Staying asleep through the whole night can be a problem. When the striking antique clock chorus tells me I've been awake longer than 30 minutes, I get up quietly (don't wake the wife and dogs) and take a non-screen-fed book to the kitchen, dim the lights, have a cup of herbal tea with honey and usually get sleepy again. If not, I guess the day starts early. Being retired helps. I can promise myself a nap later.
i suffer from severe anxiety & insomnia; without meds i will go 4-7 days without sleeping. thanks to remeron, atarax, zanaflex, benadryl, gabapentin, & clonidine, i enjoy about 4 hours sleep a night.
DH using a CPAP helped my sleep tremendously; evidently his 80 stop-starts an hour aren't great to sleep next to. I _hate_ white noise, tho, and it can freaking keep me up depending on circumstances. Which is weird, I know. I've gotten more tolerant since it helps Mr Demi so, but turning off the fan brings such a deep sense of relief
I did the CPAP thing and it helped but TBH, what really makes a difference is Ambien/Zolpederm. I have used it since 1996; every 5 years or so, I try to get off of it but can't - because I have insomnia. I have had insomnia since I was 14 (thank god for CKCK in CA which played comedy albums from 1 to 3 in the mornings). The plus side of my insomnia was the incredibly vivid dreams when I did get to sleep and they were action/adventure - on the down side I once fell asleep during a 1-on-1 conference with my boss. Good times
In years past I found a pint of bourbon shortly before retiring for the evening made it easier to get to sleep. But I got tired of the hangover the next day.
Insomniac - if the usual advice doesn’t work GO TO THE DOCTOR. My husband spent years struggling with this before going and doing a sleep study and getting a CPAP and it has completely changed his life (and our lives together). He sleeps, gets real rest, and is himself again. He decided to learn to play the violin and is doing great! He is himself again! Sleep deprivation will wreck your life and shorten it. Don’t screw around with it.
For the insomnia...don't go to bed, just stay awake. Read a book (not a Kindle Fire!), screw or do a crossword puzzle but do not go to bed. Fall asleep where you are (hopefully a couch or a floor so that you don't fall down when you fall asleep). Eventually, you will retrain yourself to only go to bed when you are tired. Sometimes, people watch TV or read in bed and then 'bed' becomes linked with doing those activities. Your bedroom should be dark and quiet - unless you're playing some ASMR stuff or a documentary.
listening to archeology/geology stuff on youtube (not on auto) often works. I either bury the phone under my pillow or turn the screen's brightness way down low. Mostly the former these days; one of my spawn has a bad habit of stealing it and 2nd graders need their sleep too.
If you start everything with "I", it seems to become all about you. Back in the 70's (anybody remember Marriage Encounter?--what a waste) we were taught to say "I feel", which apparently is more acceptable. To avoid being overwhelming, how about narrowing down the complaints to your top three, and then maybe "I" won't sound so repetitive?
Well, it is not making it about you but more not tying to assign blame to the spouse. Instead of saying “you are doing this!, you are too attached to the Pelaton ” It is “I feel this way about moving and the clutter.” That gives the husband an opportunity to express why he is attached to the pelaton.
I take Udemy courses. I watch them at bedtime. They put me to sleep. And I tell myself that supposedly you retain more info that you take in right before sleepytime.
What else puts me to sleep? Rockstar energy drinks. Don't know why. Monster doesn't. C4 doesn't. Others don't. Rockstar has me napping multiple times a day.
So, energy drinks and school for a good night's sleep.
I happened to find a 20 lb weighted blanket in the clearance section of Bed Bath & Beyond awhile before the chain started to fold. I've seen study results that suggest weighted blankets are associated with an increased melatonin level. I think I've been sleeping a little better since starting to use it. Definitely adjust your room temperature down to mid/upper 60s for warm season use.
Here's the plan. Sell everything we own apart from what will fit on a pallet. sell our house and cars and move to France. Buy a cheap already restored village house in a medieval village near the sea and live out the 10-15 years, 20 if lucky I have left. Selling everything is the thing. Parting with it is easy, it's finding the buyer. Selling it all is hard work.
Staying asleep through the whole night can be a problem. When the striking antique clock chorus tells me I've been awake longer than 30 minutes, I get up quietly (don't wake the wife and dogs) and take a non-screen-fed book to the kitchen, dim the lights, have a cup of herbal tea with honey and usually get sleepy again. If not, I guess the day starts early. Being retired helps. I can promise myself a nap later.
If you take seroquel, or even if you don't, take it at night and break it in half.*
*The ER, or extended release kind. (Longtime brutal insomniac here. I take Melatonin with it. Works for me.)
