What Helps You Sleep

[MTDrunk]

I just started a new job and sleep escapes me. I love what I'm doing and I love that I'm getting paid for it but it has been extremely difficult to fall asleep. Normally, if I am up past 12, I just turn the television to the Hallmark channel and close my eyes while listening to the Golden Girls. It's a show I actually watched when it was airing in the late eighties and early nineties. Yep, I watched a show about elderly women and their relationships at the age of six. I was a strange kid.

Anyway, the Golden Girls isn't working. What do you guys do when you can't sleep? Do you keep yourselves busy so that the time doesn't seem too tedious or do you relax and get all the rest you can?

There are a couple of things I won't do: 1) I will not game 2) I will not read. Those things get my brain going and it takes me a while to come down from it. I know, posting on a gaming forum seems contradictory to both of those things but I haven't been able to get on the computer much lately and it seemed the thing to do.

[Rah5er0]

push ups sit ups chin ups pull ups..well working out in general usually exhausts me; and followed by a refreshing shower...zzzzz..zzzzzz!

[Murgatroyd7]

Well, I was going to suggest reading because that usually knocks me out, but I guess that's not the case for you. Heh. I've had insomnia most of my life and I'm often up for days at a time, so I'm not the best when it comes to falling asleep, but I've noticed that trying to make myself stay awake usually results in me passing out.

[MTDrunk]

push ups sit ups chin ups pull ups..well working out in general usually exhausts me; and followed by a refreshing shower...zzzzz..zzzzzz!

Dude, that might be just the thing. I haven't worked out since last Thursday and exhaustion has kept me from getting motivated. I'm thinking I'll start doing p90x again.

[blueishbond]

I put my television on my favorite late night channel and on a SLEEP mode. and oh, making sure I am not hungry. That's very important. :P

[StatiK TactiK]

Personally, working out exhausts me but the adrenaline prevents me from getting to sleep. I dunno if you're against this or not but you could always try sleeping pills. I know a lot of friends who take them. Just try to not take them every night because your body eventually gets addicted to them and require them to get a decent sleep....or you could just take some night time cold medicine or advil if you wanna get ghetto about it =P

[Murgatroyd7]

I would never dream of working out, but if I did, I imagine it would keep me up as well. Sleeping pills can be nice, but you run the risk of being groggy after you wake up. In high school, I was put on a strong antihistamine for my insomnia and I was finally able to get sleep at night...but then I would sleep at school and when I got home too. I functioned better when I was staying up for days at a time. But if you can find an effective pill that doesn't make you too tired, it's quite nice.

I suggest checking a pharmacy or GNC for melatonin supplements. Or maybe even try Alteril. I haven't tried it, but based on the ingredients, it should work pretty well for someone who has trouble sleeping but doesn't necessarily suffer from insomnia.


Oh, and I totally forgot to mention that I loves me some Golden Girls.

[Juppy]

Meditation. Seriously. I know, you're thinking "Oh great, some 'new age' whack job is trying to convert me to his ways!". Not the case, I assure you, because I'm not into most of that new age stuff.

The meditation, for me, came about as a sort of stab in the dark. I used to have depression....bad.....and when I got off the antidepressants (and said I was NEVER going back on those dang things again) I looked for something to help when the depression and anxiety feeling started coming back. I found an article online about it and thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Luckily, it worked wonders for me (not only for my nerves, but in sleeping too).

Most meditation routines have you doing it sitting up in a straight-backed chair.....which is fine, but I found out if you try to do it while lying down, you almost always end up conked out, just because you relax so much (from the deep breathing, focusing on clearing your mind, etc). I looked that up later on and there are quite a few sites that say just that....that lying down to meditate is almost impossible, unless you're really good at it. Apparently I haven't gotten that good at it yet (LOL!), but I did find a good way to relax so I can go to sleep!

