dudes, help me sleep

[Fuzzy Fred]

I got like an hour of sleep. for the past few nights. I have no idea what is going on.

I don't drink that much, and haven't had anything in a while, I don't smoke pot or cigarettes, and I don't do any other drugs.

I'm freaking out

[grindonomicon]

Stress from moving-being in new place? Insomnia sucks. Try Tylenol PM or some benadryl (and a BEER! or two) before you go to bed.

If that still doesn't put you to sleep, go see a doc. I'd suggest Trazadone, an old tricyclic medication that's cheap, non-addictive, and efective before trying any of the new fangled addictive sleeping meds.

[snipelfritz]

Ah, my area of expertise.

I don't do any other drugs.

I doubt that, but that's just a personal philosophy on the very understated definition of drug. Sleepytime tea, penicillin, heroin, are all drugs IMO.

Watch your caffeine intake. Caffeine is a drug. Try not to have any after 5ish assuming you're hitting the hay around 10(but that's just a rule of thumb I made up just now). If you do go the chemical route, start with melatonin. It resets your body clock rather than simply knocking you out like benzos or benadryl.

And I leave you with a verse by They Might Be Giants:
Turning to drugs to help you sleep
will only lead to sleep
and sleeping is a gateway drug
to being awake.

[Fuzzy Fred]

Ah, my area of expertise.

I don't do any other drugs.

I doubt that, but that's just a personal philosophy on the very understated definition of drug. Sleepytime tea, penicillin, heroin, are all drugs IMO.

Watch your caffeine intake. Caffeine is a drug. Try not to have any after 5ish assuming you're hitting the hay around 10(but that's just a rule of thumb I made up just now). If you do go the chemical route, start with melatonin. It resets your body clock rather than simply knocking you out like benzos or benadryl.

And I leave you with a verse by They Might Be Giants:
Turning to drugs to help you sleep
will only lead to sleep
and sleeping is a gateway drug
to being awake.

Ok, well I mean, I'm talking about like illegal drugs like heroin and shit like that. Not trying to be a smartass, but you know what I mean. I drink tea or coffee in the morning if I have to be up early (ie 8am class). If I don't have anything to do the next day, I'll drink soda or iced tea at night. If I do, I usually drink water after lunch.

I'd prefer to not go the chemical route, but that's just me.

i mean before these past few days, my usual night went like this for a school night: Go to bed around 10:30 (don't judge), usually knock out after 11 after staring at the ceiling, wake up around 2, 3:30, 5 then like 7 and get up and head out for the day. I mean I never got the best sleep, but this has been draining me

[Achtane]

Get the Hammock album "Kenotic".

There you go.

[jfrey]

Melatonin + Valerian + Sleepytime tea

Doesn't really work for me, although it is relaxing, but it knocks my girlfriend out like instantly.

[01010111]

You could try exercising some during the day. Like some cardio for 30-40 min or so. Whenever I have this kind of trouble sleeping that's what I do and it gets me back into a regular schedule. Just don't exercise too close to when you plan on sleeping or it will have the opposite effect.

[ashdown]

i second the exercise. a good cardio workout, either from the bike, a swim, or run will make you happy to go to bed. just make sure if you're trying to go to sleep around 10, be finished with your workout by at least 5; working out too late will keep you wired at night

also, how is your eating schedule? even if it isn't weird try this out

http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-natural ... -overnight

"Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. Once you start eating again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day. Your body will consider the time you break your fast as your new 'morning.'"

[Fuzzy Fred]

i second the exercise. a good cardio workout, either from the bike, a swim, or run will make you happy to go to bed. just make sure if you're trying to go to sleep around 10, be finished with your workout by at least 5; working out too late will keep you wired at night

also, how is your eating schedule? even if it isn't weird try this out

http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-natural ... -overnight

"Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. Once you start eating again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day. Your body will consider the time you break your fast as your new 'morning.'"

weird, I'll have to try this. I haven't been eating breakfast lately and usually have my first meal around 2pm or so, so that kind of makes sense. No eating for the rest of the day today, just coffee and water

[Officer Bukowski]

Just smoke some weed like the rest of us.

[devnulljp]

"Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. Once you start eating again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day. Your body will consider the time you break your fast as your new 'morning.'"

That sounds like typical uninformed health-fad oprahwoo to me. Circadian rhythmicity if a well studied well understood phenomenon seated in the the suprachiasmatic nuclei in the hypothalamus and is regulated by the light–dark cycle, nothing to do with the GI tract.

[rbtr]

read this!
Some standouts
-Don't use your bed for anything but sleeping (or sexing )
-If you wake up and can't sleep, do something else, get out of bed, get a glass of water or whatever. The bed should only be for actual sleeping, not "trying" to sleep.
-get in a bed time "routine." Always do the same things right before going to bed. Reading a little bit (but not in bed) or maybe even running scales on your guitar. Just not actually in the bed.

Also, are you on your computer before you go to bed? If you are that can really fuck up your sleep schedule, because you spend the night staring into a bright light, so it kind of tricks your body into thinking it's day, so it won't sleep. I used to have tons of trouble sleeping, could not fall asleep when it was time too. And I installed a program named f.lux. It changes the color balance on your monitor depending on what time of day it is, as well as what kind of lighting you have. What that really means is that during the day, the monitor looks the same, but at night it gets really warm, heavy yellows and such. Not only is this easier on your eyes, but it also helps you feel like you're not staring at the sun.

I used to lay in bed for hours before I would sleep. But now it's 15 to 20 minutes tops.

Unless its fucking hot. Is your house just fucking hot like mine is at night, cause that's whats giving me trouble.

[ashdown]

"Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. Once you start eating again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day. Your body will consider the time you break your fast as your new 'morning.'"

That sounds like typical uninformed health-fad oprahwoo to me. Circadian rhythmicity if a well studied well understood phenomenon seated in the the suprachiasmatic nuclei in the hypothalamus and is regulated by the light–dark cycle, nothing to do with the GI tract.

or that i didn't exactly research it but at this point it may be worth a shot. if i was in your position i would take rbtr's advice. the computer thing really helps me

[devnulljp]

I don't sleep more that 3 hr a night anyway -- if I do, I'm a slug all day.
Hey, if you're an insomniac, get some kind of freelance job you can do online -- writing or something and do that when you're up.
I guarantee you'll get sleepy as soon as you find out you have to work when everyone else is in bed

[psychedelicrelic]

I second the melatonin. Theres melatonin in milk too, so maybe take a melatonin tablet or two with milk.

Just smoke some weed like the rest of us.

Weed NEVER put me to sleep. If anything it kept me up. It puts my brain on overload. The only weed that put me out was white widow. I was asleep within 30 min of smoking it.
ANYWAY, I stopped smoking so much(maybe twice a month, at the most) and i sleep better, I remember my dreams nightly, and the dreams are much more vivid. Six months ago i was smoking almost everyday.