Sometimes, when my life is generally stressful, I have trouble falling asleep. It's really annoying because I get sleepy like usual, but it takes a long time for me to actually fall asleep. And then I sleep too late, and if it goes on too long, I become nocturnal.

I've found that the only way to deal with a bout of insomnia that's lasting too long is to get a lot of exercise and eat a big meal before going to bed.

Do you ever get insomnia?

And if so, how do you deal with it?

My sleep rhythm is haywire, because when I go to bed normally, I take several hours to fall asleep. I can only really sleep when I'm very, very exhausted and sleepy. Like, when my eyelids start falling down, or so. Exercise does nothing for me, somehow.

It may be relatively controlled at a time, with a steady schedule, but at some point there always comes a night when I go to bed and the more I lie in my bed, the more nervous and energetic I get, until I have to get up, run around, do lots of things. This is the point that always screws up my until-then barely established rhythm.... as soon as I am in my bed, a flood of thoughts goes through my head; ideas, dialogues, music, silly thoughts... my mind just won't shut up. Then I also don't feel tired anymore, even when I went to sleep at the same time the day before.

Another thing that can happen is that I do feel very tired and very sleepy, go to bed, but still can't sleep for no apparent reason whatsoever.

And when I know that I have to go out after waking up, or that I can't sleep for as long as I want, falling asleep is even way harder.

When I do fall asleep finally, I have nightmares at least every 2nd time.
But once I fell asleep, in most cases I am good then, because I sleep through and don't wake up. I can sleep up to 16 hours then and I need at least two alarm clocks to wake me ~_~

However, ocassionally, without using antidepressants or other similar drugs, I wake up from a nightmare all wet with a feeling of intense distress and a rapid heartbeat or so.

Sport / exercising doesn't help me.. what makes it better is to strictly avoid anything with coffeine, at any hour of the day / night (when I drink coffee its effect lasts for two days =_=).

I got various drugs prescribed since I can't fall asleep, but most of them didn't do it either.. hydroxyzine (an antihistamine) made me a bit more tired only, but not enough to fall asleep assuredly, still. Promethazine (tricyclic antihistamine and weak antidopamine) makes me fall asleep at a dose of at least 100mg.. I use this on those times when I can't find any rest no matter what. Both also increased my appetite a bit, so I'm not really happy with using them. Diacepam worked the best and without any side effects for me, but it's harder to get, too. Alcohol works too in sufficient amounts, but I hate its effect and its hangover (waking up with a headache is great). (Weak) Opiates can also help me fall asleep even better than Diacepam & without any side effects too, but are not indicated for this purpose..

I've also read through all the hints that claim to aid to falling asleep on the web, but they don't work for me

Maybe they work for you, Ivory.. if you didn't read them all yet.

One method I find funny is to go to bed and deliberately think "I won't fall asleep, I won't fall asleep, I won't........" allegedly it works for some (not for me).

Also some find taking a hot bath before going to sleep helpful.

I've found a useful herb lately. California poppy. Infuse for 10 to 15 minutes then drink. Works for me instantly.

I tried Opium poppy and it didn't have an effect on me... maybe I made the tea wrong.
I'm going to try California poppy next time.

lol... other than california poppy, there are other herbs that contain sedative properties. Well, if you're interested, you can google it.

The California poppy and the opium poppy contain sedatives that are chemically different from one another, though both have historically been used medicinally for similar purposes.

The species belong to the same family but different genera.

Yes I know.. Humulus, Passion Flower, Valeriana, Withania somnifera and so on have mild sedative properties too.. anyway I never notice their effect. But I just remembered sometimes warm milk with honey helps me to calm down a little.

I heard warm honey and cinnamon helps too.

One of the few times I can remember falling asleep really easily was after taking codeine pills, which were prescribed after a dental procedure, along with trazodone, which I was also taking at the time as a sleep-aid. However, this was probably a dangerous combination. It also seemed to give me an amazingly realistic lucid dream.

Wow. I slept delightfully during my 2 weeks on the island.

Now that I have to be back at my dad's for a week or two, I have insomnia again. I guess the good news is that I'll be able to sleep normally again once I get out of here.

I have insomnia and it takes forever to get to sleep and when I DO get to sleep I only have this short power-nap and I wake up at around 4:30 in the morning. The doctor tells me my medication is a big part of that, but I've had trouble sleeping before, too. I'm jealous of people that can sleep whenever they want, and nap just by lying down. It takes me FOREVER to get to sleep.

I get jealous too.

It's especially annoying because I really love to sleep. It's one of my favorite activities.

