Trouble sleeping, suggestions?

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beckwithemily
beckwithemily Posts: 28
in Fitness and Exercise
I have lots of trouble going to bed every night and only sleep around 4 hours on average. With school and work, it is killing me. I manage my time well and try to get in bed around 10pm, but most nights I am alert and open eyed until about 1, some nights 2am. I get up at 5:30am and need more sleep to be active during the day. Do you know of any tips to get to bed quick?
How many hours do you sleep?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,122 Member
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    I went through a period of about a year where I couldn't sleep more than 5 or 6 hours a night. It was awful. I don't know if it was stress or medications or just the fact I'm getting older and it happens, but here's what I did:

    1. Don't watch TV or read or work on the computer in bed. Make bed be all about sleep.
    2. Get in bed at the same time every day.
    3. Have a wind-down period of about a half hour before bed, turn down the lights, and sounds. Turn off the TV and computer screen.
    You say you can go to sleep but not stay asleep, so maybe the wind down isn't that important.
    4. Drink some SleepyTime tea.
    5. I have to have an absolutely dark room, I bought blackout curtains, and cover my digital alarm clock with a cloth.
    6. I live in a condo, so other people sometimes make noises that can wake me, so I have white noise on all the time (a small fan)
    7. Temperature is really important.

    If you are on any kind of prescription meds, see if they can be adjusted. I also take a Benadryl before bed.
    If you wake up in the middle of the night, get up and go to the bathroom - sometimes that's all it takes to fall back asleep.

    If there is some major stressful event in your life, consider counselling if you aren't able to control the situation.

    Good luck. It sucks. :flowerforyou:
  • PaprikaPrincess
    PaprikaPrincess Posts: 89 Member
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    Melatonin 1.5 mg dual phase helped through a period when I could get to sleep but not stay asleep. Sleepy time tea helped too!
  • rocketpopsicles
    rocketpopsicles Posts: 170
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    I'm lucky to get more then 4 hours on school nights.. I can never seem to keep myself on a good sleep pattern.. I can easily stay up till 6am-7am, and sleep all day... but even if I get up at 6am, I have a hard time going back to bed before 3am that night.. Co-op is going to be hard for me!
  • annfryingpan
    annfryingpan Posts: 6
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    i go through the same thing and had to resort to getting sleeping tablets which help but are not a long term thing so i do not know what i will do after the tablets have finished, i hope you get a solution i could do with one.

    Good luck love xx
  • beckwithemily
    beckwithemily Posts: 28
    Options
    I went through a period of about a year where I couldn't sleep more than 5 or 6 hours a night. It was awful. I don't know if it was stress or medications or just the fact I'm getting older and it happens, but here's what I did:

    1. Don't watch TV or read or work on the computer in bed. Make bed be all about sleep.
    2. Get in bed at the same time every day.
    3. Have a wind-down period of about a half hour before bed, turn down the lights, and sounds. Turn off the TV and computer screen.
    You say you can go to sleep but not stay asleep, so maybe the wind down isn't that important.
    4. Drink some SleepyTime tea.
    5. I have to have an absolutely dark room, I bought blackout curtains, and cover my digital alarm clock with a cloth.
    6. I live in a condo, so other people sometimes make noises that can wake me, so I have white noise on all the time (a small fan)
    7. Temperature is really important.

    If you are on any kind of prescription meds, see if they can be adjusted. I also take a Benadryl before bed.
    If you wake up in the middle of the night, get up and go to the bathroom - sometimes that's all it takes to fall back asleep.

    If there is some major stressful event in your life, consider counselling if you aren't able to control the situation.

    Good luck. It sucks. :flowerforyou:

    Oh my, thank you for the suggestions! I do a lot of things in my bed like homework and surfing the Internet, so maybe I spend too much time in there. Usually I go in my room to avoid my very loud family because I am a tad more laid back. I might purchase a comfy chair as an alternative. Thank you!!
  • beckwithemily
    beckwithemily Posts: 28
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    Has anyone tried zzzquil?
  • chimp517
    chimp517 Posts: 185 Member
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    Melatonin 1.5 mg dual phase helped through a period when I could get to sleep but not stay asleep. Sleepy time tea helped too!

    Melatonin works wonders
  • misskristinanicole
    misskristinanicole Posts: 6 Member
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    i usd to be lon heavy duty sleeping pills because I have really bad insomnia, but I switched to melatonin and it works even better for me than the prescription strength meds. you can buy it at almost any drug store and its fairly inexpensive. melatonin is also naturally produced in your body so it would be better for your body than something like nyquil. good luck!
  • kp82883
    kp82883 Posts: 53 Member
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    My boyfriend has a really hard time going to sleep but Melatonin works wonders for him...we've been out for a few days and he hasnt slept a full night
  • btbs25
    btbs25 Posts: 3 Member
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    I don't know if you pray but that helped me sleep well at night. I would pray right before bed, it could be as few as 10 min to 30 min and it worked wonders for me.

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