Overcoming insomnia

Have a baby. I've had one for just coming up to a year now and I can tell you now, you'll never be wide awake again. They wake up at 6am regardless of what day it is, and once they're awake they demand every second of your time. By the time you put them to bed at night, you could sleep standing up.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by WeegieBlue

Have a baby. I've had one for just coming up to a year now and I can tell you now, you'll never be wide awake again. They wake up at 6am regardless of what day it is, and once they're awake they demand every second of your time. By the time you put them to bed at night, you could sleep standing up.

+1 Although mine are 6 & 13, so past that stage.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Ed

Sounds like you found the answer

I get the same thing... a late night walk helps to clear my mind.

Does sound like your mind is over active, so it needs to unwind. Ed's suggestion is good or do some light exercise.

I'll go out on my push bike for an hour or so, and my mind is usually clear when i get back.

Swimming or a gentle jog would also do the trick

[Jayneflakes]

One thing I find very important, I cut my daily intake of caffeine.

I used to drink a lot of coffee, strong, black and spoon meltingly hot, different brands for differing times of day, breakfast coffee, lunch coffee and evening coffee. I was wired!

Then I quit, which hurt. I also quit caffeinated soft drinks. Caffeine is a stimulant, which is why they put it in cold remedies.

In regards to reading, I use a low light, one of those travel book lamps, two batteries running a pale LED. This allows you to naturally close down for sleep. Bright light just before bed can effect the levels of a brain chemical I can't remember the name of and it can keep you awake.

I also use music. My favourite music is Black and Death metal, but at sleep time I use my MP3 player on very quiet and listen to peaceful stuff that I also like.

Have a look at some of the side projects from some of the extreme guys.

Isahn of Emperor is in Thou Shalt Suffer (modern Classical) and Pecatum (mellow folk/rock).
Satyr of Satyricon is in Storm (Folk).
Varg of Burzum has done a lot of gentle ambient.
Also worth a try is Hagalaz Runedance, a pagan folk band on the same record label as a lot of the black metal guys.

Also going to bed tired will help, so take some exercise during the day, go to the gym after work, do some Gardening or go for a push bike ride some where exciting.

Make sure that you do not eat too late or eat too much sugar, if you are sensitive to additives, avoid food stuffs with them in.

I pretty much live by this and am usually ready for bed by ten PM. Living with out caffeine was so hard, but my body has adjusted and I fend I sleep better and as a result wake better. I tend to wake as soon as it gets light and if I have a lie in, I can drift back off again.

If all of this fails, your next step is to seek medical advice.

One thing I will say - do not do any physical exercise within an hour of going to bed! Being a Med Student you will probably know all this but it increases your endorphins, which act like a stimulant, and will result in you being wide awake!

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

One thing I will say - do, do an hour of physical exercise in bed

.

Ha! I wish! Chance would be a fine thing!

I suffer badly from this. My wife calls me 'the machine', because my head works 24 hours a day without stopping, I am always thinking and the cogs up there are always turning.

One bit of advise that I heard on the radio recently and it helped a lot.

Don't worry about the fact you are not sleeping!

A completely sleepless night is quite rare right? I had one on Saturday but it took my son to be in hospital with a Meningitis scare for that to happen. Most insomnia nights you do eventually get some sleep, even if not until 4 in the morning and you only get a few hours, you do still get SOME sleep.

Don't lie there thinking "it's 2am and I'm not asleep yet, I need to get up at 6, if I don't sleep soon I'll have had less than 4 hours and I have a long day tomorrow". Reassure yourself with the fact that even if you only get 2 hours, you will eventually get some sleep, because you always do, and stop worrying about it. You'll drop off much sooner than you thought you were going to.

Also when worried about something, I make firm decisions and plans around what I will definitely do and when to help resolve it. Thinking about positively about solutions, rather than worrying about problems, helps me too.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Jayneflakes, useful info! Gonna check out some of those bands. One of my mates is into Hagalaz Runedance and there stuff is awesome. Beauty of Mother nature is a really good song but I've never got round to getting into more of there stuff - I could defo nod off to stuff like that though. I'm not a big caffeine person, but do eat late a lot of the time, especially unhealthy grub.

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

One thing I will say - do not do any physical exercise within an hour of going to bed!

If only twas the cause of my problems. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Don't lie there thinking "it's 2am and I'm not asleep yet, I need to get up at 6, if I don't sleep soon I'll have had less than 4 hours and I have a long day tomorrow". Reassure yourself with the fact that even if you only get 2 hours, you will eventually get some sleep, because you always do, and stop worrying about it. You'll drop off much sooner than you thought you were going to.

But this is exactly what I do, and if I somehow fight the thoughts and start nodding off I get excited and spark up again. This isn't helped by the fact that I'm also thinking 'all those other people sitting the exam/interview are happy getting there 8 hours whilst I'm squirming here in bed like a sucker'.

Originally Posted by thulfi

But this is exactly what I do, and if I somehow fight the thoughts and start nodding off I get excited and spark up again. This isn't helped by the fact that I'm also thinking 'all those other people sitting the exam/interview are happy getting there 8 hours whilst I'm squirming here in bed like a sucker'.

If you think about it rationally, you know you will get some eventually, because you always do, so stop worrying that you are going to get none. It's just one more worry that is keeping you awake.