Insomnia..

Dolly Divine · Insomnia..

Lately I have been having huge trouble sleeping. I have been going to bed about midnight and laying awake until about 6am before I fall asleep.

Last night I managed to make myself go to sleep before 9 in the hope that I would get enough sleep to wake up in time to be at work for 9am. I fell asleep about 8.30pm and woke up at midnight and stayed awake until 4...

Arrrggghhhhh!

Any suggestions?

I have thought of Nytol but I am concerned that if I take something to sleep it may knock me out enough to sleep through my alarms Confused

x

CrimbleFairy

I have problems sleeping too but that bad. I hope someone can help because it's so frustrating xxx

Herr Geist

I know this will sound really corny but.... vigorous exercise. Not right before bed or anything. But if you get yourself a decent daily workout routine, your sleep schedule will normalize itself. It sounds dumb but it works better than anything else I've ever known, and I'm definitely a nocturnal kind of person who often suffers from insomnia during the times I start slacking off from my routine.

Pieman

HG is right, that is the best solution. Though when I used to have the odd night I couldn't sleep I used Holland & Barrett's Peaceful Night (I used to work there) and it worked for me.

I hope you find something as it's a horrible feeling to not get enough sleep!

Dolly Divine

HG I may have to start doing star jumps at my desk with my headset on lol!

Thats a great idea its just finding the time. I spend about 9 hours out the house at work then come home and catch up with all my burlesque work then go to bed and do the same the next day.

Maybe I should get someone to speed up my music and practice one act a day at double speed...

Thank you for your input too Pieman

Herr Geist

Well, if it helps with time, I run right around 3 miles a day (probably less now that I slacked off a bit and need to build the speed back up) but that only takes about 45 minutes from the time I start stretching to the time I do my cool down post-run stretch. Then you might need a few minutes to shower off the funk. But still... it's an hour total. I know that seems like a lot, but if you manage your time right, you can pull it off. I've had to do that before but it actually helps you feel a bit more on top of things.

Exercise also gives you a bit more energy which, in turn, clears your mind up a bit. So if you ever find yourself spacey and unmotivated, exercise will make all that go away. It's amazing how being in better shape can sharpen your mind.

Speaking of which, I have to go start stretching and get this show on the road. I've been sitting here in my running clothes for the past half hour waiting for my food to digest. Back in an hour.

Dolly Divine

I find handwashing pants put me in a better frame of mind. I don't have a washing machine at this place so I have to wash everything smaller than bed clothes by hand.

I spend ages in this daydreamy mood and then really focus and tear apart all the things I need to do and find solutions. I just have to be carefull not to hit my head on the corner of the cupboard as that bloody hurts!

x

Herr Geist

haha yeah. That type of task does give you a good amount of thinking time. It does seem like it's easier to focus on stuff when you're washing dishes or cleaning or whatever. I think that's why I enjoy it so much.

Diva Hollywood

Hi honey
I have the same problem I use lavender oil its the only thing that will knock me out.
Hugs
diva x

Herr Geist

I've never heard that one before. What do you do with the oil to make you fall asleep? Apply it to the skin? Drink it (which doesn't sound appealing)? Inhale it?

Cecilia Rouge

Dolly, im so sorry to hear about this, I suffer terribly too and have done the whole nytol thing for yonks, its not good for you! I have tried everything in the book and nothing really works that well but I continue my quest!

http://www.oxfordmedical.co.uk/index.asp?m=&cat=15&scat=28

We use the relaxation (sleep) teas for our clients at work who are withdrawing from drugs, it knocks them out! I have tried them and was quite sceptic but I found they really work for me too! They are completely natural too.

Little things like writing lists before you go to bed help a bit. Also dont do what I do, sit in bed with the laptop and telly on! Its the worse thing ever and im trying to avoid doing this!

If you have any questions or need any advice drop me a pm and ill see what I can do, I have been reading up a lot on various sleeping disorders for awhile now xx

Dolly Divine

Thanks guys,

Cecilia, what type of teas are they? I used to use lavender oil but I found it really hard to find a nice one and if they aren't great I can't sleep until I get rid of the smell Confused

x

Cecilia Rouge

They are pure herbal ones so dont taste particularly pleasant but I add honey in them and that helps a bit.

I realised in my post, I sounded like I was taking them to withdraw from drugs too! I wasn't as im a good girl, its the young people I work with that are in withdrawal! I took some home with me to try as figured if it could help someone rattling from heroin withdrawal it could probably help me with classic insomia and found them quite effective.

Dolly Divine

I will have to take a look in the health food shop.

Thank you Very Happy

x

Minnie the Minxtress

I use lavender oil sometimes... although not for insomnia for me, but lavender is fab for that and really can help you relax into sleep.

I went to the Isle of Wight distillery/lavender farm and their home grown lavender is absolutely beautiful.. it smells almost like it has honey in it too...

Here's a link if you're interested..

http://www.lavender.co.uk/

Dolly Divine

Thank you.

I was awake till gone 3 friday and up at 7.30 sat then asleep at 2ish last night and up at 8.30 today. As soon as I go to bed no matter how tired I am I just seem to wake up as soon as I get my p.j's on.

Mark stayed over last night and I was driving him mad by getting up every few minutes to do something. Then HE insisted I got up to get him a pen so he could draw faces on the photo of sperm that was on my cigarette packet!

I then spent the next hour or so, wide awake, talking at him Confused

x

Cecilia Rouge

Drawing faces on sperm?>?! Shocked

hahaha, I like the sound of that.

You poor thing, I am the same at the moment, as soon as I get into bed I am wide awake, I also get very physically restless too.
I was told the best thing to do is go in a different room and do something, cleaning, reading, sorting out your pots and pans cupboard, anything to distract you from thinking you cant sleep, then fall asleep naturally. Well, go back to bed first, don't fall asleep in the pots and pans cupboard.
Also, sometimes thinking you can't or wont sleep is half the problem, don't tell yourself you have to go to bed at a certain hour, just go to sleep whenever feels natural to you. I always think I have to be asleep by midnight so if I am not asleep by then I then panic I wont sleep which starts the cycle. Just fall asleep when you body tells you.

Do you work during the day?

Dolly Divine

That is what I try and do although then I find I am still up until 6am and I get stressed.

I work full time as well as all my other little projects.

My shifts are usually 9-5.30 every now and then 1.15-10 which means I get used to sleeping in late and have to completely change my sleep pattern Sad

x

Cecilia Rouge

Changes in your sleep pattern are not good either!
Aw hun im not sure what to suggest, I have taken my own advice in the past but I always end up at square 1.
Trying different things will help in the meantime though and there are some really good tips by people here. Try those herbal teas, maybe even get acupuncture, I swear by it now for backache and want to go back to see if they can do anything.
I really hope it gets better soon, as mental as it sounds use that time to be productive, there wil be times when you will wish for more time in the day! x