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Hm, with me insomnia has been a constant companion since childhood. I used to get super frustrated about it and often times just stayed up all night. Eventually I learned to tell myself 'listen, you're not gonna sleep tonight, don't worry about it, just lay down and relax for four or five hours'. That actually worked pretty good cause even when I didn't fall asleep I felt a million times more rested than if I had tossed and turned and killed myself with anxiety all night. Resting your eyes, especially, is crucial to feeling rested, and when you're anxious or thinking too much, even when your eyes are closed their following you brainwaves. So, maybe first try to relax as much as possible about your sleep deprivation.
A set bedtime really works well. I'm not the kind of person that likes to go to bed on 'time' at all, never have, probably because I've always had insomnia, have trouble slowing down my brain, etc. Having something to focus on helps a whoooollllleeee bunch though. What I do now, I say 'ok, lights out at (fill in the blank) no matter what! I can listen to music or radio, but my lights have to be out and I have to be in bed." In the beginning I listened to meditation cds, this gives you something definite to focus on and it guides you to focus on your breathing and the voices on those cd's are always so soothing and there's usually some freakyish cool hinduish music in the background. Now I listen mostly to podcasts, or when my brain doesn't feel like focusing even that much on following a story I'll listen to jazz or opera on low volume.
There's also this sleepy pill called 'midnight'. It's (supposedly) all natural and it doesn't knock you out or effect you overly, it's really just melatonin with a few other things mixed in and it really helps me because instead of knocking me out (with all the side effects) it just kinda gently relaxes my body, leaving it up to me to do the rest, I find when my body is relaxed like that, (it kinda feels like when you just get out of a hot bath), that I have a much easier time slowing down my brain. If I wanted to I could definitely rough through it and EVEN operate machinery I'm sure, so it's that nonintrusive, but it takes the edge off nice and kinda just gives you a jumpstart and it shouldn't interfere with any medications. Also it's super safe to take two if you need to, cause there's no super medicatedness about it.
Just some suggestions...
-siamcat
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