Sleep :(

digitalwolf · 31 Jan 2007 at 10:38

Well since I have been going to the gym my sleep patterns have gone boobies up.

I just cannot settle down at night anymore. I come back from the gym at about 5pm and visually I look really tired and mentally I am really tired. I climb into bed at 11pm and at 1:30am I am still rolling around trying to sleep.

It's crazy because I am yawning my head off whilst in bed but my body will not settle. There is nothing on my mind that would prevent me from sleeping and I am turning into a right moody ***.

I'm looking at either pills that will settle me down or natural things I can do or take to try and sort this out. I do not watch TV, or eat and drink before bed so I'm not sure what is causing this.

I need 8 hours sleep to operate but the problem is, somedays I only get 4 and then others 6 and my sleep debt is creeping up on me fast.

Ta

digitalwolf · 31 Jan 2007 at 10:52

Frosti said:
My Suggestion would be to try and relax before going to bed, maybe a hot bath for example. Also it's worth while getting into a routine of going to bed and getting up at the same time, this usually works for most people.

Thanks. I have to get up at 8am every morning anyway. I'm starting to lose interest in lots of things now and my concentration span has gone

digitalwolf · 31 Jan 2007 at 12:28

fozzybear said:
Have a mug of malted chocolate horlicks an hour before you go.

Nice suggestion, but i don't like hot drinks haha.

digitalwolf · 1 Feb 2007 at 10:01

Well yesterday I did not eat from 6pm up until 11pm. Reckon I got to sleep about 12am and then woke at 8am. I'm still really tired but it's better than one.

It's more I think to do with me not being able to get comfortable because I have awful nighmares on my back, so I sleep on my side. Sometimes it takes me ages to get comfortable.

Whats stopping me from getting addicted to short term pills? If I start thinking "i need these to sleep" then surely it will take me a long time to get over them?

digitalwolf · 1 Feb 2007 at 12:35

sormicoft said:
just tug one off

releases all those natural chemicals that will put you out like a light,

Think about it? How many times you got your rocks off then fell asleep before finishing off the missus

Tried it pal

Dnt work for me

digitalwolf · 2 Feb 2007 at 10:25

Think I may pop round the doctors and see what he can do for me. It's been 4 nights on the bounce now. Didn't get asleep until 1:30 last night. I haven't been to the gym since tuesday.

digitalwolf · 4 Feb 2007 at 09:50

Malarkee said:
Sumprised no one has asked this... talked about hormones and pills etc but no one has yet to established:

WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP?!

8am. I'm tried to get my body clock back on track because Sundays I usually get up at 10am and then Sunday evening I can't sleep. On Wednesdays & Fridays I get up at 10am and all.

digitalwolf · 4 Feb 2007 at 21:44

Malarkee said:
Sounds to me like you're trying to fall off to sleep, happens with me some times... becomes an issue and instead of just lying in bed and dosing off thinking about random rubbish I lie there and after about 5 minutes start thinking... why aren't I asleep... why aren't I asleep.

Just make sure you're relaxed before bed... don't worry about it, watch the TV then stick some music on read, just take your time and chill

It's precisely whats happening I think

I don't get easily stressed but sometimes a thought pops into my head at night and that then starts the lack of sleep off.

digitalwolf · 5 Feb 2007 at 20:46

I'm really at my whits end now. I was soo tired yesterday I could hardly keep my eyes open at work.

11pm comes.......i'm wide awake and i finally gets to sleep around one.

What is the name of this 'sleepy tea'. Pm me if you like.

digitalwolf · 6 Feb 2007 at 13:13

Thanks, previous poster.

Are drugs like nytol (one a night) and various other sleeping aids like night nurse worth a go? Or are they not as effective as prescribed ones?

Thanks

digitalwolf · 16 Mar 2007 at 08:38

Well, I have sorted out my little problem with sleep by keeping my social life to a minimum just for about 2 weeks.

It's working, I am falling asleep in about 15 mins and getting about 8-9 hours sleep.

I'm still tired though, my eyes look really bad and i'm yawning throughout the day.

I think I wake up about 7 ish when my mum gets up as the dog goes crazy but then I fall asleep again for another hour.

I have had this sleeping problem for well over a year now so could it be that my sleep debt is huge? If so, will I ever get on top of it :eek:

digitalwolf · 16 Mar 2007 at 12:33

Just had a new mattress.

There is nothing on my mind and falling asleep is not a problem anymore......it's more the fact I have had 3 lots of 9 hours sleep in the last few days and I still look like death warmed up :eek:

digitalwolf · 22 Mar 2007 at 12:24

Well I went to the doctors and it doesn't seem like insomnia etc.

He gave me 2 weeks worth of Zopiclone tablets and for the last two nights they have been really good.

My next question is when will I begin to wake up refreshed in the morning?

At the moment i'm still waking up with stinging eyes.

digitalwolf · 22 Mar 2007 at 17:06

There is nothing troubling me at all thats what makes it strange.

I'm just very curious how these shadows under my eyes will go. I hate them, they make me look ill and they are due to the fact I do not have enough sleep.

What I don't understand is for the last three nights now I've had 8 hours + sleep and my eyesight in the morning is awful and my eyes really sting.

Is it going to take a long time to get back to normal?

digitalwolf · 23 Mar 2007 at 13:07

PlatinumFX said:
See how your doctors advice and the medicine he / she has prescribed you go's. Let us know how you get on after that.

However to help you in the mean time or if things do not work out (still take your doctors advice above any thing else), I have listed here a few things that help me.

- Ensure you have done lots of physical exercise during the day. If you exert yourself at the gym, check this one off. Personally I have to exhaust myself cycling on occasion.
- Calming music on headphones / quietly on speakers. I listen to gentle trance, Enya or classical some times for this purpose.
- Reading. I find reading fiction quite good at helping my brain to wind down. I would suspect that non-fiction may be too engaging to read.
- I am very temperature sensitive, with a pre-disposition to colder temperatures than most people. Are you sure your rooms comfortable and your duvet is not too hot/cold. I use the lowest tog available (5.5 I think it is) year round, wearing a thermal or dressing gown in bed and rarely a sleaping bag (also) for the very coldest of nights.
- The herbal sleaping aid tablets sold in Boots helped me for a while but I think I grew a resistance to them. In any event, the product your doctor has prescribed you is likely far more powerful anyway.

I generally sleap well but in the past I have had long phases where, like you; It took me simply hours to actually drop off. Once I am gone I am fine.

I connected these phases to my stress levels relatively early on. If you have any problems in your personal relationships, job issues or are particularly sensitive (like me), its easy for even little things to get to you (and you may not immediatly know it).

Well I have actually cut 90% of my social life out as I felt certain places could have been stimulating my mind at night causing me to humm & harr or prevent me from relaxing.

It has kind of worked, some of my friends are worried about me as I have just dropped off the planet, others know this is the norm for me. It's usually money related so they are not concerned that I am not around lol.

As money is extremely tight at the moment, I am staying at home a lot and just watching TV as I cannot afford to go out.

At 9pm my eyes start to really sting, is this time for bed then? I stayed up till 11pm last night (eyes started hurting about 9) and I woke up at 8:30am and I felt ok, but my eyes were really hurting.

Is this normal, 9.5 hours sleep is quite a lot for me tbh.