completely unable to sleep

ven0m

I've been up since 7am yesterday, which now puts that at nearly 30 hours of being awake. I tried everything to get some sleep last night; reading, writing new music, playing xBox, watching TV; I even went for a run @ 3am & didn't come home till 5am this morning [man was it COLD!!!!!!!!!!]

I'm not even feeling tired - I'm full of energy to the point where I can't even sit still in work & it is driving me nuts!!!! I'm not even feeling hungry!!! Anyone got any ideas or suggestions???? And no - sleeping tablets do not work on me!


::: ven0mous :::

Dr. Loon

Get very very drunk, then smoke a load of ganja!

ravenhead

Can you have the heat turned up in your office? That always gets me!! Failing that, why not try some hot chocolate drink, or something as equally relaxing, There must be a reason why you didn't sleep, were you worrying about anything?

ven0m

Dr. Loon wrote:

Get very very drunk, then smoke a load of ganja!

I stopped doing ganj ovr 2 years ago cos I was getting through abnormal amounts of it on a regular basis - as for getting drunk, those who know me know that going drinking with me is like a deathwish for the amount of alcohol I can get into me.... although I do plan on going to the pub after work to see if this is the case given the state I'm in in the hope it'll knock me out!!!

ravenhead wrote:

Can you have the heat turned up in your office? That always gets me!! Failing that, why not try some hot chocolate drink, or something as equally relaxing, There must be a reason why you didn't sleep, were you worrying about anything?

I tried the hot chocolate thing (given the fact I totally cut chocolate, sugars & cafeine from my diet 6 months ago) & it's done nada. Tried turning up the heat - no good. I'm also wearing like 4 tops on me cos I'm cold. I haven't been worrying about anything really - so this is really freaking me out!!!!


::: ven0mous :::

ChRoMe

You dont have a working copy of Half life 2 installed do you? Had the exact same effect on me. Well just the not able to sleep part didnt make me go for a run

ChRoMe

BEAT

I feel your pain man, been there done that. Dont worry your body can only take so much, you will eventually just crash out and sleep for 12 hours

Sometimes I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling for hours, I have been an insomniac for years.

Sleeping pills dont work on me either, i have built up a resistance to them. Sometimes there just isnt anything you can do, you just have to sit back and relax and let it happen

If you keep thinking about it you wont fall asleep...try and concentrate on something neutral. I started a bad habit but it works, I watch the same movie every night before I go to bed, because I know what is going to happen already I dont make myself stay awake to see it all and eventually get sleepy, turn it off and fade away.
I make sure its a movie I like ofcourse, I have 3 that I switch on and off from
I watch each one for a couple of months then switch.

Usually when you feel like you do its because something is on your mind...you just cant stop thinking about things can you? Thats me.

goodluck

ravenhead

ven0m wrote:

I stopped doing ganj ovr 2 years ago cos I was getting through abnormal amounts of it on a regular basis - as for getting drunk, those who know me know that going drinking with me is like a deathwish for the amount of alcohol I can get into me.... although I do plan on going to the pub after work to see if this is the case given the state I'm in in the hope it'll knock me out!!!




I tried the hot chocolate thing (given the fact I totally cut chocolate, sugars & cafeine from my diet 6 months ago) & it's done nada. Tried turning up the heat - no good. I'm also wearing like 4 tops on me cos I'm cold. I haven't been worrying about anything really - so this is really freaking me out!!!!


::: ven0mous :::

take a spoon of calpol ... I know its for kids but it'll get you doozie! By the way, it sounds like you're getting a cold

pickarooney

Just keep going. Think about all the precious time you waste when you're asleep. Start writing that book or program you always mean to but never have time for. Cook dinner for the rest of the week and freeze it. Sort out your important papers, do ironing...
You'll eventualy fall asleep or start hallucinating (like free drugs!).
I hate going to sleep because I knwo the next thing I'll be conscious of is the alarm telling me to go to work. Does anyone else get that?
I just yawned, I wonder is it my subconscious...

Stark

I even went for a run @ 3am & didn't come home till 5am this morning [man was it COLD!!!!!!!!!!]

A run will have the opposite to the desired effect, it will raise your heart beat and blood pressure and keep you feeling pepped and unable to sleep. If you're exercising regularly, make sure you've plenty of time between exercise time and bedtime.

I'm not even feeling tired - I'm full of energy to the point where I can't even sit still in work & it is driving me nuts!!!! I'm not even feeling hungry!!!

Maybe try lowering your blood sugar a little with a light carbohydrate snack like some crisps or something. (If you're worried about the sugars, try a baked potato with skin and oil, or some of those tayto honest crisps, they're high in fibre). That usually works for me.

