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Sleeping Problems?
hugo_pt asks: "I have had sleep problems for some years, but it always get worse in the Summer. Yesterday I slept one hour, so when I got home at 8PM I thought I'd sleep till 9AM or so. Wrong. It's 1.36AM, and I can't sleep anymore. Instead, I'm reading The Complete FreeBSD, and the urge to sleep is gone.
I was wondering how many Slashdot readers suffer from this problem, and what they do to combat it ?"
"I was wondering how many Slashdot readers suffer from this problem, and what they do to combat it ?"
Go to work. Repeat as necessary.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
My wife has given birth to two beautiful children in the last three years. We used to like to stay up late and sometimes I couldn't sleep. Now I go to bed at 10:30 PM if I can, and stay there as long as possible. Which is usually until 7 AM when our 2 year old wakes up and wants breakfast!
I never have a problem sleeping.
Q. What is Calvin's monster snowman called? A. The Torment Of Existence Weighed Against The Horror of Non Being
Currently, I'm cutting back, and have been on a 2 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon ration. Bit by bit, I'm going to get off it completely. Of course, when work gets busy, I'm sure I'll get back on it.
>> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"
Most Slashdotters probably don't notice how much caffeine they consume during a regular day - and there's even a whole bunch that think, "It has no effect on me whatsoever!"
But, it realy does. On days I'm not feeling well or have sleeping issues, I simply cut my caffeine intake for the next two or three days and my body usually cycles back to normal.
It IS possible to be "over-tired". Try doing something quiet with the lights low, like reading a light book in bed, or talking to a friend on the phone with the lights off. It may take a while, but you'll usually doze off.
I'd say insomnia is pretty well known. Did it occur to you that you are suffering from some form of it? Check it here.
And now, for a sig that's a complete copout.
There should be a ton of resources all over the web about this. First, don't stay in bed or do other activities in bed other than sleep. Your body needs to know that when you are in bed you are there to sleep. Cut back on the chocolate, sweets, coffee, etc, specially late at night. Drink some warm milk before you get to bed. Do different things before you go to bed and see which one actually makes you sleep then try to get that in a routine before going to bed. Exercise!
Useless sig.
Which is why I don't play the lottery or visit Las Vegas - I've used up my share of luck.
>> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"
1. Halt all caffeine intake. Caffeine stays in your system a long time and interferes with natural sleep signals.
2. Stop watching TV or other "bright" displays a few hours before you wish to sleep. I forget the name of the brain chemical (and I don't feel like looking it up), but bright light (sunlight esp., computer monitors, TVs, etc.) cause the brain to generate "wake up" chemicals. Instead, try reading print material if you need intellectual stimulation in the evening.
3. Go to bed when you first feel drowsy. I have a window between 9 and 10pm where I get drowsy. If I don't go to bed then, I'll magically refresh and then stay up until 2+am.
4. Get a regular schedule. Don't nap. Get up at the same (early) time each day, and go to bed at the same time each night. Ideally, try to align your schedule with the sun. It will help.
Good luck.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
1. play sports
2. drink only on week ends (yeah drinking just a bit makes it harder to get a restful night)
3. I have sex (regularly)
4. I never have any cafeine after 3 in the afternoon.
5. try to keep my bed/eating time the same throughout the week (means week end too)
YMMV
You may not want to do this every night (it can get a little unexciting after a while), but 1-2 hours of sex definitely helps.
.sigs are for post^Hers.
I agree with the glass of wine or beer suggestion, but don't take it as license to go nuts. From what I remember from class, alcohol inhibits the body's ability to enter the more important phases of the sleep cycle. Sleep apneas are also more prevalent. Sort of explains why you feel tired after sleeping till 2 on Saturday after going out and drinking the night before.
I like white noise, I have a aquarium bubbling in my room, a computer that is always on, 4 pet rats that scurry around at night and now wiht the heat, I have a 20 inch fan that is in use during the night. I find the whitenoise helps me sleep. When my computer was in for repairs I couldn't get any sleep at all, every little noise woke up up and it did't feel normal.
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Support Indy Music. Buy
Works like a champ . . . ::yawn:: ;>
I find that after I get on a regular exersize regimine, I acually sleep a little less, but I am more rested because I sleep harder.
I've dealt with sleeping problems in the past, and have made some adjustments to deal with them.
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First, I don't drink caffeine after 5:00 PM. Second, I exercise regularly. Third, meditation of some form usually helps. Fourth, when all else fails, there's Benadryl. And finally, you can always try reading documents from www.dot.gov
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
Why should your body rest itself when it hasn't been worked? At the very least you can run around the block once or twice an hour before your bedtime.
A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
Sleep disorders can be a symptom of medical problem. And lack of sleep can lead to them. Don't be a dork. Go to the doctor. The doctor will likely perscribe you some anti-anxiety medication or sleeping pills.
Asking medical advice from these folks is silly.
