Sleep problems

agent_smith

Hi All,

Lately I have been finding it hard to sleep properly. I go to bed at the same time every night and usually find my mind racing over anything and everything that happened that day. I might get to sleep for an hour or two and then bang im awake at 3 and have my eyes shut but not asleep... you know the one where you find yourself rolling from side to side in the bed to try and get some shut eye!
Ive searched and used advice i previously heard here on personal issues...
Tried:
I have a single cup of coffee first thing in the morning and from then on i stick to water for the rest of the day.
I make sure i do not eat past 7 in the evening.
I do not watch television past 10 (I usually go to bed around 11.30.
I make sure i get good exercise every day... in that sense I'm a member of a gym and in great shape.
Im a happy fairly happy at the moment and no more stressed about work than anybody is! Nothing else right now i need to or want to talk about.
I have tried reading a boring book.
I have tried tryptophan herbal tablets.
I have tried melatonin herbal tablets.
....
I'm guessing you can see a pattern here. I have tried everything suggested here. I even saw my gp, who said it was likely that mybody clock was put out of synch from a bad illness earlier in the year. Still that was over a month ago and this sleep problem has persisted for the last 2 or 3 months. He prescribed me zimofane and in fairness, for the week that i was on them, i did sleep fairly well..... as in they would send me off very quick, but I would end up waking early after 6 hours or 7 hours.
I finished them on monday and last night was my first night in a week without the sleeping aid, and back to the old not sleeping thing.
Does anybody have any other suggestions as this is a very unpleasant feeling right now ??

Caoimhín

Hi,
Sorry to hear about that. I have been struggling with sleep for as long as I can remember. I have tried all of the above, including sleeping tablets, which in the long term only made things worst for me.
It does sound like you are a bit stressed to be honest, with the mind racing and waking early.

I don't think there is a quick cure to be honest. The way I manage it is routine. I get up as early as possible, not 4am or anything but I get up at the same time every day including weekends regardless of how tired I am. I find myself that if I sleep past 6.30-7.00am then I am just stealing sleep time from the FOLLOWING night, same applies to naps during the day, I'm not "catching up on sleep" I'm taking it from the next night.
Exercise is vital to me but I find for it to be of real benefit I need to get hot, sweaty and tired for it to be of any benefit.

At the risk of sounding like a hippy, maybe you should try meditation? I find it helps if for even 30 mins in the evening I can "quiet" my mind as such and have some me time. This helps me with the constant racing thoughts.

The fact is though, you may need less sleep as you get older, are you tired during the day?

Hope this helps.

agent_smith

Hey!
Thanks for the advice. It had been mentioned to me before to try something like thai chi or yoga.
You are right about stress... job stress at the moment but TBH that has always been there and it never affected me for past few years. So im sorta reluctant to believe that its job related stress. Having said that, there will always be stress with jobs.
My bed room is a total mess at the moment not that i would imagine a messy sleep environment would have an affect on sleep?! But it is honestly the only thing I can think of.
Only other stress is the stress itself of worrying will i get a decent nights sleep.... infinite loop im thinking....
I find myself tired today now. This has been affecting my concentration levels for the past 3 months.
What sleeping tablets were you on caoibhin and what negative affects did you notice ?

Thanks
Agent_smith

board om

agent_smith wrote: »

Hey!
Thanks for the advice. It had been mentioned to me before to try something like thai chi or yoga.
You are right about stress... job stress at the moment but TBH that has always been there and it never affected me for past few years. So im sorta reluctant to believe that its job related stress. Having said that, there will always be stress with jobs.
My bed room is a total mess at the moment not that i would imagine a messy sleep environment would have an affect on sleep?! But it is honestly the only thing I can think of.
Only other stress is the stress itself of worrying will i get a decent nights sleep.... infinite loop im thinking....
I find myself tired today now. This has been affecting my concentration levels for the past 3 months.
What sleeping tablets were you on caoibhin and what negative affects did you notice ?

Thanks
Agent_smith

believe it or not a messy bedroom can be a huge factor in not sleeping properly, or so i have been told on a number of occasions. apparently an untidy sleeping enviorment is not supposed to be great for the mind. ive always been a bit of an insomniac but i take the easy way out and take sleeping tablets. i have a permanent prescriptionm for zimovane and stilnoct which ive been taking for a few years now i dont think i could sleep without them, which would make me inclined to say they are not really the best answer. but before i started taking them the best nights sleep i ever got was when i had a nice tidy room and nice fresh sheets on the bed. it used to completley relax me having nice fresh smelling bed sheets and the clean and tidy room made me feel satisfied and relaxed. of course a few days later it would be messy again and i would be back to not sleeping.

try it. take a few days and start cleaning out your room. throw out everything you dont need anymore (that always feels great) and really go through the room until everything is spotless. you will get great satisfaction from it.