God I wish I was in the "lots and lots of energy, not feeling tired or hungry" boat.

irlirishkev

30 hours !??
Crikey. Have you started seeing spiders coming out of nowhere yet? I hope you're not going to be driving home from work Ven0m!

Have you seen the film 'Insomnia' with Al Pacino and Robin Williams? Pacino plays the insomniac really well..

That's happened to me in the past. I don't know what causes it, but it usually passes. Worst thing you can do when you can't sleep is offer your brain a stimulant though, so don't go jogging, don't play x-box etc.. frustrating I know, but sleep will come eventually..

K.

pwd

I've experienced insomnia badly at different times myself.
Valerian will help. It cures mild to moderate insomnia, but is not effective enough by itself to cure severe insomnia, which is what you probably are experiencing. It is available in health food shops and herbalists.
Exercise will help relax you, although right before you go to bed isn't a good time, as Stark said.
Srinking yourself to unconsciousness is an extremely bad idea. It will worsen your insomnia in the slightly longer term. Hash does sedate you (grass not so much, if at all), and getting stoned every night is far less unhealthy than getting drunk to the point of unconsciousness, but it is still not something I would recommend.
Like Stark also said, lowering your blood sugar works well too. My approach to this method is a bit more aggressive than his. Eat a lot of sugary candy, like starbursts, and you will release a lot of insulin into your bloodstream all at once, which can practically knock you out if you are already very tired.
Don't consume caffeine, or at least don;t consume it after midday. This can have a strong effect. It does on me.
Sex or masturbation works well too.
Writing things down can really clear your head also. If you have something pent up inside you you can let it out that way.
Getting bright light (difficult thgis time of year) duiring the day helps too. Avoiding it late in the evening is also a good idea.

_sheep

Clean your pipes.

445279.ie

venOm is offline now - maybe he's asleep. Shush

IrishMike

Happens me if im bored to be honest. Need to stay active or else when it comes
to 2 or 3am when i normally go to bed i cant sleep. Thing i find is get up as early as you can in
the morning (5 or 6) and come 1am you are shattered and will sleep soundly.
I remember last year when i was doin exams i hit 60 hours with no sleep. You actually get
a weird buzz from it like being drunk. Can become addictive to be honest.
Sometimes i would just skip a nites sleep if i didnt sleep soundly the night before.
It makes sure you would sleep better the next night.
The way i look at it is no sleep at all is better than 6 hours of restless sleep

irlirishkev

Rebel72 wrote:

venOm is offline now - maybe he's asleep. Shush

I work in the same building as him.. I could tiptoe in and explode a paper bag behind his head.. tee hee, how fun would that be!

Kêrmêttê

BEAT wrote:

If you keep thinking about it you wont fall asleep...try and concentrate on something neutral. I started a bad habit but it works, I watch the same movie every night before I go to bed, because I know what is going to happen already I dont make myself stay awake to see it all and eventually get sleepy, turn it off and fade away.
I make sure its a movie I like ofcourse, I have 3 that I switch on and off from
I watch each one for a couple of months then switch.

Usually when you feel like you do its because something is on your mind...you just cant stop thinking about things can you? Thats me.

I have to agree totally with Beat's advice. I am totally unable to sleep if it's too quiet or too dark. If it's quiet my mind starts racing and I can't get an wink of sleep. So, I have to have a movie or a cd on to let me go asleep. If it's too dark I start imagining shapes in the room and I scare the bejaysus out of myself.
I'll go asleep in minutes when there's some low background noise in the room and a faint light.

ven0m

Thanks for everyone's input - no I'm still very much awake...

I take regular exercise & take time after it to 'come down' & relax. I also have a fair well regulated diet (from the fact I got put on it 6 months ago!) & this is the first time in about a year this has happened....

OI! Kev! u keep yer bag to yerself, don't go exploding one anyone near me - that frightens the bejesus outta me u nutter!!! DO SOME WORK - how many times do I have to say it!!! sheessshhh

Thanks to everyone - guess I'll just have to ride it out until I finally collapse asleep!!!


::: ven0mous :::

BEAT

the thing that helps me sleep the most, and is a bad habit too, is that I cant sleep without a fan on. I need the noise of the fan to drown out all the other noises I hear in the night.
Last night I couldnt sleep and I realised the fan was off, I turned it on and before I knew it I was sleeping

get a desk fan and try it, ya never know

Gordon

I agree with pickarooney. I wish we didn't have to sleep as we could get so much more done.

