Sleep issues
 

I've had sleep issues for the longest time, mainly it's been getting worse and worse.

Lately, I've been having issues just laying on my bed and relaxing. I end up changing sleeping position to make myself feel comfortable or just having far too many thoughts (not negative nor positive) running in my head. Even if I do manage to sleep, when I wake up I feel absolutely restless and it's as if I've never had any sleep at all. That feeling does shrug off after a couple of hours, but personally I shouldn't be having this feeling for such a long period of time.

I usually listen to music whenever I go to sleep, usually ambient or drone. I put it to a volume low enough that it won't interrupt my sleep but I can still hear it, but every time I just lay on my bed I kept seeing things related to the tracks I'm listening to and due to that I couldn't really sleep. It didn't really happen until recently (3 days ago). Turning off my playlist doesn't really help because I mainly use music to get rid of other thoughts out of my head, usually negative or depressive ones (I have bipolar disorder and mild depression), so it would give me worse sleep than I already have.

Main reason why I made this thread is because the effect of my sleep deprivation has been so bad it's been taking a toll on my performance (academic and physically) and my behaviour in general, (I've became more hot-tempered and always been wishing for some time alone) My finals are coming up very soon (2 months) and I really don't want to flunk them due to the fact that I couldn't concentrate because of the lack of something so trivial such as sleep, despite the fact that I've been studying pretty well.

Any advice? I was wondering if anyone has the same issues as I do so that I could have a good night's sleep for once.

Re: Sleep issues
 

fap

Re: Sleep issues
 

masterbate

also if you can find any, melatonin or diphenhydramine, spenner told me about diphen and it works wonders with helping me sleep. doesn't knock you out, like ambien does. only downside is grogginess if you don't get a full night of sleep.

Re: Sleep issues
 

if you work out before bed (aka get yourself really exhausted and tired) and then shower to get rid of all that sweat, you'll fall asleep in bed really easly

so dont browse internet last 3-4 hours, work out & get tired on purpose - you'll fall asleep so much faster and get sw0le too

Re: Sleep issues
 

rotate and or flip your mattress every 1-2 months so that it wears evenly

Re: Sleep issues
 

okay heres a list of possible remedies



smoke weed a couple hours before you go to sleep

Have an alcoholic drink(or drinks) a couple hours before you go to sleep

take 5mg of melatonin before you go to sleep

hit yourself in the head with a brick when you want to go to sleep

stop browsing the computer a couple hours before you want to go to sleep.





any combination of these may or may not prove to be successful.

Re: Sleep issues
 

Get the fuck off your computer, it does god damn wonders. Think you aren't addicted? Go to bed right now

Re: Sleep issues
 

Probably going to find some melatonin soon yeah.

I already do this, it's not really a mattress issue as far as I know haha.

yeah I'm debating on just not using the computer for a while and just to read a book or just take a jog outside late at night or something.

also sleeping at 2pm is probably going to fuck up my sleeping schedule l0l

Thanks for all the advice, really appreciate all of it.

Re: Sleep issues
 

back in my junior year i had sleep issues too but i was really exhausted each day so i took a nap @ 1pm or 2pm for <1 hour and then slept again at 12:30 or 1am after a few hours of non-computer related work & job

being exhausted in a non-artificial way (aka anything not computer related/electronics) is the best way to naturally fall asleep, because your body sleeps when you need to rest

Re: Sleep issues
 

For a second I thought I'd posted this and then forgotten-- these are very similar issues to what I've been facing the past year. I started being unable to sleep for 4+ hours, then not at all, despite being very physically exhausted from the sleep deprivation. My mind felt fried all the time too, going days without decent amounts of sleep. I ended up being prescribed mirtazapine to induce sleep which worked very well but I do not recommend it at all unless absolutely necessary. You will feel zombified, but you'll have some wicked dreams.

Good on ya for listening to ambient music to relax the mind; it really helps to cleanse the racing thoughts that cycle, and especially the ones that connect with negative emotions. Those thoughts usually keep me up the most.

These are two/some of the most useful songs I've helped myself sleep with:



(I don't know if it's in these zip files i once uploaded to mediafire... but I'd download it, tracks by Steve Roach, which are all pretty amazing for sleeping to, except his tribal songs)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/yc.../dankRoach.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/download/wv...%28soft%29.zip

^But yeah if it's not in there, "Darkest Before Dawn" is an mesmerizing track to sleep to. Focusing on the breathing of the track feels like it just lulls you right into sleep, and before doing so you get pulled into this strange hypnogogic state... which is actually the track's intention o_O

Other than music, there's getting into the frame of mind to meditate alongside these songs. If you're turned off by "meditating" then try to just think of it as clearing your mind, putting yourself in a space where the thoughts are still.

This may or may not help you, but look at some of the stuff on this youtube channel, search for topics that relate best to you. Go to bed early and close your eyes and just listen to his words, try to relate it to your own life. Some of the most useful and real advice I've heard has been from these videos. Don't take it in a spiritual way necessarily, take it however it makes sense to you.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Buddhist...&view=0&sort=p

Yeah FYI I'm not telling you to become buddhist lol, I'm not buddhist myself. I just find there's a lot of valuable information in what's spoken through it. This has been validated to me through learning the concepts on my own and later in life realizing that it's a widely recognized way of thinking. Ultimately, it's helped me relax and walk towards sleep with calmness and positivity rather than pessimism, which stops me from any potential rest. For quite awhile I'd fall asleep listening to these videos simply because the positivity was beaming through me, and just felt good to hear the bald dude's calming words.

