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Sleeping Problems

cycloneworld

cycloneworld

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Mar 20, 2006
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Urbandale, IA
I've always been a "once my head hits the pillow, I'm out for 7-8 hours" guy...until a week ago. Last week, I tossed and turned from about 10:30pm to 2:00am without being able to fall asleep. This has repeated every night since (Friday and Saturday shouldn't count though since I was on a bachelor party and used booze to help me sleep) and last night it lasted until about 3:30am. So going from a solid 8-hr sleeper to half of that has been pretty terrible on my system. I tried using Tylenol PM but it didn't help and left me super-groggy the next day.

The only thing I that has really changed was I was in Hawaii for 9 days, getting back last Wednesday but I can't imagine jet lag would last this long.

Now its in my head and I'm anxious trying to go to sleep which isn't helping things. Anyone else have sleeping issues? Tips for getting to sleep? Should I see a doctor?
 
I would give it a few more days before going to a Doctor.

Try these few things:

1. Don't eat late in the evening
2. Don't drink alcohol right before bed.
3. Get some exercise/fresh air each day.
4. Don't just lay there and think about how you can't sleep. Read a book or watch a movie to take your mind off it until you get tired.
 
I am the same way and haven't been sleeping as well the past few weeks. To be quite honest, I just have been blaming it on the heat. I haven't been getting outside as much because of it and am starting to go a little stir crazy. The same thing happens in the winter for me, but not near as bad because I am able to sleep better in the cold.
 
mj4cy said:
I would give it a few more days before going to a Doctor.

Try these few things:

1. Don't eat late in the evening
2. Don't drink alcohol right before bed.
3. Get some exercise/fresh air each day.
4. Don't just lay there and think about how you can't sleep. Read a book or watch a movie to take your mind off it until you get tired.
Click to expand...

Good tips, thanks. I've tried most of these with no avail...at first I thought it was caffeine related so I haven't drank coffee/tea in the afternoons like I normally would. I haven't had a drink this week. Maybe I'll try the exercise option today. As for #4...my guess is that's my biggest problem. Once it gets in your head, its very hard to shake.

Even though I'm dead tired after work, I have avoided taking a nap so that hopefully I'm tired at bedtime. Well, I'm tired but still can't fall asleep. Last night I was so tired getting into bed but once I did, I could feel myself become anxious which only made things worse.
 
It very well could be affected by your trip to Hawaii. Your internal clock may have already adjusted to the time change, but from personal experience sleep patterns take longer to adjust. For instance, moving from Davenport to Detroit has reaked havoc on my sleep patterns, even though I only moved 450 miles and one time zone east (and no, it has nothing to do with with fear-induced insomnia due to fright of being mugged or murdered). What it does have to do with is I used to live on the eastern side of the Central time zone, and now I live on the western side of the Eastern time zone, and because of that it doesn't get dark until 9:30-10:00 around here, and even with heavy curtains on the windows it messed with my sleep pattern. 3 weeks later I've finally adjusted and I'm sleeping better.
 
Happened to me too, mainly centered around the time that I was going through custody stuff with my boy, but it's hung with me now and then since.

Definitely no on the alcohol and naps.

My best advice would be to turn the clocks away from you. Best thing I ever did. There is a huge psychological difference between sleeping 4 hours and knowing that you only slept 4 hours. You can function on a lot less sleep than you think you can, and doing this removed a huge part of the psychological factor for me.

Next best advice- try meditation. That did a lot for me in helping me learn how to clear my mind. Even if I don't sleep, by doing this, my mind relaxes and basically shuts down as if I were.

Hope that helps!
 
mj4cy said:
I would give it a few more days before going to a Doctor.

Try these few things:

1. Don't eat late in the evening
2. Don't drink alcohol right before bed.
3. Get some exercise/fresh air each day.
4. Don't just lay there and think about how you can't sleep. Read a book or watch a movie to take your mind off it until you get tired.
Click to expand...

