Insomnia

PrettyBoy

Over the last few weeks I haven't been able to sleep properly and it's really messing up my progress in college. I work in a pub so there are nights during the week when I wouldn't get home until around 2AM. I've worked in the pub for over a year and never had any real problems sleeping until recently. The following is a typical week for me (Mon-Fri).

My day usually begins at 8.15AM when I wake up for college. I'm in there until 3-4PM most days and then two days a week I'm in work from, say, 5PM-9M or 7PM-1AM and I'm off for the other three. On my evenings off I usually just go to the gym, maybe a mates house and then home, nothing special. I usually head up to bed around 11PM, watch TV and go on the laptop for a little while.

I finish up around 12.30-1.00 and say to myself I'm going to sleep now because I want to be fresh for college tomorrow. Then, every night without fail, I find myself lying in bed, wide awake. I then turn on the TV and go on the laptop because there's no point in lying there doing nothing. I usually get to sleep around 5.30AM.

As you can imagine, I'm always wrecked in college. I regularly struggle to keep my eyes open during the lecture. There are some days I won't go in because I'm too tired and I convince myself that even if I did, nothing would go in anyway.

When I'm lying there I find myself thinking about a million different things; College, money, issues with friends, other worries...I can't clear my head, something always comes up.

I get very mild headaches late at night. I look and feel tired during the day. I don't have much energy. I've thought about sleeping tablets but not sure if they're for me. If I were to get some they would have to be strong.

I don't know what to do.

Overheal

I was in the same situation a couple years ago. Simply put I never did find a way to 'balance' the scenario: I just Quit the job and took out a hefty personal loan.

Speak with your bosses and try and get better hours. Also talk to your counseling/GP available free to you through the college. They may be able to provide you better advice.

jdivision

Watching TV in bed is a big no-no. It's a passive action so doesn't help you sleep and if you do it while you're in bed then you begin to associate it in your mind with being awake. Best thing is to read while on a seat and don't go to bed until you're tired. there are some herbs that can help sleep too

wexgreen

Often a good idea too is to do some physical exercise even if its in the room. Try something small like press-ups and crunches or somethin. But dont go too strong cause it may have the opposite effect. Maybe try drinkin somethin like hot milk too and for about an hour before sleep dont use the laptop or the tv.. anything that makes your brain too active. Read a book as the previous poster said or maybe listen to some music quietly, something like Sigur Ros is good... helps me a little. Breathing exercises are also good... try 1 to 10, then 1 to 20 etc... concentrating on your breathing. Hope this helps cause i know exactly how you feel!

Some tips to help you sleep:

- Avoid stimulants - no tea/coffee after lunchtime, no alcohol before bed, no cigarettes
- Contrary to popular belief, no hot baths/showers just before bed - your body cools to get to sleep and this delays the process
- Make sure your bed/bedding is comfortable and your room is dark and at an ambient temperature, leaning towards "cool"

Try:
- Meditation
- Herbal teas
- Melatonin supplements
- White noise

The golden rule (and what I'm guessing is your main problem) is that your bed is for sleeping! Watch TV somewhere else, don't take your laptop to bed and if you can't sleep get up, do something. Your body doesn't know it's in the "sleeping place" because you do so many other things there!

And if you find yourself lying awake thinking about things, keep a notebook by the bed so you can jot things down which occur to you, it sometimes helps to get them out of your head.

I think also you should try to switch from the 7-1am shift if possible.

And you might consider taking a herbal sleeping tablet for the time it takes to get your body clock back in sync.

Pleasant dreams

faceman

Ive had tinnitus for 16 years and part of the treatment I got included helping to sleep at night.

The problem with insomnia is that when you are conscious of not being able to sleep, it makes falling asleep next to impossible. Now obviously tinnitus affecting sleep differs from your own circumstances but some of these tips might work:

You should only associate sleep with your bedroom. Therefore as someone already said, remove your telly or any video games from the room.

Only go to bed when you are tired.

Dont eat or exercise or take any form of stimulation before bed. (Avoid exercise, caffeine, alcohol etc)

When in bed if you find that after 20 minutes or so you cant sleep, then get up. Some people will say watch telly or do something active, but i dont recommend this. I find that reading a book or listening to some easy listening music will help tire you out. Especially reading.

As funny as it sounds, I have a special pillow that contains speakers and a headphone wire that I can plug into my iPod. I generally play easy listening music or White Noise sounds through it most night.

After a while you will develop a routine which will help your body adjust.

Of course working a late shift and hitting bed straight after isnt going to help as your body and mind is likely to be wound up after the day. You should try relax for 30 minutes first.

Hope this is of help