Can't Seem to Sleep Properly.

Neadine

My sleep pattern is all over the place. I know this isn't helped by the fact that work involves day and night shifts.
I tend to crash for a few hours and then I'm wide awake for the rest of the night and am totally wrecked the next day.
Perfect example of this; about a week ago had been working all weekend, 12 hours shifts, plus commute time. Anyway, was home and in bed by 9:45pm, was having difficulty keeping my eyes open on the drive home (yes, I know how dangerous that is). Anyway, I had flicked on the TV when I got into bed and was watching the News and was asleep before it finished, at least had no memory of it finishing. Woke up at 11:15pm and that was it, was still wide awake at 5:45am and had to get up at a reasonable hour the next morning.
I think I'm not functioning on a very high level a lot of the time.
I have used a 'mild' sleeping tablet a few times, but even then I didn't get anymore than 3 or 4 hours sleep without waking up.
I'd love to get into bed and sleep soundly for about 24 hours, feels like I need it.

easynote

Have you tried melatonin



?

kosulli

iv been using a 100% natural product lately which has improved my sleeping pattern big time ( i also work shift work ), i started taking it for back pain but it helps the body in loads of ways. its called pearlcium, let me no if you to know more about where you can get it, or its healing effects on the body.

dazzlermac

kosulli wrote: »

iv been using a 100% natural product lately which has improved my sleeping pattern big time ( i also work shift work ), i started taking it for back pain but it helps the body in loads of ways. its called pearlcium, let me no if you to know more about where you can get it, or its healing effects on the body.

id like to know more please!!!i work night shift five nights a week and barelly get 3 hours sleep every 24....thanks:)

18AD

One of the most common reasons for poor sleep is not getting enough exercise.

What does your job entail? I gather if it's a desk job, that your brain is tired and willing to go asleep, but your body is not fatigued at all.

If it's not this then it may be your diet. When other things are balanced sleeping tends to come naturally.

As a last resort, there are various nootropic drugs you might be interested in.
See here: http://www.erowid.org/smarts/

All the best.
AD

Neadine

18AD wrote: »

One of the most common reasons for poor sleep is not getting enough exercise.

What does your job entail? I gather if it's a desk job, that your brain is tired and willing to go asleep, but your body is not fatigued at all.

If it's not this then it may be your diet. When other things are balanced sleeping tends to come naturally.

As a last resort, there are various nootropic drugs you might be interested in.
See here: http://www.erowid.org/smarts/

All the best.
AD

I don't have a desk job, there is very little of my time at work that involves sitting down. I am psychically active though out the majority of my shift, probably the only time sitting around is during break.
I don't believe that my sleep problems are caused my lack of exercise or poor diet, have a pretty active lifestyle (both in and outside work) and eat more fresh fruit and veg than most people I know, not a red meat eater, never have been.
When I have some time off and I'm not flitting from normal functioning to working nights my sleep pattern is fine, sleep well and soundly.
Unfortunately, at the moment, and for the foreseeable future, my work will involve swapping from days to nights, without very much adjustment time. This is what messes with my sleep pattern. My whole system just turns upside down.

18AD

That's a tricky one alright. It's clearly the work hours then.

Could you possibly alter your off-work sleep schedule to coincide more with your in-work sleep schedule?

There are different ways of sleeping that are worth experimenting with.
Check out polyphasic sleeping: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm#Polyphasic%20sleep%20for%20dummies

Maybe you have time to have a nap in work? Tall order, I know.

Good luck.
AD

Neadine

18AD wrote: »

That's a tricky one alright. It's clearly the work hours then.

Could you possibly alter your off-work sleep schedule to coincide more with your in-work sleep schedule?

There are different ways of sleeping that are worth experimenting with.
Check out polyphasic sleeping: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm#Polyphasic%20sleep%20for%20dummies

Maybe you have time to have a nap in work? Tall order, I know.

Good luck.
AD

Time to nap in work, are you serious?? I want to keep my job, there aren't many out there. I don't know what kind of job you have that would allow that but mine certainly wouldn't, I'm lucky to get a proper coffee break on a lot of my shifts.
I work 12 hr shifts, 8am to 8pm or 8pm to 8am, if I was to keep on night duty mode while I was off between shifts I wouldn't have a life, family wouldn't see me, or me them and it's not really conducive with normal function, even things like grocery shopping, getting to the bank, etc.
I have resigned myself to being an insomniac!

18AD

Neadine wrote: »

Time to nap in work, are you serious??

I thought you may have had an hour break or something.

It's not to be though.

All the best.
AD

Chicks

Hello

I have a chronic sleep disorder, and here are some things that have helped me in the past. These things are all aimed at relaxing your body and mind before you go to sleep, it may be possible that your mind is over-stimulated, and you're probably overtired too, which could be causing you to wake up. I realise that you can fall asleep, but then wake up and can't get back to sleep, so it would probably be better for you try some of these things when you wake up prematurely instead of before you go to sleep.

I would suggest exercise and healthy eating, but you said that you don't have a desk job so you must be quite active, and you do eat fruit and veg so I wouldn't worry about that. With regards to food, all I'll say is try to avoid any heavy food or large amounts of carbohydrate before you go to bed, this can make you feel bloated and uncomfortable, which of course will cause problems. If you are hungry before bedtime, have a light snack instead.