Whats the problem venom anyway? Your body clock is having some sort of shift, just roll with it, your body obviously needs this to happen.

or...
Think me up schemes to make lots of money, that's a dead cert in making you go to sleep.

seamus

Gordon wrote:

I agree with pickarooney. I wish we didn't have to sleep as we could get so much more done.

Agreed. Although, I wouldn't want to cut out sleep altogether, cos then you'll miss things like waking up on a cold Saturday in a really warm bed, or waking up an hour early for work, and realising you can go back to sleep, or of course the piece de resistance, waking up beside that significant other...

Maybe cut it down to three hours a night, would be nice. Apparently some people practice a form of hyper sleep (OK not the right word), whereby you go to bed, instantly drop asleep for 4-6 hours and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy. Among other things it requires a fairly strict diet and routine, not to mention a reasonably fit body, which excludes a good 90% of the normal population. Margaret Thatcher swore by it allegedly.

That doesn't help ven0m though. Have you consulted a doctor?

OfflerCrocGod

seamus wrote:

Apparently some people practice a form of hyper sleep (OK not the right word), whereby you go to bed, instantly drop asleep for 4-6 hours and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy. Among other things it requires a fairly strict diet and routine, not to mention a reasonably fit body, which excludes a good 90% of the normal population.

I have always wanted to lear that! I also see sleep as a total waste of time and give it my time begrudgingly - I feel the same for eating and basically any biological function. I want to be on 24 hours, working ( messing around ) all the time. Think of the amount of browsing I could do......WOW

ando

Every time I've done the following, I've found myself nodding off, even when driving at the traffic lights.... Note to self, do not do this while driving ever again!

Breathe in a full breath, deep abdominal breath
Hold breath for 5 seconds
Exhale fully for 5 seconds
Take in 2 normal breaths
Breathe in a full breath, deep abdominal breath
Hold breath for 5 seconds
Exhale fully for 5 seconds
Take in 2 normal breaths

etc etc

In less that 5 minutes you'll be either extremely relaxed or asleep, try it

sceptre

pickarooney wrote:

You'll eventualy fall asleep or start hallucinating (like free drugs!).

Hmmm, I've had eleven hours of sleep since Sunday morning, that's six days with about 2 hours a night (I've had a busy week with stuff to do) and I haven't seen any mad spiders running around yet, though there was a criss-cross shadow on a white plate at my lunch today (from the overhead light) and I was convinced it was some kind of web thing a few inches over the plate till I realised what it was (even tried to feel it with my hand). Happily I'll be catching up on sleep tomorrow evening / night / all of Sunday so it's back to sanity then for a wee while. Unfortunately I'm not as fit as I used to be (by a long shot) so that hypersleep thing really isn't an option for the mo. Pedestrians will no doubt be glad that I haven't been behind the wheel of a car all week (as I'm not quite that dumb, nice and all as a micro sleep while driving probably is). I'm generally pretty good at going to sleep on demand and waking up almost on demand though.

I reckon the turning up the heat suggestion has quite a bit of merit to it. Nice warm room, warm duvet, clearing your mind if you can and you may well go out like a proverbial light.

elephamt king

i had insomnia for a while and just difficulty sleeping too.
i had to stick out the insomnia till my body gave up but the difficulty was V similiar to what venOm has. theres a herbal sleeping pill available called "Kalms"
conventional sleeping tablets dont work for me but these did.

Pet

Nice warm room

An overheated bedroom is the WORST thing you can do for insomnia. Your bedroom needs to be fairly cool, as your body temperature is supposed to drop during deep sleep, and an overheated room interferes with this.

Stark

Yeah I can't sleep at all if the room is hot. Was awake for ages last night till I realised we had the heating on earlier and my bedroom window was closed, so I opened my bedroom window to let some cool air in and soon dropped right off.

Nothing worse than trying to sleep when you're bordering on a sweat.

the_syco

ven0m wrote:

I tried the hot chocolate thing (given the fact I totally cut chocolate, sugars & cafeine from my diet 6 months ago) & it's done nada. Tried turning up the heat - no good. I'm also wearing like 4 tops on me cos I'm cold. I haven't been worrying about anything really - so this is really freaking me out!!!!

Goto bed. Get into it. And stay there untill you get warm. Once warm, stay there for another 2 hours. When you get up, the "coldness" will not be there anymore. I don't know the reason, but I find that if I go through a night, without getting some warmth, I'll be cold next day, no matter how hot it is.
Also, when you are in teh warm bed, I find it helps if your breathing in cold air, so don't have the heater on.

Also, how was your sleep before the diet change? You may be missing something, and that is causing you to feel like you need no sleep.

