Five hrs sleep in the past two days...

I have no idea what you are talking about.




-Ed

This is what happens if you inhale too much paint...

You need to extrovert a little bit. Try going for a walk.

I know exactly how you feel. From November to about late March I had a stretch of insomnia. I get these about once a year, they usually last a month or two.

I keep a sleep log, and for the last 3 weeks of the stretch I averged 3.8 hours on weeknights, and 4.6 hours for the week.

Yea, needless to say I took 4 days off work and hit the ambien and slept 18 hours, woke up for 11, took another and slept another 12.

My sleep pattern has been rocking since! Just needed a little reset button I guess.

exercize regularly during the day.

Garrett

So, what's on your mind that it is weighing so heavily? Taxes? Divorce? Bills? Parent's health? Staying in too much? Stress on the job?

Why not jog down to coffee shop, have a muffin or bagle, then jog down to the cinema, see a movie, then jog to the pizza shop on the way back, then jog home? Or get in the car and drive 100 miles up to the mountians and take a couple of days just communing with Nature?

Stress on the job is a killer. If it doesn't give you a heart attack you may lose your hair, lose your teeth or get MS. It's nothing to play around with. Take a medical leave and get counselling. Inbibing copious amounts of alochol to quiet the mind will only work for 5 days at the most and all you'll be doing is creating a bad habit.

The mind is a mother. You'll have to learn to ignore it because you won't be able to shut it off. Go get a full body massage. Yeah, it'll probably cost you $100 but it'll be worth it. Get one a week until you feel better.

http://expandretreats.com/search.asp

MMMMMMMMMM, ambien.

[QUOTE=TWIFOSP]Yea, needless to say I took 4 days off work and hit the ambien and slept 18 hours, woke up for 11, took another and slept another 12.[QUOTE]

Ambien is good for getting back on track.

Proper aerobic exercise is even better for proper sleeping habits.

Get something to help you sleep then exercise more to make you tired. Or go on a violent rampage throughout the city. It will make you tired, and if it is because of stress at work, you wont have to deal with your boss anymore, if your violent rampage gets that far.

I understand your problems all too well.

THe problem is, your being your "problems" to bed with you, you do not let yourself let go of your issues, and you attempt to address them mentally while you try to sleep.

My insomnia problems got pretty bad, and i've been there, and tried all sorts of medicaations etc, the way to deal with it i feel is the following:

First and foremost, don't have any stimulants before bedtime, it doesn't help!!
Try to keep a steady sleep hour, or atleast a general windows, say 12:00am-2:00am. Try not to deviate

Leave your problems until the next day, ration what you need to worry about so that hopefully your problems won't stack, stacking is a major contribution to your stress, as is the self perpetuating contributor: sleeplessness

Allow yourself atleast 30 minutes to get ready for bed, make it a ritual. Getting ready can be your winding down process where you do something mindless even if your not tired. If your sleep patterns are consistent, this can be as simple as just laying out for 30 minutes in bed, reading, or trying something relaxing such as headphones a suggested.

Write down your issues on a list perhaps, leave it to deal with tommorow morning, bed time should be yuor personal time to feel free from the daily constraints, it should be a time where you feel sancitity, your bed should be invititional as a haven to relaxation, Do not bring buisness to bed hahah.

If you have a spouse (or a nice friend, umm... yea have sex, this can help as well, get nice and tired, though note that physical activity can be bad in the sense a workout will produce endorphins and actually excite you rather then wind down, so umm don't over do it).

Maybe a nice glass of wine, or a pre sleep snack, milk and cookies maybe.
Don't rely on a drug to sleep, it's going to make problems worse in the long run, being addicted to halcyon aint cool.


Lots of suggestions i gave you, personally speaking, only a few have worked for me, and they are all to idealistic, yet finding a nice ritual is subjective anyways. Day-to-Day problems can tax you so heavily, but why add insult to injury by letting it forbid you a decent nights rest?

I have dealt with insomnia for most of my life. It seems to come and go when it wants. For me it is more likely to occur with stress, but back in high school I had it when things seemed to be going great. Now that I am in college it is less frequent. I have never had good sleep habits. I generally have to force myself into bed. If I get a regular 6-7 hours of sleep at night I never feel like going to bed. If I get less sleep than that I am tired though.

Back in March I had a bout of insomnia that lasted for 10 days. Most of the nights I got no sleep. Sometimes I would fall asleep and wake up an hour later. After that I had the flu or something for 10 days. It really messed me up and took a lot out of me.

Click on this link that will lead you to a meditation technique that will help you seperate yourself from the thoughts in your mind. I have used it for over a year, and stress related problems are a thing of the past.

http://www.fhu.com/meditation.html

It's been almost 2 months since my girlfriend and I agreed to go our separate ways. Since then, with the exception of a few days, I haven't had more than 3 to 4 hours of sleep each night. Last night, or earlier today, I was up until 5:30am flipping channels between "Full House" reruns, a "TJ Hooker" rerun on A&E, and a Doris Day/James Garner movie (which was very good) on AMC. And I didn't even go out the night before.