Insomnia

[A_B]

Not the movie, not the book (though it is one of the King books that kind of cures temporary insomnia), but the affliction.

I generally have not had much issues sleeping. Sometimes problems falling asleep but usually once I was out I was good. Anyway, since I got COVID this latest time, I haven't slept for shit. Chalked it up to meds, and just general fatigue (sleeping more during day, so harder to sleep at night, etc.). However, it hasn't gone away since I finished the meds. Also thought it might be related to The Woman sleeping another room for two weeks and I'm notoriously bad at falling asleep when she isn't there (I'm just a wittle babbbbby)

I can't get to sleep (tossed and turned for nearly 90 minutes last night before getting up and going to couch) and when I get to sleep I wake up every 45-75 minutes and am awake for differing amounts of time, usually 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Then rinse and repeat.

I've tried indica, I've tried melatonin, i've tried not drinking, i've tried a nightcap, I've tried anxiety meds, I've tried not going to bed until later but nothing seems to be working. It's only been a couple of weeks, so this isn't runing my life, but I am completely gassed by 3 in the afternoon.

I know several swampers are afflicted form time to time and looking for advice on how to break the cycle.

[Sabo]

This article might offer some useful advice.

Sorry to hear this. Insomnia fucking sucks.

[Nonlinear FC]

At the risk of someone making a masturbation joke: What are you doing right before you turn off the lights? My wife struggles with her sleep and this one change that helped her was to put her phone/social media away and read a book. Definitely turn off the TV.

I'm sure you're ahead of me on this, but this subtle change (reading, not scrolling) has helped her a bit.

[DaveInSeattle]

I've been dealing with insomnia for a few years now. My issue is that I can fall asleep ok, but then I wake up multiple times during the night, and some/most of the time I have real issues falling back asleep.

It got so bad for me that my NY resolution last year was working with a sleep therapist. So I found one here locally (although I never met in person...every weekly appointment was online).

What we worked on:

- Rigorous sleep hygiene. She had me stop looking at my phone, or any screens, at 6pm. Even had me give up my kindle and go back to reading "analog" books.
- Made me restrict my time in bed to just sleep, (or sex), and if I laid there for more than 15 minutes without falling asleep, get out of bed and go read on the couch or something (no screens).
- made me stick to a STRICT bed time, and time to wake up. She wanted to break the cycle I was in, so at first I was staying up until 11:15, and setting my alarm for 4. That got eased over time.
- cut way back on drinking. This was pretty easy...I was already doing dry January when I started with her
- being careful about eating big heavy meals later in the evening.
- Careful about caffeine...this was easy for me. I generally have no caffeine after about 10am.
- I kept a sleep log, where I wrote down when I went to bed, when I woke up, how long I was up for, and then when I got out of bed in the morning. Also had me logging when I had dinner, if I had anything to drink, general mood, etc.

I saw her for about 6 months, and things were better. But now it seems like I'm going back into that same pattern, so I may need to go see her again for a "tune up".

[Pruitt IV]

Insomnia is the worst.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and then my brain would take off at 100 mph. Two or three times a week I'd end up on the couch so I could read and listen to ambient music to get me back to sleep. Usually took at least an hour.

But meditation has helped tremendously` and I haven't been on the couch in 3 or 4 months. As dumb as it sounds, when that fails I try counting backwards by threes from 10,000, or run through sports stats in my head. Like trying to remember where every world cup was held, how many Super Bowls have been won be teams in each division, things like that. All while taking deep breaths.

[DaveInSeattle]

Insomnia is the worst.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and then my brain would take off at 100 mph. Two or three times a week I'd end up on the couch so I could read and listen to ambient music to get me back to sleep. Usually took at least an hour.

But meditation has helped tremendously` and I haven't been on the couch in 3 or 4 months. As dumb as it sounds, when that fails I try counting backwards by threes from 10,000, or run through sports stats in my head. Like trying to remember where every world cup was held, how many Super Bowls have been won be teams in each division, things like that. All while taking deep breaths.

I do the "counting backwards" thing as well. Anything to keep my head from spinning out with anxiety/stress/worries. My sleep person had me write down an "anxiety" list about things I was worried about (my kids, my relationship, my job, retirement, the general state of the world) and we would kinda talk things through.

I used to listen to podcasts (Fresh Air/history podcasts/soccer podcasts), that were in the sweet spot of being just interesting enough that I didn't get in my own head, but not interesting enough to keep me awake, but those stopped working.

[MaxWebster]

this is me almost all the time. :/

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and then my brain would take off at 100 mph. Two or three times a week I'd end up on the couch so I could read and listen to ambient music to get me back to sleep. Usually took at least an hour.

