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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 8:13:39 PM

winterlight

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I have read recently to sit outside for 20 min in the morning to get your body rhythm clock to "set".

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 8:52:11 PM

BrokenSaint

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That's why melatonin is my last resort. It's amazing, and has a whole plethora of other benefits, but it is easy to build up a certain tolerance. I do find it does the trick for a few days though, should be great if your problem is more a phase advancement. For me it basically is like rebooting my internal clock. For a few days afterward I find myself getting tired right around when I had taken the pill before. Though it always wanes. Really my easiest time to sleep tends to be around noonish. At night I tend to be wiiiiide awake.

The turkey thing I think was mostly based on tryptophane or something like that. I recall seeing something a ways back, maybe a report, maybe on discovery don't remember, but it basically stated the sleepiness after was more due to holy crap I just ate alot, than anything else.

I wouldn't go the marijuana route myself. After a healthy amount of experimentation during my high school years, while it did do the trick much of the time, it was a weird sleep. Not like regular sleep. That whole spinny feeling while you're going to sleep, and waking up with what amounts to weed hangover a few hours later was awful. Though interestingly enough people observed that was the only time they ever saw me completely still. Most of the time I'm always active, moving around or doing something, even when I'm relaxing. Add marijuana? Still as a stone.

I'd recommend also a fair amount of diagnostics. There's a myriad of things that can actually cause sleeping disorders. Thus leading to a myriad of different ways to alleviate symptoms. Mine they could never make any determination of the cause. Sleep dep eeg's, sleep labs, all basically told me nothing productive, though I did get a few pieces of really odd information out of it, but they didn't help things any.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 9:23:01 PM

atypicalsub

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quote:

ORIGINAL: darklight17

Benedryl and Tylenol PM are the same thing as far as sleep is concerned.

Yep. Most over the counter sleep aids are just antihistimines (allergy pills). They are sold as sleep aids because they have the common side effect of making many people drowsie.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 9:42:31 PM

BrokenSaint

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Oh god, not me. Antihistamines make me speed like a rabbit on crack. It's awful.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 9:55:01 PM

TheHeretic

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      Making special butter kinda seems like a more involved process than is really needed. There are much quicker ways to use the organic substance mentioned earlier...

     I'm not sure what the OP issue is with warm milk. So drink it cold. I wake up several times during the night as a norm. Downstairs for a few ounces of ice cold milk, and I'm right back to sleep.

      When real insomnia strikes, I just get up and do something productive for an hour and try again. After a few nights of that, I wind up crashing at 9:00 or so, and I'm back on track.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 10:00:15 PM

darklight17

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Ladies/gentlemen, I really appreciate all the suggestions. I've been pricked, prodded, and poked by enough doctors over the last year to assure everyone that I will NEVER have a nurse fetish. Ever.

I did have the sleep EEG! Whoever designed that cap should be shot, along with the person who said it'd be a good idea to have friends visit while wearing it. I still haven't lived that down. My right and left side don't function together so well apparently, but other than that, I don't know.

I'm simply not going to start smoking pot (or making butter of it nonetheless) or drinking alcohol to sleep lol. I appreciate the sentiments, but putting a fire out with gasoline doesn't make much sense to me either.

Thanks again for everything, and I'm keeping up on it for some things to try.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 10:32:06 PM

BrokenSaint

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quote:

ORIGINAL: darklight17

Ladies/gentlemen, I really appreciate all the suggestions. I've been pricked, prodded, and poked by enough doctors over the last year to assure everyone that I will NEVER have a nurse fetish. Ever.

I did have the sleep EEG! Whoever designed that cap should be shot, along with the person who said it'd be a good idea to have friends visit while wearing it. I still haven't lived that down. My right and left side don't function together so well apparently, but other than that, I don't know.

I'm simply not going to start smoking pot (or making butter of it nonetheless) or drinking alcohol to sleep lol. I appreciate the sentiments, but putting a fire out with gasoline doesn't make much sense to me either.

Thanks again for everything, and I'm keeping up on it for some things to try.