[MTDrunk]

Well, the night I started this thread, I ended up using some sleeping pills I had in my cupboard. I don't like using them though. Not only did I get very little sleep that night, the pills made me fuzzy-headed all day. But the next day, I just started working out as soon as I was done with work, which was early enough to cool and calm down from it. Meditation is something I tried a few years ago but never worked for me. I don't see how it is possible to clear your mind.

Now that I have set a new daily routine, I am hoping I don't have more of those long, mostly sleepless nights.

[Juppy]

Meditation is something I tried a few years ago but never worked for me. I don't see how it is possible to clear your mind.

Yeah, that's the hard part. From what I've read, it's not so much clearing, as in "thinking about nothing at all", because yeah, that's like almost freaking impossible, but rather it's more of a "don't participate in the thoughts" type of thing. Like, for instance, if the thought comes along of a girlfriend you broke up with recently, instead of going "Oooh, that *&%$#, I hate her! I ought to key her car! ARGH!", just sorta notice the thought, acknowledge it, but let it move on, as if "Meh, I don't care about that.". In other words, try not to react with any kind of emotion to whatever thought happens to pop up. That's why a lot of the meditation stuff has you repeating a mantra (like the people that sit around cross-legged going "Ohhhhhhhhhmmm" over and over again). They concentrate on that certain sound and it helps keep other thoughts from coming up. Definitely not easy though.....I've been doing it for probably 3 years now(the meditation, not the OHHHHMMM ) and still have times that I just can't get my mind to shut up and let me meditate. LOL!

I know several things I've read have suggested what you're doing with your daily routine as a way to make your body "expect" to be going to sleep at a certain time. Not watching tv/playing video games/etc for several hours before bed and not eating for several hours before are supposed to help too. Me, I'm just the opposite....I have to eat something within a couple hours of going to bed or my stomach sits there and growls, keeping me awake! Anyway, hopefully that new routine will work for ya.

[Murgatroyd7]

Me, I'm just the opposite....I have to eat something within a couple hours of going to bed or my stomach sits there and growls, keeping me awake!

Ditto. Ah, the joys of being fat.

[Raymo]

haha, damn everyone has thrown out the best suggestions already. Eat, meditate (which I never tried), work out etc.
I seriously think the only thing someone hasn't suggested is...let a lady friend *ahem* tire you out. I know that tires me out plenty.
And if you don't have a gf, you could always be a...master of your domain.
I some how don't think my comments will help, but I think I might get some interesting feedback haha
Hope your sleep problems get worked out!

[Juppy]

Ditto. Ah, the joys of being fat.

Hey, I'm not fat!....I'm pleasantly plump!.....or, uh, "Big Boned"....Yeah, that's it, big bo......okay, okay, I'm fat, shut up. LMAO!

Seriously though, yeah, that's the sad part.....I've read one of the worst things overweight people can do is eat right before going to bed.....but darn it, how do you fall asleep when every couple minutes you hear "GRRRRROOOWWWRRRRR!!!"? LOL.

[Murgatroyd7]

Ha ha. I've heard that eating before bed doesn't really make much of a difference because your metabolism is still at work when you sleep. I haven't looked into it enough to know what's right, but I go with this because it's what I want to hear. Heh.


Also, sex is definitely a good way to fall asleep, Ray. I usually want to go right to sleep afterwards, but unfortunately, I also want to shower, which then wakes me up.

[Juppy]

Ha ha. I've heard that eating before bed doesn't really make much of a difference because your metabolism is still at work when you sleep. I haven't looked into it enough to know what's right, but I go with this because it's what I want to hear. Heh.

Well, you know, that's kinda my thoughts on that too.....I'm like what's the difference in eating 4 hours before bed or right before you go to bed? It's not like the food you ate 4 hours before is magically gone and out of your body (well....unless you've got a really fast digestive system, then I suppose it could be! LOL!). But yeah, I'm the same way....that's what I want to hear so I eat what I want at whatever time I want. No hungry = sleep better.