OOT - help me sleep soundly

[train.]

get you some black out curtains. not a cure all but they sure do help keeping the daylight peeking thru from waking you up.

[shaftman11]

I just use a fifth of jack to get to sleep. Though I sleep through the night, the next day isn't exactly great.

[Quicksilvre]

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I can't believe you medicine-happy Americans can't think of anything other than drugs.

It sounds cheesy, but eating healthy and working out will go a long way. I'm one of those types that always has bags under his eyes, trouble falling asleep, feeling ridiculously tired in the morning regardless of whether I slept enough etc.

The best period in my life sleep-wise was when I was in wrestling. I ate healthy, busted ass in practice, and fell asleep at nine PM, to wake up well-rested the next morning.

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I think I agree with this. IMO way too many people in this country are taking medications when what they ought to be doing is tweaking their daily routines.

suzzer, I've got some questions for you:
How many caffeinated drinks do you drink per day?
How long before bedtime do you have your last caffeinated drink?
Do you watch television/go on the computer shortly before going to bed?
Is your mattress comfortable?
Do you read before going off to bed?

My sleep got much better after I stopped drinking colas right before bed (now I avoid caffeine four hours before bed) and shut off the TV 20 minutes before bedtime. Some reading is just enough for me to start nodding off. Now instead of laying there for an hour, I'm typically asleep within fifteen minutes.

[suzzer99]

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I can't believe you medicine-happy Americans can't think of anything other than drugs.

It sounds cheesy, but eating healthy and working out will go a long way. I'm one of those types that always has bags under his eyes, trouble falling asleep, feeling ridiculously tired in the morning regardless of whether I slept enough etc.

The best period in my life sleep-wise was when I was in wrestling. I ate healthy, busted ass in practice, and fell asleep at nine PM, to wake up well-rested the next morning.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I agree with this. IMO way too many people in this country are taking medications when what they ought to be doing is tweaking their daily routines.

suzzer, I've got some questions for you:
How many caffeinated drinks do you drink per day?
How long before bedtime do you have your last caffeinated drink?
Do you watch television/go on the computer shortly before going to bed?
Is your mattress comfortable?
Do you read before going off to bed?

My sleep got much better after I stopped drinking colas right before bed (now I avoid caffeine four hours before bed) and shut off the TV 20 minutes before bedtime. Some reading is just enough for me to start nodding off. Now instead of laying there for an hour, I'm typically asleep within fifteen minutes.

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2 large coffees per day generally. Usually latest one at 6pm or so (I work til 8 at least).

Television before bed. I fall asleep on the couch, then wakeup and go in the bedroom.

Matress is awesome.

Not usually but reading knocks me out if I do.

My problem usually isn't falling asleep, it's sleeping really lightly when I do. I wake up at the slightest sound and I usually have to pee 2 or 3 times. Every now and though I do something that mentally exhausts me all day, like watch some kids, and then I sleep like a ROCK. That is what I would like to try to replicate if it's possible. I feel so much better the next day after those nights.

Physical exertion doesn't really do it. That either makes me wake up more, or has little effect. Also stuff like heavy computer programming just makes me more wound up and hard to sleep. It has to be that certain kind of mental exhaustion you get from keeping track of kids, or maybe other stuff. But that's the one that comes to mind. I'm guessing it uses some parental part of your brain that takes a lot of juice. Probably also why new dads have that permanent look of mild confusion on their face.

[dylan's alias]

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2 large coffees per day generally. Usually latest one at 6pm or so (I work til 8 at least).

Television before bed. I fall asleep on the couch, then wakeup and go in the bedroom.

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Both of these are huge problems. A large coffee at 6PM is enough caffeine late enough to interfere with your ability to fall and stay asleep.
Any stimulating activity, even bad late night tv, will generally keep you awake longer. Then, in your case, you have to wake up to walk back to your bedroom, also waking yourself up more in the process.

And as for sleep meds, they all have negative effects on sleep. They should all be used temporarily except for ridiculously extreme circumstances. Insomnia is a symptom, not a disease. An analogy is taking Tylenol for pneumonia. Sure, the fever goes down, but the infection is still present.

Dylan's Alias, Sleep MD

[GMan42]

Seconded about not drinking coffee that late in the PM...this could also explain your having to wake up to pee during the night (caffeine's a mad diruetic). Caffiene is my friend too, but I now try to avoid it entirely after lunchtime, and I think this has improved my sleep a lot.

[george w]

how old are you? why do you have to pee 2 or 3 times a night?

[suzzer99]

38 - I had all kinds of horrible tests done by a urologist to determine "I dunno". Could possibly have been the result of a little bout with chlamydia 7 years ago - some damaged tissue or something that makes my bladder extra-sensitive. It seems to be getting a little better - which is good.

[Ron Burgundy]

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Are you wearing earplugs? Those honestly help me a lot, because they prevent small noises from waking me up like they used to. That can really interfere with your rest, even if you're falling back asleep pretty much instantly.

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Yes! This too. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] earplugs

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Earplugs help me sleep, but I can't wear them because I get all paranoid that I won't be able to hear someone breaking in. I always think I'm gonna wake up to see John Wayne Gacy on top of me.

[Ron Burgundy]

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2 large coffees per day generally. Usually latest one at 6pm or so (I work til 8 at least).

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My problem usually isn't falling asleep, it's sleeping really lightly when I do. I wake up at the slightest sound and I usually have to pee 2 or 3 times.

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Caffeine is the worst thing ever for people who have trouble sleeping. It puts your brain in a mild panicked state, which makes it harder to relax and fall asleep. It tenses up your muscles, making them sore, and leads to general discomfort. It's a diuretic, which causes you to pee more than you should.

You really should try to stop drinking all that coffee, especially later in the day. The only problem with this is that when you stop drinking the caffeine, you'll get headaches. That's a normal withdrawl symptom that will take a week or two to go away. But after that, I can almost gaurantee you'll be able to sleep better.

Exercise will also help. Go out and jog at an easy pace for just 15-20 minutes after work every day.