The insomniac thread..

AngelsPeak · 08-18-2008, 10:52 AM

I know there are several of us here at GF and I'm curious to find out how you deal with lack of sleep?
First, do you have trouble actually falling asleep, or is staying asleep your problem?
How many hours of sleep do you average per night?
Have you done anything to help yourself?

For me, falling asleep has never been a problem as long as I wait until I'm about to fall over before attempting to close my eyes. My biggest problem is staying asleep. After 2-3 hours I wake up and cannot fall back asleep. This has made for some very foggy days.

I'm pretty sure I know the reasons why I can't stay asleep but I haven't done anything to help myself with my insomnia yet. I think I'm to afraid of facing demons from the past, and the thought of taking medication to stay asleep makes me feel as though I've failed somehow.

So, how do you other insomniacs deal with it?

wolfheart · 08-18-2008, 11:17 AM

Like you i have to wait until i am out on my feet before i can sleep,i normally get between three to four hours at night and have done since my kids were born.
I have never tried helping myself,and seem to function ok even with a bad night when i only get an hour or so of sustained sleep.
I think i have been like this for so many years my body has got used to being deprived of sleep.

AngelsPeak · 08-18-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfheart

Like you i have to wait until i am out on my feet before i can sleep,i normally get between three to four hours at night and have done since my kids were born.
I have never tried helping myself,and seem to function ok even with a bad night when i only get an hour or so of sustained sleep.
I think i have been like this for so many years my body has got used to being deprived of sleep.

That's exactly how I feel. I do think our bodies learn to adapt to certain life situations and adjust accordingly.

Kazmarov · 08-18-2008, 12:49 PM

I occasionally have bouts of insomnia. Mostly I just try to up physical activity and reduce caffeine usage. It's a hellish couple of days, but usually I can regain normal sleeping habits.

My issue is sometimes I just don't feel tired until very, very late (4-5am). I can sleep fine, it's just getting tired enough to fall asleep takes an abnormally long time.

wolfheart · 08-18-2008, 04:19 PM

Can you manage to get more sleep if you have had alcohol?.
Even after a night out i still only get the same amount of sleep.

AngelsPeak · 08-18-2008, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfheart

Can you manage to get more sleep if you have had alcohol?.
Even after a night out i still only get the same amount of sleep.

Mmmmm....alcohol.

Actually, I sleep less with alcohol in my system.

ysabel · 08-18-2008, 04:57 PM

I'm pretty used to not sleeping much.

The body has a way of adjusting maybe. I used to have a difficult time getting through the day because of my lack of sleep. Then my doctor prescribed sleeping pills. They don't really work most of the time so I stopped using them. They also had me drink chamomille or some kind of relaxing tea (I don't like tea but I did it anyway for a few days). Right now what works for me is to write, read, talk to people, watch DVD until the point of exhaustion and sleepiness.

I have a hard time getting sleep even when I'm in bed. Sometimes I force myself and even count sheeps out of desperation, lol. I'm also the type of person who don't want to waste time and it's exactly how I feel when I'm in bed and trying to find sleep when it doesn't come. So I usually end getting up and do other productive things.

Once I get my sleep, I also wake up easily. Little noise would wake me up and then there's the problem of going back to sleep. The advantage of this is that I find it easier to handle "night shifts" for my baby. I'm more alert than some people who are probably used to sleeping 6-8 hours a day.

During the day, I used to nap to make up for my weird night hours. In a way I just take naps daily (2x or 3x/day) spread for the 24 hours. But I have removed my napping time during the day to accommodate some family schedule going on. Even during the summer break, when I could get back to day naps, it was difficult for me to do it. So I'm stuck with night naps.

wolfheart · 08-18-2008, 05:03 PM

I have noticed i became a very light sleeper since my son was born,he is two now and sleeps all night but,any noise will wake me instantly,then im screwed cause sleep wont come again for an age.

ysabel · 08-18-2008, 05:09 PM

True. I never had this light sleeper problem before when I didn't have kids yet.

PhillyLikwid · 08-18-2008, 06:04 PM

I usually just wait until I can't hold my eyes open anymore... sunlight is my nyquil.