Tired of Insomnia
Feb 25th, 2007 by What's Gotta Go
Why is that as kids we fight sleep, and as adults we fight for it? Kids hate naps as toddlers, crying themselves to sleep (at least mine do) and the other youngsters do everything in their power to push bed time later with every stall tactic imaginable. As a teenager I remember staying up late to do the dumbest things, and curfew on weekends was something to be challenged at every opportunity. Now as an adult, I cherish every minute of quiet, dark bliss I can get. My wife would sleep double what she gets given even a chance.
So why is it I have such a hard time getting to sleep?
I want to sleep, I try to sleep, I just can’t fall asleep until the moment when I can barely keep my eyes open. Truthfully, I know why. I stress about things, and when I do, those things pass through my mind constantly until I can think of a solution. Then once I have a solution, I go over that solution repeatedly in my mind. I can’t turn it off, and until my brain just doesn’t have any more power to work on, it just keeps going.
So everyone has their suggestion, which of course works for them but rarely does a thing for me. Counting sheep is the old favorite, but that never did anything for me. Falling asleep with the TV on is not an option my wife would let me try, and when I have tried it in another room, I just stay awake engaged in what I am watching anyway. Ever heard the warm milk suggestion…blech!
What typically works for me is reading a good (read that brainless mystery) book for 30 minutes or so, which gets my mind off the matters of the day and slowing down so I can rest. Problem is always having a book I am interested in to read. I have read most everything of the authors I like, so it is always a quest to find a new author that is up to par.
Of course for many years this situation worked wonders for me, giving me many more productive hours for my entrepreneurial ventures as I worked on the computer late into the night until I was practically dipping my head into the keyboard. I just don’t have the stamina for it anymore. I blame that on my kids. I still do tend to stay up late reading things on the computer, but my ability to be productive late at night is far less than in the past.
What makes it worse is if I don’t get to sleep quickly at night, I use that as an excuse to turn off my alarm and skip the gym the next morning. I need that gym time to get invigorated and to work on shedding the extra 20 lbs I have been trying to lose for some time.
Insomnia in my life just has to go. It sucks, no other way to put it. I need the ability to fall asleep on demand so I can wake up in the morning early to get my day going right. So do you have this problem, and if so, what do you do?
If you find a solution to this PLEASE let me know. I have the same problem. When I get into bed my mind is racing and I lay there and think and think and think. I try to figure things out and find solutions and dwell thus causing me to have very little sleep. I may try the SleepEZ from Melaleuca to see if it helps.
Melissa
I lie on my side in bed and work on a crossword puzzle book. When the book hits me in the face, I know I have dozed! LOL
On nights when that won’t work, I take one Advil and that does the trick.
Sleep? What is that? I am forever tired but, like you, I have trouble turning off at night. My mind races and I think of all the things that are left undone. When you find a solution, please let me know as I WANT to sleep so bad at night again. Sadly, my husband suffers from the same problem, so we just sort of feed off of each other. I am too tired to think straight and do homework or something I need to do, so I just roam around trying to make myself tired enough to go to sleep. My husband does get on the computer and work until 4 or 5 or 6 in the morning sometimes!!! CRAZY MAN!! But, he gets a lot done and it’s always work related.
Yeah, I’ve suffered from this type of insomnia since I was a teenager. Often times my parents would get after me for sleeping in, having trouble waking, etc, when often I had only fallen asleep a few hours before they woke me.
It’s been a common thing in my life to lay in bed for hours, mind racing, and staring at the clock wishing for help. I’ve tried all the normal solutions, and gone through all the usual blame, I must not be exercising enough, eating right, relaxing, etc. While many of those external factors can affect the insomnia, it’s never everything.
Like a few people have mentioned here, my Insomnia stems from the inability to ’shut off’ my brain. This is something most people learn as children, and is enhanced by the production of certain chemicals in the brain Well, I have a shortage of this chemical, and am naturally a little ADD (hey, aren’t we all *some*?). This is the same reason that hypnotherapy type methods don’t work on my (counting sheep is a simple example).
What has worked some for me are the various ‘melatonin’ based products, which is the chemical your brain produces to shut down. It’s not perfect, doesn’t work 100% of the time, but it has made a major difference overall. Plus it’s cheap, natural and just about every pharmacy will have a few things with it.
Hmmm, thoughts of possible ways to get to sleep. Some of these are suggestions from the neurologist for my son.
Eating turkey -preferably just the slices, no extra carbs, dressings and so forth- about an hour or so before bedtime. The tryptophan can help with relaxing. (Make certain to figure out how much you are eating, so that you don’t overeat and excaberate the issues you are working on with the gym!)
Try a cup of herbal (no caffeine) tea like chamomile, catnip or valerian. These are all pretty much sleepy-time teas.
Try taking a warm bath (NOT shower) and staying in for at least 15 minutes–this can be mixed with a book, if you are careful. (grin)
Try doing long slow stretches and visualizing something personally soothing/relaxing/and so forth.
Nick has the same problem, but I’ve learned that a sleep mask helps me with the light issue from the tv and I can ignore most of the noises.
I use to have this problem and here is how I solved it after researching out why it happened like it did…
I keep my bedroom cool…too warm and I can’t sleep.
I have a humidifier running so room is not too dry.
I keep it dark.
I go to sleep and get up the same time every day…even the weekends…bed by 10pm up by 6am.
No eating after 8pm.
I do not use the computer at night before I go to bed as it gets my mind going…no computer after 8pm.
I make a list early evening of all I finished that day…a pat on my back.
AND I make a list of what I hope to accomplish the next day…it’s on paper and OUT of my head.
Seems to work for me….Good Luck!
Oh boy do I have this same problem. But with a 5 month old baby, sleep will elude me for quite a while longer.
I used to have the stamina to stay awake until the wee hours. I am just too old or have too many kids to do that anymore. I can’t get to sleep and I hate waking up. Oh well…..the joys of parenting!
Ali,
I love your ideas! You should write a book :)