[lini]

dhwilkin: You can buy tryptophan very easiliy - milk contains quite a lot.

HD-5000: Do you eat very late? Or maybe not enough?

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[fredpb]

Quote:

Originally posted by HD-5000 For the last week the earliest time that I could fall asleep was 2 in the morning. I tried ny quil..no help. My mom says "no" to sleeping pills. This is seriously driving me insane! Please, submit your ideas on how to make me fall asleep!

I would not take sleeping pills.
Eliminate caffene from your diet 12 hours before bedtime.....diet colas, iced tea, coffee. Even decaff stuff.

The safest sleep aid ( I use it, I know doctors who recommend and use it) is BENADRYL. It is an over the counter antihistamine.
Very safe. I take two at bedtime. It is not a sleeping pill. If anything, it is classified as a "hypnotic".

I also use noise, like a cd of rain, or the same classical music every night. The Benadryl does help. You start to focus on the music or rain, this stops the "spinning" or "worry" in your mind, and you focus on the noise, and you fall asleep.

This may work. I know about sleep disorders. Sometimes I will go for days with just 2 hours of sleep a day. Today I slept 14 hours. I don't work, so no big deal, although you will notice this post is about 330am.

Wal-Mart has their own brand of Benydrl cheap, that's what I use.
Also, no chocolate! Has caffene. Maybe some crackers and milk too, not too much, before bedtime.

 

[zbuddah]

Isometric excercises get me tired and I fall asleep, but try working out during the day, that is bound to throw your body to sleep at night.

 

[disturbed]

Find someone whos reading out his/her pHD thesis. Pick a person with a boring voice and topic. Sheeh most you guys been to universityor school ... just find a boring speech

I read a good book till my eyes droop and I conk off.

Excercise works well too ... I usually go cycling for 4 hrs a day. After that workout climbing footpaths, going uphill ... passing hru some sandy parking lots, weaving thru some crowds ... trying to avoid camels

and those crazy taxi drivers you're bound to get some sleep.

Ummm ... sex works for me too. I feel real sleepy for some reason after it. It takes a lot of will power for me to stay awake.


My buddy has a weird remedy for sleeping. He drinks coffee ...

 

[john_jcb]

I would visit the doctor for peace of mind if nothing else. High blood pressure and other maladys can impact your sleep. It is reassuring to eliminate them.

Often times when I have trouble sleeping I find that there is something bothering me either at home or work. The hard part is recognizing what the issue is and dealing with it. Avoid cat naps in the day too. I find this an issue in the winter when there isn't as much to do. I will nod off for a few hours in the afternoon then I will not be tired at night.

 

[DarkAngel]

Reading one of Ricky's endless threads about how all cables sound the same puts me to sleep fast.

Besides any possible underlying medical illness, for me diet really effects stress, sleep and overall health. About 10 yrs ago I was very stressed and had trouble sleeping, my "cure" was to change level and type of carbohydrate intake eliminating all highly processed junk type stuff, going with a 40:30:30 zone type diet increasing protien & fiber intake.

The high blood sugar levels that junk carbos produce caused all kinds of problems for me.

Also mention that melotonin available at vitamin stores did help me restore sleep cycle, I took some for a couple weeks and it does increase dream activity that you remember, but this was not bad for me. (remember it was just a dream, wasn't it? heh,heh, heh)

I might mention I drink caffine like a fiend, have own expresso machine at home, and has no effect on my sleep. But other people I'm sure would have trouble with this.

 

[john_jcb]

I could when younger drink coffee at anytime and fall right asleep. Perhaps it a curse of getting older but I have found that I should not have any caffine for a number of hours before I want to go to sleep.

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

lini said... dhwilkin: You can buy tryptophan very easiliy - milk contains quite a lot.

But see, the problem is I'm mildly allergic to dairy products, and I hate the taste of skim milk. And I'd get unwanted calories. No, I want to be able to take nice gel capsules of tryptophan. Not that I really need it, but it'd help me correct my sleeping pattern faster when it strays from what I want.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by jude Funny that you say this -- I know several people who've had the same thing happen to them (the weird dreams). Sometimes the dreams get really weird. It's enough to keep me from trying it -- and, besides that, I rarely have trouble sleeping.

