Insomnia - Can't sleep!

maybe you just have a lot to think about. Are you worried about something or just a little stressed? I find it hard to sleep if I got a lot of things going on my mind…

another thing I’ve noticed is that it’s way easier for me to fall asleep if I “do something” during the day and not just stay home…

I’d love to fall asleep in 8 minutes :confused:

Right now I’m taking 6mg melatonin every night and can fall asleep in about 1 hour (as opposed to 3-6 hours before)

Also, 5HTP may help you falling asleep faster,but I’m not sure

What!!! 8 minutes :eek: . The minimum for me is about half an hour.

Well that’s something I’ve thought about before, because my thoughts do tend to wander when I’m trying to sleep, I’ll be thinking of completely unrelated things. I find it hard to clear my head of thoughts, and how can I? When I’m thinking about trying to sleep :tongue:

Maybe I should exercise more, I might try that tomorrow.

Heh, I’m actually surprised so many people have the same problem I do, especially given the forum it is and the fact that if you can’t sleep you can’t really have a lucid dream :content: . Interesting…

I actually searched about insomnia a while ago, you know one thing I found?

Apparantly, it’s best to sleep with your head pointing NORTH because of the Earth’s magnetic field :eh:. I happened to have a compass nearby and I sleep close enough to East-West (with my head at West).

really :eh: ? that’s weird…sounds like crap, if i had a compass i’d try it out tho :content:

check out this site:https://consumerhealthdigest.com/sleepaids2.htm

Things that help me to get to sleep:

50mg diphenhydramine (or equivalent dose of other antihistimine)

Sleeping pills are good but addictive

Meditation <— This is very rewarding. I feel wierd tingling sensations all over when I do it right

Getting up early <----- IMO 90% of people who say they have insomnia just lay in too late. Me included.

Things that I’ve heard are good for sleep (but haven’t tried enough to say)

Camomile tea
Lavender oil (?)
Turkey, milk and cheese.

Although sleeping pills and other medicines do help to make you fall asleep faster they can become addicting…

My mind tends to do the same thing and wanders around random thoughts for at least an hour before I can fall asleep. Getting up early and excercising definitely helps and I’m sure meditation would be of benefit as well. The one strange thing that helps me to fall asleep though is listening to that static sound you get in between radio stations. I guess it keeps me focused on one thing and makes my brain less active when trying to fall asleep. Its soothing too… quite relaxing, as odd as that sounds. So experiment… and find what works for you. There are foods and drugs and music and all sorts of other stuff that work for different people. Just gotta find your thing.

where did you hear the average person takes 8 minutes?

That seems like BS to me… well… I mean, like if you’re on vacation and therefore automatically tired as hell and you have been excercising all day MAYBE

it’s 5:32 a.m. and I haven’t gone to sleep yet, took a melatonin and tried to for about 30 minutes.

I can get “to” sleep in 5 minutes flat, but i just get realy intense and disconcerting myoclonic jerks over and over and over and over and over and over and over (i’m going to type this till i feel tired) and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

then i’m not tired anymore.

Try warm milk with a little bit of vanilla and sugar in it. Works really well for me and anyone else I know whose tried it.

Or, try counting: 1, im dreaming, 2, im dreaming, etc. Sorta like sheep but Dreams instead. :tongue:

Or, i read somewhere that when you breath in, in your mind say Ham, and when you breath out, say, in your mind Sa. Over and over and concentrate on the Hamsa, don’t let your mind drift, or if it does bring it back to concentrating on Hamsa. That works for me too. Or, if you’ve been doing it long enough and get board, try the Hamsa and counting, but not one after the other, at the same time. That requires a lot of concentration and you dont even notice yourself going to sleep.

But it usually takes me about half an hour to get to sleep too.

yey people the same as me, it can take me about 2-6 hours to get to sleep most nights if i get any atall, this can get really annoying as i then really feel the need for sleep during the day.
Apparantly this could be due to my diet. i think its the way some peoples minds work though, if you have a busy mind then its really hard to relax your mind to get to sleep and this is also the same if you tend to ‘fidgit’ around alot. I know thats absoulutly no help but it might give some more information for somebody else to.

A few quick tips on insomnia:
=> Do something active during the day but, do not exercise or anything in the evening.
=> Spend as little time as possible in you bedroom. You bedroom should be used for sleeping and sex only.
=> Don’t watch the clock when you are trying to sleep.
=> Don’t try to go to sleep unless you are at least a little tired.
=> If you are not tired try reading for a ½ hour then watch tv with all other lights off till you are tired enough to sleep.
=> ( optional but helps a lot) study meditation or self hypnosis.

Since you asked about sleeping pills I’ll share my experience:
=> Benadryl and similar antihistamines can help.
=> Melatonin - did not help me much
=> Xanax- works good but, is addictive. Did not prevent me form lucid dreaming.
=> Ambien - Works great and is less addictive than other medications but, I had trouble lucid dreaming on them.
=> Other traditional sleeping pills are highly addictive and in my opinion should be used as a last resort.

I do the 61 point relaxation method everynight, and I fall asleep imediatly after doing it…

So I would suggest a relaxation method :cool_laugh:

Yes in my opinion meditation or relaxation is best. But that is just what is best fo me. I included info about medication because it is an option and I don’t want to push my views on anyone else.

Yeah I find that a lot. I keep thinking about stuff. Or say if I try to clear my mind… I’ll try to sleep too hard and get frustrated, and since sleep is about relaxation how am I gonna sleep if I get frustrated every time I try? :tongue:

Bah… me hate sleep…

61 points?! :eek:

Explain… sounds quite complicated…

I read that in some home remodies book

I was just thinkin u said u sleep easy in busses or cars perhaps thats cus the noise is drowning out you thoughts? Have you tried listening to music before you go to sleep? im gonna try that tonight

I usually get to sleep in half an hour to an hour. I don’t consider it insomnia. But prehaps you are trying to hard.

it takes me at least 2 hours but i dont think i have insomnia… i thought 2 hours was normal

but if you are worried try diphenhydramine but keep it under 500mg

I would recommened amusing yourself by thinking about life etc