=-=

Buy a notepad and pen. Put it next to your bed. Write stuff down. Sometimes you can't goto sleep, as your brain is trying to remember something, but just can't get it. With the notepad, you can write it down, and fall asleep.

=-=

Listen to noise. For me, when I listen to music, I can fall asleep. Make sure its just a continous drone of music. I've found classical music does it for me. I listen to the sh|t, and I fall asleep after about an hour.

=-=

The exericse + TV/computer time; your body needs time to wind down. Exercise gets your body pepped up, as Stark says, and computer games and TV will do the same to your mind.
I usually read some of the newspaper, and then goto bed. The reading will pep your mind a little, but not as much as the flashing tv/computer.

=-=

If all else fails, PM me. I have a 10 minute relaxation CD, which does charms. If you follow it correctly, after the 10 minutes, you'll be either asleep, or fully relaxed. r you could chop off the bit where it tells you to wake up, and go into a deep snooze.

tinkerbell

Try watching xXx - that movie with that fool Vin Diesel in it, twas so boring I fell asleep in the cinema watching it for the entire second half of it.

That or get some herbal remedy stuff for being relaxed etc.

Ya still awake venom?

Mutant_Fruit

I used to have problems sleeping, so i tried taking a nice big cold drink of water before i went to bed, and it helped! Unfortunately, i can't sleep anymore without taking a nice cold drink of water before i go to sleep, unless i'm exhausted.

Also, i always sleep with my window open to keep the room tempreture down. What i find works best is a cold room, and warm blankets. Each man to their own, i know my routine works for me.

Chad ghostal

Maybe you havent had a "release" in a while,
all that stress and energy building up is not a good thing..
Take a trip to the slydice thread and take care of it

frodi

Try staying awake. Find something to work on that needs a lot of concentration.

Victor

Too cold will keep your body alert (to stop your body freezing). Too hot can make you drouwsy, but not necessarily sleeepy.

Stark

Fussy ****ing brain. Forget all this mollycoddling it, just bang it against the wall a few times and out you go, tough love is what I say. (Well actually I tried that before when I had severe insomnia, you just get one hell of a headache).

Selik

I sometimes have problems getting to sleep but I suspect it's more to do with the distractions of technology!

The best advice I could give you for knocking yourself out would be to smoke a big fat spliff (preferably weed if available). Never fails to put my lights out. If you can't do this try reading something heavy or having a ****!

jetsonx

Best way to get to sleep is to record a couple of episodes of "Nationwide" with Michael Ryan and then watch them back-to-back - then you will be out for the count in no time.

mike65

A little self pleasure will always make a male drowsy, thats biology so worth a go. Proberly doing something phyically demanding during the day will help, I spend my days in the road which may sound easy enough but by the end of the day I'm pooped and sleep strongly. On the days in off I definitly sleep lighter and take longer to enter dreamland. Of course if you are a student then regular physical work is not on the agenda!

Some swear by Lavender Oil.

Mike.

LegacyUser

I agree, masturbating/sex will make you sleepy. Yet another of God's ways of punishing women.

Rockiemalt

at the moment when i start studying for college or anything i find myself drowsing off within about 10 minutes...its horrible when u realsied u've wasted 2 hours asleep!

Drapper

Sex........... you'll sleep like a baby after :-)

TRUST ME !!

SantaHoe

I usualy just keep myself pepped up on several cups of strong, sugary, coffee... build it to a stage where I can talk so quickly that my ears have to strain to keep up... then do something mentally taxing until the high wears off and I start on a big sugar/caffene come-down... when that crash comes - it's nighty night
Although since you're gotten those particular monkeys off your back, I don't suppose it's much help.
Let's see then...
Try not to think about getting to sleep or looking at the clock thinking "ffs why am I still awake?!", this almost guarentees that I'll be awake all night.
Just think of it as resting your eyes or having a lie down, getting away from it all for a while in a nice dark room.
When I can't sleep - I put on a CD of one of my faverite stand-up comedians at a nice gentle volume, having heard it many times before actually helps, since you're not trying to listen to them too much... nor is your mind wandering because you've nothing else to focus on.
Also try putting a few extra blankets or a duvet underneath you in bed, it took me a few weeks to notice springs from the matress poking me in the ribs was keeping me awake sometimes... try adding a pillow or removing one, or try no pillow at all.
You should try reading for longer periods, a 4 or 5 hour read usualy leaves my eyes so tired that they close on their own.
I've done the 30+ hour thing so many times that it really doesn't surprise people anymore... the best advice I can give is - don't stress about it.

