How do you go to sleep at night?

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  • belt983
    belt983 Posts: 2
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    I took the TV out of the bedroom, it just makes it harder for me to sleep. I bought one of those white noise machines and that helps a lot. I also read for about 15 minutes before I go to sleep and that helps me unwind and forget about the day.

    And this is from a shift worker that has to sleep odd schedules and it works for me.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
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    I am a night owl, up until 1 or 2am usually. Never have any trouble falling asleep. Just lie down and off I go.

    I am like a doll, tip me back and my eyes will close :laugh:
  • moran1917
    moran1917 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    I have bedtime rituals of sorts. On night's that I know I am wound tight and going to have sleeping issues but have to get up anyways I start with a bubble bath that smells like lavendar. I just soak in it, even a cool bath in the summer. I like to deep breath in the tub to try and relax.

    Then I put on fresh pjs. I like to relax watching tv. But nothing important. Just like a one hour drama. I let myself watch one or two shows. Then I go down and get in bed.

    Next I cue up a progressive muscle relaxation on my ipod and do the exercises. Usually this is enough to get me sleeping.

    If that does not work I will take gravol (dramamine in USA), benedryl allegery medicine will also make me sleepy.
  • love2nicks
    love2nicks Posts: 21
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    Just a word of caution about melatonin. It is not meant to be taken long term. Your body will stop producing it by itself and you will become dependant on it. Just a caution. Benadryl has been aproved as a sleep aid. We often give it to patients in the hospital to help them sleep. It is the "pm" ingredient in Tylenol PM and way cheaper to buy it just as a generic benadryl and no extra meds to go along with it. :) That is of course you are like me. Sudafed knocks me out, benadryl and nyquil make me wired.

    It sounds more than anything you need to create a better habbit of going to bed. I like to lay down and watch TV. no technology for me after 9:30 and I"m asleep by 11. My kids are a little older so the Me time aspect isn't as bad, but It wasn't that long ago, so I do remember that need. You will get the "me" time soon enough but the sleep you will get will benefit your body and mood more than the "quiet" time.
  • Blaineyyy
    Blaineyyy Posts: 151
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    I go to sleep when I'm literally about to crash on the desk/where-ever I am. And unfortunately that can range from anywhere from 1am-7am, but either way I'll ALWAYS wake up and stay up at 10am. It's such a pain. -.-
  • SuperCindy185
    SuperCindy185 Posts: 12 Member
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    I never have allowed a TV in the room #1, I listen to soft - instrumental music - no words as that gets the mind going.
    Other ideas is a HOT Bath or Shower to help you relax, do some calming breathing exercises before you go to sleep.

    When I fall of sleep I think of a place that is really cool that and fun to be in and relax, whether that is walking through a field of lollipops and trying the different flavors, or swinging in a hamoc - laying out on a deck of a yaht, floating on a cloud - the futher from real life the better as that will help to remove the thought of the day and relax you.

    When all else fails - I just get up for an hour or so and do something that I really don't want to do, like dishes, going through a closet and eliminating cloths, going through stacks of papers and tossing or filing etc. That usually makes me tired and if that doesn't work I take a 1/2 of Advil PM since sometimes it is the tense muscles that don't want to relax.

    Good luck and here is to dreamy sleep!
    P.S. The quickest way to good health and less stress is sleep - not to mention it really helps in weight loss too.
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    I learned this from a natuopath and it works great for me (when I stick to it!).

    No screens (tv, computer, laptop, phones) 30 minutes prior to bed.
    Take 5 to 10 mg of Melatonin 20 to 30 minutes before bed
    Take a hot bath/shower or meditate before bed
    Read for 15 to 20 minutes

    Turn out the light. If you don't fall asleep within 10 to 15 minutes, then get up and read, meditate or doing something (no screens though) for 15 to 30 minutes and try again.

