I'm In A Complicated Relationship With Sleep!

[CeCee]

Sleep & I haven't gotten along for years but lately it's a lot worse. Iv been 'trying' to get it back to some sort of normal but it isn't happening.

Iv taken sleeping tablets many times but I don't want to take them too often as I don't want to become dependent on them. But then again I'm desperate for sleep.

Sleep seems to make everything better so I'd like to be able to jump into bed every night & have a great sleep but that doesn't happen very much.

My thing is watching/listening to movies or TV shows I know & love so eventually I fall asleep as they are familiar. Unfortunately that doesn't happen till 4 or 5 am.

Thankfully I'm I'm not working or studying at the moment so if I sleep later than I normally should then that's okay but I hate wasting the day & night.

There are only so many times you can play candy crush & watch movies that you love before laying awake makes you feel a little crazy.

Iv also tried mediation but I just can't seem to switch off. My Mind is so busy with everything else I can't seem to focus on the person speaking.

What do you do to help with sleep? Is there something out there that I haven't tired?

Thanks.

 

[Seagreen]

Are you making up for the lost hours by sleeping longer in the mornings? Is your problem that you want to go to sleep earlier and wake earlier? I have a similar problem where my mind is very busy / fast paced. I feel like I have to be reading something or doing something at all times. One things that really does work for me if I'm wanting to fall asleep earlier is to tell myself that it is ok to go to sleep. Everything will still be here in the morning. You are still going to be able to watch that TV show or candy crush, you can sleep now and do those things later. Keep telling yourself that and eventually your body will follow suit. As the old Pantene commercial would have said "It wont happen over night but it will happen".

I have very little self discipline, so battling with myself doesn't work. If I try to force myself to do or not do something I start to obsess over it and want to do it more. Taking a different approach seem to be much less productive. "I'm not going to make a fuss about this, sleep will come when it is ready but remember these things will still be available to me in the morning.".

Also if you want the meditation to work you have to keep trying. It can take several attempts to learn to switch off but can be a good tool when you get it. Doing it with a real person vs a recording helps a lot in the beginning.

 

[CeCee]

Lol Love the Pantene quote, I can see her flicking her golden locks!

Yes you're so right about things waiting till the morning that's so true. Some times I am so tired but I don't go to sleep then I become over tired then wired. It's a losing battle with myself

As for the meditation I have tried a few times with the audio but never with a real person so maybe that might work. But then again my mind is so busy at the moment switching off is an impossible thing!

In saying that I will take your advice & "try" my hardest to sleep when I can & switch off if possible

 

[zeckster81]

I too have this battle. I put shows and music on that is familiar to help, but I still lay there awake. I work 60-65 hours a week and still find it necessary to be constantly doing something. I do have PTSD/DID, but often wonder if there is a little bipolar in me. I go through these bad manic times where I can go weeks with no to very little sleep and have to be moving constantly. Then I'll crash for a day or too and the process starts all over again.

Does anyone else struggle with feeling like you are being suffocated when you lie down? Even if I do sleep, its usually sitting up.

Thanks,
Amanda

 

[Changing4Best]

I have trouble staying asleep sometimes, though lately I have tried praying and asking God to help me go back to sleep after getting up to go potty (which I do some 2-4 times per night). That does seem to help, so I am grateful to God for that! One other thing I have found is that when I get up for any reason, I try not to look at the clock. For some reason this will upset me and make it harder to fall back asleep. I've been told also that it is not good to sleep at all during your usual non-sleeping hours. That is because if you do, then you are robbing from the night ahead of you and when you go to bed that night, after napping during your usual waking hours, you won't be able to go to sleep or you will not sleep well. None the less, I sometimes drift off to sleep when I am in my recliner chair during the day anyway.....

 

[CeCee]

Amanda if you're worried about it maybe you should tell your Dr about it. Iv never experienced manic before so unfortunately I cant relate but I do have a friend with Bipolar & she has the same sort of problem. Shes constantly on the go & sleep is something that doesn't happen very often.
Have you tried meditation like Seagreen suggested? Maybe it might help you to be able to lay down & relax for a little while :)

SheilaCathy I'm sorry but I dont believe in god so praying wouldn't work for me. As for your bathroom habits I really dont need to know about that. At the moment I'm getting sleep when I can get it be day or night as I wont be able to get through this horrible Xmas period without it.

Thankfully last night I was fast asleep before 12am so that's extremely early for me. SeaGreen I took your advice & let myself go to sleep. It worked perfectly. I would have slept the whole night through if I wasn't woken up at 4am with a toothache. Need to get my last wisdom tooth removed ASAP!

Hope everyone gets some much needed sleep tonight :)

 

[Friday]

4am is the witching hour. It's the time when most people are in their deepest sleep or least functional if they're awake. Military & police both plan raids at 0400 for just that reason.

I pretty much have to be wide awake at 0400. Made a joke of it for a few months at one point. Either after 0400 I can finally get sleepy and be asleep by 0500, or I'm waking up at 0400 to start my day. One of the two. Always. Whether I'm doing badly, or doing well. My body won't let me be asleep at 0400. I think I'd been running that schedule for 6 or 7 years before someone tipped me to that. Oh. Huh. Right. I guess that makes sense!

 

[Kintsugi]

When I was at my worst with insomnia, I developed a multitude of rituals to assist in better sleep. Here were the rules that stuck and which I will still employ if I'm having serious insomnia problems.

-No caffeine (chocolate included! I know! >.< ) after about 2pm
-NO questionably stressful or very exciting media after 6pm. I would only watch children's shows and movies. No action stuff.
-No eating after 9pm.
-No exposure to bright or harsh lighting two hours before I wanted to be asleep. My goal was usually 11, so after 9... only soft/low lighting.
-No digital media a half hour before I want to be asleep. Puzzles, drawing, reading on paper were all good stuff.
-Journal anything that's on my mind or how my day went for ten minutes a half hour before I want to go to bed. I particularly liked writing at the end something short about what was worrying/stressing me and 2-3 positive experiences from the day.
-Totally dark room (if possible). I put t-shirts or sheets over my windows to make it truly dark.

I also sprayed an organic lavendar scent around my bedroom throughout the day and once before laying down. It's supposed to be calming. Something else that helped was doing some grooming (nail care, hair care, lotion, a long bath) before bed to kind of wind down.

 

[Changing4Best]

I apologize if I upset you with an improper thought, @CeCee but I won't apologize for my faith. We are allowed to speak of that here and so I do.

One other thing that is important is to get enough exercise during your waking hours. I've heard this many a time. I do hope that all the info here is of some help to you. That is one thing you will find here on these forums, folks really do reach out and help one another a lot.