When will Windows be ready for the desktop?
John Kerry is scheduled to speak for 55 minutes tonight.
Your sleep problems are solved.
but it may be worth trying.
Years ago, I had an extended bout with insomnia, and the only thing that cured it was a career change.
Often, sleep loss coincides with stress, and that typically is job related. Even going on vacation doesn't tend to help due to the fact that you still think about work (at least in the sub-conscious.)
At the time, I was sleeping maybe 3-4 hours a night, and I had no idea what was causing it. On the advice of a professional, I tried another industry, and found that my sleep pattern improved almost over-night (no pun intended.)
I just went to the Dr a couple of weeks ago for this very problem. Turns out, my insomnia was being caused by a very serious medical problem. A medical problem that I didn't know about, and would have likely killed me (eventually) had it not been discovered.
So my advice is, go see your Dr.
I find that it's much easier for me to get to sleep if I do some light reading for a few minutes immediately before turning off the lights. This helps me wind-down and distract my mind from the events of the day. A couple pages of a book or magazine (not work related!) is all that's necessary.
First move is exercising. Do some. If you're working insane hours (12+) at work then you'll likely have no problems sleeping, simply through exhaustion. Otherwise exercise will use up some energy so that you don't feel twitchy.
I know people say "don't exercise after 8pm/10pm/whatever", but it's not a big deal. It may take you an hour or so to stretch, shower, chill out, etc after you've been running, but you'll sleep much better after that. Being a little later to bed is no big deal if you get a better quality of sleep.
Second move is to be relaxed before you go to bed. Do something that doesn't take serious mental effort. Play a game, play a musical instrument, read, whatever. *Don't* spend hours hacking immediately before bed, otherwise your brain will still be racing.
And if you can't sleep, get up and do one of the above for a bit until you *do* feel sleepy. Sometimes all your body needs is a change of scene - go to the bathroom, have a drink of water, and your body will get into "sleep mode".
Grab.
- There are some medical - i.e. conditions other than insomnia - that can cause sleeplessness. If this is a new thing, you might ask your doctor although he's unlikely to be very interested.
- Are you depressed? (Doesn't sound like.)
- I find that often my schedule just gets out of wack. In such cases, I find that melatonin - available over the counter as a "diet suppliment" helps most. Melatonin is allegedly the compound your body makes at night and is why you tend to get sleepy at night - don't know if this is true or supplement "hype". However, it is as effective for me as prescription sleeping pills, but without some of the side effects. It DOES, however, have other side effects, particularly if you're hypertensive or have an Autoimmune problem. Read up first.
- There are several kinds of sleeping pills available. The most common is diphenhydramine, i.e. benadryl. Available over the counter, don't take a big dose because a big dose can make you hyper. Doxylamine Succinate is also readily available otc, works much better for me than benadryl. It is usually found under the brand name "unisom", but not everything with a unisom label is doxylamine succinate. Buyer beware! Last, the doctor has many, many options, ranging from valium-like drugs (ambien, ativan, etc.) to anti-depressants (Remoron, one other whose name escapes), to blood pressure meds (clonidine.) However, I find that Doctors tend to be cavalier about side effects, so would try prescription meds last.
- Most of all, exercise will help, especially first thing in the morning. It helps set your cycle.
- "Sleep Hygiene" is important as well. When you go to bed, don't read: go to sleep. (If you're hitched, have sex - this is also a good sleep aid.) Don't do anything in bed but sleep and have sex. Put the clock where you can't see it - looking at the clock just gets you worried and keeps you up. Go to sleep at the same time every night, get up at the same time every day.
That's all that comes to mind."He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
1) Now if you don't exercise. Start. If you eat like crap, work you way out of it. Hey, I still eat bad at times, but little changes make a big difference. For example, I do not ever have pepperoni on my pizza anymore.
2) Reduce caffeine. Tough, but it make a difference, it takes time to wean off.
3) Visit your doctor. Blood work will find any problems.
Fear Is the Only God
If you are taking 3 or 4 beer a night to sleep, you have a health problem. You could be an alcoholic, or just an insomniac. One beer before trying to sleep is too many.
I just got back from an overnight sleep test at the Stanford Sleep Clinic.
There's a lot of misunderstandings about sleep. Many "pop" books regarding sleep, and a number of physicians, have plenty of misconceptions about sleep and sleep problems.
I highly recommend the book The Promise of Sleep . It's written by Dr. Dement, one of the foremost sleep researchers. It helped me understand healthy sleep and sleep disorders, and lead to my discovery that I have a potentially life-threatening sleep disorder (which has just been diagnosed, and I'm about to begin treatment).
Sleep problems can lead to lots of problems in your physical and mental well-being. In my case, over the last several months, my productivity at work is shot. I can't concentrate on my code. I also don't have the energy to go out and have fun with my friends like I used to.