If none of these works and you go to your doctor, try to get Lunesta(sp?). My wife had a terrible time sleeping and tried a few different drugs but they all gave her a hangover the next day. After she got this stuff... well, we're both a lot happier.
 
jdoggivjc said:
It very well could be affected by your trip to Hawaii. Your internal clock may have already adjusted to the time change, but from personal experience sleep patterns take longer to adjust. For instance, moving from Davenport to Detroit has reaked havoc on my sleep patterns, even though I only moved 450 miles and one time zone east (and no, it has nothing to do with with fear-induced insomnia due to fright of being mugged or murdered). What it does have to do with is I used to live on the eastern side of the Central time zone, and now I live on the western side of the Eastern time zone, and because of that it doesn't get dark until 9:30-10:00 around here, and even with heavy curtains on the windows it messed with my sleep pattern. 3 weeks later I've finally adjusted and I'm sleeping better.
Click to expand...

Great advice. I moved from Iowa to Indiana 5 years ago and didn't think the hour difference & longer days would matter but it messed me up for a couple of months. That and the 10PM news starting at 11PM. :smile:
 
I've also been reading about how looking at a computer screen within 2 or 3 hours of bedtime can mess you up.

There's supposedly some sort of connection to the type of back lighting on the screen and your mind's perception of daylight. Once you turn off the screen it may take a while for your mind to deprogram that light source and allow you to go to sleep.

I know I have and had sleep issues. Usually it seemed like it was if there was some potentially stressful situation in my life or at work that would do it. I have tried (not always successfully) to off the computer at least an hour before I hit the hay and I seem to notice improvements.

I still have nights where I just lay there and all kinds of stuff goes through my mind all night until I get up and read or something...
 
cycloneworld said:
I've always been a "once my head hits the pillow, I'm out for 7-8 hours" guy...until a week ago. Last week, I tossed and turned from about 10:30pm to 2:00am without being able to fall asleep. This has repeated every night since (Friday and Saturday shouldn't count though since I was on a bachelor party and used booze to help me sleep) and last night it lasted until about 3:30am. So going from a solid 8-hr sleeper to half of that has been pretty terrible on my system. I tried using Tylenol PM but it didn't help and left me super-groggy the next day.

The only thing I that has really changed was I was in Hawaii for 9 days, getting back last Wednesday but I can't imagine jet lag would last this long.

Now its in my head and I'm anxious trying to go to sleep which isn't helping things. Anyone else have sleeping issues? Tips for getting to sleep? Should I see a doctor?
Click to expand...


I travel half way across the world many times a year. On average, it takes about one day for every hour time change to readjust. Adjusting from Jakarta, Indonesia or Australia, for example, takes as long as two weeks. It may take your body longer than average, and the odd hours of the bachelor party couldn't help. It is also harder to travel East than West which you did. Don't take any naps, force yourself to stay awake. I also wouldn't take any products to "help". Hopefully the knowledge that this is quite normal will help relieve your anxiety as you toss and turn. Unless something else significant in your life has changed, I'm sure this will pass quickly.
 
Last edited:
1.) Get a new job - that is less stressful.
2.) Have sex before you try to go to sleep.
3.) Or try 2 before 1.
 
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I am a chronic insomniac and have been to both Mayo and EIU for help. If your problem continues, try the supplement melatonin. It has helped me more than anything short of prescription sleep aids, which leave me groggy and depressed the next day.You can get it at any super market or drug store on the vitamin/supplement counter. Have taken it for years with no ill effects.
 
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I used to have sleeping issues all throughout high school up to about the age of 30. Through experimentation, I found out mine was due to caffeine and television. Had to stop drinking caffeine after dinner and couldn't watch TV in bed. Started doing Sudoku and Kakuro number puzzles when I got to bed and haven't had an issue since. I've also heard of people doing word finds and crossword puzzles.
 
I had an issue for a while, probably due to stress. Best thing I found was a hard workout sometime in the morning or afternoon, but definitely not in the evening. Working out too close to sleep time only makes the matter worse.
 
I wake up at about 3:00 am almost every night (morning I guess). I attribute it to my middle daughter, who, from infancy until about 4 yrs, would thrash around enough to uncover herself, then cry because she got cold right around that time. It sucks if I have lots of crap going on at work, because I'll lay there thinking about that stuff. Or if the radio is still on, as "Coast to Coast" is on then, and there's always some bizarre storyline.

What I often do, is tell myself that even though I'm not sleeping, I'm still getting rest. This seems to ease my mind enough that I'll fall back asleep. When I've got work or other pressures going on, I'll think a prayer about it, which will helps calm me also (not that I'm a preacher or anything).
 
This must be going around as this past week I've struggled to sleep. I do usually fall asleep, but frequently wake up throughout the night. Last night was the worst as I was uncomfortable most of the night.
 
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