Insomnia

[Benholio]

Dazarath, you might want to read up on Sleep Apnea. Could be the cause of your lack of restful sleep and waking up constantly throughuot the night.

You could try some of the computer programs out there that tries to stimulate certain brainwaves through sound (for example Brainwave Genreator). The program aids you to go from active beta-wave to delta wave.

May work for some of you.

[chesspain]

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Advice commonly given is to avoid doing anything else in your bed apart from sleeping and sex. Don't read or watch TV in bed. (I don't know if this has been validated or not.)

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This is excellent behavioral advice. In addition, do not remain in bed for more than twenty minutes if you have not yet fallen asleep (or fallen back asleep). Moreover, do not go to bed unless you are sleepy, regardless of how much sleep you think you need to receive. Finally, try to not alter you sleep schedule to catch-up on sleep or to fall asleep earlier.

I realize that some of these suggestions may seem counterintuitive and/or difficult to follow. In addition, as others have suggested, it might be wise for you to first talk to your primary care physician, especially given your acknowledgement that you are overweight and smoked until very recently. Once you and your physician have rule-out possible medical causes for your sleep disorder it would then be appropriate for you to ask for a referal to a psychologist who specializes in behavioral medicine.

[Talk2BigSteve]

I made my last post after 2 this morning, I then watched Ocean's 12 in the living room, read till about 6AM and now it is 8:45 and I have already had a shower, got dressed, and had breakfast. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Steve

PS I live in Central Time Zone

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Advice commonly given is to avoid doing anything else in your bed apart from sleeping and sex. Don't read or watch TV in bed. (I don't know if this has been validated or not.)

[/ QUOTE ]

This is excellent behavioral advice. In addition, do not remain in bed for more than twenty minutes if you have not yet fallen asleep (or fallen back asleep). Moreover, do not go to bed unless you are sleepy, regardless of how much sleep you think you need to receive. Finally, try to not alter you sleep schedule to catch-up on sleep or to fall asleep earlier.

I realize that some of these suggestions may seem counterintuitive and/or difficult to follow. In addition, as others have suggested, it might be wise for you to first talk to your primary care physician, especially given your acknowledgement that you are overweight and smoked until very recently. Once you and your physician have rule-out possible medical causes for your sleep disorder it would then be appropriate for you to ask for a referal to a psychologist who specializes in behavioral medicine.

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I've heard this given as advice before and found it to be very sound. What you want is to instinctively find your bed a place with strong associations of tiredness and sleep to it that in themselves help you fall asleep as soon as you get into it, kind of like dogs salivating for food at the sound of a bell. You want an automatic response and association. It sounds very peculiar, but that automatic response can be built up and work for you.

If you keep bed as a place where you watch t.v. and movies and eat and have a big ole evening of it, it's just a comfortable place in the house with any deep association with sleep, and you miss out on having that sleep association help to trigger sleep all by itself.

I'd also suggest staying far away from caffeine after lunchtime. Even small amounts can mess with you. I say this as a lifelong soda fan who has subjected himself to just about every form and timing of caffeine bombardment possible; even if you get very used to caffeine so that it doesn't feel like it's affecting you much, it still is working its job, and it only needs a very minor affect on you to trigger insomnia. Sleep is a tricky ledge to push yourself over.

You might also try melatonin half an hour to an hour before bedtime. It is known to reset the body's clock on the one hand and subtly help tiredness on the other. However, it will reset your clock in a bad way if you take it at the wrong time, leaving you feeling jet lagged all day. So, use it when your sleeping schedule is not off by a lot or is relatively normal, not at 4:00 a.m..

You can also try valerian root, a natural herb that's easy to find in drugstores. It can have a notable sleepiness-inducing effect. You tend to build resistance up to it after a few days, but that resistance drops away again in a few more days. So it can get the ball rolling, which is good enough.

Also try not to eat sugar of any sort(honey included) before sleeping. That can mess up your sugar cycle, calling out insulin and interfering wth your protein synthesis after sleep, impairing your ability to rebuild your body and normalize hormone levels. Most of these chemicals are released within a couple of hours of initially falling asleep, but a raised insulin level can interfere with that. So a cup of tea with honey may make you feel sleepier and more relaxed before bedtime, but the insulin the honey or sugar calls out is counter-productive overall.