I’ve dealt with insomnia off and on for years. What do you do to combat it?
When I can’t sleep, I turn around and sleep the opposite way with my head to the foot of the bed and my feet to the head of the bed. I don’t know why but it works every time.
I sleep on the couch w the TV on with true horror stories or a boxing fight on YouTube . I try to create a night routine to signify sleep time for my body like showering or exercising at a certain time or reading/music. Just giving myself at least an hour to settle in and calm down before I head to bed. I also participate in lots of forums but I dunno if that helps me sleep but it entertains my mind. I also play online chess sometimes.
I sign up for a cuddle site and watch my life change.
https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/forum/discussion/14443/so-i-started-cuddling/p1
~ Sunset Snuggles
🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover
I suffer from this too, cuz it’s so hard sleeping alone. Something about an appropriate cuddle buddy fixes things like that. Well so I push myself into passing out by doing wholesome hypnotic activities for a while like listening to music all the time, practicing my snare drum paradiddles for up to an hour(I find ways to play quietly at night)riding animal’s virtually in my mobile games for a while or riding my mule outside in the fresh air at night for 45 min or so n also I drink herbal teas. Feverfew herb, green tea, ginger n chamomile are the herbs I use for tea to induce sedation. I need to use those anyway cuz of pain n inflammation stuff. I need a combo of things to force myself into a hypnotic state n just pass out from exhaustion n hypnotizing myself into a trance by those activities. I understand it’s not a cure but it is a decent treatment for me 🤷🏻♀️. My best advice I guess to you is find a wholesome hypnotic activity you can engage in for a while. N hopefully herbal teas can help you; not everyone’s body will respond to things the same way but feverfew n chamomile help a lot of people.
Remember Dave Attell? I loved that show.
I’ve got a busy life, so a lot is just about turning my brain off. I had a process for years, but at times it just doesn’t work lol. Going completely sober recently may also play a part, not even the single glass of wine on Sat night to reward a long work week lol
I've only been sleeping well lately due to my pain specialist prescribing muscle relaxers. My sleep was trash prior. But I was also dealing with a lot of pain outside of my normal chronic pain. So that probably wasn't helping.
@hey_nikky im trying to be 100% sober. Used to hit a pen a cpl times before bed. Debating melotonin. Sleep meds like Tylenol pm or pain killers just make me sleep like a rock for 2 hrs then I wake hyper, bouncing off the walls lol
Congrats on the sobriety. 😊 It'sa huge lifestyle change and probably a major cause of your recent insomnia. I found spraying my bedroom with the scent of vanilla and my electric blanket helps me sleep better. (Sorry it's almost May.) HUGS!
@starrynitecuds Scents can be huge. I hate “fake” scents though. Real vanilla vs bad cheap candle vanilla, if that makes sense lol Lately I’ve been falling asleep to rain and thunder sounds which helps. Fell asleep to music for years, but I listen too intently lol
There are three types of insomnia:
And lucky me, I have all three. I’ve had it for decades, and connected to my CPTSD. Hopefully not many reading this has CPTSD and you are just dealing with plain ole’ insomnia!
I appreciate the sober intent. It’s actually productive in this case because alcohol does more harm than good when it comes to your sleep. As OP mentioned above - alcohol will “help you get to sleep” but because your body is in crisis and working to eliminate the alcohol, it’s not aware when things stabilize and so it continues fighting, thus you wake up around 2am and then have a difficult time falling back to sleep. Insomniacs shouldn’t drink much before bed.
I focus on good sleep hygiene.
Keep as much of a regular schedule as you can. For me, in bed by 10pm, up at 5:30am.
Sleep in as dark of a room as possible.
Find your optimal room temperature. For me I like 67 degrees with a quilt on top of me (I like the weight). A weighted blanket is great also.
I don’t like silence and I don’t like noise. I’ve settled on “pink noise” - a different tone than just white noise. But a fan will do just as well for me. Consistency is important here. A fan that turns off and on in a cycle could be disruptive.
Some people meditate or listen to sleep podcasts. I don’t do that so much as the voice keeps my brain active. Look up the “military method” of falling asleep. Systematic and intentional body relaxation is quite helpful.
Keep the bedroom for sleep + sex only. Don’t eat, don’t read, dont watch TV and don’t work while in bed. Help train your brain that the location is for downtime (sleep) only.
Back to sobriety- that means different things to different people. That said I suggest you read into melatonin, as the data is inconclusive and long term use of the hormone could have negative consequences. I finally gave up and went to an insomnia prescription (after years of talking about it with my primary physician). I’m On something called Dayvigo and that + all the above helps me.
BTW, my measure of success is if I can get 6 hrs of sleep, five of seven nights of the week.
It’s a muscle, and requires effort/practice for your brain to adjust to “normal” sleep patterns.
Best of luck and blessed sleep to all of you.
@mel8675309 thanks. Yeah I have all 3 types but rarely at the same time. Agreed on all points and believe me, I’ve done and continue to research. Ideally a few more days without thc and my body and mind will remember how to shut off lol. Alcohol has never been an issue for me (other than a cpl intentional times in life). Last few years it’s just been a glass of wine at the end of my work week. About to attempt a nap but will refer back to this for a cpl other things you mentioned so I can research. Thanks kindly!
it’s so hard sleeping alone.
Yep.
@labelz I absolutely respect and support that. Congratulations on going sober. 😊 have you tried either of these? Melatonin has never worked for me, I still couldn't fall asleep easily or stay asleep and I always woke up insanely groggy. These both have worked great for me in the past though.
Journaling works for me. I jot down my to-do list for either the work week or next work day, and weekend to-do list. That usually quiets my work brain. My brain has been trained for analysis for 17 years, so it extends into personal hours. Journaling has quiet most of that down for 5 years. Next, I deep dive on lingering or stuck thoughts, or analyzing "old ways".
