How long does it take you to fall asleep?

[Ice_Fire]

Normal for me is anything between an hour to 90 minutes. I know because I have a lo-fi playlist that I have set to 90 minutes before it turns itself off. Most of the time I’m asleep before then. I had had it set to an hour but I kept getting to the end of it.

Not going to sleep is a massive trigger for me. Long and short is that I was purposefully sleep deprived if I hadn’t got to sleep ‘on time’. So now if I haven’t got to sleep in that hour/hour and a half…that’s me for the night.

I’ve had another bad patch with PTSD and the not sleeping and it’s turned into a vicious cycle so I’m on sleeping tablets the now. Which are helping.

As for how many hours; my good is 6-7 hours. At the moment it’s about 5, with the sleeping pills. When I’m very bad it’s days with nothing or maybe 2-3 hours. To the point of hardly human, can’t function. Hallucinations and dizziness and the whole nine yards. Which re triggers the sleep deprivation itself and that’s a whole heap of fun.

 

[DogTired]

After a bad day? Hours. Most I get on one of those nights is 2-3 hours (with interruptions).
Good day, but not tired? Go to bed, listen to my sleepy music.
2 hours it runs for and I don't think I've ever got past track 13 out of 67.
4 minutes after the music cuts off. I wake up. EVERYTIME!
Reset the timer, off I go again. Call it hopscotch for sleepy time.

 

[Friday]

Call it hopscotch for sleepy time.

I actually am going to. Because that’s brilliant. And so, so true.

 

[beaneeboo]

Good sleek - falling asleep within about 45 minutes and sleeping a good 7 hours.

Bad sleep on average takes me about 5 hours to get to sleep. I'll get about 2.5-3.5 hours sleep. When that happens my adrenaline system is so fired up i can feel quite good the day after... then I crash the next day

 

[hypervigilant]

It takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours to fall asleep and I may only sleep 2hrs before I'm awake in utter fear. I rarely sleep a full 8 hrs. I'm always exhausted and I rarely sleep without a nightmare or flashback.

 

[Dissected]

When things are all good, 15-45 min more or less to fall asleep.

When symptoms are acting up- it’s mixed.
Sometimes takes expected amount of time to sleep, sometimes longer.

For me, what is more consistent/expected is that when symptoms act up I wake up easier.
Notably after approx. 1 sleep cycle, around 3-4 hours of sleep.
It can be difficult getting back to sleep after the initial 3-4 hours.

 

[Freddyt]

How long does it take you to fall asleep?

- Normally?
- When your PTSD is acting up?

What is the normally you speak of?

Depends on the night but usually when things are good - get in bed, read a little, cat jumps in bed for pets, 40 min, an hour.

PTSD is acting up? I usually pass out wherever. I quit "trying" to sleep and just go until I pass out.

BTW, T asked me to spend time "orienting" (look around you, take in your surroundings) in bed for 10 minutes or more before sleep to help reduce nightmare/bad dream stuff. Seems to be working. I equate it to changing clubs in golf, where you need to be deliberate and take time for your brain to change what you are asking for physically. Rush the change and shot afterword, and its usually not good at all.

 

[Carrie White]

I actually sleep well and soundly, but there is one problem:
I am a night owl and don't go to sleep until midnight, sometimes even 1 a.m.
And I have to get up at 6 a.m.
This means I accumulate a considerable sleep deficit. I can only make up for it at the weekend, when I get up at 11 a.m.
Yes, I know it's very unhealthy,
but I can't do it any other way. Nighttime is when I'm most productive.

 

[gorgonzola]

In the beforetimes? 5 minutes.

In the post-PTSD onset times? Also 5 minutes, but for a different reason. I have a distinctly... unpleasant recurring intrusive thought, so I'm a teeny tiny bit afraid of giving my brain undistracted time and only go to bed when I'm utterly exhausted in order to minimize the opportunity for it. It mostly works but it's shit.

 

[Carlito2017]

When I'm normal I can fall asleep almost immediately.
When not, it's like nothing can get my body to relax and sleep. Last night I was feeling alright as I went to bed, and yet ended up tossing and turning for two hours, getting up to drink a shot of vodka, tossing and turning for another two hours, cancelling my morning plans, then finally getting a few hours of sleep.

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

It depends largely for me on my physical activity levels. If I’m physically exhausted, sleep might come quick. But there is a point at which I can’t sleep if I’m super exhausted. And if I’ve had a rest day, all bets are off.

For me the issue isn’t falling asleep always, but more staying asleep and not nightmaring so much that it feels like I didn’t sleep at all.

So … between 15min and 3 hours? Sometimes awake after 30min of sleep and then up for hours? Sometimes staying asleep 8, which range from okay ish to terrible hours of sleep?