Sleep

Former Member

For the last two weeks, I've been sleeping really badly. I'll go to bed at 10, but then wake up at any time between 3 and 5 in the morning, and then again at around 6ish (my alarm goes off at quarter past 6, which means by the time I've got back to sleep after this time, my alarm wakes me up again). Sometimes I'll wake up at about 12:30 - 1ish as well. It always takes me between 15 minutes to half an hour to get back to sleep again, and as a result of this really disrupted sleep I've been really tired recently (got home yesterday and fell asleep for 2 hours).

My mum says it's stress (exams :eek: ), but my constant tiredness is stressing me out even more, so I kinda wanna get out of the cycle before I die of exhaustion .

What can I do to help me STAY asleep?

Former Member

I'm having the same problem at the moment except its taking me hours to get to sleep as well. Its taking me on average 2-3 hours to get to sleep at night. I have my finals so I'm guessing its down to stress as I don't normally have such a problem. It probably is stress in your case too tbh.

I've resorted to drinking lots of red bull in the day along with taking lots of pro plus (although, I'm not sure if I should be advising this).

Have you tried Kalms?

Former Member

Do something quite before bedtime like reading.

Former Member

The worst thing you can do is go to bed thinking oh no I'm not going to sleep again because that will make you stay awake even longer.

I had about a week of not sleeping well a while ago and it was awful, as long as you have a comfy, cool room it should help a little. I don't really have any advice just hope you get some sleep soon!

Indrid Cold

shadow wrote: »

I know its bloody annoying when you cant sleep once i went to bed about 12.30 and i couldnt bloody sleep,:grump: i kept looking at the clock and every time i looked only one minute had passed,:grump: that really pisses me off.:yes: :grump:

That's not bad. What's bad is what happens to me (only sometimes): every time I look, half an hour has passed. And I've not slept. Sometimes I can't sleep until 2 hours after I've got into bed.

Former Member

Indrid Cold wrote: »

every time I look, half an hour has passed. And I've not slept. Sometimes I can't sleep until 2 hours after I've got into bed.

I get that. I find it really hard to sleep unless I've smoked some weed or I'm drunk.

Former Member

pill 'ed wrote: »

I get that. I find it really hard to sleep unless I've smoked some weed or I'm drunk.

At one point I couldn't sleep unless I had a j, soon as I had a smoke I would sleep like a baby

I have tried calms and some herbal sleeping stuff from Boots which does work but not much better than reading before bedtime.

:thumb:

Former Member

i read a book or put a DVD on my PC when im sitting in bed...they usually send me to sleep. but saying that, i tend to stay up til past midnight most nights before heading to bed...

Former Member

I asked the doctor about this in the "expert chat" on here this week so when the transcript is available you should take a look at it.

Former Member

I was up and down all night, took some decongestant for my cold and everytime I laid my head down snot dribbled out. Disgusting I know, but also a pain in the arse. I'm at work this morning and i'm shattered.

Former Member

Franki wrote: »

For the last two weeks, I've been sleeping really badly. I'll go to bed at 10, but then wake up at any time between 3 and 5 in the morning, and then again at around 6ish (my alarm goes off at quarter past 6, which means by the time I've got back to sleep after this time, my alarm wakes me up again). Sometimes I'll wake up at about 12:30 - 1ish as well. It always takes me between 15 minutes to half an hour to get back to sleep again, and as a result of this really disrupted sleep I've been really tired recently (got home yesterday and fell asleep for 2 hours).

My mum says it's stress (exams :eek: ), but my constant tiredness is stressing me out even more, so I kinda wanna get out of the cycle before I die of exhaustion .

What can I do to help me STAY asleep?

There's nothing as enfuriating as not being able to have a comfortable night's sleep. Do you have lots of things ticking over in your mind? Use the space between the time to go to bed to unwind and tell your brain that it's time to sleep. Maybe a hot bath or hot chocolate? Anything you do to relax really. The brain is a stubborn thing and kinda needs training I find. Good luck with it.

Former Member

Indrid Cold wrote: »

That's not bad. What's bad is what happens to me (only sometimes): every time I look, half an hour has passed. And I've not slept. Sometimes I can't sleep until 2 hours after I've got into bed.

I get this alot as well. I'm fine if I'm on my own (I share a room) and the door is shut.

Former Member

I'm having this problem too at the mo. Although part of it is because i'm so stressed out that the thought of going to sleep=thought of waking up the next morning (if that makes sense!) so i try my best to avoid going to bed. Then when i finally do, i have such a disturbed sleep that i might as well have not bothered.

Former Member

What you need is a good man to tire you out Lacy

Having said that I know what you mean. I'm an insomniac...

Former Member

Ive always had trouble sleeping, but what ive found helps is to have a long windown period. It might be hard depending on what you need to do in the evenings (exam revision etc) but a couple of hours getting gradually quieter and calmer in what you do might help.

Before you attempt to sleep you should make sure you have done everything you need to do for the morning.

From about 8 onwards, you could try making the room your in darker, make sure your not in a place thats too noisy, have your bedroom clear and bed ready to get into, maybe lay down instead of sitting up (if your watching tv or reading), try not to eat, but warm milk and honey can help (or horlicks),

If you talk to someone during this windown period, try not to have a conversation that requires too much thought or effort! I sometimes get into debate like conversations before bed and it makes my mind so active with thoughts that i find it hard to sleep.

You could also try spraying your pillow with lavendar sleep spray, and having a nice relaxing bath just before you get into bed.

Then hopefully your mind will be clear for sleeping and hopefully you wont wake up.

Former Member

You can all have some of my sleep! I'm sleeping for up to 12 hours a night if there's nothing to wake me up

Former Member

I'm not getting more than about two hours in a stretch at the moment, its turning my brain inside out.

As for suggestions, exercise if you can push yourself to do it does help.

Former Member

budda wrote: »

As for suggestions, exercise if you can push yourself to do it does help.

I totally agree with this and what Blah said.

Former Member

The last time I looked at my clock this morning, it was 6am. How shit

Former Member

I slept all night last night :hyper:. Not even sure why though :chin:.

Former Member

woo congrats franki

Former Member

Last night was horrible, had a few tins on the balcony and I fell asleep about 10pm, woke up at 1.40am and couldn't sleep again till 7am. That's me not drinking during the week now, cause it fucks with my sleep patterns so much.

A good idea is to wind down an hour before you go to bed. A nice cup of Horlicks, a read of the paper and mellow music. Don't eat anything cause your body digesting it can keep you awake. Don't revise too late either, cause your brain needs to slowly wind down too.