Insomnia ...

[Darth Mandarb]

It's about 5 AM as I'm starting this topic ...

I haven't slept more than an hour at a time in about 3 weeks.

I've always suffered from insomnia, but this time my usual remedies aren't working.

Usually I just put in a DVD I've seen too many times to count.  It keeps my brain from wandering to 1000 different topics (which is what I think keeps me awake in the first place!) but doesn't really hold my attention and I drift off ...

But that doesn't see to be working lately.

There is a plus side I guess ... I've gotten my game about 99% done now due to this insomnia.

Anybody else suffer from this shit?  And if so, what are some of your remedies?

At this point, as I gaze with envy at Sara who is sleeping quite soundly, I'm willing to try just about anything.

~ d

[TheYak]

I've always suffered from it.  I've usually dealt with it by getting over exhausted and going to bed late.  I try to be active a lot as it nears bedtime, I chug coffee and ride the caffeine wave into the wee hours.  By the time I'm ready to sleep, it's usually quite late but at least I don't have that mind-running-in-circles, thinking about 10 different things at once thing.  Unfortunately, the side-effect is that I run off reduced sleep or end up sleeping late, thus adding to the vicious cycle.  Luckily, working graveyard shift has helped, though I typically run on 4-5 hours of sleep.

[Nacho]

Yes, I was surprised when I saw that Jeremy (Darth) was plugged at some weird hours, 9 o´clock in Spain, (4 a.m. in Florida?).

So... you have it, haven´t you?

Insomnia sucks, specially if you NEED to sleep and you can´t. I haven´t had insomnia really, but severall sleeping dissorders by the cycling, the weirdest that when I made more sport, less I slept, and less tired I was... The problems comes when you stop making sport and you need to sleep 10 hours to feel that you´ve rest.

So, try to make sport if you don´t do, maybe it will help... You won´t probably sleep more, but you´ll feel better, IMO.

And if not... Finish JP and Cosmo soon!  

~F

[Timosity]

I can't say I suffer from Insomnia, although I'm regularly here at 4:30am, it's more of a lifestyle thing, I'm a night person. And due to the fact at the moment I'm working odd times with no secure job & different jobs, My sleep patterns are screwed up.

I've been doing some postie work (post man) lately and that starts at 5:30am and that's almost opposite to my normal hours.

I seem to be able to adjust alright and can work fine after a couple of hours sleep.

I have been an insomniac in the past, but that was mainly due to withdrawal effects from that mary jane creature. probably for about 5 years at different times I went through withdrawing as often as I wasn't which fucked up my sleep patterns, bad stomach cramps and the inability to eat, and for a months afterwards I only slept a few hours when I really didn't notice, kind of like the description in fight club where he's never fully asleep and never really awake.

I have no real solution to the problem, just stay awake until you sort of feel tired and lie down.

I still have trouble getting to sleep these days, (usually takes 1-2 hours each night) but once I'm asleep I can sleep up to 10 hours, but usually between 6 & 8.

Those thoughts that keep running through your head can be real bastards, I usually listen to music as I go to sleep, but I know that can be a problem if you have a partner that can't sleep with music going. [also sometimes I catch myself tapping or singing along to the music in my head & that probably helps keep me awake]

I guess I'm an insomniac that has a semi-workaround.

I wouldn't recommend taking sleeping pills as the more you take the less effect they have on you and the resulting withdrawal from them is also insomnia, which strangely enough is one of the side effects of almost any drug.

My theory is that Insomnia is related to you not being quite right, something seems to bug you and you can't pin-point what it actually is, it's all psychological, you just need some assurance of stable security of the mind and sleep will become easy.

but that is easier said than done, cause thinking about all this will keep you awake anyway.

I hate people that can just lie down and fall asleep straight away, I don't know how it is physically possible, but I've witnessed it.

I guess exercise can help, it probably also makes you feel better about yourself and clears your mind, but it also exhausts you.

My ex-brother inlaw used to be an exercise freak, he'd be at the gym before work, then ride his bike to work, swim in his luch break, and then go to the gym after work, then ride home. that inbetween hockey training and games on the weekend, he also worked fulltime and uni part-time at night. He used to fall asleep at the drop of a hat all the time & and I could see why.