    Hope you find something that works for you! :flowerforyou:
  • BosLady1
    BosLady1 Posts: 83
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    Oh man.. bed time for my son is def "me" time. I call it mommy time... and look forward to it.. not matter how much I love my son! He is my world and I am a stay at home mommy. My bedtime is also 1am, no matter what. To make that even more interesting.. my body has decided to have insomnia frequently as well as exhaustion. I am a mess most days.. and cannot fix these problems. I feel that I need mommy time to keep me relaxed and normal, yet I need and want more sleep. If I go to bed before 1am I am awake until 1 or later trying to sleep, then I get consumed with thoughts like.. if I go to sleep now, I will get X amt of hours before he wakes up. If I REALLLLY can't sleep I will take melatonin, tylenol or advil pm. I find that with my exhaustion though, I can't wake up the next day :grumble: (as in I'm awake.. but just can't get moving) so I try not to take those things. I got the exhaustion after a 4 month long bout of bronchitis.. ugh.. the dr just keeps telling me "drink more water" ok sure.. I will drink more but I already do at least 8-10 or more glasses a day, and no other fluids. This is my daily routine, and cannot change it... so I'm just working on dealing with it. Good luck everyone :flowerforyou:
  • luvp1nk
    luvp1nk Posts: 24 Member
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    I am so tired by 10 PM that I usually don't have a problem falling asleep. Chasing after the kid, working, and working out tires me out pretty well. On the nights when my mind is racing, I use the Tylenol PM or Melatonin. Melatonin gives me weird(er) dreams, the Tylenol PM makes me groggy in the morning. I would try going to sleep 5 minutes earlier every day until you are getting to bed earlier.
  • AJ_Pete
    AJ_Pete Posts: 863 Member
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    One potato, two potato, three potato..... take melatonin at 8-9pm.
  • ChrisRS87
    ChrisRS87 Posts: 781 Member
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    I used to put on music, just so I can clear my head and pass out. I don't need it anymore though.

    My current problem is my arms twitch. By twich I mean full muscle spasm, which led to a black eye once. I'm afraid to let girls sleep on my arms lol.
  • callhimrodneyafterdave
    callhimrodneyafterdave Posts: 97
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    bump
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
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    I had just managed to dial back my regular bedtime from anywhere between 1 and 3 AM, to before 12 PM (as early as 10:30 PM), when summer decided to finally show up. now it's so hot and humid that I have a hard time falling asleep, and I am back to crashing in the early AM again. It's not doing my energy levels any favours. I have to risk leaving the windows open a bit at night, because the oscillating fan doesn't cut it. The one thing I really miss about my otherwise crappy, basement apartment that I had in Toronto: central air!
  • leester
    leester Posts: 25 Member
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    I work 12 hour shifts at night. I come home, clean up, lay down and am out. I only have so much time to sleep before the kids get home from school. Luckily I fall asleep quick. Sometimes I have to take Nyquil for my cough, I live in a valley and my allergies are terrible.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    i lie down and read. it is my me time and also my unwinding time. i'm usually in bed by 9ish, and i'll read anywhere from an thirty minutes to two hours, depending on how tired i am and how good the book is.
  • pixiechk201
    pixiechk201 Posts: 27 Member
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    I don't eat or workout after 8pm and no caffine after 3pm (it will affect me for hours), and usually stop the housework or other activities by 9:45. I lay in bed and watch Jon Stewart at 10 and relax in the dark and shut everything down by 11:00. God I'm like an old person!
  • DianatheRed
    DianatheRed Posts: 41
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    I am pretty spoiled...we have to have a cool (cold!) bedroom for my hubby to sleep, so I get snuggled deep into the covers. The hubby rubs my back for a while and then we talk. That is OUR time to catch up with each other. We usually get into bed around 10:00 and I drift off to sleep around 11-11:30. That said-I have never been able to sleep through the night. I wake up about 5 or so times. No reason in particular, just find myself awake. But that is an issue I have had since I was a baby, so I am used to it.

    From the research I have done, I would say to make sure your bedroom is nice and cool, no television in the room, dim the lights throughout the house at least an hour before bedtime, have some kind of winding down routine so your mind clues into the fact that it is almost time to sleep, and keep a pen and paper nearby to write down any errant thoughts you have while trying to go sleep. Try that for a week and see if it helps!
  • lorettaasmith
    lorettaasmith Posts: 418 Member
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    I never go to bed before midnight. If I go any earlier, I will wake up and stay awake at some ungodly hour (i.e. 3:00 a.m.). No matter what time I go to bed, even if I have been reading literally all day for work, I read! That's the only way I can shut my brain off!
  • bigdaddycowgill
    bigdaddycowgill Posts: 120 Member
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    I'd love to responses to this too!

    I also do the same, once my son is in bed, it's "me time"..and that is the only me time I get! So, I use it haha

    This, and my son is a Type 1 Diabetic and needs to be tested every 4 hours during the night and sometimes needs injections. My usual routine is to have a couple drinks and doze off in my chair in front of the TV until 1 or 2AM, test my son, go back & resume the TV & doze off again until my wife gets up for work at 5:30, test him again, then get into bed until 7(9 during the summer while the kids are home). I have trouble breathing sometimes when I lay down, so sleeping sitting up helps. I wish I could take something like Benadryl, but I can't afford to sleep through testing my son. The alcohol helps me get to sleep, but not stay asleep for more than a few hours at a time. Very bad habits, I know, but I've been doing pretty much the same thing for 9 years now. I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, anytime(I've fallen asleep within minutes after drinking a double Monster), so I grab short naps whenever I can...
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Working out makes me tired...I do most of my workouts in the early evening. By the time 10:00 rolls around, I am yawning.

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