What do you do when you really need to fall asleep?
- Thread starter Cat
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I used to be a horrible sleeper, but I'm not sure any of my solutions can work for you.
For one thing, I gave up coffee entirely (down from somewhere around 10 cups a day). Nothing with caffeine after 16:00. No sugar after 22:00. Weed and alcohol, but in moderation - too much of either and you might be able to get to sleep more easily, but your sleep quality will be shit.
Last but definitely not least, finding a safe spot to fall asleep. My personal recommendation is "fetal position in my wife's arms, with her boobs in my back" but if you try that one you're going to get punched
For one thing, I gave up coffee entirely (down from somewhere around 10 cups a day). Nothing with caffeine after 16:00. No sugar after 22:00. Weed and alcohol, but in moderation - too much of either and you might be able to get to sleep more easily, but your sleep quality will be shit.
Last but definitely not least, finding a safe spot to fall asleep. My personal recommendation is "fetal position in my wife's arms, with her boobs in my back" but if you try that one you're going to get punched
I absolutely have a problem with abusing caffeine from many 12 hour work days. I'll get withdrawals without it. I should get off it entirely but going cold turkey really makes me sickI used to be a horrible sleeper, but I'm not sure any of my solutions can work for you.
For one thing, I gave up coffee entirely (down from somewhere around 10 cups a day). Nothing with caffeine after 16:00. No sugar after 22:00. Weed and alcohol, but in moderation - too much of either and you might be able to get to sleep more easily, but your sleep quality will be shit.
Last but definitely not least, finding a safe spot to fall asleep. My personal recommendation is "fetal position in my wife's arms, with her boobs in my back" but if you try that one you're going to get punched
I could try it, I never buy drugs from the grocery store so I've got no idea if any of that stuff will help me
Lately, I've been having my echo dot play thunderstorm sounds, and that's starting to work pretty well. It's training my brain that thunderstorm sounds means bed time. Even if I'm stuck on my phone playing a game, if I turn the sounds it, it's not very long before I roll over and go to sleep.
My sleep issues are related to arthritis/chronic pain.
Figuring out that I can’t sleep flat made a huge difference as did and electric blanket.
Figuring out that I can’t sleep flat made a huge difference as did and electric blanket.
Queue the car crash in the storm due to falling asleep behind the wheel
But yeah, finding the "right" type of noise can make a huge change. Some people need something recognizable, others just static, or light music, or droning boring talk,.... Grey noise, white noise, pink noise...
Long-term sleep disruption usually takes a while to fix, but here are some sleep hygiene fixes you should implement right away, as it might take a couple weeks to see results:
- Bed is for sleep only. Don't read in bed, don't watch TV, use your phone, etc. Get your body/brain used to the idea that you are there to sleep.
- Have a bedtime as much as possible. Erratic work shifts can mess this up, but if you have a pretty normal routine, pick a time and go to bed at that time.
- Have a rising time as much as possible. You didn't sleep the whole night and reeeeally want to hit snooze? Get up anyway, push yourself to get out of bed. This is the same as the previous point, you want to get your body to learn when you 'need' the rest, don't let it dictate when your sleep cycle is.
- Try not to drink caffeine after noon or 1PM - the science here is that caffeine's half-life is 5 hours. What this means is if you have a coffee at 7AM, by 12PM, there is still HALF the caffeine from that coffee inside your body, and at 5PM, a quarter of the original amount of caffeine. This is enough of an impact to be disruptive at night if you have caffeine in the afternoon.
- For one hour before bed, do calming things. No loud music, no screens (there's lots out there about 'blue light' but I'd say the concern here is more about constant light and eye strain in general than the 'type'.) Try a bath, a book that isn't about something that gets you worked up (for good or ill), prayer or meditation, whatever you find low-key.
- Try to have a couple regular bedtime routines, like flossing and brushing your teeth, that you do before bed so you cue your body and brain that you're getting ready for this
- While you're getting into a sleep routine, avoid naps, and if you do nap, try to keep them to around 20 minutes or less.
- If you're in bed and can't sleep, get up for a half hour, even if it's two in the morning, and do one of your calming activities in another room. Make some tea, or read for a few minutes. If you start to feel tired, go to bed, otherwise wait the full half hour and then go back to bed. Here the idea is to avoid associating the bed with the stress of sleeplessness.
- Be patient and have mercy on yourself. Don't get mad at yourself for not sleeping, don't get mad if you set some rules and routines and then miss some or all of them a night or two or three in a row. You're practising sleep just like you practise anything. Get back up, start again, make it a little further.
Yeah I would love some beach sounds
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I've been openly mentally ill lol
I already take a painkiller for my back pain and that has been a big improvement for my life
Me too, but I was very resistant to taking any drugs for my depression or my sleep disruptions for a long time, so I always like to include that it is okay to pursue those avenues. People can be biased or fatalistic about these things, and I want to encourage them that help is out there and it can work.
Yeah I was a ritalin kid so I really don't like taking any pills. I have health insurance now so it is an option if I need it
There are apps for phones, too
I have an app that plays thunderstorm sounds and I love it. I don’t use it often, but maybe I should.
The cats love the new bed too so I now have two or three of them with me at all times which helps. They’re very warm and the purring is relaxing.
The cats love the new bed too so I now have two or three of them with me at all times which helps. They’re very warm and the purring is relaxing.
