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I can't sleep

Abstract said:
Actually, I read that too, but the article wasn't about sleep. It was about sex, and was trying to explain why men are likely to want to fall asleep after sex, and why women want to cuddle.

I thought it was quite a sexist presumption of all men and women, but then again, it did describe me perfectly. :p
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I don't typically cuddle myself after going downtown. Just sayin'.
boy-better-know said:
Neither was I bro, neither was I. ;)
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Girl.
 
For the urinating drinking cycle. You could try sucking on a Halls original for a while. That'll get rid of the feeling of thirst pretty quick.

As for falling asleep. For years I'd lie in bed for hours until I could fall asleep. It's a problem I had since I was a kid.

I got in the habit of praying right before going to sleep a couple years ago. Now I'm usually out in a few minutes. On the rare occasions I still am having a problem I'll pray to empty my head of thoughts then fall asleep a few minutes after.

To me the key is to empty your mind of problems, wants, ambitions, &. Prayer helps me do that. For you it may be something else.

Other than that it is only once every three or four months now that I'll have trouble staying asleep. In which case I resign myself that I am not tired and stay up a few hours until sleep takes me.

Another problem may be that you are trying to sleep too much. Some people function on less sleep. For me about six and a half hours is plenty.
 
rdowns said:
A bong hit or two. Works every time.
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He he, works better than alcohol, especially if the insomnia is caused by tension in the body. If chemicals are to be used, I would recommend sedative antihistamines such as promethaxine (often sold under the name Phenergan). It's non-addictive, by the way.

I have had sleeping problems my whole life. In my experience, it sometimes helps to get out of the bedroom for a while if I've been tossing and turning for more than half an hour, and then come back to bed after a while. Read something easy, like fiction (comics, crime, romance) but avoid newspaper articles and other non-fiction literature. Likewise, it's better to watch action movies or cartoons before going to bed than to watch a heavy documentary.

You might also want to try out techniques for relaxation. Although physical exercise is always good, it should be avoided the last two hours before you go to bed. Unless it's a certain kind of exercise, of course ;)
 
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It usually takes me 1-2 hours to fall asleep every night because I'm a bundle of stress and emotions; I just can't stop thinking when I should be sleeping. :eek: But once I'm alseep I can usually stay asleep.

Some things that I try:

Reading before bed, the more boring the better; exercising in the early evening; avoiding eating or drinking ~1-2 hours before bed; avoiding caffeine starting in the late afternoon; and counting sheep (really).

It's interesting what you say about waking so thirsty: that happens to me when I accidentally fall asleep during the day for an hour or so. I don't really know why. :confused:

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Mac'nCheese said:
Take two tylenol PMs. Works very well.
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You might want to check the active ingredients. Probably, it's just Tylonol (acetaminophen) and diphenhydramine (marketed as Benadryl).

Unless you're in pain, it's cheaper to just get Benadryl as a sleep aid, not to mention better for our liver. :) But definitely double-check the labels.

I occasionally took Benadryl to aid with my sleep, but I think it became less effective over time. I've also tried Hydroxyzine (Rx); it worked better, but over time it becomes less effective for sleep so I only use it occasionally.
 
I understand that this may not be the sort of habit you want to develop, but whenever I find it hard to sleep I smoke a large joint. Knocks me out good and proper. Sometimes a little too well.

Just putting that one out there.
 
I've had various sleep problems throughout my life.

For a while, it was not being able to turn off the old brain-box. Laying there thinking. That was part of depression, and once I got that treated (Wellbutrin), I was able to relax and go to sleep. For others it's not depression, it's anxiety.

If I do wake up at night now, I don't even try to go to sleep. Doctors tell you if you can't nod off again, quit trying. And they're right. I'll usually do something like hit the internet for an hour or so, then lay down in front of the TV. I watch a DVD of a show I've already seen -- I don't want to get caught in that trap where I want to stay awake to find out how the show ends. :D

And if that's not enough, I'll try one of two things. One is relaxation technique. I breathe in really slow, hold it, breathe out really slow. Repeat as needed. First time I heard this, I thought it was complete b*******, but I swear, it helps. My alternative is a glass of wine, which works well too.

The thirst thing may not be the contradiction it seems. If you sleep with your mouth open your mouth will dry out, no matter how much water you drink. The tendency is to think, "Well, I don't do that," but I thought that until the wife complained about my snoring and I put a camcorder on me one night, and sonofagun, I do snore. :p
 
If you have a partner, wake them up for some sex. If you are alone, use your hand. Not sure if that works for females, they get different moods after sex. But a male, the only thing we want to do after coitus is sleep.

Not convinced hot milk works, tried it a few times (and that bears no relation to my previous paragraph).
 
Kilamite said:
If you have a partner, wake them up for some sex. If you are alone, use your hand. Not sure if that works for females, they get different moods after sex. But a male, the only thing we want to do after coitus is sleep.

Not convinced hot milk works, tried it a few times (and that bears no relation to my previous paragraph).
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"hot milk you say?:p get the joke?
 
wordoflife said:
Interesting. I crash in about 10 seconds once I'm on my bed. :eek:
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Me too. :eek:


EricNau said:
Some things that I try:

Reading before bed, the more boring the better; exercising in the early evening; avoiding eating or drinking ~1-2 hours before bed; avoiding caffeine starting in the late afternoon; and counting sheep (really).
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Apparently, rubbing one out and smoking a spliff are more popular pre-bedtime activities. ;)


And to all those people who suggested exercise: I ride my bike to and from work almost every day. I go for 80 minutes, and I ride pretty hard. *cough*


Anyway, I'm going to bed. Wish me luck.
 
Kilamite said:
If you have a partner, wake them up for some sex. If you are alone, use your hand. Not sure if that works for females, they get different moods after sex. But a male, the only thing we want to do after coitus is sleep.

Not convinced hot milk works, tried it a few times (and that bears no relation to my previous paragraph).
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Oh it works for this female. ;)

Abstract, really though, you should try not to use your computer/ipad/iphone before bed. There was something about that causing people to not be able to fall asleep. If you make it a point not to use those things and maybe just read, that may be helpful. I have found that when I wake in the middle of the night that watching something on my iPad keeps me up longer than if I were to just turn on my Kindle and start reading.
 
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