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Hello guys. I know I seem to be back but after today, I might disappear from TalkMagic. Indefinitely...



You see, I think I might die today.

Over the last few weeks I've got one of my nasty bouts of insomnia so I've been tracking when I sleep and wake up in my sleep journal and this week (from last Friday to today) I've had an astonishing 21 hours sleep.

And I have a job interview today

Anybody else get insomnia and have to do bad things on no sleep?
Do you have anything that helps you sleep?

I get a lot of insomnia.

Usually what happens is that something makes me stay up far too late one morning, which could be anything from the weather to a particularly interesting conversation on the Internet (it can even be the unfulfilled expectation of a particularly interesting conversation on the Internet). Then it takes weeks for me to convince my body to go to sleep at a respectable hour.

In contrast to what you describe, there's nothing abnormal in how much time I spend asleep; it's just a matter of controlling when. Some things I do, which are not true solutions but sometimes help a little, include:

* If I'm really desperate, staying up for an extra 24 hours so that I'm extra tired by the next time bedtime comes around.

* Putting a timer on for fifteen minutes whenever I feel the need to lie down for a midday nap, so that it doesn't ruin my ability to sleep at night.

* Giving myself a deep stomach massage in bed. I use a coffee mug for this (one that has a smooth bottom with rounded edges, no ridge) and massage my stomach by pushing down hard on my intestines. It makes a relaxing squish.

insomnia is unfortunately, as far as I'm aware and read on it - is basically a circular thought pattern, almost a habit; as in "i have insomnia - therefore this is what an insomniac does - not sleep..."

so you tell yourself on some subconcious level, that you will have trouble sleeping...a friend of mine told me its like having writers block (he suffered from both) that the more you tell yourself you cant do something, the more likely your subconcious will agree and almost make it happen...

if you've ever read that when you can't sleep, you must get up and do something instead? do you go make a cup of tea for instance and maybe act like you would if you did get up properly in the morning? if you do - then that's a trigger to your body to "behave as if you've slept soundly and are wide awake"...

cut out all stimulants...dont read before bed, find a relaxation technique that suits you...comfortable temperature and comfy bed...

this isnt medical advice - its just from what i remember from my mate who had it for quite a while...he did say that he just "decided" in his mind "right, i can sleep properly from now on..."

so maybe visualisation exercises of you going off to your lovely comfy bed, and as you lay there feeling that wonderful drowsy sensation creep through your body which allows your eyes and then body to relax deeper into sleep...

I find it difficult to sleep quite often although I wouldn't class it as insomnia, but I do find certain techniques helpful.

One classic one which actually got me off to sleep in the class where we were taught it is to lie on your back, hands comfortably by your sides or gently resting on your stomach, and focus on being able to feel how heavy your hand is.

Your inward monologue is saying something like "I can feel my hand sinking down, weighing heavily on the ground, like it's made of lead..." etc, you then visualise this "dead weight" slowly spreading up your arm, across your body, into your other arm, down your legs, your neck, your head - if you've done it slowly and seriously, and complimented it with the usual "sleep hygiene" stuff (no stimulants, a night time routine etc) once you've finished you should almost be almost asleep.

Give it a try! Hope it helps - sleep problems are not fun

Cheers for the advice guys.

I've tried some of the things you've been suggesting but there are still others to try.

Don't think the interview went brilliantly today though as I kept brain farting everytime I was asked a question or needed to exand on something but never mind.
I did my best and who knows, I might get a call yet!

And my missus was supposed to be coming round today and then she decided not to

So generally an all round sucky day. ButI did order Kioku and Sanctum II earlier so I suppose that much at least is fun

Ecko,
In my last job I used to quite often do over 100 hours a week. They would then phone me at home, to find me still awake. The least time I spent at home one week was less than 8 hours. Trust me, if you feel shattered now, when you do finally have a good sleep, take it easy. To start with, you will feel more tired than ever for an hour or two.
I work night shifts and find it hard when I am off work for a day.
Some things I found that sometimes help:

With me, my brain is active, which stops me sleeping. I find that the more I try to sleep, the worse it is. Sometimes the constant "nervous energy" this causes, makes me ( thinking how to phrase this so it doesn't get into Innuendo Bingo) um,, hot in bed. Also, unless I can get into the "sleeping position" quickly, I tend not to be able to sleep. this is where you FEEL that you are not going to be moving and restless.
Best thing is to get up, take all the covers off the bed, then turn a fan on and aim it at the bottom sheet. Get into a Tshirt and jeans and go outside until you feel cold.
As far as I can work out, when I get back into a cold bed, when I am cold, I don't keep moving so much. Maybe it's because if the body is warming one area, it doesn't want to move about into the cold parts.
Only works sometimes, but it is worth a try.
I have never been that good at sleeping, but as I've got older, I am able needing up to 5 hours a day now. Most weeks there is a period of between 30-40 hours on the trot wher I don't get a chance/am able, to sleep.

Darrel wrote:Sometimes the constant "nervous energy" this causes makes me hot in bed.

You thought about it, and used those words to avoid the Innuendo Bingo thread?!

The stimulants thing is definitely worth a shot. Cutting out coffee in the latter half of the day etc... a couple of years ago I was complaining to my Mum that I was finding it really hard to get to sleep... when she asked me about stimulants, I released I was drinking at least half a bottle of Pepsi Max (and I'm talking 2 litre bottle) just before I went to bed.

Smart.

Farlsborough wrote:

Darrel wrote:Sometimes the constant "nervous energy" this causes makes me hot in bed.

You thought about it, and used those words to avoid the Innuendo Bingo thread?!

There wasn't a better way to describe it, but thought that it was enough to keep it out of "Bingo"