If you were an insomniac after that sort of exercise, you've really got a problem.

Also if you used to be really active, and the computer lifestyle sort of screwed that up for you, it may be the fact that you still eat the same way you did, but don't compensate for the burning of that energy that you used to, therefore that energy is keeping you awake.

Or you can just reas what I've written about 5 times and you'll probably start getting tired and fall asleep at the keyboard.

Ah, it's time for a smoke, still early, it's only 1:15am

Edit:
I love going outside for a smoke at night, I feel like I'm friends with all the local nocturnal creatures, I always see possums & bats, ocassionally owls, and the soothing sound of crickets, frogs, the occasional toot from owls, the strange squeak that possums make. Bats can be annoying during mating season, but I love the swooping sound of them flying about. Usually before I fall asleep the Kookaburra's start laughing at dawn.

It's funny at the start of Raiders of the Lost Arc, they're in South America or wherever and they have the sound effect of Kookaburra's in the jungle, It's funny cause most people wouldn't notice it, but it's a really distinctive Australian sound. They also use the sound effect in The Wizard of Oz.

Edit 2: Also if you are a smoker, I suppose, as it is a stimulant, it can keep you awake that little bit extra, especially if you have a cigarette before bed each night. I really should quit, I almost did 10 years ago, but I keep forgetting to.

[big brother]

Try exercising regularly.

Also, only use your bed for sleeping and sex. Don't read or bed or anything.

If you can't sleep after lying in bed for 20 minutes, get up and do something else. When you feel tired again, go back to bed for another 20 minutes.

[InCreator]

Hearthwarming topic... frustrating, really...
I'm an insomniac. Parents tell me It was so since I was born.
Lately, I figured out that my day cycle is just 31 hours long, instead of usual 24. I get tired after 18-20 hours of being awake. And then I sleep 9-11 hours. If taken this way, it seems logical and normal. Just my "night" jumps over two days. One day, I sleep and another - create.

I've seen something very few people see. Last summer I was up about 52 hours (cannot really be sure, why - read further). I started to dream while being awake, and this is an experience I don't want to live through again, though it was powerful and exiting.
I don't think that any drug or alcohol could cause something like that. Usually, after 35+ hours sense of time dissappears and you can't remember when you slept or make difference between yesterday/today.
It angers you and time goes unnoticed, 5 minutes feel like a whole hour or vice versa, 5 hours pass so you  can remember only 5 minutes of them. Some kind of a Max Payne time stuff.

It was a *controlled* dream. I sat in the kitchen looked at the fridge and just created my dream further while seeing it. And I did realize that I'm in a kitchen and saw the fridge. My eyes were open. My dream like crossfaded into my vision, mixing up with reality. I knew what I was doing and still controlling it. This was the part of power. But memory leaks in my head and the feeling, that I cannot really control myself gave me really bad experience, so that's why I never want to experiment like this again.

Lately,  my organism just "shuts down" when I'm up too long. I lose my vision. Yes, my eyes stop responding and when I force them open, they *flood* tears followed by excruciating pain. It scared shit out of me when It happened first time, now I just *immediately* get to bed. I'm not a kamikaze! And once, one of my eyes turned RED for a week, so I'm extra cautious now.

My parents often worry about me, and I'm sorry for that. Just I can't imagine being my mom, saying myself goodnight at 23:00,  waking up at 6am and seeing still me smoking, with a big cup of coffee in one hand and mouse in another...

Good morning...

Getting tired is a system by itsself. Before I collapse, I get extreme burst of energy. I feel like a bunny from this battery commerical, and feel like time goes into slow-motion, while I'm operating at extra speed. Then, suddenly, I run out of energy and fall into bed. Though I know that it's just up my desire to be up more 10 hours. Maybe it's just some people who are above their phycsical needs and their brain has power over their bodies, so even if exhausted, thoughts won't let them sleep. But night... night is beautiful. As soon others yawn and crawl to their beds, I feel sudden desire to live. To create, study, work hard, take a walk in a city - It's everything else than doing it during daylight. Yeah, nice. But I fucked up my studies and while "normal" my-age guys have finished school and earn dough, I'm still messing with 10th class... (or grade, how u name it). A gift. A curse.

