Insomnia

[Sarah]

I don't like it.  For most I've my life, I've been a gifted sleeper.  It's one of my favorite things--I used to quip "I want to sleep my way to the top--literally (oh, I'm so witty)--and considered sleep to be the single most reliable source of pleasure in my life.  In the last ten years, I've lost the knack of conking off for ten hours at a stretch, but I've still ranked as a serious contender in the sleepstakes.  But in the last few months, I've become one of those people who go to bed exhausted but wake up far too few hours later, grimly certain that they're doomed to wakefulness.  Mind you, that moment doesn't arrive after several hours of unbroken sleep.  Oh no, I also wake up every hour and a half or so throughout the night. 

The threadbare silver lining to this cloud is that I'm so tired in the evening that I regularly doze off in front of the television like some dotty oldster, thereby snatching a few golden minutes of rest.  Of course, I miss a lot of vital viewing that way, but you'll be relieved to know I virtually never watch anything live so I can always backtrack so as not to miss one precious second of whatever junk I happened to be viewing when I passed out.

I am not happy.  It is not natural for me to be up and about at dawn's first light, unless of course I haven't bothered to go to bed the night before (something I also don't do as often as I used to, though for a geezer I can still hold my own pretty well when it comes to all-nighters).  From being a haven, my bed has become an object of anxiety--will I get to sleep quickly?  will I manage to keep my eyes closed for more than an hour before I check the clock?  will I be able to force myself to wait till dawn breaks before hauling my carcass out of bed and tending to the beasts?--and I do not approve.

Sorry.  Just had to whine a bit. 

[Sarah]

I'm still tired of it.

[emma]

I'm still tired of it.

Aha! I see what you did there.

Insomnia sucks! Have you talked to anyone about it, like a doctor or a psychiatrist or something? I'm not either of those things (obviously) but I've been an insomniac for about two-ish years and there are as many strategies for dealing with it as there are causes, so sometimes it's good to chat with someone who can help you figure out what you should be doing.

Besides the usual(-ish) ways of knocking yourself out (sleeping pills, neocitran, a bottle of red wine, etc), there are often more specific things you can do that may not put you to sleep, but that will definitely help make the environment you're in better. Like, my neighbourhood is super noisy and the walls in my house are really thin, so I got a white noise machine and now I don't have to listen to everything going on around me. It seems obvious, but sometimes these sorts of things are easy to overlook. Exercising in the evening is good too-even just going for a short walk will tire you out a little.

One of the best tips I ever got was that if you wake up and can't get back to sleep, you need to get out of bed. Your brain and your body remember what you use your bed for, and if you do stuff like reading or writing or watching t.v. or what have you, your brain won't be trained to think of your bed as only a place for sleeping. This especially applies if you're lying in bed worrying about getting back to sleep. Get up and walk around, go downstairs and watch t.v., read sitting on the floor, but don't stay in bed. It might sound kind of silly but, I don't know, it helped me.

Anyway. Maybe you know all this already and I have managed to bore everyone to tears with my Handy Hints For Sleeping. Point is, insomnia is no fun and I hope it leaves you alone.

[erika]

Insomnia. Yup. It's a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!













(not really. I wish I could just sleep like a normal person.)

[Sarah]

Sorry to hear you're in the club, erika.

[erika]

Meh it's OK. I've had it since highschool. (My dad gets it too. I'm pretty sure he stays up til 2 or 3 every night on his computer like I do...)

I do enjoy a nice nap, naturally.

[Spoony]

I'm also a terminally light sleeper/insomniac. For me, sleeping is just like a tornado forming... conditions have to be juuuuust right.

If something wakes me up while I'm falling asleep, then I'll be up all night. I don't take naps either, because if I do, I won't sleep at all. I worry that I'm going to look like The Emperor from Star Wars when I'm older. Especially now in the summer, my room is a brick oven, so sleep is sleep is a gross and sweaty affair.

You might want to try St John's Wort. That helps alot of people regulate their sleep cycle. What I do is I bring a book to bed and read it until I can't keep my eye's open. Then I let the magic happen. I got a third of Stalin's Ghost read last night.

[andrew in philadelphia]

insomnia stinks big time. i've worked nights for most of the last 5 years, and it comes in waves for me. everyone definitely has trouble sleeping in the day time - the body's internal mechanism don't like it.

the worst was this past fall where i was only sleeping 1-2 hours a night - and not even all the way through. i tried drinking, a lot, but that just made me want to stay awake longer to drink more. sleeping pills didn't work much either - and after 1.5 years quit, i even started smoking cigarettes again due the stress of exhaustion.

nowadays i watch my daughter in the daytime so i'm too wiped out to succumb to insomnia. i still NEVER go to sleep before 2am though. ever. the only cure i see is to just ride it out - you can't stay awake for forever.

[erika]

Part of the problem is that I sorta like staying up late... I just am worried that getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night is going to catch up with me at some point very very soon.

[andrew in philadelphia]

i wouldn't be surprised to find that a lot of insomniacs have the night owl bug. maybe you need to pick one or two nights a week and just force yourself to get a full night's sleep. eat a big meal and drink some chamomile tea beforehand maybe.

they say that exercise is the key to a good night's sleep - but that seems a little too extreme for me.

[Gilly]

It's really hard for me to go to bed because I don't work until 2pm. I used to stay up until 4-5 am and wake up around 12:30 to go to work. That's more night owl than insomnia, but I beat it by setting my alarm clock for 10am (early, I know ) and giving myself productive things to do in the morning like running. I feel a lot better physically and mentally.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

ive had insomnia since i was a kid. since ive had it as long as i can remember, its a normality in my life.  i didnt realize it was something i should "worry" about until i was in high school. 

ive heard exercise helps.  even a light workout like jogging, walking, sit ups, etc.  ive known people to take Melatonin and other natural herbs. 





unfortunately, i wish there were nites when my insomnia didnt make me feel lonely because i had no one to talk to, nothing on television to watch, and i reached the end of the internet.  ive spent nites watching music download before.  sigh. 

[Spoony]

I'm unemployed right now, so I ain't got no good reason to wake up in the morning. It frustrates me that I wake up at 9am whether I was sleeping/not sleeping/drinking/building bridges for the poor all night long.

[erika]

Are you still living in Pittsburgh? As I understand it, it's next to impossible to find a job up there right now. (My friend has been unemployed for more than a month.)

[iAmBaronVonTito]

I'm unemployed right now, so I ain't got no good reason to wake up in the morning. It frustrates me that I wake up at 9am whether I was sleeping/not sleeping/drinking/building bridges for the poor all night long.

surely, a man with a moustache can't stay unemployed for long? 

and glasses!