JemimaPD

Agent_Smith,

I have been suffering with the lack of "proper sleep" for the past 2 and a half years. I tried everything like urself eg herbal teas, not drinking coffee, prescription drugs to induce sleep (bad affect once i came off them). Nothing worked for me.

I did a bit of research and found that any mess in the house can upset ur sleep pattern. My suggestion would be to do a revamp in bedroom at least so when u go in at night to sleep its some what organised and not in a total mess. Also what i found was great was the playing of relaxing music (Yoga or chinese strings etc) when ur trying to get asleep. I even bought a cd from a local supermarket "The art of Relaxation and Self Confidence". I found it quite relaxing to listen to it. I attended a local clinic where accupuncture was used and it really helped me to relax and de-stress.
I agree with Caoibhin, Meditation seems to be the best method to help. 4 of my friends will agree on this too. I've slowly gotten into a better routine and its working now. Try a form of meditation for at least a month and see if it can help ya.

p.s: Have u had a blood test done recently? - u might have a deficiency in one or more vitamin/mineral(s).

Sherifu

agent_smith wrote: »

Does anybody have any other suggestions as this is a very unpleasant feeling right now ??

Well at least you know the probable cause from what your doctor told you. It may just take some more time to sort itself out. Your doing all the right things from reading your post. Only other suggestions i'd have are try going for a walk before bed, free your mind of all thoughts.


o/t Happy birthday

TURRICAN

Hi
Try sleeping for smaller amounts of time.i think 7 hours is enough to keep the body ticking over.Stay up later at night and get up then when you find yourself trying to sleep.

Nikster

I suffer from sleep problems on and off. I find listening to a cd of the sound of waves is great. There's one called "Soothing Surf for expectant mothers". It really helped me relax. I also use passiflora- a herbal supplement by Vogel that gets rid of unwanted thoughts. My problem is usually that I can't shut my brain off. Rescue Sleep Remedy is also good. And lastly- if you get into a warm bed it's way easier to get to sleep. My electric blanket is the best thing to help me to go sleep now and I also have a bear that I can put into the microwave to heat up.

Best of luck

LegacyUser

I find that a clean room does affect the quality of sleep that you get. When my room is messy I don't get as good a sleep as I do when it is tidy.

Have you tried lavender oil? Either a few drops on your pillow or a few drops on water in an oil burner before you sleep. I find that it's scent totally relaxes me when I can't sleep.

Or you could also try tensing up the different groups of muscles one by one and then relaxing them, while taking deep breaths. When I do this, I regulate my breathing first, then starting at my feet, I tense up my toes and relax them, then my shins, then my thighs, then I move on to my arms and tense up the different parts there. Finally I tense up my trunk, my face and then the whole lot of me. I would usually hold each of these muscle groups tense for about 2 breaths, tensing them as I breathe in and relaxing as I breathe out.

After the final tense up of my whole body, I try just to relax into the rhythm on my breathing and picture the colour blue in my mind, nothing else. I find that when my mind is really racing, this can settle me and clear my head so that I can fall asleep.

giveth

A controversial one...
Some people I know swear that a wireless router affects their sleep. I'm not sure I believe this, but it's worth a try... If you have one in your house (especially if its near where you sleep), then try turning it off at nighttime for a while and see if it makes a difference.

PeadarofAodh

Re: meditation, I would definitely recommend some form of this. My mum's a yoga teacher and takes my sports team once a week for a session. At the end of the stretches she'll have a 5/10 minute relaxation period where you just lie on your back and soothe your mind out, letting go of any pressure you might feel in mind or body.

This sounds like a load of hippy bullcrap but I can tell you honestly it works - of about 15 lads in the 18-26 age bracket, there'll always be at least 3 who just conk out, the rest very nearly do too (all while lying on a hard wood floor!) Give it a shot, like on your back on the floor for 15 mins relaxing with eyes shut and then crawl into bed

watna

tSubh unlog wrote: »

Or you could also try tensing up the different groups of muscles one by one and then relaxing them, while taking deep breaths. When I do this, I regulate my breathing first, then starting at my feet, I tense up my toes and relax them, then my shins, then my thighs, then I move on to my arms and tense up the different parts there. Finally I tense up my trunk, my face and then the whole lot of me. I would usually hold each of these muscle groups tense for about 2 breaths, tensing them as I breathe in and relaxing as I breathe out.

After the final tense up of my whole body, I try just to relax into the rhythm on my breathing and picture the colour blue in my mind, nothing else. I find that when my mind is really racing, this can settle me and clear my head so that I can fall asleep.

I was going to suggest the above. I had sleep problems for a while last January, due purely to work stress, I usually love my sleep. I'd wake up at 3 with my mind racing.

