Insomnia

[B]

  Actually I don't know if I've got insomnia....but today I officially haven't had more than 10 hours sleep all week. ARG!! Life sucks, stress sucks, girls suck, bumps suck.

  How do you fall asleep when you're brain moves faster than you can even think about stopping it?

[Jon E]

You sound like my wife.  That is, she is a bit of an insomniac at the moment.  I have the other illness--I wake up early, like 2 hous before the alarm is et to go off.

My wife HAS to watch TV or something to fall asleep to.  Otherwise her mind is on her work, etc. and she can't fall asleep.

[Todd Norris]

My mind used to race all the time.  It was that way from my earliest childhood days.  It took FOREVER to fall asleep.  It wasn't until I was in my early 20's when I discovered that the mind racing was related to the fact that I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate (which didn't help in college) and an increasingly (ahem) "pissy" attitude and finally a deep spiral depression.  

Within a few months of using prozac, the spiral unwound, the attitude mellowed out, the concentration increased and for the first time in my life, I could fall asleep in just a few minutes rather than the hour or more it used to take.  

I'm not necessarily recommending going to a shrink, but the chemical connection should be looked into.  For starters though, I'd check the diet.  I made even greater improvement by eating well and getting some exercise.  Watching the sugar and CAFFEINE will do wonders.

(I guess this is the inspiriation I need to get back on track again...)  

Your post indicates that daily stress is a major contributor.  My 2 cents would be to get help from friends, family or professional counselors.  You'd be surprised how much good a counselor can do to straighten out your thinker.  The term "it's all in your head" is true.  Finally, if you're into religion, expand on that.  It does wonders too.

[agogobil]

Not a big deal ... not worth losing any sleep over it.

[Floyd42]

How do you fall asleep when you're brain moves faster than you can even think about stopping it?

I take a book and read it until I fall asleep...

[smoggrocks]

it's a drag, ain't it?

i get big bouts of insomnia every few months. the main thing i found that helps it is regular exercise, preferably in the morning [at nite, if done too late, can keep you feeling racey].

other stuff that helps: warm milk, meditating half an hour before bed, reading, keeping bedroom at right temperature [not too hot or cool], going to sleep and waking up at same time all the time [this is tough on weekends].

in the short term, you'll probably exhaust yourself out, and sleep will return. if it's a real prob, you can try ambien or that new sleep drug, lunesta [god, everytime i see that commercial, i want to ride on the wings of that little sleep butterfly]. ambien rocks, but after one use, i decided it could be extremely addictive. the sleep is too good.

try the short-term stuff first, and general relaxation exercises before you graduate to prescription anything, though.

i heard that l-tryptophan [amino acid] also works wonders, but there was some controversy with it a while back. you can get the same general effect with warm milk.

web md listed the following foods as sleep inducing, but i can't vouch for any of them:


tuna
halibut
pumpkin
artichokes
eggs
bok choy
peaches
walnuts
apricots
oats
asparagus
potatoes
buckwheat
bananas

[diddle]

I suffer from chronic insomnia, too... same problem you have (can't shut down thoughts).  Many "type A" people have that problem.  I've been to many doctors, done an overnight sleep study at a clinic, self hyponsis, etc... I've been taking Ambien for years every night and that works well for me.

One thing I've learn to avoid is going into my drum room at night, cuz that "spins me up"...

[smoggrocks]

I suffer from chronic insomnia, too... I've been taking Ambien for years every night and that works well for me.

yikes! that can't be a good thing.

i know they say the new breed of sleep meds aren't habit-forming, but in the next breath they say that, well... they can be.

it just doesn't seem like a healthy thing to have some outside substance regulate your every day sleep patterns. sure you can't do some other thing to create that sleep-friendly environment?

i've had it bad the past week. i'm done stressing about work temporarily; now i'm stressing about money and buying a car. i've made this incredibly unrealistic savings goal for myself, and am constantly thinking and rethinking it. and the car thing makes me nuts coz i don't want one, but kinda need one.

my boyfriend tells me i should view sleep as my private time. the whole day is everyone else's, and the night should be my time to escape.

but usually, as soon as my head hits the pillow, that's when my brain activates. 'my time' becomes 'problem-solving time,' and i can spin on one topic for hours. the sad thing is i never really arrive at a conclusion, just more questions and problems.

lately i've been trying to just empty my brain by deep belly breathing. if you focus your mind on just one physical thing like that, it can help slow everything down, and get you kinda sleepy.

but oftentimes, i just end up thinking in all directions until i knock myself out. and by then, it's time to wake up!

[diddle]

yikes! that can't be a good thing.

it just doesn't seem like a healthy thing to have some outside substance regulate your every day sleep patterns. sure you can't do some other thing to create that sleep-friendly environment?

Perhaps... I would certainly prefer not to pop pills... I continue to try new things.  My fallback approach is self hypnosis & breathing exercises, but that takes a lot of practice to make it work.

I'm amazed at how many people suffer from insomnia.  

[felix]

I have this problem... I can go for days without a decent night's Zzzzzzz

We got a HEPA air filter for our bedroom, the white noise and the fresh air help.  I also don't drink anymore (well pretty rarely) especially close to bedtime.  Sucks getting old don't it?  

I try to focus on things that put me at ease before I fall asleep like thinking about piano tunes, drum patterns, lyrics, etc.  I can't think about work or stupid annoying people in my life who are "in to me" that just freaks me out.  It takes (at least for my pea brain) an enormous amount of concentration to not think about stressful things.

[Louis Russell]

web md listed the following foods as sleep inducing, but i can't vouch for any of them:


tuna
halibut
pumpkin
artichokes
eggs
bok choy
peaches
walnuts
apricots
oats
asparagus
potatoes
buckwheat
bananas

If I ate all of that I would be sleepy for sure!   ;D

[B]

If I ate all of that I would be sleepy for sure!   ;D

 Lol. Me too. Thanks for all the responses