A_B i'm sorry man - it's hard and then seems to feedback on itself because you start thinking about it / focusing on *trying* to sleep and then you're fucked.

I've tried a lot of the recipes here and one i've settled on of late is a combination of

- melatonin gummy (only taking 1 although the dosage is 2, and i try to not take it on consecutive nights)
- phone placed on night / family-only settings. only my girls can break through the DND
- absolutely no phone scrolling - Android has a built-in "wellness" settings so reddit/instagram are limited by me to 30 minutes a day anyways.
- get in bed at least 30 minutes before i *want* to go to sleep and always with a book

it's not perfect but it has helped more than not.

and yeah i do get that 3pm holyfuckiamexhausted feeling many days too. :/

EDIT: oh yeah music often just makes me mentally try to figure out the chord changes but 70s space rock is good for sleep. try a Gong live album.

[A_B]

I actually do play songs in my head and try to pick out strumming patterns and whatnot. I also have trouble reading in bed because now that i have to wear readers, I get frustrated because I need more light than I used to as well, so If I read before bed it has to be in a chair with a good lamp.

Hopefully it's just a blip, even if not a very fun one.

[Steve of phpBB]

Like trying to remember where every world cup was held, how many Super Bowls have been won be teams in each division, things like that. All while taking deep breaths.

This. Especially when I had troubling things happening at work. Whenever I woke up I went straight to various mantras in my head.

I can now rattle off every World Series, every President, and every State by location, capital, and alphabetical order.

[govmentchedda]

My main issue is falling asleep. My mind is often racing when I should be winding down. I wear a sleep mask with Bluetooth speakers and generally fall asleep after setting a sleep timer on my podcast app. The episode has to be someone I know, but not a subject that I'm too into. Can't fall asleep to music.

My other issue is getting up to pee. I try to barely open my eyes so that I don't fully wake up. I sometimes set up another podcast episode to get back to sleep.

I find magnesium gummies and indica from a pipe help too. Can't smoke too much though, or else I'm in a fog the next day.

[Nonlinear FC]

I actually do play songs in my head and try to pick out strumming patterns and whatnot. I also have trouble reading in bed because now that i have to wear readers, I get frustrated because I need more light than I used to as well, so If I read before bed it has to be in a chair with a good lamp.

Hopefully it's just a blip, even if not a very fun one.

I know it's contrary to a prior post... But, get a Kindle. It took me a while to get over my love of the feel of a book, but the convenience on a bunch of levels makes it worth it to me.

[DaveInSeattle]

I actually do play songs in my head and try to pick out strumming patterns and whatnot. I also have trouble reading in bed because now that i have to wear readers, I get frustrated because I need more light than I used to as well, so If I read before bed it has to be in a chair with a good lamp.

Hopefully it's just a blip, even if not a very fun one.

I know it's contrary to a prior post... But, get a Kindle. It took me a while to get over my love of the feel of a book, but the convenience on a bunch of levels makes it worth it to me.

But make sure you get one of the "paper white" ones...they do not emit the blue light (like from your phone) that can disrupt sleep.

[Steve of phpBB]

I actually do play songs in my head and try to pick out strumming patterns and whatnot. I also have trouble reading in bed because now that i have to wear readers, I get frustrated because I need more light than I used to as well, so If I read before bed it has to be in a chair with a good lamp.

Hopefully it's just a blip, even if not a very fun one.

I know it's contrary to a prior post... But, get a Kindle. It took me a while to get over my love of the feel of a book, but the convenience on a bunch of levels makes it worth it to me.

But make sure you get one of the "paper white" ones...they do not emit the blue light (like from your phone) that can disrupt sleep.

Does it make a difference if you set your phone to show white text on black background, instead of black text on white? I read from my phone every night using my Kindle App.

[A_B]

Ebooks, even the paper white, still hurt my eyes more than analog.

[DaveInSeattle]

I actually do play songs in my head and try to pick out strumming patterns and whatnot. I also have trouble reading in bed because now that i have to wear readers, I get frustrated because I need more light than I used to as well, so If I read before bed it has to be in a chair with a good lamp.

Hopefully it's just a blip, even if not a very fun one.

I know it's contrary to a prior post... But, get a Kindle. It took me a while to get over my love of the feel of a book, but the convenience on a bunch of levels makes it worth it to me.

But make sure you get one of the "paper white" ones...they do not emit the blue light (like from your phone) that can disrupt sleep.

Does it make a difference if you set your phone to show white text on black background, instead of black text on white? I read from my phone every night using my Kindle App.

I don't think so....I think it's just the nature of the screen itself, not what is being displayed.

[P.D.X.]