@labelz - no naps!!!!!
I also have had all 3 types of insomnia for over 20 years now, complicated by ADHD and mental health issues. Sleep hygiene is a huge part of it, but after you implement the sleep hygiene and it keeps coming back, it's time to talk to a sleep specialist and perhaps try therapy. People in our culture vastly undervalue sleep and it literally kills, in so many ways. It's been researched to be leading predictor of chronic diseases, mental health issues, behavioral issues, etc.
So first you need to rule out that something physiological isn't interrupting your sleep. Apnea, delayed sleep cycling, non-standard circadian rhythms, medications, underlying health issues, etc.
After those are ruled out or addressed, if you have suffered from insomnia for more than a couple of weeks straight at any point in time, you need to address the behavioral and thought patterns that develop as a result. There is a specific form of cognitive behavioral therapy centered around insomnia, CBT-I. It's not a super common speciality, but sleep doctors can often point you towards specialist psychologists and there's also online programs.
I've found the CBT-I to be the missing piece in addition to sleep hygiene and underlying physical causes that kept causing me to fall back into old bad sleep patterns. I haven't "fixed" my sleep, but it's certainly a lot more sound more regularly than it used to be, and it's an ongoing process to undo years of bad habits and mental patterns.
I do suggest caution with melatonin - supplements are not well regulated, and a lot of them megadose which actually can cause further sleep issues and worse side effects. It's best to only use it under supervision of a sleep doctor who is aware of any other medications and supplements you're on, start low and slow. It's not as safe as a lot of Internet articles would have you believe, and a lot of those sleep supplements have added herbals that can further cause interactions. Know what you are ingesting, how much, and why.
Good sleep hygiene helps. So does limiting light exposure, including screen time, at night, and not getting on your phone if insomnia hits. Not eating, exercising, or having caffeine/nicotine too close to bedtime. Sometimes a guided meditation helps me. Or gentle music. Turning the temperature down a few degrees and adding another blanket. Getting up and reading a non-stimulating book in low light for awhile if it's been 30-60 mins tossing and turning in bed. Putting a warm heating pad on my chest or feet can also be comforting. And I use a weighted blanket. Sound machine. Eye mask. Try to foster a totally comforting/non-disturbed environment in whatever way makes sense for you.
Like @hey_nikky I find Melatonin works well for me. I'm fortunate that I don't generally have trouble sleeping, but sometimes like last night when I came home from an event at 2 am (I'm usually in bed by 9 pm) and couldn't sleep, 5 mg does the trick and I feel no ill effects the next day.
Thanks all! I will give melotonin a shot. I have a ridiculous work schedule so I’m very retentive about my energy management. So I need to try it when I’m not working the next morn
One thing that worked for me when I had trouble falling asleep was watching a show on Netflix in Spanish. I don’t know Spanish, so I would read the subtitles until my eyes were tired, and then I would close my eyes and listen. I would go right to sleep. (The only time that it didn’t work was if they were in a fight on the show. Not relaxing enough.) I would then take the show back to where I remembered I was the next night, and do it again.
I was thinking of fighting crime when I have trouble sleeping...
@Minestrone101 well yeahhh, that’s a given. Not using the sheets anyways. Might as well make them into a cape
@labelz These sheets are for the streets! lol
@labelz I did honestly join this site due to temporary insomnia, as I posted, earlier. As for how I deal with insomnia when it does occasionally still strike...
Helps me get sleepy, do recommend...
Wakes me up, do not recommend, but it's what I do 'cause I'm a glutton for punishment...
I listen to ASMR. If my mind is just overactive, simple sounds will help: slow arrhythmic tapping, slow scratching, gentle ear blowing, rubbing fuzzy microphone covers, etc. In the summer (living in the country) I'll sometimes open my window to listen to frogs and crickets. When I was having emotional trouble while caring for my dad in his illness, listening to encouraging whispers helped a lot. I'm not normally even a "words of affirmation" kind of person, but sometimes that's just what I need. The usual "calming sounds" (droning music, fake ocean waves, looped rain, etc.) just annoy me. Sometimes I'll sleep on the couch or the floor; a different environment helps break whatever thought patterns I'm stuck in.
There are all kinds of ASMR content, so don't get run off by the niche roleplay, racy videos, or suggestive visuals. Ignore them. Find some sounds that you like and search for them specifically. You can then build a playlist and turn off the monitor to listen to just the sounds for sleep or comfort. Headphones are a big plus. You can even get some sleep masks with inbuilt bluetooth speakers. I've gotten used to sleeping with headphones on.
My favorite ASMR artist is ASMRMagic. Others with some good sounds are Hatomugi ASMR, ASMR Bakery, Sonagi ASMR, and ASMR_Divinity. SkittyKat has some good positive affirmations videos. If you're one who likes to listen to gentle voices that are not necessarily directed at you, some ASMRtists do videos where they just talk about random stuff. ASMRMagic has some where she says specific words or even particular letter sounds that people enjoy and some where she's just talking about whatever is going on or how she does her nails. I had a friend who used to like to listen to me read. You could probably find some audio books with a gentle reader if that's your thing. There are so many different kinds of ASMR, you could probably spend months exploring it to find exactly the right sounds for all kinds of situations.
@Mailleweaver haha im all too familiar with asmr. It was actually a pro here, years ago, that first introduced me to it. Yes very hit or miss. The “fad” it became on YouTube def gave it a bad name, but there’s definitely good stuff out there
@SunsetSnuggles heya I did read your recommendations. Late night chats help me as well. I’m a cold sleeper and toss n turn if too hot. So I shower before bed but stand in front of a fan or open the door to cool down first lol. I picked up a sleepy time tea I’m trying tonight:)