep patterns. Alcohol consumption interferes with deep REM (rapid eye movement) type of sleep. Nicotine is a stimulant and smokers can take longer to fall asleep than non-smokers.

Those active during the day, are less likely to have sleep problems. However, exercise several hours before sleep, may give a second wind. Rather than watching TV in the evenings, take a walk.

Too much on one's mind can contribute to insomnia. Write things down before bed: plans for the days ahead, things to do and people to call. Then one can relax, rather than lying awake, trying to remember your "to do" list.

A warm bath before bed can be a sleeping aid. After, the tub has filled, Adding seven drops of psyche calming essential oil of chamomile or lavender can have further calming effects, as one relaxes in the aromatic warmth. . Another technique is to put two or three drops of chamomile or lavender oil on the pillowcase. Pure essential oils should not stain fabric as long as there are no additives.

making love:)

1. Having a bath before you sleep
2. Avoid any caffine (can be found in alcohol as well just so ya know)
3. Have a warm drink like Horlicks or Hot Chocolate before bed
4. Lavender smelly stuff (eg. Pillow spray)
5. Relaxing before bed like using candles, listening to calm music with a regular beat, taking deep breaths and doing minimal exersize
6. Reading a book before you sleep
7. Fresh bedsheets
8. Having a massage
9. Doing tai chi

Erm.... that's all i can come up with :D

Hope it helps xoxo

That would probably be a very effective way but I don't think that's the answer she was looking for.

I am the same, I have a really difficult time sleeping some days... too much uni work stressing me out. Once I only got about three hours sleep and I had work the next day! that didn't feel too good.

If you drink loads of caffeine... try to cut down on it.
Try to relax a bit more, if there is something troubling you maybe you should talk to someone you trust, less to bear with.
Try to get to bed on time, rather than having irregular sleeping patterns.
Don't take sleeping pills cos you'll just get addicted to them!
If non of it works... see a doctor.

A Stewie stuff toy? How can you sleep when you're holding on to the offspring of the devil himself?

Try watching the History channel while laying on the bed, it should have the same effect as the book.

Diazepam...

... very bad idea. Pills are a big no, no.

What's Diazepam??

Its for stress... but full description here... Diazepam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I usually just play a game with myself. I'll lay on my back and imagine coins falling and I try to count each one. Each time one hits me, I have to start over. It gets tiring trying to count....try it, it might help...or count sheep ^-^

Oh right :D I think i've heard of it before actually!

You were the first person to quote me btw x] Yay!


And yeah i don't like the thought of that... wouldn't you just get addicted like someone mentioned earlier??

NGO propaganda

You're welcome, I find that works for me too. When it's the school holidays I have problems sleeping because I can stay in bed for longer... but it normally works out because I try and ease myself into the right sleep pattern again.

[Oh and my new thing was counting sheep in Japanese, haha :p]

Yeah, you would if you take it regularly. I hate pills, I do not take medicine even when I'm ill. I let my body recover itself (let my immune system do the work), I am forced to use medicine when I am very sick otherwise I stay away from it.

NGO Propaganda wtf :confused:

[I merged your posts, please don't post one after the other. ~ Misa]

There is nothing wrong with taking pills if you have a sleeping disorder as long as you don't become reliant on it, the drug mentioned earlier is a form of sedative and used for stress relief and not suitable for sleeping problems at all, but some of the others on the market are fine to use. It's probably more detrimental to your health to not sleep properly than to take a tablet when you think you aren't sleeping very well.

Pills do miracles for people and without them I'd be ill a lot of the time. I have no problem with taking pills when my body isn't doing what it should be.

I really respect that :D I usually do as well :) Unless it hurts and then i'm a pansy and down a bottle of Beechams :D

non-government organisations

Yeah pills are great, when your body actually needs it. Using sleeping pills are fine on the odd occassion. But using them everyday will create a dependancy on it, heck the doctor refused to prescribe my mum it when she was having this problem for the same reason.

When pills are used continuously some viruses become immune/resistant to anti biotics and sometimes a stronger dose is required. By using medicine only when you need it will reduce the chances of it not working. A common one prescribed here is amoxicillin. I have friends that do biomedical sciences and work in a pharmacy. Look it up if you don't believe me (this example was not for the sleeping tablets). But then again, it's up to each individual what they do. I am merely suggesting what I know.

NGO...you should know that...