Sleep

[Anthony Manning-Franklin]

Or more accurately the lack there of.

It's 3am over here and not suprisingly I'm awake. I've tried to sleep, in fact I did, for all of 10 minutes, before waking up feeling tense, fearful, etc. Has anyone else suffered insomnia from an inexplainable fear of sleep? Yet it only occurs during the night. During the day if I want to get to sleep I can do so at the drop of the hat.

Of course this is incredibly detrimental to my practice time. I end up either sleeping through my practice time or feeling way to exhausted to practice because I'm trying not to sleep in order to tire myself out in the evening. Bzzzzzt nerrrr, hasn't worked! Nor has going for walks in the sun to try and expose myself to lots of light and tell my body it's day and it's time to be awake!

For a while I'd managed to have things going pretty good, I was falling asleep around midnight, and getting up at 7 and feeling great, then spending 4 - 6 hours practicing a day. But now it's reverted back to being dreadful and my tactics of getting to sleep earlier aren't working (burying myself in complex/lushious music with a fair amount of reverb and layering that I would just kind of get lost in it and fall asleep). But now, if I don't wake up in a state like I mentioned in my first paragraph, the fear of sleeping will keep me awake as well as a weird dizzyness that comes sometimes when I really really focus on music while lying down.

And no the music isn't very loud at all (2 little white block things if you have a Mac) and I don't have it on repeat so that if I do fall asleep, the music will eventually stop and let me get some quality rest.

So I don't know, has anyone experienced any/all of this before? Is it at all common or is it just me?

[Nick]

I get occasional insomnia, but mine is not a fear of sleep, it's mainly worrying about how little sleep I am getting & when I have to be up... The worrying about not being able to fall to sleep keeps me awake... A pretty standard form of insomnia I am led to believe...

Usually I will get it 3-4 nights on the bounce & then I will be ok for a while...

N

[diddle]

Yes, I sufer from chronic insomnia... for the past twenty or more years... I've managed it with drugs... which I take every night...

I've learned to deal with it... would prefer not taking drugs ar all,,, but they work for me... I also have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis which exacerbates my sleeplessness.

[NY Frank]

One of my children has a significant fear-related sleep problem.
We're trying to help her through it.

I don't have sleep problems triggered by fear, but I do occasionally have them.

Some things that work for me:
- A glass of milk
- A glass of wine  [not together with the milk   :)    ]
- My 99 cent 1 hour MP3 of the ocean.  [It's amazingly calming and soothing.]
  [Check out Amazon MP3 Downloads if interested.]

[RhythmStop]

I've had some really impressive insomnia runs...  If it's really bad, talk to your Dr.  Lack of sleep over long periods of time will mess you up more than you think.

[smoggrocks]

i had terrible insomnia several years back. couldn't find a job and was perpetually stressed about money. i'd put my head on the pillow and immediately wake up again. it really sucked.

ultimately the main thing that helped was getting a job. but when i got struck with it again, i started reading about and applying sleep hygiene. it all sounds so corny, but it worked. go to bed only when you're sleepy. keep the room at a slightly cooler temperature. keep the room clean and clutter-free. get out of bed when you wake up and divert yourself by reading. DON'T watch tv and avoid music; it will stimulate you. DON'T go to the computer; the light will stimulate you. go to bed at the same time each night. don't eat a lot too close to bedtime. don't drink too close to bedtime. don't sleep on the couch. if you don't fall asleep fairly soon, read until you're tired. read boring things. if you're worried about something, get up, write down what's bothering you, and tell yourself you will come back to it the next day.

i also did some guided relaxation type stuff that helped. backrubs never hurt, either.  :)


sleep is crucial. i hope you get through your bout of insomnia and develop some good habits. if you don't, ask a doc if you should get checked out for whatever.


good luck, bro!

[Anthony Manning-Franklin]

Thanks smoggy, I'll give those things a try.

[Robyn]

Have you ruled out a physical problem (such as apnea) w/ a dr?  I've also had some problems w/ insomnia lately. I've started taking maca root, which helps some, and sometimes benadryl b/c of allergies. That's generally enough to get the job done, w/o leaving me with a morning hangover from taking something stronger.  I'll add to smoggy's list, to get enough physical exercise each day.

robyn

[Tim]

Hey, Antman.  I'm here to support you.

I seem to have a somewhat similar thing happening.  No matter how hard I try, and no matter how badly I want it, it seems like I just can't have a healthy sleep schedule.  And by that, I mean I would love to be the kind of person who goes to sleep at like 10 or 11 and rises at 6 or 7 a.m..  I can do it consistently for a couple of days in a row, or maybe even 3-4, but I eventually have a day where I'm up until 3-4 a.m. and then sleep a few shifts in a row until it's like 3-4 in the afternoon.  And I'm instantly reverted back to being up all night and going to sleep at around 6 or 7 a.m.

Oh well.  Maybe some day that'll happen.  But like I say, you have my support.

[Drumlooney]

Add me to the list, I go weeks on end with out sleep, just got some ambien CR last week but was on vacation and didn't want to take them in case of complications, I will start them on Saturday, let's see if they help.