Question for insomniacs
I did not start this week out well.
I hoped after a weekend of being sick that I would feel a lot better this morning. Well, my stomach feels a lot better, but not the rest of me. I simply could not convince myself to go to sleep last night. I got in bed at 10:30, and at one I was still frustratingly awake. I usually get up around 6.
And I got yet another reminder of how patient my parents were. The kids were cranky this morning, too. They spent last week in Florida and had to get up early this morning to go to school. Here I was operating on four to five hours of sleep after a weekend of being sick, and they were cranky after getting a good night’s sleep following a week at the beach. Oh well.
Back getting back to my question, this is what I’m wondering: if you have trouble getting to sleep, do you get up and do something else for a while? Watch some tv? Surf the ‘net?
I kept thinking I should do something like that, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up. I always fear I will be awake watching tv at the moment I would’ve fallen asleep if I’d just stayed in bed.
Any thoughts?
March 26th, 2007 at 8:21 am
two words:
tylenol pm
March 26th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Yeah, ok, there’s that.
We didn’t have any of it, though. Kind of annoying, to say the least.
March 26th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Be careful with tylenol PM. For me, and I’ve had trouble sleeping for years, Tylenol PM is good if you KNOW you’ll need a good nights sleep and can take it around9:30 or so. If I was lying in bed around 2AM unable to sleep and took Tylenol PM, I’d sleep until 10:30 or wake up miserably groggy. My dad is a pharmacist and suggests keeping Benadryl (or generic) in the house at all times because it will last about 4 hours or so and is perfect for when you wake up and can’t go back to sleep. Try that. But as for non-medicated suggestions. ..I have no idea, I’m like you, afraid to actually get up out of bed for fear I’ll wake myself up more.
March 26th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Benadryl! I didn’t think about that. I’m sure we’ve got some of that lying around. Damn.
And I’m glad I’m not the only one afraid to get up. I always feel like I’m being foolish, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:14 am
I see the ladies jump straight to recommending drugs.
{roll the patriotic music..}
Get away from the tv! And the Internet! Both far too mentally aggrivating. I suggest a far more natural solution…sex. That’s capital S capital E capital X. That’s right. We hear them complain about it all the time “he just rolls over and goes to sleep” but, nay, in your time of need, what do the they suggestion? Drugs! No, I say, stand tall. Be firm in your resolve! Don’t beat around the bush. Give the ladies half a mind (or half a foot) and declare “I WANT TO SLEEP!”
Of course, you could do what I do and simply read computer manuals.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Hey, I was assuming his pregnant wife was ALREADY asleep!
March 26th, 2007 at 9:42 am
uh, jon…do NOT wake up kate for sex…trust me, itsa bad bad idea!
although the knock you get upside the head might put you to sleep.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:51 am
My sleep schedule get all messed up with the anti-fatigue meds I need to take to offset the fatigue caused by the MS.
I’ve learned how late in the day I can take the anti-fatigues w/o messing up the normal sleep schedule -most of the time.
One problem is that Rick is a morning person (like 5 a.m. morning) and I’m a night owl. I get a second wind and can easily work through the night. But, the biggest problem is that Rick has decided he can’t get a good nights sleep unless I’m next to him. Sweet, yes-frustrating…very.
Since he’s the official breadwinner of the family, I feel obligated to just lie there, wide awake, no lights on (he can’t sleep with even a little bit of light on) and my thoughts run rampant of things I should be dong for the house, the store…orders to make. It’s so frustrating that the few times I naturally have the energy to do things, I’m confined to a blackened room and a bed.
I’ve tried sending him on to bed and just as I’m getting into a roll with the books or orders, he stumbles downstairs and says he can’t sleep and asks when am I coming on to bed. The fact that I’ve been hearing him snore for the past couple of hours doesn’t seem to make any difference.
So, I’ve started taking Tylenol PM to create the necessary sleep pattern. I first started it when I got my weekly MS shot. There are flu-like symptoms associated with the medication and my neurologist suggested that I take Tylenol PM to try to offset the fever, chills and hopefully sleep through them.
If I’m left to my own devices to lull myself into sleep, I love slowing down from the day by reading a book. That seems to be the best way for me to get to sleep- and, if I’m particularly stressed from the day, I find that writing down the list of things I need to do the next day helps me free my mind and drift off to sleep. Otherwise, I find that I make lists in my mind and can’t fall asleep.
(So, you may find that benedryl can be your friend.)
March 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am
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March 26th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Doug’s suggestion might work in your situation. In ours, it only makes the sleepless partner stay awake longer and the early sleeper sleep deeper due to the transferrence of energy that occurs during his suggestion.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Goodness. I just wanted to know if people thought it was best to get out of bed or stay there; I wasn’t looking for advice for what to do while in bed.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
If I have one of those nights where I really can’t sleep, I’ll run a warm bath with some calming scented oils (Lavender is a good one). After about a 30 minute soak, I’m usually relaxed enough to get to sleep.
March 26th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
You know, I should’ve done that. Except instead of the lavender, I could’ve found something sleep-inducing to read. Another good suggestion I should’ve thought of.
I guess that’s why you need things prepared in advance, since you don’t think too well after tossing and turning that long.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
You could watch some of the birth videos I’ve brought home. I’ll bet they would put you to sleep
March 26th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Jon,
No one cure all is going to help all the time. I hate the drug thing (I have something like six Ambian left over from my surgery(took like three) but I dream some weird crap and I’m done there.)
Decaf Green Tea seems to work sometimes. Not drinking any alcohol after seven is key for my metabolism. BMP is right about the bath. I like Patchouli so that’s what I use.
But the number one thing that works for me is putting on a headset in the bed (I know strange) and listening to classical music. It sweeps me up and makes me happy. It’s wonderful.
Whatever works for you.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:50 am
BTW, the same ingredient in Benadryl is in most of the over the counter sleeping pills.
I actually prefer Tylenol PM to Benadryl because the latter makes me drunk, drunk, drunk.
However, back around Thanksgiving/Christmas when my sleeping schedule started getting so off course, Smiley and another friend of mine both suggested melatonin. My other friend and his parents all take it regularly and swear by it. It kind of helps you relax enough to be able to sleep but doesn’t make you groggy or hungover the next day at all. I haven’t used it but a couple of times but I was pretty pleased when I did.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
You seemed to sleep far better last night