Stark

Actually yeah 30 hours isn't huge, it's just one night's missed sleep. Just think positive thoughts to yourself to yourself like "since I've missed a night's worth of sleep I'm guaranteed to drop off like a light tonight".

Naos

try meditation, well help relax you, quieten your thoughts. Also has something along lines of sleeping, as your body is at rest, althought not as effective as sleep.

Or try to have an OBE (Outer body expierience), be another thing to do, ya might get bored and just drift off.

Sleepy

Lavender works like a charm. Whether it's lavender oil, fresh lavender or even a lavender scented air freshner (left in the room for a while, don't want it to be too over-powering). Just have some in the room, beside your pillow, go to bed as normal and you'll be out in no time...

pickarooney

so are you still awake, Venom?

445279.ie

pickarooney wrote:

so are you still awake, Venom?

I'd say he's still asleep!

ven0m

Finally got to sleep after being up damn near 47 hours - it was a total nigtmare. Boozing didn't help & didn't knock me out & I ended up getting in a right state!!!!!!

Cheers to everyone for their advice...... mods lock 'er up!!!!


::: ven0mous :::

luckat

Venom, your comments about being able to drink a lot are interesting. Don't take offence, but could you be drinking too much, and so have thrown your metabolism out?

If you're *regularly* not sleeping well, the best thing to do is reset your clock in the same way as you teach a baby to sleep. Here's what you do:

Set up a sleepytime routine. It doesn't matter much what that routine is, so long as you associate it with bedtime, and keep to it very regularly at first, fairly regularly after that. (Mutant_Fruit's big drink of water is typical, and shows how well this works.)

This is what I'd suggest: get yourself a pile of good books (not videos, the TV is too stimulating to the brain. Shut the TV off). Put the books beside your bed.

You like a jog, so go for a jog, not directly before bed but about an hour before. Come home, have a hot or cold shower depending on your taste, while boiling the kettle for a cup of camomile tea.

Bring your tea up to bed, change into your jammies, put your bedside light on and start to read while drinking the tea. If you like a hot bottle, bring it to the bed with you.

If you don't go to sleep, don't worry. You're getting plenty of rest just lying down. Eventually you'll sleep - good! If you wake up, pick up the book and start reading again.

Next night do the same, and the next night, and the next. What you want is to establish the idea in your body that jog, then shower, then camomile tea and book = bed, and then later that bed = sleep.

Don't worry about it. Everyone's body clock gets out of synch once in a while; I used to work endless shifts, morning ones, night ones, early-hours-of-the-morning ones, for about 10 years, and my body clock went completely screwy. Took a bit of resetting, but it's fine now.

Victor

OK, now I need to go to sleep, I forgot what boards I mod.

ven0m

luckat wrote:

Venom, your comments about being able to drink a lot are interesting. Don't take offence, but could you be drinking too much, and so have thrown your metabolism out?

Nah - I know how much I can drink & therefore don't usually attempt it, & keep it very civil with 4 or 5 at the most....

This is what I'd suggest: get yourself a pile of good books (not videos, the TV is too stimulating to the brain. Shut the TV off). Put the books beside your bed.

I go through TOO many books, cos I tend to read like a mofo!!!!

You like a jog, so go for a jog, not directly before bed but about an hour before. Come home, have a hot or cold shower depending on your taste, while boiling the kettle for a cup of camomile tea.

I usually jog BEFORE work, but the camomile tea is a GREAT idea.....

change into your jammies

Jammies?? WHAT????? NAKED...... REPEAT AFTER ME...... NAKED!!!!!!

Don't worry about it. Everyone's body clock gets out of synch once in a while; I used to work endless shifts, morning ones, night ones, early-hours-of-the-morning ones, for about 10 years, and my body clock went completely screwy. Took a bit of resetting, but it's fine now.

Cheers for the advice - I've recently, i.e. 4 weeks ago come off shift work onto regular 9 to 5 hours & it's been a BITCH to get used to it..... still amn't fully with it & re-organising my life as it has been messed up for over 6 years with shift work....


::: ven0mous :::

irlirishkev

ven0m wrote:

NAKED...... REPEAT AFTER ME...... NAKED!!!!!!

cue - me running to the jacks with hand over mouth trying not to spew all over the hallway!
/thinks of Sideshow Bob stepping on multiple rakes.. 'errghh'

ven0m

irlirishkev wrote:

cue - me running to the jacks with hand over mouth trying not to spew all over the hallway!
/thinks of Sideshow Bob stepping on multiple rakes.. 'errghh'

Don't make me come round there & clock you with a router Kev!!!!


::: ven0mous :::