Lastly for now, droogz to use, melatonin is fine, but take it at lower doses. Cut the 5mg tablets in half; in my experience, 5mg or more will stimulate the mind and will keep you awake longer. Mind you, dreams will be more vivid because the mind is essentially more observant on a subtle level, but it comes at the cost of being aware of your mind at stages close to sleep, keeping you awake. So, lower doses is what I'd recommend for it.

Buy a bottle of generic brand Diphenhydramine/benadryl pills if you're in Canada, take 50mg to help sedate you. Long term, you won't have side effects to worry about. If you're in the States, however, definitely buy generic brand Doxylamine if you can find it. It's under the brand name Unisom, but make sure it reads DOXYLAMINE. Unisom sells a lot of pills that are just diphenhydramine. Dox is objectively the best OTC sedative there is, and it's worked the best for me after being off Mirtazapine.

Weed works for a lot of people. For me, my mind is generally far too stimulated to work properly for good sleep. If you can use the headspace to actively push away all thoughts, then it works well. Depends on you.

Of course, if it gets bad, like it did for me (not sleeping for nearly a week), go to a hospital and park yourself in emerg! It's perfectly okay to go and seek treatment in a time of desperation. Try not to stop yourself by feeling bad about "not being as important as cancer or broken bone" for being at a hospital. It truly is. Worse than a broken fukken bone. But yeah, depending on the specifics of the issue, you might get prescribed a benzodiazepine (unlikely in canada), a nonbenzo like ambien/zopiclone (more likely depending on the issue) or in your case you'd probably be perscribed something like mirtazapine, seroquel, or something antidepressant.

It takes work, and it takes constantly changing mental habits, telling yourself that you can let go, and that there's nothing to worry about etc; all things that help your sleep issues will come in time. Mine have been good consistently for the past while, greatly thanks to the help of doxylamine, and a more positive outlook on life.

Goodluck bud~

Re: Sleep issues
 

why does it always seem like exercise is the answer to these threads

Re: Sleep issues
 

Honestly, reading a book before you go to bed will probably be the best way.

I mean, an actual book. Not some some sort of e-book.

+ a shot of vodka, that shit puts me to sleep like a box full of kittens at an animal shelter.

Re: Sleep issues
 

I found it significantly easier to sleep after I got a new pillow. I didn't specifically ask for a new one, it was kinda just given to me but I felt a lot more relaxed and focused on sleeping instead of adjusting every 15 seconds. If you're finding yourself to be uncomfortable, try getting a better pillow or comforter/sheets.

Re: Sleep issues
 

Definitely this. Books are great because they take your mind off everything and you slowly just can't read anymore/toss it aside and you're out cold. Small amount of 40% hits the spot too.

Don't do more than a shot in the night though, that shit decreases rem sleep which you nEEd

Re: Sleep issues
 

Haven't read all of the whole thread, but the best tips I can give (and that mostly already seem to be given) are:

- do not use the computer later at night; if you're bored, read a book. It will tire your eyes, but not with bright light that is emitted from computer screens. Light tells your brain that it is day and thus not yet time to go to sleep. Reading a book in a room that is lit well enough to read, but not super brightly lit (for example, with only a desktop lamp on) works well. (I used to read a lot in absolute darkness, with only the light of the stars and the moon, but I'm not sure if that actually has effects on your eyes in the long term.)

- I personally am not in favour of getting any sort of medication or such. Melatonin does seem to help really well, but a good alternative are things such as chamomile tea. I think quite a variety of (herbal) tea works in a relaxing way and will thus help out. Warm milk with anise works really well, too.

- Do something physical before sleeping. It doesn't even have to be very exhaustive. A nightwalk can do miracles. Though, if you are dedicated, then running and/or working out works well too. Having tired feet and then diving into bed right after a shower is great. (Also, fap, lol.)

- I'd suggest to not do stuff like weed or alcohol to get to sleep, if you'd do that on a regular basis it's likely to not work as well as before and you don't want to end up getting dependent on that shit.

Re: Sleep issues
 

Playing video games less than 4 hours before sleep messes me up bigtime, I have the same issues as you with overwhelmingly many idle thoughs going out of control normally but I fixed this by watching tv-shows/anime until I fall asleep. Even hen you close your eyes you can still follow what's going on and that'll distract idle thoughts so eficcient that it feels like I never had these issues to begin with, try it.

Re: Sleep issues
 

Unisom sleeptabs. It's an orange/white box. I take 1 1/2 and I go right to sleep.

Re: Sleep issues
 

Melatonin works wonders for me. @_@ I know it's already been mentioned quite a few times, but yeah. It's pretty amazing.

Re: Sleep issues
 

I think this varies between people because i have had many lengthy dreams after big nights of drinking.

Re: Sleep issues
 

lol EzEx, isn't that what everyone has?
keep on thinking, but don't try to think with a voice in your head. listen to your thoughts, don't be the one talking.
also, start drinking coffee in the morning, waking up gets worse with age