Has anyone else experiencing something like that?

No, I'm not insane.
Yes, I am an insomniac.

[Rincewind]

Mm, yeah, I understand how you feel, Darth - I've been having some trouble sleeping as well the last year.
I doesn't matter how many times I tell myself that I should go to bed earlier, it always ends with me looking at the clock and realize that it's almost three o'clock in the morning...  And even if i do get to bed earlier, I usually just lie sleepless in my bed until I realize it's too late again... Sometimes reading a book, and sometimes a movie can be helpful, as DM says, but sometimes not even that is good enough...

Music is, however, something that almost always is able to sooth me and put me to sleep... I can even listen to stuff like Entombed and Warhorse and still be calm... Oddly enough...

[Nine Toes]

I've always had trouble sleeping at night.  I've always preferred the nighttime though.  It's quiet, everyone else is asleep, that way I can work on "me" stuff without being bothered.

Aside from that, though... If I go to bed at a normal time, say 9 o'clock p.m.... I'll sleep until midnight or 1, and then I'll automatically wake up and won't be able to go back to sleep.

Nighttime is normally when I work on my games and graphics, etc as well. (I just have to be home in order to work on them).

[Darth Mandarb]

I'm definately a night person!  I am more creative at night it seems.  Less distractions, no phone calls, etc.  I'm also a short sleeper (when I can) anyway.  I (when able to) usually only sleep about 3 to 5 hours tops.  So, like the Dr. said, if I sleep at midnight I'm up at 3am and back at it!

It was a *controlled* dream. I sat in the kitchen looked at the fridge and just created my dream further while seeing it. And I did realize that I'm in a kitchen and saw the fridge. My eyes were open. My dream like crossfaded into my vision, mixing up with reality. I knew what I was doing and still controlling it. This was the part of power. But memory leaks in my head and the feeling, that I cannot really control myself gave me really bad experience, so that's why I never want to experiment like this again.

I have experienced this as well.  A waking dream I call it.  You're too tired to continue, but your brain is still active.  I've had this several times.  You have NO control over your muscles.  You can't move at all (only your eyes).  Once I 'woke' like this and there was a little man sitting on my chest just staring at me ... but I couldn't tilt my head down so I could only just barely see him in peripheral vision.  Freaky ...  Another time huge dragon flies came in through the window and were drooling on me.  I swear I'm not making it up

Timosity - Smoking used to help me sleep (oddly enough) but probably more to the 'ritual' of smoking before hitting the pillow.  I quit about 6 months ago (and yes, you should quit!! )

I hate people that can just lie down and fall asleep straight away, I don't know how it is physically possible, but I've witnessed it.

Sara, my girlfriend, falls asleep when her head hits the pillow.  It drives me crazy!  I don't know how she does it, but I certainly envy her ...

Big Brother - I'm at the gym an average of 4 times a week and regularly roller blade!  I do however, use the bed for more than sleeping/sex because it's where I watch movies (no couch or chair in my room!)  I'm gonna try to cut back on that!

Rince - I think I need the 'bouncing' light from the TV to keep my brain from going into overdrive.  Awhile back somebody suggested turning off all electronics before sleeping.  I went INSANE that night!  Within 10 minutes the quiet had my mind screaming in 200 different directions and I actually developed a migraine from it!  Talk about wierd!

Yak - Total exaustion is usually what does me in ... it just takes me quite awhile to reach that point.  I really believe that some people (myself included) just don't need a large ammount of sleep.  I've adjusted to it ... but sometimes (like last night) I get annoyed by it.

Farlander - JP and Cosmo is SOOOOO close to being done!  The timers are in place, the graphics are done, the scripting is done.  Essentially it's only the sound effects now ...

The main problem is that I have no set schedule.  Sometimes I don't lay down for sleep until 7am.  Other times it's 11pm.  It's so flexible back and forth that my body doesn't have a set routine.  Which is probably the culprit!