I have random bouts of insomnia. Usually when I get really interesting in something. So difficult to stop the endless stream of thoughts. lol
I try to sleep, but that results in me just laying there for 2 or 3 hours. After that long, I know it's just pointless to continue. Sometimes it happens on nights when I have school which sucks.When I do fall asleep though, I go into a mini-coma. So wonderful...

On the lighter side, it doesn't occur too often. Maybe like once or twice in a weeks time, and sometimes not at all.

Surprisingly, I enjoy not sleeping sometimes. It makes me much more manic, and am still able to function. My vote for best drug ever! Jk P :

I have 2 new ideas after I post this. Hehehehe

=-> Insomnia: when are your most tiring hours?

=->Insomnia: what is the longest you've been awake?

Post?


*Sorry if it looks like I am piggybacking. I am just trying to keep the subject matter clear.*

lately ive gotten into the habit of taking norco to help me sleep. i take it and i get light headed. i lay down and its hours later. im running out of norco... that means i have to stay up until i pass out like i normally do.

I'd prefer to never sleep ever again. After around 12 am my body just kind of snaps into an insomnia mode and I could never get any sleep, which I find quite pleasant. My dreams are always very vivid and nightmarish, and I always feel like I'm wasting my time as I sleep.

So I don't deal with me insomnia- I try to enjoy it as much as I can.

I've had insomnia most of my childhood. Not so much these last couple of years, but I've been unable to sleep a lot lately. Most days I sleep 2-3 hours and now and then I have one day where I sleep for 16+ hours. I usually don't try to deal with it, but when I haven't slept enough for a while I get very anxious and slightly paranoid, so I probably should.
Sometimes drinking some tea before I go to bed helps me fall asleep too, especially chamomile tea.
Taking truxal helps me fall asleep, but I don't really feel like using it unless I am really going crazy from the lack of sleep.

l sleep irregularly. l usually sleep late at night (around 3am) and wake up around 9am. l might conk out during the day. lt's quite annoying actually. l know if l stopped using the computer at night, my sleep pattern might work out a little better. Ah well. l'm too dependent on it now.

My sleep schedule is currently pretty messed up because I'm adjusting to a 14 hour time difference, and just went from winter to summer. I felt well-adjusted the first day I was back, but now I'm having trouble sleeping. I didn't sleep at all last night. I'm hoping I'll be able to take a nap today. I'm really tired.

I watch tv news 1-1.5 hours before going to sleep. It seems like the mind is relaxing during this time and I usually falling asleep quickly after this. However, this night was quite odd, I remember the sleep was superficial and I woke up several during the sleep. Anti-psychotic medicines, even small doses, also helps mind to relax and fall asleep quickly.

Ever since I was a kid I've always had problems sleeping... it's rare to have a night where it doesn't take me at least an hour or two laying in bed to be able to fall asleep, even when I'm dead tired.

I'm still not sleeping properly It's driving me crazy. I tried counting down from 300 while doing deep breathing (heard it helps), but it always takes the full 300 for some sort of sleep to come and that's a long time if you think about the long inhales and what not. I am tired. Monster roar.

I just wish that I could either never sleep, or sleep for a long period of time. Like, two days.

I'm doing what Ivory described in the original post at the moment. I slept till nearly 4pm today and I know why I'm sleeping so late. I have a work related interview tomorrow and although I hardly ever actively worry myself, it shows through in other ways. Sleeping far too long when I know I have an appointment to make, for example. Now, I'm left with the puzzle of trying to stay awake an entire 24 hours and meanwhilst appear enthusiastic about my job prospects to a stranger, or sleep and risk oversleeping.

it's hard for me to wind down my mind and get sleep. this is why i drink almost every night. i have great success with benedryl too. it contains the same ingredient as over the counter sleeping pills even though it says not to use for inducing sleep.

What? That's crazy! If you compare a box of benedryl to a box of otc sleeping pills, the ingredients are exactly the same. If I want that active ingredient (forgot the name), I just buy generic-brand benedryl because it costs about half as much as the identical generic brand sleeping pills.

I used to use that stuff for sleep and seasonal allergies on occasion, but I stopped because the side-effects were interfering with my ability to work. If I take benedryl at night, I feel really out of it, and weak and dizzy the next day. Sometimes I get a headache and feel nauseous too. In fact, it's a lot like a hangover from drinking too much. I can't go to work, or get anything done, in that condition.

So I switched to Dramamine (dimenhydrinate), which is an anti-emetic and sleep aid that's marketed as a motion sickness prevention. Apparently, the active ingredient is very similar to the one in benedryl, but it doesn't give me the same side effects.