Sleep eeg is a wee bit different. Mine was a sleep dep one. Basically they wanted me to stay awake longer than 24 hours (I did 48, pretty sure they wouldn't have asked me to go that long, but it just happened), then come in for one. Turns out while under the only useful thing they found out is that while the machine was saying I was asleep, I was awake. Had to argue with the nurses, and parrot back most of their fairly personal conversation for them to believe me :D

< Message edited by BrokenSaint -- 5/14/2009 10:33:36 PM >

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 10:46:03 PM

momcc

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I'm kind of the same way. I have horrible insomnia and Melatonin used to help but now it doesn't. I used to take NyQuil as well but I don't liek that, makes me feel like some kind of druggie or something. Anyway... I can't really offer any solutions but I can commiserate with you.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 11:27:25 PM

BossyShoeBitch

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A while back I started taking yoga at least once a week. I went from sleeping 4-5 hours a night to 7-8 hours a night in a fairly short time span.

If you take tylenol PM you are taking the acetaminaphin for no reason. Straight benedryl caplets, capsules, etc have only diphenhyramine 25mg.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/14/2009 11:30:37 PM

darklight17

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I can't honestly admit to be gothic and doing yoga. I do not know where that giant blue ball came from, or why I sometimes wake up with my back arched on it. Now I do hear that it really helps out with running and muscle fatigue /wink.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 7:43:36 AM

Mercnbeth

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quote:

Making special butter kinda seems like a more involved process than is really needed. There are much quicker ways to use the organic substance mentioned earlier...

quicker is not always most effective or most healthy.

creating the butter means you have control over the potency of the product. similar to the difference between buying the raw material or growing it your own self.

it is a healthier way to ingest than smoking.
edibles can be eaten anywhere...even on a plane.
smoking/vaporizing requires paraphernalia...eating does not.

the effect of ingesting a concentrated form versus other methods of delivery is 2-4 times greater than inhaling vapors or smoke and has a longer lasting effect, which is why MD's recommend edibles to combat sleep disturbances like peripheral neuropathy or insomnia versus other delivery methods.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 7:48:22 AM

Mercnbeth

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quote:

...I'm simply not going to start smoking pot (or making butter of it nonetheless) or drinking alcohol to sleep lol. I appreciate the sentiments, but putting a fire out with gasoline doesn't make much sense to me either...

alrighty then...best wishes to you...whatever you decide to try.

quote:

Tylenol PM- sort of makes my heart feel racy, and nothing too great. Melatonin- awesome for the first week. No effects really after.
Ambien, Xanax, and something else- yes, I went to the doctor.

Obviously you are fully indoctrinated by the medical/drug industry. Okay to take 'Good' drugs made up with synthetic compounds with unknown ultimate side effects; but a plant, used for centuries and impossible to overdose from, is "gasoline". Yup - that's worth losing sleep over.

< Message edited by Mercnbeth -- 5/15/2009 7:54:10 AM >

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 1:21:10 PM

Arpig

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beth has a good point you know

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 7:19:02 PM

DesFIP

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Going to jail for possession in NY is a definitely unwanted side effect though.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 8:51:29 PM

LafayetteLady

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You mentioned that you had narcolepsy when you were younger. I can't help but think that you may have hit the nail on the head thinking that perhaps the drug you gave you all those years is now having the opposite effect. Anything when taken over time is going to take some time to completely get out of your system AND can have a long term effect.

4-5 years of this is a substantial period of time. I don't know how many different doctors you've seen, but I hope it isn't just one or two. An herbalist or holistic practioner might be a good new route to go.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that you start drinking every night or become a certified stoner. I am aware beth has done a great deal of research regarding the medicinal use of marijuana. The trouble is that very few states allow for its use. NJ has just passed something but honestly, I'm unclear about the details. I think the point being made with those suggestions was that on occasion, it could perhaps give you one serious good night's sleep. Being sleep deprived for a long period of time is unhealthy and sometimes it isn't such a bad idea to "pour gasoline on a fire", it can make the fire burn itself out more quickly. While those suggestions might not be a good long term solution, they might at least help you on occassion get a decent night's rest and allow you to maintain your health. I also suffer from migraines and when all "traditional" remedies have not helped, and I'm reaching the point where chopping my head off seems like a good idea, I have tried the marijuana approach because I was out of options. For me it is not something that would be a good solution on a regular basis, but when nothing else has worked, I was willing to try it. The medical benefits of marijuana are very well documented and your comments about that were a bit unwarranted and rude in my opinion. Perhaps your frustration with your situation is making you a bit snarky.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 9:00:45 PM

