Tips to fall asleep

LegacyUser

Dunno if there is a more suitable forum for this coundlt find any. Out of 7 days of the week, I might sleep 2 full nights.

I find it extremely, EXTREMELY hard to fall asleep. Like I am not sleepy. I try to go to bed at the sametime everynight.

It has gotton worse as Ive gotton older, but as I get older, the more tired I get, but not enough to sleep. Id say my body is exhausted, but my brain just seems to keep going. Its like my eyes arent tired. Right now my body is tired but my eyes are wide awake.

At least one night a week I will take a xanax or vallium to fall asleep. I havent slept properly since last Wednesday so I need to get rest.

I dont want to be reliant on sleeping tablet or the above.

Ickle Magoo

Despite being exhausted, I find exercise helps me get more and better sleep than anything else. Go for a long walk, wind down with a warm bath and get some quality Z's.

Best of luck.

LegacyUser

The following worked for me. The yantra mat, seems wierd but loved it. and hot yoga.
Always had a good nights sleep after either of those, and maybe a night or two after.
Best of luck hope something works for you

finbarrk

Walking, get up early and read in bed.

LegacyUser

Hi OP,

I have experience with being a big night owl and i used to feel uncomfortable with it but now i embrace it, when i took the pressure off it got easier, You must have a reason for not being able to rest, like are you restless in yourself are you anxious? I used to be very anxious and when things went quiet at night all my emotions and feeling would come to the surface preventing me from going asleep, i had to start confronting what was going on in myself and learn how to sit with myself, when you do that you are free! also self acceptance is key, like get in touch with your body listen to what is going on, notice where you are feeling the most, and if you are anxious what is it trying to tell you. You dont say if you have to work etc the next day or if you are under a lot of stress, are you?

*eadaoin

i used to have a lot of trouble sleeping, my mind wouldn't switch off and i'd have very restless nights. hopefully these tips might help you a bit:

• don't have any caffinated or sugary drinks in the couple of hours approaching bedtime (some advice says from 2pm)- this includes tea, coffee, hot chocolate and drinks like coke etc.
• don't have sugary food in the couple of hours before bedtime.
• don't drink alcohol in the couple of hours before bedtime either, ignore all advice to have a glass of wine to help you go to sleep, it's ludicrous! obviously it's ok to have some now and again on nights out, but don't make it part of your routine.
• sugar, caffeine and alcohol are all stimulants and can keep your nervous system on edge stopping you from sleeping. they also mess with your blood sugars which can also stop you from sleeping.
• don't go to bed just after a huge meal. but don't go to bed on a completely empty stomach. if you need to eat have a snack like a banana or a peanut butter sandwich - they contain a chemical called tryptophan which will help you to sleep naturally. back in my non sleeping days i used to keep bananas in the house all the time as they helped me to drop off when i was having trouble.
• exercise will tire you out naturally and help you to sleep better. just don't do it right before you sleep!
• don't use your bedroom for things like watching tv or playing computer games, have it only as a space for relaxation and sleeping.
• don't do stuff that keeps your brain active right before sleep, so no doing sums or playing computer games right before bed! watch something on tv that you can turn your brain off for, or listen to music/read a magazine, keep it to relaxing activities for the hour before bed.
• having a really hot bath with some lavender oil in it just before bed will help you feel sleepy.
• a glass of warm milk is also helpful, again it contains tryptophan.

IrishEyes19

OP, is it possible you are suffering from insomnia or something along those lines? I can't offer medical advice obviously, but perhaps this is something you need to go to your GP about. As you said, Valium and so on are extremely addictive.

fonda

Seen an expert on tv a while back say that if you have a hot bath before bed because as you sit in the bath it increases your core body temperature and then when you get out your core temp drops slowly back to normal and in the process makes you feel drowsy and helps you fall asleep.

Motley Crue

Have you ever considered talking to a Doctor about the fact you might have insomnia

alibaba12

see an expert about it like your doctor. I have suffered from insomnia for years and it used to take me about 2-4hrs to fall asleep and then I would wake on the hour then and wake really early like 4-5am.

I have tried white chestnut, apparently it calms the mind (didnt for me). I have tried sleeping tablets, honestly dont go down that route if your doctor suggests them, you feel drunk and your more in coma rather than a deep sleep and I didnt feel rested after them, just feld more tired. I tried melatonin too, it worked for a few weeks but then I didnt get any effect after that.

At the moment what I do is to get plenty of exercise, dont drink or eat a heavy meal before bed and try not to get too stimulated (have also found a nice bath helps and hot milk). I try to get my room as dark & quiet as possible and just the right temprature and clear my mind of any thoughts of the day. I had a relaxtion tape which told me to count backwards from 100 (a bit like counting sheep) and most times it works for me. Nowadays am usually asleep in the first 30mins of going to bed!

best of luck with it.

Chicago Chick

Ickle Magoo wrote: »

Despite being exhausted, I find exercise helps me get more and better sleep than anything else. Go for a long walk, wind down with a warm bath and get some quality Z's.

Best of luck.

Have to say I would recommend this too. As a bad sleeper myself I always find I rest better and easier after exercising. Hate actually going but it is worth it.

LegacyUser

some good advice given, so i wont repeat it. Just wanted to suggest listening to relaxing vids on youtube. There's a load of vids of people just whispering really softly...sounds weird i know, but it is so so relaxing...always helps me nod off.

G-Money

I get the same thing from time to time. The other night I was feeling very tired and my eyes were very heavy, but it took me ages to nod off. The reason? My brain just wouldn't switch off. Sometimes I get a bit anxious about stuff (always been a worrier) and for me, things always seem worse at night. So I'd go to bed and start thinking about something, and it would just keep me awake and make me feel restless, even though I'd be wrecked tired.

I should probably cut back on the sugary drinks and stuff so I'll have to try that. I often have Diet 7UP or Coke Zero with my dinner in the evenings and then a cup of tea afterwards. I'm not suspicious about the tea, but Im sure the Coke Zero isn't helping.

I do read a bit too and that often makes me really tired. I've also bought some of this Rescue Remedy spray, you can get it from the chemist. It's a herbal remedy that you spray on your tongue if you are feeling anxious about something. I use that at night if I'm feeling uptight about something.

But do you know the one thing I've found that seems to work the best. If you are tired, go to bed and think about something that makes you feel happy. I always notice that if I go to bed in a really positive happy frame of mind, I nod off quite quickly.

Don't let your brain start to wander and think about bad stuff or situations you've been through where you are going over and over how you handled it and what you did etc.

Just think of something calm and positive and something that makes you happy. Try to shut out the other thoughts and focus on that. I know when I'm thinking that way, I nod off quite quickly.

Hope that helps.

JimmyCrackCorn

Going through a bit of this myself at the moment. I get it once or twice a year for a week or two. Tried everything including sleeping tablets,hot milk, hot chocolate.....

Usually what works for me

Exercise.
A bath
No tv/pc for an hour or so before bed


The big mistake is to try and snooze during the day or sleep in on the weekend to make up for the lost sleep. If anything go to bed earlier don't sleep in as itll just make it much worse.

If you stick to regular hours you fall back into the rhythm.

metamorphosis

Any period i go through of not been able to sleep it's because there's a lot of stuff on my mind. I find lighting essences etc an hout beforehand, having a nie hot mug of milk and listing out what i need to get done in the next few days and a quick jot down on whats playing on my mind helps me to 'let' go a little and makes it easier to nod off.

This is a long term problem for you though - and you id reccomend getting professional advice from.Lots of long term insomnia sufferers have succesfully gotten this treated. no need to let yourself live like this.