I would totally get a cat if I didn't live alone and work so much
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My little sister has a cat that I refer to as my nephew, love the little bastard
I work from home since covid which is our monster kitten’s whole life. He will not be happy if I return to the office.
I am already magging it up bc I am a drug user lol
I was going to type a bunch of stuff, but @Chad Sexington beat me to most of them. I will add the following:
-White noise (or ocean, or whatever) accomplishes two things. It helps mask surrounding, distracting sounds, and it also supposedly tickles the ancient memory of environmental blood flow in the womb. I don’t know how much stock to put in the second one, but the first one is definitely real.
-If you are having trouble sleeping because of “busy brain,” you can sometimes combat this by playing it against itself through listening to unintelligible background conversation (e.g., restaurant noise, especially if it is in a language you don’t understand) or by unchaining your brain to just follow an unfettered, free-associative random path wherever it might lead, and deliberately NOT allow yourself to linger on nor explore any of the things you come up with. Just keep flitting from idea to idea and not care about any of them, the idea is to keep the stream coming unabated.
Falling asleep is about allowing your brain to stop being deliberate/conscious/focused. There is no way to think your way to sleep because the act of concentrating on anything will work to keep you interested and awake. Far as I’m concerned, stuff like Benadryl (or alcohol) mainly works just because it makes it harder for you to concentrate on stuff. Yes, a sleeping brain is plenty active, but so is a computer that’s defragging a hard drive. It’s not about the amount of activity, it’s about how much of that activity is under your conscious control.
These are anecdotal, of course. I’m no sleep researcher. But I feel like I remember something confirming the random thoughts thing.
—Patrick
-White noise (or ocean, or whatever) accomplishes two things. It helps mask surrounding, distracting sounds, and it also supposedly tickles the ancient memory of environmental blood flow in the womb. I don’t know how much stock to put in the second one, but the first one is definitely real.
-If you are having trouble sleeping because of “busy brain,” you can sometimes combat this by playing it against itself through listening to unintelligible background conversation (e.g., restaurant noise, especially if it is in a language you don’t understand) or by unchaining your brain to just follow an unfettered, free-associative random path wherever it might lead, and deliberately NOT allow yourself to linger on nor explore any of the things you come up with. Just keep flitting from idea to idea and not care about any of them, the idea is to keep the stream coming unabated.
Falling asleep is about allowing your brain to stop being deliberate/conscious/focused. There is no way to think your way to sleep because the act of concentrating on anything will work to keep you interested and awake. Far as I’m concerned, stuff like Benadryl (or alcohol) mainly works just because it makes it harder for you to concentrate on stuff. Yes, a sleeping brain is plenty active, but so is a computer that’s defragging a hard drive. It’s not about the amount of activity, it’s about how much of that activity is under your conscious control.
These are anecdotal, of course. I’m no sleep researcher. But I feel like I remember something confirming the random thoughts thing.
—Patrick
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Oh, that's something else I do..I'll close my eyes and start daydreaming. I'll take a super random thought like "what would I do if I could fly?" and not think about it too hard. Just daydream--kind of like constructing a waking dream. Soon, I'll fall asleep and my subconscious will take it from there (but rarely keeps on the same topic that I tried to kick start it with).
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Lol thx
Oh yeah, I used to meditate and I need to make it a regular part of my life. Clearing my mind is a bitch and sleep doesn't always feel like a reset
You're not really "clearing" your mind in order to sleep, it's more like a shift change. Time for you to stop driving it... just set it to cruise and stop caring about where it goes. You're not choosing where it goes, it's not your turn any more, you're just a spectator. Relinquish control of your meat mech and see what happens when your hands are no longer on the wheel.
--Patrick
--Patrick
Not in bed, though. Remember...gotta train yourself that beds are for sleeping, snuggling, and schtoinking, and not for eating/reading/writing/movies nor anything else that keeps your brain engaged.
...I'm not sure where Halforums fits, there. Probably not as "snuggling," though.
--Patrick
...I'm not sure where Halforums fits, there. Probably not as "snuggling," though.
--Patrick
Some ibuprofen, melatonin, and some rain sounds.
My wife does podcasts or audiobooks. Loud enough to hear but not so loud that of they turn off the silence takes her by surprise. (this has been negotiated down from episodes of star trek or Xena at a normal listening volume)
I've also started using a body pillow to hug at night and keep my leg around it to help keep everything aligned.
My wife does podcasts or audiobooks. Loud enough to hear but not so loud that of they turn off the silence takes her by surprise. (this has been negotiated down from episodes of star trek or Xena at a normal listening volume)
I've also started using a body pillow to hug at night and keep my leg around it to help keep everything aligned.
I was going to suggest Melatonin, as I use that sometimes.
Since that's already been covered, may I suggest a cartoonishly large mallet to hit yourself over the head with?
Since that's already been covered, may I suggest a cartoonishly large mallet to hit yourself over the head with?
I'll plug ASMR here. For some people it works, and for others it doesn't. There are just certain voices and sounds that really help relax me.
Lately I've found "follow my instructions" videos to lead to very quickly getting tired as a combination of the voices and eye movement really brings down my stress.
Linking an example video that is usually a final resort for me when I need to sleep.
Lately I've found "follow my instructions" videos to lead to very quickly getting tired as a combination of the voices and eye movement really brings down my stress.
Linking an example video that is usually a final resort for me when I need to sleep.