Reasons you can't sleep

chuckle_bunny wrote: »

A couple nights ago I couldn't fall asleep because of a tingling itch in my leg. You know the kind that makes you kick like a Rockette. So naturally I went on my phone and started googling the cause of itchy legs. It pointed to liver dysfunction. An hour later I was cracking open a second beer and watching endoscopy procedures on YouTube. Other than that time I usually fall asleep fast. I suggest a mood light, meditation, sound machine and herbal tea.

I kid you not !
I have googles stuff instead of going to the doctors to get the right diagnosis .

ReenieHJ wrote: »

@KosmosKitten You probably have already tried these but what about melatonin and weighted blankets? CBD gummies? My sister also uses an app called Calm.

I have tried and sometimes take melatonin.

Have not tried a weighted blanket, but like to weigh my bed down a bunch with blankets anyway, so I imagine it's similar?

Cannot take CBD gummies or anything related to marijuana paraphernalia. The military has very strict rules and my spouse can actually be punished should it ever become known that there is anything weed related in our home, regardless of its legalization or the fact that numerous people take the non-THC varieties to help with anxiety, pain, etc.

FourWindsWalker wrote: »

KosmosKitten wrote: »

I have diagnosed insomnia related to an anxiety disorder, so any small noises will wake me up, even from "deep" sleep. I also have issues getting my brain to quiet down at night enough to sleep. Any perceived issue I'm thinking about will keep me from sleeping.

Usually, the noises issue from my cats being crazy (they are young) or my husband screaming at a video game downstairs. My son sleeps like a bear in winter once he sleeps, so he's never been a noise issue.

I, too, have similar issues with sleep. An hour of gentle yoga before bed helped. Lately, I have begun taking magnesium an hour before bed. Kicks me in the butt.

Hope sleep finds you soon.

Tell me more, please. How does magnesium help you?

Also, I keep meaning to try yoga, but I get caught up by feeling silly + the fact that I live in a house with other people. I don't feel like fielding questions about why I'm doing something, even if it comes from a place of curiosity, not judgment.

Did you use a program, a class or YT videos to learn?

I have trouble falling asleep sometimes. Usually it's because I've stupidly forgotten or ignored the fact that if I drink coffee past 2 or 3, I'll be wired at night. If I haven't had 10 measuring cups of coffee before 12, I'll be tired all day. My dependence on caffeine for energy is that strong.

Sometimes I get wired if I workout too late in the day, or take a shower. I did all 3 of these things today, hence the time of this post.

Unless I'm really knocked out from a long day of doing something productive that is physically or mentally taxing, I tend to have an overactive mind at night. I tend to go over things I said and did, sometimes second-guessing myself and wondering if I made the right move. This kind of self-doubting behavior is something I'm working on. I have to use self talk to convince myself to be confident in my choices and stand behind them. I also have to convince myself that I will be able to handle the consequences if I blundered.

I'm trying to get my "monkey mind" under control, to a degree. I was doing pretty well with meditation for a long time and I've got to get back to it. It was really good for my sanity. I think that when you can slow down your thoughts and observe them, you have a better chance of being able to choose some thoughts, which gives you something akin to control. Believing in the thoughts you choose is a step beyond.

Unfortunately I can't just tell my mind to shut up. It has to be trained, and the training never ends. So it's 2 am, and I'm focusing my thoughts by writing, and hopefully I'll wear myself out. Now if only I could do this without the blue light.

Noisy cats eating through plastic bags to get at yarn.

A battalion of marines keep blaring Van Halen songs outside of my compound.

stevehenderson776 wrote: »

A battalion of marines keep blaring Van Halen songs outside of my compound.

PANAMA

ythannah wrote: »

Menopause. Blankets off, blankets on, blankets off, blankets on ALL FREAKING NIGHT.

This! ⤴️

cwolfman13 wrote: »

My wife. I'm an early to bed person...usually 9 or 9:30 to read a bit and fall asleep. My wife likes to stay up watching TV and most often will doze off on the couch. She usually wakes up sometime around 1 or 1:30 but still has to do her night time stuff like get the makeup off, contacts out, brush teeth, etc...I keep telling her she should do that when I'm going to bed so she can just crawl in and not wake me up. It's about 50/50 if she wakes me up or not...but I have a really hard time getting back to sleep if she does.

I have no idea what the appeal is of staying up watching TV when you're tired and you know you're going to nod off in about 20 minutes...but that's her thang...

My partner tend to stay up forever, too. And, vn though he does just climbing be ithmehe still waes me up. I ge comes to be early he starts snoring before I manage to fall asleep.

Then there is my cat.He's an awesome,cute cat, but he often cannot make up his mind about if he should sleep in the bedroom or not. And if he wants to get outside he scratches my bed!- Also, if he decides to stay in the room he a) will find a place on my side of the bed that seriously restricts my movement, and b) still want out of the room at 5am.

Sometimes I cannot sleep because my mind is racing with thoughts I have problems switching off, too. Or because I am exited about something the next day, or because I know I will have to get up early and somehow that seems to mean my body decides not to sleep at all, then. .. But those things aren't constants. My cat and my partner are.