My OH looked stuff up for me and suggested tensing and relaxing. It worked quite well, not all of the time but did work enough to help. The relaxing of your muscle can give you a relaxed, tired feeling which helped me switch off.

Overheal

agent_smith wrote: »

My bed room is a total mess at the moment not that i would imagine a messy sleep environment would have an affect on sleep?! But it is honestly the only thing I can think of.
Only other stress is the stress itself of worrying will i get a decent nights sleep.... infinite loop im thinking....
I find myself tired today now. This has been affecting my concentration levels for the past 3 months.
What sleeping tablets were you on caoibhin and what negative affects did you notice ?

Thanks
Agent_smith

Regular sleep and wake times are a must.

Also, a messy room will have an impact. Its a stress additive. When everything around you is in disarray, most of the time so are you. The two seem to be consequences of eachother. A lot of stress can be alleviated through a good cleanup.

Also try no TV no Laptop/PC and no reading (sometimes its just too interesting to put down tbh). Wear socks to bed, because keeping your extremities warm also factors into it.

And as one poster mentioned a while back and I took em' on board with it: try and clear your head and just listen to yourself breathe.

and when you wake up (I borrow this from lifehacker.com) use the 10-minute rule: once awoken, keep yourself awake and alert for 10 minutes immediately. Just focus on the 10 minutes: if you make it to 10 you can choose wether to go back to sleep or get up; chances are you will be in a state to get up inside of 10 minutes.

Caoimhín

What sleeping tablets were you on caoibhin and what negative affects did you notice ?

I was on Zimovane in the end, tried everything really. The Doc's go for Zimovane as it is not a Benzodiazepine which are habit forming. The problem as I saw it is the sleeping pills, which ever ones, certainly let me sleep when i was on them. But as soon as i stopped taking them i was wide awake for a week. Also I found taking them over a few months i needed more to have the same effect. There was only one way that was going to end up...
A clean and tidy sleeping space helps me too, no TV, PC or even mobile in the room.

Marksie

The tensing and relaxing is a good method i find, keeoing the room relatively tidy. Also airing the room helps immeasurably.

I find it interetsing that you say your mind is racing... I use simple conscious bretahing techniques to drop into a meditative state. It allows you to relax and to let the thoughts go, you will note them and they will drop away.

Quality

Hey,

I also find it very hard to switch off at night.

The following help me.

A warm bath.
A walk in the evening time. (fresh air is great)
Getting into a comfortable position. (making sure the mattress is turned and getting the pillows right)
And reading, tbh, most nights i need to read myself to sleep, Nothing to exciting or adventurous something nice and dull.

I hope you find something to help. There is nothing worse than a bad nights sleep.

Best of luck.

Caoimhín

Nothing to exciting or adventurous something nice and dull.

Try the full text of the Lisbon Treaty.

Overheal

Or read some source code and try to make sense of it.

Caoimhín

Overkill,
Source code?
Whada.

Sherifu

caoibhin wrote: »

Overkill,
Source code?
Whada.

Overkill indeed.

unreggd

Could be Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

I get it a lot too

I had it sorted for a while, but now Im workin til 10, so up late again

I find TV works good as it relaxes your brain
I know light is bad when tryin to sleep, but its better that way

Regarding light. If you dont have a lamp, get one, with a 40 or even 20W bulb, and dont use your main light anymore

and airing is good. a cold room is easier to sleep in

Just try all the solutions. its frustratin, but im sure it will pass, im in the same boat!


good luck

Wibbs

The cold room is a winner FWIW. For the life of me I can't sleep very well in an overly insulated warm house. Fresh air for the win,

Agent Smith

i find brandy in warm milk really helps me!

Sprouts

Have you tried noise reduction foam ear plugs Smith? I think they are the best thing you can have. They cost feck all, just as well because once you use these you won't want to sleep any other way. Think about it, we can close our eyes but not our ears, dont be taking pills if you dont need them, give it a try and happy zzzzzzzzzzzz

Kold

Sometimes anxiety keeps me awake, all of my problems swarm my head, I write down everything that's bothering me and possible solutions. That usually works pretty well.

