Trouble Sleeping?

[LouMinotti]

I find that 8+ hours of physical labor starting at 9, ending at 5, followed by coming home and cooking dinner, doing the dishes and then getting to the gym at 8 and training till 9:30 and then returning home and reading myfico till midnight followed by reading a few pages of the recent book I purchased pretty much does the trick.

But I do need to drink about ten cups of coffee the next day.

Lather, rinse, repeat. ;-)

[fused]

I drink a few shots of Crown Royal or a fine Cognac.

[KingAdrock]

---

@fused wrote:

I drink a few shots of Crown Royal or a fine Cognac.

---

Whenever I see commercials on TV for sleep aids (and when I'm also feeling cynical) I always respond to the TV with "Take a shot of whiskey and shut up."

But honestly, the big thing to remember when you can't fall asleep is not to obsess about it. The last thing you want to do is fret about it, toss and turn, and constantly look at the clock. RELAX. Take the mentality that even if you don't fall asleep, deep relaxation is just as good. Lay down, close your eyes and think about nothing at all. I've always done this when I can't sleep; and I'm convinced some of those nights I stayed that way without sleeping for hours. But the next morning I felt no more the worse for wear.

[Lel]

Back when I was in a more high-stress job, I found that I was unable to fall asleep on my days off. It was as if I was permanently wound up from my job.

I started taking Benadryl, which helped a little, but eventually started using Ambien prescribed by my physician. Have you heard about persons with unusual behavior after taking Ambien, like sleep-driving? Well, I didn't go off and drive somewhere, but I apparently exhibited some very strange behavior when I still seemed to be awake. It's happened on at least two occasions, and I have absolutely no recollection of these spells. I haven't taken Ambien in 5 years now.

Alcohol may help people fall asleep, but it is actually detrimental to healthy sleep. Numerous studies have shown that it disrupts the normal sleep cycle, so people who use it as a sleep aid actually have less efficient sleep and are more likely to feel chronically tired.

One thing that has worked fairly well for me is that when I am having trouble falling asleep, I turn on the reading light and look into it (not staring, though) for several minutes. I don't know how it works, but it works for me.

[Anonymous]

---

Lel wrote:
Back when I was in a more high-stress job, I found that I was unable to fall asleep on my days off. It was as if I was permanently wound up from my job.

I started taking Benadryl, which helped a little, but eventually started using Ambien prescribed by my physician. Have you heard about persons with unusual behavior after taking Ambien, like sleep-driving? Well, I didn't go off and drive somewhere, but I apparently exhibited some very strange behavior when I still seemed to be awake. It's happened on at least two occasions, and I have absolutely no recollection of these spells. I haven't taken Ambien in 5 years now.

Alcohol may help people fall asleep, but it is actually detrimental to healthy sleep. Numerous studies have shown that it disrupts the normal sleep cycle, so people who use it as a sleep aid actually have less efficient sleep and are more likely to feel chronically tired.

One thing that has worked fairly well for me is that when I am having trouble falling asleep, I turn on the reading light and look into it (not staring, though) for several minutes. I don't know how it works, but it works for me.

---

Benadryl helps me too and not as nasty as the Ambien. Not eating for several hours before going to bed also helps. I find on a full stomach I do not rest well, besides it not being good for you anyway.

The Ambien, you do not want to know the things I have done, but I could probably put the Kennedy to shame. (Yes, I drove) If I am not IN the bed when I take it, then that is disaster. I once made banana pudding in my garden tub. Toe surgery. The driving incident involved me wrecking my car and crashing into the side of my house while trying to park. 2 am and thank God no traffic was out. I'm sure there are more stupid things I did over the years, but those come to mind.

[Anonymous]

I have problems sleeping as well. What I usually do is take a small dose of Nyquil or the generic equivalent. When I say small, I mean small, only about 1 or 2 teaspoon fulls. This allows me to get some rest without feeling hung over in the a.m. It works for me and it's really cheap.

[guiness56]

I did not have to take any thing to exhibit strange behaviour.  I'm not sure what it is called, sleepwalking.  I don't know.

Any way, once I woke up and found myself trying to drink liquid potporri.  The smell of roses is what woke me and I had the stuff in my mouth.

On one ocassion I got up and found that I had rearranged my living room in a very peculiar manner.

The last one was when I got up and poured three separate bowls of cereal and milk then ate them all.

I told all of this to my doctor and I could see that he was tying very hard not to laugh.  He never gave me anything for it and I suppose I outgrew whatever I was going through.

Thank goodness, next time I could have hurt myself.

[WhirledPeasPlease]

I'm starting to think I'm just too lazy to sleepwalk (lol).  I mean seriously, I find that I'll end up lying in an uncomfortable spot w/ a dog wedged up against a leg or something -- and well, I just lie there and go back to sleep.

But, for the nights when I can't sleep, I've stopped fighting it.  It's much easier to get up and get something done instead of going crazy watching the clock.  If I notice a pattern of sleepless nights I end up taking an Ambien.  Thank goodness I don't need it very often and one bottle of 30 usually lasts me a year.  Oh, and a bit WHEW for not getting up in the middle of the night to do crazy things.  (My sleepy/fuzzy mind must really understand "go to bed and stay there" or something.)

With all of that said, my first line of defense is usually a glass of cold milk.  Ahhhh.