ForumGarden

i was wondering if anybody could give some adivce on getting to Sleep better because i was up till about 5 oclock this morning trying to drift away.I've tried sleeping pills,keeping busy but still nothing

There's a couple of insomnia threads around here, I'll see if I can get

you the links...



Do you have a lot caffeine every day? That would be the first thing

to cut out...

Here's some tips:





From an earlier thread:

Calcium has been called "Nature's Greatest Tranquilizer". Buy a bottle

of calcium tablets and take two when you wake up in the middle of the night.

Other things I do/have done...

It's a toughie, but give up ALL caffeine, and if you can't do that, no

caffeine after about noon.

No exercise within about 6 hours of going to bed. Exercise is good but

get it earlier.

Go to bed and get up about the same time every day. Even on weekends.

If you feel you MUST sleep in on weekends, limit it to no more than an

hour or so past your usual wake-up time.

Save the bed for sleeping and sex and that's it, no tv going before you

go to sleep.

Beware of outside stimulus. I for a while thought I was going to have to

give up Monday Night Football, too much excitement too late at night.

And I did give up (about 5 years ago) listening to music. Sometimes,

early in the day, I can still get away with some. I keep my hand poised

over the "mute" button on the remote, to avoid catchy commercial

jingles, 'cause I will sing 'em forever.

Keep a pad of paper and a pen by your bed, and when you wake up

thinking about something, WRITE IT DOWN. While you are writing,

try and visualize the thoughts leaving your head, travelling down your

arm, through the pen onto the paper. This way your brain think's it's

taken care of whatever. Might help you stop thinking about it.

Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. A "white noise" generator

helps some people. (Ocean waves, etc.)

On the caffeine thing, beware "hidden" caffeine, colas aren't the only

drink with caffeine in them. And watch painkillers like Extra-Strength

Excedrin, it has a lot in it.

Watch your food intake. Should have your last meal about 6 hours

before sleep. If it's a large, regular meal that is. Small snack later

on is okay.

Beware of trying for too much sleep, you need less as you get older,

but 7 or 8 hours is plenty.

Something called Valerian helps some people. Or melatonin, years

ago there was a question about quality so I don't know how easy

that is to find.

Limit or eliminate alcohol. After drinking, your blood sugar levels will

drop in the middle of the night and you wake up. (This is for

anybody, not necessarily LC!)

And I wish you much luck in dealing with this!! When I get a good

night's sleep, I feel I can conquer the world!!

(P.S. Everyone should avoid "regular" use of cough medicine. Can

eventually cause heart problems!)

Lots of exercise - tire your body out and clear you mind

To go along with Valerie's suggestion of calcium, add magnesium, also. You can get a cal/mag blend in a supliment. I take two a day, every evening a couple of hours before going to bed.

Plus cutting down on caffiene..say nothing after about 4PM. No heavy exercise before bed..it may pump you up rather than make you to tired. Remove distractions from the bedroom...no Television, no heavy reading..a light read is OK. And leave stress at the door. Make sure the temperature is comfortable. Not too hot or cold.

And keep excess light to a minimum..if there are streetlights outside, try room darkening shades or window covers.

Hmmm, magnesium is good, too, but I avoid taking it for sleep or advising

people to take it for sleep since it can "speed up the lower GI" so to

speak... if you try it and don't have that problem, so much the better!

I did not know that Valerie..I will have to look into that.

No Alcohol (for some folks it rev's you up)

Meditation

if you can't sleep put on a low brightness light and read something rather unstimulating, I kid you not my Dr actually offered me one of her boring medical text books to read at nite said it was a sure cure for sleeplessness... but I didn't take to book but what I have grown accustom to doing is

Going to the library and picking up some rather mindless books and keep them by my bed and when I can't sleep I will read a few pages when I find I can't drift off and they seem to work.

On sleeping pills... try half a pill as opposed to a full one, like alcohol, too much oddly can over stimulate some folks.

White noise is good, if you have a radio in your bedroom but the dial to the static, keep it on low just enough to drown out all other sounds and that may help. There are also machines out there that make ocean waves, blowing wind, rain, the forest etc kind of noises, but I think they are costly.

Valarium is supposed to work, but DO NOT take it with other meds or any sort, even natural things such as St Johns Wort, don't take Valarium when taking that.

Depression, folks who suffer from undiagnosed depression have supreme troubles with sleep. Perhaps a trip to the Dr is inline for you.

Some mind over matter things, fresh sheets, change your bedroom around, keep your bedroom for sleeping and sex only no TV, keep your bedroom um.. fresh, so you feel relaxed in it, ie, if you walk into the room and you say gosh I should clean that pile of laundry, get it out of your room, out of sight out of mind.

And when in bed, try not to stress over your sleeplessness that makes it all the harder to get to sleep. The thoughts that over fill your mind, make a physical effort to remove them, one technique is if the thought creeps into your head and you feel anxious about it, clap your hands yes do so 2 times and tell your mind, that thought is gone. Keep doing it. "thought number 1 creeps in, clap your hands 2 times and tell it, out of my mind and stay out" Sometimes an actual physical association with the imposing thought helps remove it.

I know some of this may sound hokey, but between my father and I much of this comes from Dr.s and sleep experts, and our wellness center.

Good luck.

oops sorry I repeated some of Vals excellent advise ok then it must be good huh

minks;583107 wrote: oops sorry I repeated some of Vals excellent advise ok then it must be good huh


Why I think so!!



A caution, though, don't mean to be the spelling police, but just

to avoid any confusion, I think you mean VALERIAN. The way you

spelled it made me think of VALIUM, maybe it would others!!



;)

valerie;583113 wrote: Why I think so!!



A caution, though, don't mean to be the spelling police, but just

to avoid any confusion, I think you mean VALERIAN. The way you

spelled it made me think of VALIUM, maybe it would others!!



;)


woops your right thanks for that

minks;583107 wrote: oops sorry I repeated some of Vals excellent advise ok then it must be good huh




i know how i'll get to sleep tonight , i'll read minks posts repeating everyones advice how to get to sleep :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl workzzzzzzz forr me zzzzzz

jimbo;583178 wrote: i know how i'll get to sleep tonight , i'll read minks posts repeating everyones advice how to get to sleep :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl workzzzzzzz forr me zzzzzz


Then again, someone could just conk you on your chrome dome, would

that work?



;)

valerie;583187 wrote: Then again, someone could just conk you on your chrome dome, would

that work?



;)


now now val ,there is a queue to give jimbo his well deserveded come uppence :wah: :wah:

kick you in the arse mate!!!!!

minks;583198 wrote: kick you in the arse mate!!!!!




i feel sleepy now :wah: :wah:

jimbo;583201 wrote: i feel sleepy now :wah: :wah:


shall I keep typing

minks;583203 wrote: shall I keep typing


you got me worried now your not using smiley thingy's :-3 :-3





ok i'm not sleepy at all now :-3 :-3

jimbo;583207 wrote: you got me worried now your not using smiley thingy's :-3 :-3





ok i'm not sleepy at all now :-3 :-3


too many smiles may stimulate you besides you hogged them all I ain't allowed any in this post

; )