One thing you mentioned is that you watch TV in your room. I would recommend moving your TV out of your room, as it is bad sleep hygiene. Also, if you fall asleep with the TV on there's a good chance that it'll wake you up. If you have problems sleeping, you should make your bedroom a quiet place that is used for only sleep and sex. It also helps if your room is as dark as possible when you are trying to sleep.

If you are sharing a house and you would rather not move your TV, I would urge you not to watch it for at least an hour before you go to sleep and engage in a quieter activity such as reading, or some kind of craft/hobby. I actually took up crochet, embarrassingly enough, but it's something to do that doesn't involve my PC, laptop or TV. Try to avoid using laptops and computers shortly before you go to bed. I find it much harder to sleep if I've been staring at a monitor. If you need some kind of noise in your room (like I do) listen to music instead. I find that TV keeps me too interested, music seems to be a better alternative.

Try to set yourself a specific bedtime and time to get up at. Aim for about 8 hours when possible, when you're changing shifts just get as close to 8 hours as you can. Try to tailor your sleep pattern as best you can when changing shifts, I know it's difficult to do but try these techniques at what would be the appropriate time to go to sleep between shifts. Don't nap during your 'daytime' routine, that's a bad suggestion. If you've had sleep, you will need less sleep later on. I know that you work some night shifts so it's not really daytime, but treat it as daytime.

Try to develop a relaxing bedtime ritual. Baths are great, they help to relax your muscles. Use pure lavender oil in the bath, as lavender is a very tranquil scent, it can help to relax your mind. Alternatively have a shower, the warm water will still help your muscles relax. Also put a small amount of lavender oil on your pillow case, just a little because overpowering smells will prevent you from sleeping right. If you have any sort of sinus problems I wouldn't though, I hear it can aggravate sensitive sinuses. If this is the case you may be able to burn a little in an oil burner or something in your room shortly before you go to bed.

Herbal teas can be fantastic too. I drink the Pukka Night Time tea before I go to sleep and it helps me to chill out a lot. There are a range of herbal teas out there, some of them are pretty gross so it'll be trial and error until you find one you like. Look for things that contain chamomile, lavender, oatstraw or limeflower, these are all soothing herbs.

For a while I used Rescue Sleep, it's a herbal remedy that comes in spray form. It was really good for a couple of months, but I think I built up an immunity. I also used Nelson's Noctura, another herbal remedy in pill form, but if i remember correctly you'd need a more 'normal' sleeping pattern for this to work. I also built up an immunity to that. You can buy both of these in pharmacies. There are a number of other herbal sleep remedies that you can get in pharmacies and health food shops, I recommend talking to the people who work there to see what they recommend.

Warm milk apparently has a relaxing effect, but I wouldn't know as I'm lactose intolerant. I opt for herbal teas because of this. People suggest drinking malt drinks like Horlicks and Ovaltine, but I read online before that there is no real evidence to suggest that these benefit sleep in any way. It's more likely that the fact that they're coupled with milk is what aids sleep in this case.

Tense and then relax all your muscles before you go to sleep, it will help to relax them. Maybe some sort of yoga stretches would be good too.

Caffeine - Try to only drink this in the morning. People say 4-6 hours before you go to bed is OK, but I had to cut it out of my diet entirely. I was only drinking it in the morning, but I maintain that this was preventing me from sleeping to some degree. I drink decaf tea and coffee now, it's pretty much the same thing. The Kenco decaf is really nice, actually.

Smoking and alcohol - Try not to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol for an hour or two before you go to bed. These are both stimulants, that's what you want to avoid. I'm a heavy smoker so I know this can be hard, this is where the importance of having a relaxing activity to do before you go to sleep comes into play. Distract yourself so that you think less about smoking. I'm also not suggesting you have a drinking problem or anything like that, lol, it's just that if you have the occasional glass of wine or beer shortly before bedtime, this can prevent you from getting to/staying asleep.

If you wake up in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, try some meditation/relaxation techniques. One that works for me is deep breathing. I also count my breaths while I try to sleep, I find that my mind can wander at times and I'm somebody that needs something to focus on to prevent this from happening, it keeps me awake and sometimes causes me to worry, and that's no good

If you can't get back to sleep, don't try for too long because it'll piss you off and make it even more difficult. Try for about 30 minutes or so, but if you can't, get up and read a book or something. Don't smoke, and don't do any 'active' things like housework. Do anything else that's relatively peaceful and doesn't involve watching TV or using a computer. When you start to feel sleepy, try to sleep again.

My most recent attempt to get sleep is using melatonin. It's an unlicensed medicine in Ireland but you can order it online really easily, for a fraction of the price that it costs to get on prescription here. I just started to take it in small amounts a couple of days ago, so I don't know if it's working yet. It's sold as an over the counter supplement in America, it's used to treat jet lag and other sleep disorders. I don't want to recommend you something that I haven't tried properly myself, but I will post more information about it here if needs be, when I know enough. Please try the techniques I mentioned above first. I'm only taking it because I've had chronic sleep problems for over a decade, and can't get anything but anti-depressants from my GP (which is malpractice in my opinion, considering the giant list of side effects), and am at my wits end.

I know that a lot of this sounds like hippy stuff, and I'm as skeptical as the next person, but these things have helped me in the past so I do recommend at least trying them.

If only we had medical marijuana in Ireland, this would be an easy fix

There's also a sleep tips thread here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054968841

I'm just suggesting the ones that I know work

Good luck and sweet dreams, I hope some of this helps you!