Overheal

caoibhin wrote: »

Overkill,
Source code?
Whada.

dont knock it till youve tried it!

here you can help me with my code I have a project due in a few hours

#include <vector>
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
#include <TL-Engine.h>    // TL-Engine include file and namespace
#include "TLEngineFactory.h"
#include "Paddle.h"
#include "ImageResource.h"
#include "Ball.h"
#include "Brick.h"
#include "Vector.h"
#include <iostream>

using namespace tle;

// Can't make these constants as they have to be initialized in main()
int SCREEN_WIDTH;
int SCREEN_HEIGHT;

// We use this variable to determine if the player has won the game.
bool gameWin = false;

// A reference to the player's paddle.
Paddle *pPaddle;
Ball *pBall;
//Brick *pBrick; //sample brick
BrickController *pBrickCon;

// Some global functions.
void checkInput();
std::string toString(float f);


void main() {

    // First retrieve information about the sprites used in this game.
    // We need to know the width and height of each sprite.
    ImageResource::initialize();    

    // Create a 3D engine (using Irrlicht engine here) and open a window for it
    I3DEngine* myEngine = TLEngineFactory::instance();
    myEngine->StartWindowed();
    
    // Get screen width and height
    SCREEN_WIDTH = myEngine->GetWidth();
    SCREEN_HEIGHT = myEngine->GetHeight();

    // Add default folder for meshes and other media
    myEngine->AddMediaFolder( ImageResource::MEDIA_PATH );

    /**** Set up your scene here ****/
    IFont* font = myEngine->LoadFont( "Font2.bmp" );

    ISprite *pSprite = myEngine->CreateSprite("background.png", 0, 0, 1);

    // Create the player's paddle
    ImageResource::s_spriteType = PADDLE;
    pPaddle = new Paddle(ImageResource::PADDLE_NAME, 
        0, 0, Paddle::MAX_LIVES, ImageResource::s_spriteType);

    pPaddle->setPosition( SCREEN_WIDTH / 2 - pPaddle->d_width,
        SCREEN_HEIGHT - pPaddle->d_height);
    
    pBrickCon = new BrickController();
    ////Gimme Brick!
    //ImageResource::s_spriteType = BRICK;
//    list.insertLast(new Brick(ImageResource::BRICK_NAME,0,0,ImageResource::s_spriteType));
    //pBrick = new Brick(ImageResource::BRICK_NAME,100,100,ImageResource::s_spriteType);
    pBrickCon->Setup( SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, 5 );

    Vector Start( -0.5 , -0.5 );
    // Create the ball
    ImageResource::s_spriteType = BALL;
    pBall = new Ball(ImageResource::BALL_NAME, 
        0, 0, ImageResource::s_spriteType,Start,false);

    pBall->setPosition( SCREEN_WIDTH / 2 - pPaddle->d_width/2 - pBall->d_width/2,
        SCREEN_HEIGHT - pPaddle->d_height*2 - pBall->d_height); // Paddle height *2 for asthetics
    
    
    // The main game loop, repeat until engine is stopped
    while (myEngine->IsRunning()) {        
        // Draw the scene
        myEngine->DrawScene();
        pPaddle->Update(SCREEN_WIDTH);
        pBrickCon->Update(pBall);
        pBall->Update(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, pPaddle);
    }
    
    // Delete the 3D engine now we are finished with it
    myEngine->Delete();
}


void checkInput() {
    
}

// Function to convert float to string
std::string toString(float f)    {
    std::stringstream s;
    s << f;
    return s.str();
}

Personally all this week I have been up at around 0800 and by 2200 I'm out like a light. It also has a lot to do with what you do for the day I suppose: the last few days have been made all the more taxing thanks to said code you think you have problems? Try runtime memory leaks!

Important question OP: besides the work related stress do you feel you are getting enough done during the day?

b3t4

I'm not sure if you already tried what I have below but you didn't mention it in your original email so I thought I'd mention them

Things that help me
1) If my mind is racing I get up and write everything down on paper. With that done I can get back to sleep quite quickly.
2) I don't try to force myself asleep. The more I tell myself to sleep the more frustrated I get. I read, write, tidy my apartment, etc. Usually this will wear me out and I can get to sleep once back in bed.
3) Open an extra window. This can clear my head and mean that the bed is even more inviting as I had to get out of bed to open the window

I really wouldn't go down the sleeping tablet road.

A.

agent_smith

Hi Guys,

First off thanks very much for all the advice so far. Some great suggestions in there and very helpful.
I've decided to use this thread as a sort of journal.
Two nights ago I got my first half decent nights sleep in ages. Almost 7 hours uninterrupted. Additional things i tried from this thread is unplugged the wireless router near my bed and opened a window to let fresh air in.
Last night i went to bed at the same time. I slept for about 7 hours but i woke up once or twice. Better than nothing though. I figure these things do not just solve themselves over night.
I want to avoid any medication if at all possible having talked to you guys. Tonight im going to clean my room before i hit the sack, it looks like a bomb hit it!

Caoimhín

Its lovely spring weather right now and bright until 8pm. Do try to get out for a walk for some exercise and fresh air, although not within a few hours of going to bed. Bet you that will help.

diamondp

Nothing like a roll your own (Herbal) smoke to put you to sleep. and oh boy you will sleep like a baby.:p