Sleep monitor app for the win!
i suffer from severe anxiety & insomnia; without meds i will go 4-7 days without sleeping. thanks to remeron, atarax, zanaflex, benadryl, gabapentin, & clonidine, i enjoy about 4 hours sleep a night.
Without Xyzal, a THC gummie, and a couple of melatonin I would get about 5hours/night, taking those I get about 7.
While my case is not as severe as yours, I do know the frustration of, “I just wanting to go back to fucking sleep!!!”
All the best, in solidarity, m.
Yowsa, sorry!
Totally solid advice, way to go.
DH using a CPAP helped my sleep tremendously; evidently his 80 stop-starts an hour aren't great to sleep next to. I _hate_ white noise, tho, and it can freaking keep me up depending on circumstances. Which is weird, I know. I've gotten more tolerant since it helps Mr Demi so, but turning off the fan brings such a deep sense of relief
I did the CPAP thing and it helped but TBH, what really makes a difference is Ambien/Zolpederm. I have used it since 1996; every 5 years or so, I try to get off of it but can't - because I have insomnia. I have had insomnia since I was 14 (thank god for CKCK in CA which played comedy albums from 1 to 3 in the mornings). The plus side of my insomnia was the incredibly vivid dreams when I did get to sleep and they were action/adventure - on the down side I once fell asleep during a 1-on-1 conference with my boss. Good times
In years past I found a pint of bourbon shortly before retiring for the evening made it easier to get to sleep. But I got tired of the hangover the next day.
Insomniac - if the usual advice doesn’t work GO TO THE DOCTOR. My husband spent years struggling with this before going and doing a sleep study and getting a CPAP and it has completely changed his life (and our lives together). He sleeps, gets real rest, and is himself again. He decided to learn to play the violin and is doing great! He is himself again! Sleep deprivation will wreck your life and shorten it. Don’t screw around with it.
For the insomnia...don't go to bed, just stay awake. Read a book (not a Kindle Fire!), screw or do a crossword puzzle but do not go to bed. Fall asleep where you are (hopefully a couch or a floor so that you don't fall down when you fall asleep). Eventually, you will retrain yourself to only go to bed when you are tired. Sometimes, people watch TV or read in bed and then 'bed' becomes linked with doing those activities. Your bedroom should be dark and quiet - unless you're playing some ASMR stuff or a documentary.
listening to archeology/geology stuff on youtube (not on auto) often works. I either bury the phone under my pillow or turn the screen's brightness way down low. Mostly the former these days; one of my spawn has a bad habit of stealing it and 2nd graders need their sleep too.
If you start everything with "I", it seems to become all about you. Back in the 70's (anybody remember Marriage Encounter?--what a waste) we were taught to say "I feel", which apparently is more acceptable. To avoid being overwhelming, how about narrowing down the complaints to your top three, and then maybe "I" won't sound so repetitive?
Well, it is not making it about you but more not tying to assign blame to the spouse. Instead of saying “you are doing this!, you are too attached to the Pelaton ” It is “I feel this way about moving and the clutter.” That gives the husband an opportunity to express why he is attached to the pelaton.
Clearly Sara is asking for an insomnia intervention for her own damn self.
I'm pretty sure both the letter writers are Sara.
I take Udemy courses. I watch them at bedtime. They put me to sleep. And I tell myself that supposedly you retain more info that you take in right before sleepytime.
What else puts me to sleep? Rockstar energy drinks. Don't know why. Monster doesn't. C4 doesn't. Others don't. Rockstar has me napping multiple times a day.
So, energy drinks and school for a good night's sleep.
I'm (supposed to be) watching a Udemy course right now for work, and I have never been sleepier
White noise machines and rooms darkening shades if you need to sleep when the sun is up.
I've had blackout shades in my bedroom since 1974...
I happened to find a 20 lb weighted blanket in the clearance section of Bed Bath & Beyond awhile before the chain started to fold. I've seen study results that suggest weighted blankets are associated with an increased melatonin level. I think I've been sleeping a little better since starting to use it. Definitely adjust your room temperature down to mid/upper 60s for warm season use.
Here's the plan. Sell everything we own apart from what will fit on a pallet. sell our house and cars and move to France. Buy a cheap already restored village house in a medieval village near the sea and live out the 10-15 years, 20 if lucky I have left. Selling everything is the thing. Parting with it is easy, it's finding the buyer. Selling it all is hard work.
I find giving stuff away to be a freeing sort of feeling. If you're not hard up for cash.
It definitely is and will be part of it, but we are actually hard up too. The current mortgage/taxes etc are just too much.