Right, but is it creating wierd dreams or is it just creating a situation where you are recalling the dreams that otherwise might be lost upon awakening? (shrugs) If you were to train yourself to considerably increase your dream recollection, it might be found that the dream world is and always has been a wierd place.

Anyway, try to avoid extraneous activities in bed such as the prolonged watching of TV etc. Save the bed only for sleeping (and of course, other activities that might be counted as within its natural province

).

 

[markl]

There is no such thing as "insomnia" per se.

Insomnia is a *symptom* of some other underlying condition (typically stress-related illness). I suffered from what I thought was "insomnia" for 7 long painful miserable years (I tried all kinds of over the counter and other folk remedies to no avail) until I did some research and uncovered what was really wrong, and got treatment for the underlying condition. I've had the problem essentially "licked" for about 8 years now.

If your insomnia persists for months at a stretch it's time to see the doctor. If he prescribes sleeping pills, know that you are merely treating a symptom, and not the actual condition that brought about your insomnia. Right now, I wouldn't panic about it, it could be transitory.

I would say avoid sleeping pills altogether (prescribed or over the counter)-- , they are not good for you.

Other good suggestions so far:

Avoid naps
Avoid caffeine
Exercise!!!!!!!

markl

 

[Nezer]

Sleeping pills may not be good for you but neither is NO SLEEP!

I've found melotonin to be much more natural and gentle. But it's also less effective. Nytol isn't working so well on me these days so I doubt melotonin would have much effect at all.

Insomnia is a symptom of an underlying problem. This guy really needs to see a doctor. It could be something as simple as stress (and usually is). In my case it's an auto-immune disorder that causes excessive thyroid hormone production thus increasing metabolism and making me restless. You know it's bad when 2 Nytol doesn't phase you.

Lack of deep sleep can lead to a whole host of problems including agrivation of several auto-immune disorders.

I suggest having the doctor do a thyroid exam. Especially if your wirey and always hungry.

 

[daycart1]

Quote:

Originally posted by jude Yeah, that's Kenseth -- that photo was taken in victory lane right after he won the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at Michigan International Speedway last month. By the way, daycart1, I saw your interview in that Orange County Register article about headphone hi-fi! That was you, wasn't it?

Sorry to deflect this thread a little, but the issue of whether or not NASCAR is sleep inducing has been raised.
Jude, hope you were using earplugs at that race! Yes, that was me in the headphone article. The author is newspaperguy from our forum--but you must know that. Why else would you be reading the Orange County Register?!

 

[jude]

daycart1,

I'll PM you.

 

[ai0tron]

I'll add that I take melatonin intermittently to help me sleep on the days when I feel like I won't be able to. Be carefull though, that stuff really boosts your bodies melatonin levels, I personally would get weaker pills if you can find them. Something around .5mg. It's weird, melatonin initially causes heightened perception but after about 30 minutes it will start to impair your perception with fatigue. It takes a good 8-10 hours to get it all out of your system so take it about 2 hours before you plan to hit the sack. Even after a goodnights sleep with this stuff I still feel groggy the next day every once in a while. Also you have to try to sleep to, you can't stay up and expect it to knock you out the way some of the other over the counter stuff will.

One bad thing to do is to stay up till 5, realize you have to wake up at 9, take some melatonin then wake up 3 and a half hours later in a melatonin induced haze. Youhave to allow time for your body to sleep it off.

Some practical things you can do are, exercise, don't eat right before bed, take a cool shower to calm your nerves before bed, read a book before bed.

It's all about forming a habit.

Whatever you do, good luck.

Oh yes, about the weird dreams, Melatonin definately does this. My dad took melatonin and said he had nightmares that kept him up all night. I took it and for the first few months I think I stopped dreaming. But lately, especially last night, I've had some weird ones. It's good though IMO, I think dreams are like your mind getting rid of psychological rubbish. All the delusions get exposed and then cast asideas being "just a dream". Although melatonin tends to make dreams extremely vivid. I kind of like it actually.

 

[gloco]

Just go get some hookers, they'll work you over just fine