Insomnia

davert123

Ahhhhgggggg - its 12:30 and I can't sleep so I get up and pig out. I'm still loosing slowly but I could do a whole lot better if I could get some sleep sometime. I got a lot of stress in life at the moment which is kinda playing on my mind. Anyone got any good tips of how to get some shut eye or how to avoid the fridge if I can't. Please help :-(

guardian419

Drink some sleepy time tea, or some warm milk... something that will comfort you without a lot of calories. If I'm still up at like 2AM a peanut butter and honey sandwhich typically does me in.

KatKatatrophic

Insomnia sucks. I have it too. I listen to music. I fall asleep really fast listening to music, but when I lose my headphones I'm up foreverrr. I use to get someone in my family to lock the fridge, you could try that?

roger9

sleeping pills.

jamiem1102

Have you tried taking Melatonin? Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#In_humans

This is awesome and natural and helps with insomnia. Hopefully this helps.

Good luck!

Living4Liz2012

yeah with working and going to college for the past 4 years I HAVE IT AND IT SUCK:( I went to my doctor, and the sleeping pills HELP:)

aa1440

Have you tried taking Melatonin? Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#In_humans

This is awesome and natural and helps with insomnia. Hopefully this helps.

Good luck!

This is what I use. It helps you relax so you can get some sleep. And, it's all natural.

sufikitkat

sleeping pills.

At some point, your body becomes tolerant to the sleeping pills though and they can have an adverse effect. Medicating is ideally the last resort. Try decaf, sleepy time/herbal tea as said above, try some yoga/meditation, read a book, Turn off the electronics!

Awkward30

I'm an insomniac too. Mine is intermittent though, usually only when I get off my sleep pattern. Ie if I stay up late for a few days, I won't be able to sleep. I have two methods to get back on schedule: the first is to stay up all night or wake up really early so I get past the limit of tired and have to sleep that night, then stay really regular on that schedule. And the second is to use OTC sleeping pills for a night or two and then stay regular on that schedule

sparkie2bfit

I too have struggled with insomnia, I take an over the counter sleep aid and sometimes I make myself an eggnog. I warm milk with a beaten egg into it. I warm this up and either add honey or a small amount of sugar, vanilla and enjoy. I found the protein in the egg helps as does the warm milk. My mom made this for me when I was young and it always helped. I wish you the best as you figure out what works for you, for my stress I journal and get it out of my mind and on paper, it seems to help.

davert123

Thanks for all of the advice so far, its great stuff and I sincerely appreciate you all taking the time to write. I'm going to try some warm milk now. I think I need to lay of the caffeine which is hard. I've also just ordered some melatonin - I've heard of this but didn't know I could just go and buy it so I'll give that a go. I do take medication in the form of a drug called nytol (UK name) which is an anti histamine. This tends to work for a couple of days and then it stops working and I get a drowsy feeling most of the day with it and it can put me in a grump so I'm going to try the natural stuff first. time for my milk :-) Thanks again. going to check back in tomorrow to see if there are any other great tips

seamonkey789

Be careful with the nytol or any of those other. Some of them also have Acetaminophen which can build up and cause problems if you take it too long.

Melatonin never worked for me and I was on the prescription melatonin at one point.

If this is an ongoing problem, see if you can get referred to a sleep clinic for a sleep study and have a sleep neurologist review the results. I had one done a few years ago and in addition to the insomnia, I was waking up several times a night and also had restless legs syndrome.

I know what causes the insomnia and I will probably always be on medication for it. The restless legs was caused by seriously low iron levels

bigpenguin570

Try Melatonin, over the counter herb. Take one 1/2 hour before bed, should do the trick! No hangover feeling in the morning and NOT addictive.

neverstray

I wont take sleep aids either. Here are some small things that help me when I'm in a bad sleep cycle.

-I wash my sheets every night. I try to make my bed as comfy cozy as possible, and nice clean sheets make me feel so good.
-People often forget that waking up is part of the process. I never wear sunglasses in the morning. I read this once and thought it was stupid, but tried it anyway, and I swear it works. I forget why, but something about the sunlight and chemicals in your brain, and wearing sunglasses simulates a darker environment and inhibits the "wake up" chemicals. Sounds silly, but try it.
-Stick to your scheudle. Workout, eat right, go to work or school, and do everything as normal. Don't give in. It will pass. It has to. I tend to stress eat when I'm really tired, especailly if I hot the 2nd week of a really bad cycle, I just want heavy meals, lasagne, and that kind of food, cheese and pasta, pizza, things like that, even fast food, which I never eat.
-If you have the option, the BEST solution for me is to take off a few days from work, and hopefully, I don't have much going on and I can just hang around the house and take naps. A few days of that, and I'll snap back into place pretty fast. However, I usually can't do this.
-Create a sleep routine. Normally, I don't have to do this at all, but in a bad sleep cycle, it does help to shut off the TV, do a few chores, close up the house, wash the dishes, etc, take a shower, and keep things quiet, and get myself into sleep mode. I might read right before bed too to help me sleep.
-Lastly, if you have life issues, take care of them. Make spreadsheets, write out letters, keep a journal, do whatever you have to do to get it out and stop spinning it around in your head over and over. While this is not always my problem, sometimes it is, and I've founf that just hitting it head on will often resolve it.

Hope this helps.

spartangirl79

Melatonin cured my insomnia. It's all natural and no "sleeping pill hangover" or trouble waking up. Take it 1-2 hours before you want to go to bed...

bmpace23

Have you tried taking Melatonin? Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#In_humans

This is awesome and natural and helps with insomnia. Hopefully this helps.

Good luck!

^ Agreed! Worked wonders for me.

thpeek

I too have insomnia too, I get up and work out. I have nice array of gym equipment in my back room right in front of the Big Screen. Before I know it, I have burned some calories, caught up on my favorite DVR'ed show. I take a nice hot bath, my nightly muscle relaxer and SAMe, off to sleepy land I go.

EternalJourney

What I did was get up real early one day and spent it all outside being busy and active, cleaning, generally just tiring myself out. Then I fell asleep at 11:30pm. The next day the same thing but went to sleep at 11 pm. Then the next day 10:30 pm and now 10 pm.

Try it

hopeandlove91

I was having a lot of problems sleeping and my mom recommended I take melitonin (your body naturally produces it, but may not be producing enough). I decided not to take it at the time, but for my mom to recommend it to me I am pretty sure that it is a safe (non addictive) product. She said just make sure you have time for 7-8 hours of sleep.

JBHawaii

Have you tried taking Melatonin? Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#In_humans

This is awesome and natural and helps with insomnia. Hopefully this helps.

Good luck!

Contrasy to conventional wisdom, using melatonin can be a double edged sword. Firstly, melatonin IS a hormone. Ingesting large ammts will ultimately lead to your body producing less on its own. Secondly, the research still isnt really there. Some studies suggest that it helps but others don't and nothing has been done to address the long term effects of this type of therapy.

My suggestion, exercise more a few hrs before bed. Do somethingthat will tire you out like jogging. If that doesn't work then just listen to your body. If falling asleep at 2am is normal then its just normal! Don't fight it, use the time to your advantage... wake up later (if work allows) and eatdinner slightly later too. TYour body will tell you what it wants, dont fight it because others tell you its wrong.

As for the eating, just drink some water and simply DONT EAT! Use a little will power, the more you resist the temptation, the easier it will get.

Good luck!