Artificial light disrupts circadian rhythms. In theory though the warmer temperature range does this less, which is what your phone “night mode” tries to accomplish.

[tennbengal]

Not the movie, not the book (though it is one of the King books that kind of cures temporary insomnia), but the affliction.

I generally have not had much issues sleeping. Sometimes problems falling asleep but usually once I was out I was good. Anyway, since I got COVID this latest time, I haven't slept for shit. Chalked it up to meds, and just general fatigue (sleeping more during day, so harder to sleep at night, etc.). However, it hasn't gone away since I finished the meds. Also thought it might be related to The Woman sleeping another room for two weeks and I'm notoriously bad at falling asleep when she isn't there (I'm just a wittle babbbbby)

I can't get to sleep (tossed and turned for nearly 90 minutes last night before getting up and going to couch) and when I get to sleep I wake up every 45-75 minutes and am awake for differing amounts of time, usually 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Then rinse and repeat.

I've tried indica, I've tried melatonin, i've tried not drinking, i've tried a nightcap, I've tried anxiety meds, I've tried not going to bed until later but nothing seems to be working. It's only been a couple of weeks, so this isn't runing my life, but I am completely gassed by 3 in the afternoon.

I know several swampers are afflicted form time to time and looking for advice on how to break the cycle.

Not to pry, any chance it is apnea? (asking because of your note about waking up frequently after you have gone to sleep)

[A_B]

Thought about it, but I don't gasp when I wake up and The Woman has never noticed anything other than random snoring from time to time. But if it keeps going I'l have to reconsider.

[The Sybian]

I recently started listening to Spotify's "Deep Sleep" playlist when I can't fall asleep. It's amazingly effective. Stops my mind from thinking about shit, I just focus on the music. It's the perfect mix of relaxing bordering on hypnotizing and terrible, so you can't enjoy it. I tried a bunch of different sleep playlists, this works the best for me. There is another one that says it plays specific sound waves that enhance sleep. It might work, but I caught on to patterns of when the notes change, and started focusing on that, and it kept me from sleeping. It's also not quite music, and it's sound waves that change in rhythm. Probably not a good explanation.

I used to have severe insomnia in college. It'd take me at least an hour to fall asleep, and I'd wake up numerous times throughout the night and take a while to go back to sleep. I'd start counting how many hours of sleep I'd get and that'd stress me out. One day Howard Stern talked about a similar problem, and said his mother told him not to worry about it, as your body is getting rest even if you aren't fully asleep. He said that thought cured his insomnia, and it made a big difference for me, at least I stopped stressing about not falling asleep.

[Nonlinear FC]

We use a noise maker and I know I'm in trouble when I start "picking out the pattern" because when it's a normal, non-insomnia night, that doesn't happen. When that starts to happen, I have to do the counting or better yet start a short-story in my brain that often leads me out of my own thoughts.

I should probably try again with meditation, because 99 percent of the time I can't sleep it's stress-induced. (duh, I know - it's just that it's so sporadic, thankfully.)

[Steve of phpBB]

So, anyone else get woken up at 12:30 by their phone blaring an evacuation order for explosion mitigation?



It turns out this was several miles from my house. But I almost evacuated anyway just from the alarm.

Apparently from a stash of "ancient dynamite".

[rass]

Hope the home owner's insurance covers that?

[HaulCitgo]

Insurance nightmare. I happen to still have a policy handy from my claim... enjoy blowing your repair money fighting that one. Steve dont want it on a contingency.

We do not cover loss to covered property described in Dwelling Protection–Coverage A and Other Structures Protection–Coverage B caused by or consisting of any of the following. However, any ensuing loss to covered property described in Losses We Do Not Cover Under Coverage A, Coverage B And Coverage C under part A not excluded or excepted in this policy is covered.

1. Weather conditions. However, this exclusion only applies if weather conditions contribute in any way with a cause or event excluded in this section to produce a loss;

2. acts or decision, including the failure to act or decide, or any person, group, organization or governmental body;

3. faulty, inadequate or defective:
a) planning, zoning, developing, surveying, siting;
b) designing, specifications, workmanship, repair, construction, renovation, remodeling, grading, compaction;
c) materials used in repair, construction, renovation or remodeling; or
d) maintenance of part or all of any property whether on or off the residence premises.

BUT

We will cover sudden and accidental direct physical loss to the property described in Personal Property Protection–Coverage C, except as limited or excluded in this policy, caused by:

1. Fire or Lightning.
2. Windstorm or Hail.
We do not cover loss to covered property inside a building structure caused by rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust unless the wind or hail first damages the roof or walls and the wind or hail forces rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust through the opening.
3. Explosion.