Slowpoke (12-20-2022)
Melatonin does the trick for me. Otherwise, I literally just usually pass out at some point in front of the tv and just wake up a few hours later and get back to rawdogging life
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Slowpoke (12-20-2022)
I have chronic insomnia and have dealt with delayed sleep phase onset, and I feel like everybody here covered some of my biggest pieces of advice. Your comment about how you sleep outside caught my interest –*is it a situation where that is a designated Sleep Only zone? Something that has helped me is when my bed is far and not visible from where I do most (if not all) of my daily activities. Obviously this is much easier to accomplish in something like a house than it is a studio apartment.
One thing I just want to add is to do your best to be patient with yourself. When my sleep was extremely fucked up, I had to adjust my bedtime in really small increments, maybe 15 minutes every few days, maybe even a whole week. It'd take me at least a couple of weeks to adjust every daylight savings.
For the blue blocking glasses, I've found that the big orange-tinted ones help a lot at night. It looks super dorky, but it works for not just screens, but also just your entire environment, which definitely makes a difference for me living in a city with lots of lights out my window and whatnot. But I admittedly have borderline bad vision where I can spend my last couple hours of the day without my regular glasses.
I've definitely typed up big advice lists in the past, so if you think it'd be helpful I can try to dig something up to share!
Cinnamoroll (12-15-2022)
I feel a little awkward for this, but one thing that helps me is listening to ASMR.
I enjoy typing, crinkling, whispers and mic brushing.
If Im being 100% honest here, I actually listen to ASMR every night. Hell, Im listening to it as I type this.
It helps me relax and also helps me out when Im stressed. I use the "Tingles" App, as I can put a video on and just put my phone down and go to sleep.
Granted, the app seems to be going through some stuff right now, as it use to have a TON of creaters, but now its down to just a few lol
Anyways
ASMR could help out if that's a route you would like to try! (Its basically White Noise)
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What did work a lot for me was doing workout. Tired mind after work + plus tired body and I fell as a rock on my bed.
Also helps make something an habit. I too have a messed sleeping schedule now because I stopped exercise and well I've been neglecting myself tbh
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If you drink tea or anything with caffeine after 5pm it'll be hard to go to sleep.
*says this as i'm drinking tea at 7pm*.
Also, i plug my phone in to the charger on the nightstand next to me and pull up a rain playlists on spotify or youtube. :/
If that fails, usually a melatonin will knock me out. I heard some people say it does nothing for them but it is effective for me.
I've noticed that living in a dark environment will also make it hard to get up in the morning. In a basement for example, you wouldn't know if its 8:00 or 12:00 where I live.
Last edited by Baklava; 12-14-2022 at 07:22 PM.
I've had sleep issues my whole life. Sometimes, whatever you do, you're gonna have sleepless nights. Now that I got the bad news out of the way, almost ALL of the time there are things that greatly help with falling asleep.
At least a half hour before you want to sleep, be in low light & no screens. Wash your face first with warm water, cleanse, then with cold to close pores. Put a nice night cream on your face. Trust me, it feels great and helps you feel more comfortable when laying down to sleep. Chamomile tea a couple of hours before bed/after chores. Also this is crucial, working out. Yes, even for me personally it is hard to get in routine of doing this..but it helps to fall asleep earlier and stay asleep. & you feel reaaallly good when you lay down in your bed. A completely optional thing to do would be to get a foam mattress top. I personally use that and a loud fan to block out all annoying noise from neighbors. A clean room and clean sheets also work wonders. Last, there's always medication. I have it but only use it when I absolutely need it after nights in a bout of insomnia. I wish you well, it really sucks having sleep issues.
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♥ pillowfighter ♥ (12-15-2022)
I used take melatonin if I really cant sleep I take Benadryl. But non medicine ways I just watch a show I like, I get sleepy go to bed.
Thank you all for the suggestions! I'm hoping I can go to sleep a bit earlier tonight!
I'm def. gonna wash my face and all - I notice I get a bit more relaxed when I do that after washing and moisturizing
Interesting you say this because ASMR makes me irrationally angry. If I hear any of those sounds you described, especially in an ASMR close up style, I can’t stand it. It’s so bad.
Anyways, back to the topic here. I’m always surprised when people say melatonin because it’s not meant to be taken long term, as you’re essentially trying to trick your body into engaging in that sleepy response state. That and often melatonin doesn’t work for people. A lot of OTC supplements aren’t heavily regulated, so the quality of the supplement is debatable at times.
The biggest thing for getting sleep back on track is establishing routine. Like it or not, humans of all ages thrive on consistent routines. You have to find what works for you. Aim to go to bed and wake up within the same 15-30 minute window on either side of your desired wake up and bedtime hours. You can also try to essentially Pavlov yourself, aka sleep train. I’ve trained myself to fall asleep to either rhythmic ocean waves or brown noise (which sounds a lot like ocean waves, actually). I started it years and years ago because I couldn’t handle sleeping in silence. It made me feel uneasy. So I played ocean waves each night, turning them on when I get into bed and turning them off once my alarm to wake up goes off (or when I’ve naturally woken up on weekends). From doing that every single day for probably a decade now, I’ve sleep trained myself to the point where if, for some reason, my ocean waves stop playing, I will wake up and I won’t fall asleep until they begin again. Sounds silly, but it can and does work. It’s not that different than sleep training an infant. There’s a reason you always hear the joke about vacuuming or doing the loudest shit around your house when the baby is asleep. They learn to sleep through the sound, and if it’s too quiet or an “unexpected” sound happens, they wake up. Adults are often the same way, we just don’t think about it!
That and I need a fan on, or at least a very cool room, and earplugs. The earplugs is mostly to block out my dog snoring, because her snores transcend my ocean waves 😂
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Caffeine is very much an anecdotal experience. I personally can drink an entire Monster energy drink or a coffee any time of day and fall asleep less than hour later, if I wanted to. And I have, many times LOL. Caffeine doesn’t affect some people, believe it or not!
So I've had issues with insomnia since childhood, and in the end the only thing that truly helped was medication. But I feel I've gone through all general stuff to try and improve it.
First is all the basic "sleep hygiene" stuff you've heard many times before.
- No screens for X amount of time before bed
- Stop consuming caffeine by mid-afternoon
- A warm shower or bath in the evening
- Exercise
- Try to get up and go to bed at a consistent time
For me another big thing (even with medication) is routine. From about 9pm, I start using lower levels of lighting. As part of "winding down" I try to make sure my room is tidy, anything needed for the next day is looked out, all kitchen bits are washed. A big help is having a notepad next to my bed to write down things I need to remember / do. Then I often have a warm bath before getting into PJs. If my hair needs dry shampooing I do it in the evening so there is no white residue by morning. Then I try to read if I'm good, watch something if I'm not lol. Also try and develop a morning routine (write it out if you need to) so you're also mentally prepared for what you're going to do when you wake up.
I don't like the silence to sleep, so I often listen to those 10 hour "rain on tent" type videos!
In the end, what works best for me is
1) being the right amount of mentally and physically tired
2) consciously winding down at the end of the day, sticking to a general routine
3) trying to set myself up for the best possible start to the next day