darklight17

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Look guys, whether or not a state has legalized it, it's still a federal crime. I have nothing against pot. I understand the suggestion, and I appreciate that some people are more willing to bend certain laws than I am. If I lived in Canada I'd probably hop on the train. I have an incredibly public orientated career, and a drug bust of any kind would have major ramifications. So yes, I'm willing to trust legal drugs over illegal ones.

Now I wasn't trying to personally insult anyone's way of life or suggestion. Beth, I'm sorry if it came across as rude and blunt. I just have to protect certain things first.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 9:03:34 PM

wandersalone

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quote:

ORIGINAL: darklight17

I can't honestly admit to be gothic and doing yoga. I do not know where that giant blue ball came from, or why I sometimes wake up with my back arched on it. Now I do hear that it really helps out with running and muscle fatigue /wink.

For the record I am sure that just as you could never admit to doing yoga you also could never admit to meditating .....it is just so un-goth-like

...... however, if you were to stumble upon this crazy past time might I suggest you have a closer look at mindfulness/mindful meditation.

One of the frustrating things about insomnia is that we (well speaking for myself) lay in bed watching the clock and with each passing minute think about how little time left we have to fall asleep. This places more pressure on us to fall asleep and of course we don't.

Rather than trying to fix/cure the insomnia I basically had to teach myself to stop fighting it and mindfulness was a big part of this. Being mindful is about noticing your thoughts eg. "I must go to sleep within the next ten minutes or I will be dead at work tomorrow" and allowing them to float by in your mind without you feeling the need to label them as right or wrong, good or bad, true or false etc.

This didn't fix my insomnia, what it did was stop me beating myself up or getting frustrated about not being asleep, rather than fighting the frustration I taught myself to accept that I might not get more than a couple of hours sleep a night.

The other thing to remember is that some people get by on only a few hours sleep a night and they do ok. As people get older they tend to need less sleep and there are also some people that simply don't or can't get more than 3 or 4 hours sleep at a time (I am like this unless I use medication/alcohol - both of which I minimise where possible).

Damn this is a very messy/wordy way of trying to explain what is a very simple process.

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 9:23:34 PM

Kalista07

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For the majority of my life i have survived on three hours (tops) of sleep per night.. and that was if you added all the cut up sleep time together. i've tried nearly every medication none to man and doctor's combined... Trazadone, ambien, clonapin, etc., etc., etc. Some of them worked for perhaps a couple of nights and then stopped..some not at all...
i must second wanders' suggestion of the meditation...Seriously, i think that saved my life on more than one occasion... The other reality (or bizarness...) is that since i've lived here with Him i sleep a minimum of 7 consecutive hours per night, most nights. One thing i have implemented into my life is a nightly sleep routine...i play chuzzles every night before i got to bed.
The other thing that i did was i really processed why i was so afriad to sleep and why i resented it so much.
i'm amazed at how much of my life i just barely skimmed through due to lack of sleep......
Good luck.
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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 9:34:36 PM

igor2003

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There is some really good advice in most all of the posts. One thing that I did not see mentioned (if it was I offer my appology) is aroma theropy. Go to a store that carries a good supply of the various oils etc. and find one, or a combination, that will help you relax and get to sleep. There are some of the things that work for me, and some that don't, (one to help migraines actually seemed to have the opposite effect on me) but at this point what do you have to lose but a few dollars?

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RE: Insomnia... - 5/15/2009 11:06:01 PM

LafayetteLady

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quote:

ORIGINAL: igor2003

(one to help migraines actually seemed to have the opposite effect on me)

I don't know what you tried for the migraines, but I found that Yankee candle mistletoe (or christmas tree, I don't remember which) actually helps mine sometimes. Migraines suck big time, and people who don't get headaches rarely understand how horrible it is.

< Message edited by LafayetteLady -- 5/15/2009 11:08:01 PM >

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