Insomnia

Darragh11

Hello everyone, I'm 25 male and suffer from insomnia for years now I have tried different things but nothing as worked every night I don't sleep for hours, I've discussed it with my doc but he just seems to give me tablets, does anyone know of how to get help for this? I live in Galway area, thanks

HOS 1997

Do you exercise? I find I sleep much better when I'm exercising/training.

biomed32

Had and still have the same issue to be honest but not as bad but it eminated from a personal event(s) in my life. The best way to sort it is to knacker yourself out before bed, for instance a late night swim is what I did and then when you get in relax and unwind, read a book in bed and eventually you should get back on track. Dont eat before bed time I found that by not snacking after 7 in the evening I fell asleep happily, if you eat you end up awake for hours as your body is active and digesting the food consumed

danslevent

Watch out for how much caffeine you consume. Sometimes people don't consider tea as containing caffeine, but it really does contain quite a a lot.

LegacyUser

Try rigorous exercise, eliminating caffeine and alcohol from your diet, meditation, drinking valerian tea before bedtime. What is your bedtime routine? Do you wind down for one hour before you go to bed? What is your bedroom like? If you work in your bedroom change that. Your bedroom needs to be conducive to sleep and relaxation. No eating, reading, or watching the telly. Your bed is for sleep only and of course sex . Remove or turn off your phone, too many gadgets with lights make it hard to wind down. Your room needs to be pitched black. So darker curtains, a more comfortable bed or pillow make a huge difference.

Also look into your genetics. Does anyone in your immediate family suffer from the same thing?

Do you suffer from other health conditions? Depression, anxiety? What about medications? Are you on other medication? Go to your local chemist and show them a list of your meds and see if they are contraindicating and the cause of the insomnia. Some meds may need to be taken at certain times of the day to prevent insomnia. Your GP prescribing tablets are to be only a temporary fix. Depending what he is prescribing you, some of these can be dangerous and habit forming. Some can be counterproductive especially taken for a long time.

If you tried all these suggestions with little success get a referral to a sleep specialist. You need to ask your GP for that.

I too suffer from insomnia, and have done for many years ( im 32), when i try to sleep my mind races and there are a million thoughts going round in my head. I always feel agitated going to bed because i worry about being unable to sleep. The slightest noise will keep me awake, as will any kind of light. I often have to ge my husband to sleep in the next room because even the thoughts of him twisting and turning and snoring will make me agitated and keep me awake.

I have never resorted to taking sleeping tablets however, because i am terrified of becoming dependant on them so i try to deal with it in other ways.

I am a natural worrier, and my financial situation adds to these worries, so i try to calm my head before i go to bed. The best advice i can give you is to buy Paul Mckenna's book " I can make you sleep" it comes with a cd also, i found it in a charity shop and thought it wouldnt hurt to give it a go. I have to say i have found i am able to deal with my sleep issues a lot better, as he explains a lot of the reasons why we worry so much and tell ourselves we cant sleep, he also provides a lot of relaxation techniques and exercises.

Also i firmly believe that you shouldnt consume caffiene after 5 o clock. I am a coffee addict so i tried to cut down a good bit, exercise helps too, but not late at night as you will be more energised and you need to be winding down for at least two hours before bed. I havent tried any herbal remedies because i wonder if they have a placebo effect. I hope my advice helps a little, good luck

Darragh11

Thank you all for your comments and advice, I don't drink tea or coffee just green tea and valerian tea, exercise in gym every second day but that doesn't stop my mind from racing when I try to sleep, I'm an awful worrier, I worry about worrying! I'm not on any medication and try not to eat past 7 but then find my tummy rubbing when trying to sleep. I will get that book and give it a go thanks

kjl

I used to use an ambiant noise machine that played wind noises. I found that when I did this my mind didn't really think and it helped me fall asleep much more easily.

In the end what cured my insomnia was to get into a proper routine and I stopped watching tv for 2 hours before I went to sleep.

skooterblue2

If you have tried all the conventional ways then try acupuncture and yoga combined

GalwayGerry

Hi Guys. I used to have trouble sleeping too. Not complete insomnia, but I used to keep waking up at night and never felt like I had a proper night of sleep. And it seemed to be getting worse. Then I met this guy at a business meeting who does this thing called Brainwave Optimization with RTB™. It would take too long to explain what it is but anyone who is interested can go to dynamicbraintech.com and get all the information they want. It is a new system developed recently in America. I thought that this was some kind of crackpot stuff. You know the sort of thing that works because you think it works. But after talking to Soren for a little while I realised that he was sincere and I gave it a try. You have to do between eight and ten sessions, but I actually felt better after the second session. Don't know if it was all in my head (pardon the pun) but so what if it was, it is still working and the sessions were two months ago.

This stuff works on a lot of different conditions and the system is still being researched in America so they are always finding new uses for it. i.e. treating different things with it.

I know the above probably looks like and ad or spam email or something, so to cut a long story short, it works. At least it did for me. <MOD SNIP>

Tell him you saw this and Gerry sent you. (no he doesn't know I am doing this... yet... it'll be a surprise)

Zen 2nd

Darragh11 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments and advice, I don't drink tea or coffee just green tea and valerian tea, exercise in gym every second day but that doesn't stop my mind from racing when I try to sleep, I'm an awful worrier, I worry about worrying! I'm not on any medication and try not to eat past 7 but then find my tummy rubbing when trying to sleep. I will get that book and give it a go thanks

If you worry a lot it can be a good idea to write down what is worrying you. I find then that I can be a little bit more at ease since writing them down and can go to sleep and think about it when I wake up the next day.

Unshelved

I have suffered from insomnia ever since I was a child.

One thing which really helps me is downloading talking books or podcasts of different radio programmes on my ipod, and then listening to them before I fall asleep. Concentrating on them really stops my brain from racing, and helps me relax, stop worrying about not being able to sleep and I find that I fall asleep much more easily. Being able to do this has completely changed my sleep pattern - I'd really recommend giving it a go.

Battleflag

I know it's illegal but have you ever thought about marijuana?

If I smoke a joint, after the stoned phase is over I get extremely tired and fall asleep very quickly. I work nights myself so have an irregular sleeping pattern. It was handy when I did smoke but gave up a few months back

kylith

My advice is not to try to go to sleep. Don't go to bed at a 'normal' time because you'll just lie awake, pissed off that you can't get to sleep, which will only make you more awake.

I'd recommend not going near bed until your eyes are literally hanging out of your head and your concentration is shot - e.g. read a book and go to bed when you literally can't focus on the page. If this is at 4am then so be it, then get up at your regular time. There may be a few days of exhaustion as you only get a couple of hour's sleep, but hopefully your body clock should be reset and you'll start getting tired earlier.

EGAR

I am a natural worrier as well and envy my OH who is asleep as soon as the head touches the pillow. I go to bed when I feel tired and then read until I fall asleep.. I've been doing this for years now.. Sorry, no real help, OP, but you are not alone!

Beruthiel

Battleflag wrote: »

I know it's illegal but have you ever thought about marijuana?

Seriously Battleflag.
You are recommending that someone take an illegal substance in order to cure insomnia.
I'll ban you if you do something like that again.