It's also difficult to recognize the results of sleep problems as such. You might not feel tired, even when your body is desperately needing more restful sleep-- but it still interferes with your daytime activities. You might think that they're related to other problems. I thought that my problems were the result of problems with diet, exercise, etc. In my case, these were contributing factors, but the sleep thing seems to be the biggest cause.
I highly recommend you-- and anybody else who has the slightest inkling that they may not be sleeping as well as they could-- read Dr. Dement's book.
Above all else, trust your own body. If you aren't feeling healthy, you aren't healthy.
I focus on the "90% fruits and veggies" part of your post because if I had to guess, this is the source of your problems. Depending on the fruits and veggies you are eating, this can leave you short of fat (good kinds) and protein (all kinds!). In fact, unless you have studied vegetarion dieting carefully it is almost certain that you are short. You need large enough quantities of fat and protein that you can't take them in pill form. (Protien supplements exist, but they are mostly targetted at body builders, and that is probably right.)
Now, personally, I find none of the reasons for vegetarianism compelling, so I say, go ahead and eat meat. Just try to eat it as unprocessed as possible, which is good advice for nearly all food. You may want to pay extra for organic. We've been eating it for millions of years, and many meats (including fish, seafood, and other such things) have a lot of good stuff in them that is difficult or impossible to get through fruits and veggies.
If you want to stay vegetarian, you must educate yourself on how to do it. There are a lot of resources, but as you may expect I can't recommend any
AFAICS, there are two things that are universally agreed on by nutritionists:
- Vegetables, esp. green leafy ones, are good for you.
- There is room in a healthy diet for all the food groups, and nobody (without an ideological agenda) supports removing fruits, veggies, and all meats (some would remove red meat, but I know of no serious nutritionist who wouldn't want you to eat fish).
Beyond that, the controversy still rages because nutrition isn't really a science right now (links to my defense of that statement, see third or fourth header); stay sharp, make sure you are getting all of your nutrients, proteins, fats (good ones, at least, probably), and other vital building blocks. The more you restrict your diet a priori ("only fruits and veggies", "low carbs", etc.), the harder that is to do. (Of course, unrestricted diets are only easy in theory, in practice we seem to do a bad job on average.)(I would be happy to hear from you if this helps.)
Be VERY careful not to take an over-the-counter medication like this on any long-term basis (longer than 2-3 days straight) as a "solution" to your sleeping problems. These medications are harsh on your liver and kidneys and are not meant to be taken for longer than a few days, max. If you take them every day over a long period you can permanently screw yourself up.
Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
Try drinking a few glasses of plain water during the day. I've found that doing this greatly helps me during the day in terms of fatigue and just feeling better.
Damien
Several people have posted about caffeine, I'll add to that. I didn't think I had a problem with it either, never drank coffee, but did drink soda during the day and I like my chocolate. I decided to eliminate it due to some odd headaches I seemed to have whenever I didn't have any caffiene for a while. The headaches were horrible for about 3 days and I went from 5-6 hours of uneasy sleep to about 11-12 hours of dead-to-the-world deep sleep for several weeks. After that I eased into a normal, restful 7-8 hours a night and the headaches were gone unless I happend to drink a soda with caffeine. The slightest amount brought the headaches back, so I finally just gave it up for good. After months of avoiding it, I can now drink the occasional caffeine drink without any problems. So, even if you don't think you have a problem, clean out your system and you may be in for a surprise (and lots of quality sleep).
Running to your doctor before doing obvious Life 101 things like...
... before running to your mommy ^H^H^H^H doctor/drugpusher.
1) Exercise daily
2) Eat right
3) Avoid a constant stream of chemcial stimulant
4) Reduce TV
is so typical... and stupid.
Insomnia wasn't my particular problem, but I had another serious circadium rhythm problem. THE solution for me was to take a 5-10 minute walk immediately (givertake a few minutes) upon awakening.
Boy howdy, did that fix me.
It helps to look at the sky. There are thingies in our eyes that respond to sunlight by reducing melatonin -- and getting your melatonin levels reduced in the morning 1) wakes you up, 2) gets your body's rhythm ready primed to go back to sleep in about 16 hours.
Deep rhymthic breathing while walking does WAY more than coffee.
If you're not doing the Life 101 things mentioned above, I hope you will start
Start biking after work every other day or so, even visit the gym twice a week. It is amazing how much better you end up feeling the whole week (and how much easier it is to fall asleep). If you still have issues, then buy a bottle of melatonin. You can find it in practically any grocery store by the vitamins or just go to wal-mart. Get a bottle that has lower doses per tablet. This way you can take 4 around 9pm and you'll be out by 11pm at the latest. Or if you're still wide awake around 1am and need to get to sleep, then pop 1 to knock yourself out and not be extra tired in the morning.
I've been taking melatonin off and on since college and it works very well. And it's all natural and non-addictive, blah, blah, blah...
-my other sig is your mom