getting to sleep

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MADBRAND
MADBRAND Posts: 17
in Motivation and Support
So I was curious as to what some of you out there do to help get yourselves relaxed and ready for sleepy time. I myself have a horribly difficult time getting to sleep everynight. For whatever reason I can't shut my mind off, and I just lay in bed wide awake, and sometimes insanely tired. I've tried cutting my caffeine out after lunch, and taking valerian root at night. Those things have helped some. Any good advice would be greatly appreciated.

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  • kodaks
    kodaks Posts: 132 Member
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    I am the exact same way - I sometimes have a hard time falling asleep at all. Occasionally, I have used Unisom on nights that I absolutely need to have a good sleep, but I don't like relying on them.

    Usually, I make myself a TAZO "Calm" tea before I go to bed and it does the trick. I found out that if I have slight noise when trying to sleep, I can fall asleep quicker. I purchased a small fan and keep it on throughout the night.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Meditation. It's insanely frustrating, but daily meditation will help control your racing mind. A word of warning, though, when you first start, it will feel like a waste of time, because your mind will still be racing, and you'll essentially spend the entire time thinking about how your mind is still racing even though you're meditating and it shouldn't be. :laugh: Just keep at it (anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes a day, any time of day) and eventually your mind will quiet down. It may take days, weeks, or months, but it will eventually happen.
  • vaninay
    vaninay Posts: 47
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    Bump
  • laceylou0702
    laceylou0702 Posts: 226 Member
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    Try journaling to get what you need to off of your mind, also I have a pen / paper by my bed so I can write down last minute thoughts if there's something I have to do. I try to read as well. Good luck & I know your pain.
  • bozzalozza
    bozzalozza Posts: 39 Member
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    I bought my hubby a Philips Wake Up Light for Christmas (http://www.philips.co.uk/c/light-therapy/usb-playback-and-dusk-simulation-hf3485_01/prd/) because he struggles with waking up in the middle of the grim UK winters. The surprising thing for me was that I really respond well to the dusk simulator - which is basically the light gently fades over a period of like 15 or 30 mins etc. This really makes me dozy and I ended up going to sleep faster. I think its because the reduction in light encourages your body to naturally produce melatonin, which is the signal to go to sleep. I don't know if you can get it in the US, but they might have similar light based products.
  • bozzalozza
    bozzalozza Posts: 39 Member
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    Also this is an article I found helpful...

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/29/how-to-improve-your-sleep
  • julieh1973
    julieh1973 Posts: 128 Member
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    This is my usual routine (used to have tons of trouble getting to sleep)
    1. Fan
    2. To do list before bed /by the bed
    3. Turn air conditioning down / get house cool
    4. Read a magazine or book
  • Loraah
    Loraah Posts: 111 Member
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    So I was curious as to what some of you out there do to help get yourselves relaxed and ready for sleepy time. I myself have a horribly difficult time getting to sleep everynight. For whatever reason I can't shut my mind off, and I just lay in bed wide awake, and sometimes insanely tired. I've tried cutting my caffeine out after lunch, and taking valerian root at night. Those things have helped some. Any good advice would be greatly appreciated.

    I am the exact same, I've completely cut out caffiene. At bed time my mind seems to be going a million miles and hour. A few days ago I got so tired that I just sat there and cried. I'm hoping you get some good answers here.
  • njmp
    njmp Posts: 277 Member
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    I have a white noise machine, which I got as a result of ringing in my ears. It works wonders both to get to sleep and stay asleep. I find the days I workout first thing in the morning I am much more tired than if I either don't work out or work out later in the day...and, not to be inappropriate, but sex helps.
    Best of luck!
  • marielouisehilton
    marielouisehilton Posts: 42
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    This articles lists some stretches that I have found slow my breathing and my mind before bed. At the least they my other half finds watching me entertaining!

    http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/express/10-minute/stretches-to-help-you-sleep/?page=1

    Agree with the notebook by the bed - if I can relax my brain, rather than thinking about all the things I need to do/remember it really helps, so I fill in my to-do items and then do my stretches...

    Hope these help :o)
  • jaxbeck
    jaxbeck Posts: 537 Member
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    I pop an ambien....or I have a glass of wine :bigsmile:
  • MADBRAND
    MADBRAND Posts: 17
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    You guys rock for helping me out on this. Hopefully atleast something I've read on here will help fall to sleep quick.....well eventually to sleep. A lot of it made good sense. It sounds like I may need to move my workout time to early morning instead of evening hours. I'll see what happens :)
  • diddyh
    diddyh Posts: 131 Member
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    My son has autism and other issues. He was having the most difficult time getting to sleep at night. We finally found out from others that sleeping difficulties were actually pretty common for kids like ours. Many parents recommended melatonin at night. It worked like a charm from the first night. My son doesn't have any side effects other than sleeping at night. He has no difficulty waking up in the morning and has no hangover like you can get with sleeping pills. I was starting to think we were going to have to use sleeping pills and I really didn't want to. He's been taking one melatonin tablet at night for years and it still works.

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