Insomnia Sufferers in here!

[kindai]

After a couple of years with no issues, in the last few weeks my Insomnia has made a lovely return.

Initially thought it was due to the amount of tea/coffee that I've been drinking, but the last few days despite having nothing, last nights "sleep" was the worst yet.

Fortunately got in to the docs and after being given a surprise blood test, managed to get the usual bucket of options to see what works as know from previous rounds that some medications work and others dont, so a few nights of trial and error to see what ticks the right boxes.

Am also monitoring my circadian cycle which suggests it could be shifting again.

Anyone else suffer from insomnia and do you have any tips or tricks that help you?

 

[kindai]

I take Lorazepam for it, but to get me off quicker, I have a nice flame effect LED fire and I always put some soothing sounds on like gentle rain

I have zopiclone, lorazepam, melatonin, diazepam, proprananol and diphendyramine at my disposal.

Have tried rain sounds previously but never found a recording that worked, natural rainfall with the window open however sends me off extremely quickly.

 

[kindai]

I have lots of tips like not going to bed until you're actually falling asleep

The issue that I have with this is it usually goes until 4 or 5 am, by which time I get 2-3 hours sleep and then the world wakes me up.

And once disturbed the brain wont switch off again.

 

[kindai]

Not sure if I was suffering from insomnia, but almost every day for the last year or so I'd wake up at 2-3am and not be able to go back to sleep again, which in turn was killing me at work.
I've recently started eating at 7pm rather than 8-9pm and also switched my evening meal to rice and fish/chicken and avoiding heavy meals mainly including red meat.
It's been quite a transformation, and now (apart from the odd toilet break) I sleep right through until 5:45 when the alarm goes off and I actually have a spring back in my step when I get up.
I can only put this down to eating earlier and eating a light meal.

Nice tip, I do usually eat late, will make an effort to eat earlier for the next few days.

 

[kindai]

Have you tried audio books?

The best ive found is having a small room fan on.

 

[kindai]

My old neighbour gets up about 6 times a night for a pee, he’s 82.

Should we be worried that you know your neighbours pee schedule

 

[kindai]

Well Xmas and New year has absolutely knackered me up again!

11 at night and im so wired may actually go to a 24 hour gym...

 

[kindai]

What do you tend to do with the time when you can’t sleep?

It depends on how im feeling. Last night I did a little excersise, then sat down and did some modeling / painting with some generic youtube videos playing in the background until I got relaxed / tried enough to give sleeping a try, which worked.

Other nights will just wrap myself up nice and warm and just put some music on or a movie and doze instead.

Other nights will be so wired that just crack on with gaming or work or similar.

It changes from night to night with no rhyme or rythem. Food, drink, routine, etc etc. The only certain way is if ive had a physically active day and am genuinely exhausted. But even then after a few hours good sleep my brain is awake and ready to go again, even if my body is sore as hell!

At the moment I seem to be shifted around 5 hours from normal, in that I naturally want to sleep around 2-3am and sleep through until 10-11am.