I've been working outta my home for the last few months, but I'm securing office space early march where I'll be back to the 9 to 5 gig.  So hopefully that'll get me back into a routine.

Thanks for the advice guys!

~ d

[MillsJROSS]

Lately I haven't had any trouble sleeping, because I go to bed late enough where I'm dead tired, and wake up early enough so that I'm dead tired late at night. But if I do have a bad night, I'll get up and read some, see if that works. Turn on the tv, and see if I can pay attention enough where I'm not thinking and then fall asleep. Or, what I used to do, is just try and control my thoughts. I think up a dream scenerio and play it in my head and keep thinking about it till I'm asleep. It keeps my mind off of things that may keep me awake, but it doesn't always work. I also drink coffee which gets me energized, and later feeling very drowzy. And if I work that night I usually get to bed much sooner than usual.

I'm not an insomniac, but I hate to go to bed early and wake up late. But I'll force myself to get eight hours on the weekend. Even if I go to bed at 4. The downside, is the next night it might take me longer to fall asleep. The upside, I'm well rested and energized for a day.

-MillsJROSS

[Evil]

I suffer from insomnia every so often. I actually enjoy it. It keeps me thinking and then I can do things I wouldnt normally do. I had it a lot right after school started, but I ran. In a week I went from a 10 minute mile to a 7. I drew like crazy, spitting out 3 feet square pictures in a matter of hours. Even though insomnia is a "bad thing", it actully makes me feel better about myself. After I start feeling better and the insomnia seems to go away.

[The Subliminal Messenger]

Yeah, insomnia sucks. I get it quite bad sometimes, I usually stay up far passed midnight during the holidays. Night time isn't that bad, it's quieter, and there's no one around to bother you. The only real problems are when you NEED to go to sleep and when's there's nothing good on TV.

[Bluke4x4]

What? Someone's talking about my game?!? Oh, wait.

Yeah, I had a small case of insomnia on Valentine's Night. Hidden for the feeble-stomached:

Spoiler

It turned out I had too much candy and puked in the sink three times.

[close]

Ugh.

[TheYak]

The advice of not doing anything in bed except stuff that a bed is meant for is something I'd expect from Reader's Digest's psychiatric corner.  I've rarely been able to get to sleep in less than 1/2 an hour.  Often it takes an hour or so.  The main problem seems to be random thoughts or worries.  If I go to bed without any significant worries for the next day and without some new idea having struck, then insomnia seldom strikes.  

I've tried the '...20 minutes..do something..try again..." method.  Usually that comes after I realize there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to sleep.  It usually means I'm going to be up for the next couple hours though.  Due to my lengthy work-shift at late hours (leave at 5pm, get home at 7am), I can't survive (at work) on less than 5-6 hours, otherwise I wouldn't care.  I wholeheartedly agree with the anti-sleeping pills statement.  I tried some non-addictive low-dosage types and they seemed to cut my falling asleep time in half, however, once I stopped taking them, it was twice as bad.  

[shbaz]

The advice of not doing anything in bed except stuff that a bed is meant for is something I'd expect from Reader's Digest's psychiatric corner.

They teach it in seminars and psychology classes at my college too.

I once attempted to be hypnotized.. it didn't end up working, but I got so relaxed that it was as if I had taken some kind of heavy muscle relaxant. My body just succumbed to gravity's pull.

Ever since then I do this to myself before sleep, slowly relaxing each muscle in my body until I can't even feel my limbs. You need to position yourself correctly to do it right, so that no stress is created on anything.

Once you learn to do it well, you can force yourself into a waking sleep, not like what others are describing though. If you get really deep into it you can control weird things like your heartbeat. It's twice as dense as regular sleep when you do it right, so sometimes I use it as a substitute after a heavy night of studying and I don't feel so tired in the morning when I need to get up for class. It's very refreshing and supposed to be good for your body.

Look up info on meditation or self-hypnosis and give it a try, if it doesn't work as well as it does for me, at least you're a little more enlightened on what your body can be capable of.

[remixor]

It's 4:50am right now over here.  I have really horrific sleeping habits.  It's gotten to the point where 3 or 4 nights a week I simply won't sleep at all.  The other days I'll get maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep.