Seiceps

Hey everyone,
I too suffer from horrible insomnia and I thought I'd share a few things I've discovered.
My number one goto is audio books, namely classics. I find the language of certain books helps me drift off and, more importantly, I'm not concentrating on trying to sleep, I'm just listening to a story.
I find it better with ear phones than not.
I use libravox which is a volunteer run site that anyone can be a reader for. Obviously some are better than others, but some are fab , and it's free !
I highly recommend the reader Karen Savage.
I've done all of Anne of Green Gables and all Austen too, some several times.
If I wake in the night ( or more likely when ) it's right next to me and I put on another chapter. It helps me with the anxiety of oh my god I'm awake.
There are all kinds of crazy relaxation videos on you tube too.
There are people called whisperers who simply whispers story or describe their day. Loads of people swear by it.
There are people drawing circles with a pencil and the sound is relaxing. There is some name for this kind if thing but I forget. Like it could be the sound of someone folding paper, or knocking two wooden balls together. Sounds weird but works for some !
There are also loads of guided meditations for sleeping.
I like the ones at meditation oasis.
Just a few ideas that help when I'm really struggling. Not perfect but better than staring at the clock waiting for the alarm and then all of a sudden feeling like I can sleep. Man I hate that !
For me personally on day 9 , I couldn't have done it without sleeping pills. Everyone is different I know, but for me that was my safety net, knowing I could at least Get to sleep, if not stay that way.
I'm still waking 3/5 times a night with the pills. But I'm finding I whack on my audio book and I'm out again in ten mins.
And I just think how educated I'm getting by doing it ! Bc there wasn't much chance I was going to read all those classics.
Good luck to all, it's a battle alright. If anyone else has any tips and sleep secrets to share I would love to hear them. Sweet dreams x

CaiHong

Seiceps,
Thanks for the tips, Imhave done the audio classics and it does work. I also listen to,AA speaker tapes
I find I am in this cycle of going to bed earlier because I wake up,earlier.

I would just love to sleep,right through the night without waking up.

CaiHong

KellyToronto

I used alcohol to try to sleep, for a long time, and to "try to cope with anxiety".

Kelly

CrossFox

OTC sleeping pills would have me waking up 2 - 3 hours later, unable to get back to sleep.

I really like to take (supplements) one melatonin tab and one valerian cap (smells like the tiger section at the zoo) and then read. I'm out in about half an hour and no waking up and glancing at the clock, no tossing and turning - but I'm not knocked out either.

My physical therapist swears by her trick: blackout the room. No alarm clock LED lights, even. She puts her alarm clock in a drawer. She said that light inhibits the brain from sleeping deeply. It's not a big deal to sleep or nap with dim lights, sometimes, but it becomes an issue when we sleep with streetlights etc. coming in the windows every night.

I've never tried it that second way as the supplements work so well for me.

Lately though, I am getting so much done in a day that I am tired by 9 pm. The herbs help me stay asleep.

peanut44

I had a doctor once label my sleeping problem as

"Psycho physiological conditioned insomnia"

What ever that means!!!

Had alot of physical violence in the home while i was growing up. It all happened at night.

I have tried everything.

I do take ambien and that helps greatly.

I wear earplugs every night as i could hear a "moth fart" 2 blocks away!!! :O

I read to my husband every night and he falls asleep within seconds!!

Lucky guy!!!

Dave H

There are things we can take-that has been covered-there are things we can do as well. Cut out all caffine past noon. All of it! Even soda.

Wake up and get up early every morning (by 8:00 am). EVERY MORNING! And stay up all day. No naps! Stay busy. Do things, go places, work out, start running or biking. Build models. Go to the mall. Anything to stay busy.

Stay up until bed time. Say 10:00 pm. Then go to bed. It may take a few days or weeks, but your body will adjust. If you need to take a sleep aid, do so.

No caffine after noon
up early (by 8;00 am).
No nap.

This almost always helps greatly.

someguy123

Any bizarre side effects for the Ambien? That stuff makes my father stay awake and go on psychotic drug induced rampages, that he doesn't remember anything about.

Odelle

Ambien didn't work well for me and left me groggier the next day than I would have felt just not sleeping. When needed, I take *L-Tryptophan (1 or 2 500 mg caps) one hour before bed, sleep soundly without waking up, and I wake up refreshed without the grogginess. Fortunately, it helps get me back into a proper sleep cycle, so I don't need to take them often. *Attached is a link with some information Take L-Tryptophan to Reduce Stress and Get Better Sleep. It is available OTC, but keeping with the policies of SR, all supplements should be discussed with your physician before self-medicating.

SR Moderators, if I am not in compliance with forum rules in posting this information, please let me know and I will refrain from future references.

Readysteady

@peanut44........."I can hear a moth fart 2 blocks away". LMAO! I hear ya, I hear too much when trying to sleep. For whatever reason, traffic noises transmit to my room easily and earplugs help but not 100%. Pulling the covers over my head helps insulate the sound a little more. I like the blackout idea, when the light pokes through in the morning it's all but done to try and get back to sleep for that precious last hour.

nowme

I take melatonin and drink decaf tea. I like chamomile sleepy time or valerian tea without sweetener. I do not go to bed unless I'm tired. I don't have a set bedtime because I don't want to lay there awake. I try to read rather than watch tv or be on the computer. I had really crazy dreams for a long time. The dreams made me fill like I did not even sleep at all. The melatonin and tea helped me a lot.

noanxtime

Ugh, lately my insomnia has returned. I was doing pretty good up until the last week or so. I think it's partly that I need to move around more in the day - even though after a day of hard yard work I still couldn't get to sleep until well past midnight.
Melatonin doesn't help much and I think I am going to try the l-tryptophan. In desparation I took some benadryl a few nights ago, and even that didn't seem to help that much.
I also have a crappy pillow and need to get some covers on the bed more suited for warmer weather. Along with hot flashes I am whipping covers off whipping them back on when it gets to chilly and my not-so-small cat thinks he needs to sleep inches from my head. My husband lost weight and along with quitting the drinking with me, doesn't snore like a freight train any more.
Looking for some good zzzzz's tonight as I have gotten less than 8 hours of solid sleep for the last few days.