Insomnia; the brains way of showing the body who's boss

[big fella]

This is bloody ridiculous. Why is it that just when my body is crying out for sleep, my brain decides it is time to be wide awake and alert? I've battled this crap since I was about 15. I'm 32 now and I've tried it all. Pills will put me into a shallow sleep that lasts for 2 or 3 hours, then wake up again.

You know you're a lost cause when counting Sheep reminds you of your childhood watching "the count" on Sesame Street counting sheep, only to have your train of thought extend to 3 or 4 different areas at once; How long has Sesame Street been going? Does anyone know about Mr. Snuffelophogous other than Big Bird? If you were actually counting a flock of sheep, how could you mark them effectively so you don't count them twice, but not destroy their wool by painting a patch on their back? Who was the brain surgeon that came up with couting Sheep as a method for inducing sleep?

I'm off to try again, I might count components in a Clevo, or design a new transmission instead of counting sheep. There's no guarantee that my thoughts won't slide to the seedier, not quite right side about the little girl from "The Nanny", who is now the little slut from "Californication".

[Jeeepers]

Listen to some Mantovani, try see genius in it. And you should be off to lala land in no time... LOL But yeah.... Insomnia is a biarch......

[Fantome]

I too suffer from insomnia at times. One of the tricks I use is to watch a DVD/video in bed. It must be a show that you have seen heaps of times but still enjoy and because you know the storyline you seem to drift into dreamland pretty quickly. Hope it helps.

[DoreSlamR]

Originally Posted by Fantome

I too suffer from insomnia at times. One of the tricks I use is to watch a DVD/video in bed. It must be a show that you have seen heaps of times but still enjoy and because you know the storyline you seem to drift into dreamland pretty quickly. Hope it helps.

thats a trick i do too, i usually stick on a favourite comedy like dumb and dumber, ace ventura, faulty towers or some monty python... why comedy? happy sleep is good sleep

works a treat

[Nostalgia]

Insomnia has ruled me for too long also. I hope someone on here has a fair dinkum answer for it.

[Outbackjack]

Insomnia is the bain of my life.... I only ever sleep 4 hours at a time and then I am wide awake again.

[Werd.]

Originally Posted by Outbackjack

Insomnia is the bain of my life.... I only ever sleep 4 hours at a time and then I am wide awake again.

If i sleep more than 5 hours I'm hell tired when i wake up...

[steevo d]

i knew how you felt when i quit the ciggies.
Zyban had a bad *** side effect of you fall asleep about
9:30, 10:00, the wake up about 1:30 with tinnitus screaming in both ears & being wide awake for hours. at first i'm sure i spent at least 2 weeks where i didn't go back into a deep sleep after 1:30

[paule11]

I used to have problems with Insomnia im still a light sleeper at times but if you get into meditation taichi qi gong type exercises you will sleep a lot better

[SpoolMan]

Some of you may have sleep apnoea, your think your asleep but you really not, I once went for an over night assessment at the sleep apnoea unit at Austin Hospital my body was waking up every 40 seconds and I didn’t know it.
I thought I was sleeping this is why I would wake up with headaches and still feeling tired.
Sleep apnoea is common in over weight middle aged men.

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

Some of you may have sleep apnoea, your think your asleep but you really not, I once went for an over night assessment at the sleep apnoea unit at Austin Hospital my body was waking up every 40 seconds and I didn’t know it.
I thought I was sleeping this is why I would wake up with headaches and still feeling tired.
Sleep apnoea is common in over weight middle aged men.

From the sound of that it may also affect 32 year old men who weigh 52 kg.

[MITCHAY]

Have a bit of beer. Always sorts me out pretty good ;)

[Fev]

unless you got insomnia from drugs, go buy a tenna, have a joint.. it will send you right to sleep

*disclaimer: I do not endorse drugs, i am just quoting from visual experience*

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Have a bit of beer. Always sorts me out pretty good ;)

The ol amber fluid does nothing to help me sleep.

[steevo d]

mightn't help me sleep but it apparently helps me snore.....

[Fev]

yeah beer makes me snore.. atleast my gf doesnt leave the room when i do though.. somehow she puts up with it, even when i punch her in mysleep or kick her, talk, fart or burp on her.. she's a good lass

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by EAadam

The ol amber fluid does nothing to help me sleep.

That is a fact confirmed by my doctor. Alcohol is a stimulant in small amounts and a depresant in larger quantities. But I still love it..... mmmmm Beeer

[capriv8]

I do not suffer insomnia but I only require a few hours of sleep everynight to be able to function properly. The person that comes up with a soloution for everyone to not having to sleep for so long will be very rich, how much of peoples lives are wasted sleeping imagine what you can experience and achieve with another four hours a day or twenty eight hours a week . If you cant sleep maybe its your mind/body telling you its still ok to keep going.

[GS608]

i dont know if i have insomnia, but most nights i find it hard to fall asleep as i cant stop thinking, one thought leads to another and it just keeps going in circles until i eventually just crash, but then i might randomly wake up at 5, still very very tired, fall back asleep wake up at 7.15 but still tired, as if i got no sleep at all, this doesnt seem normal for a 16 year old guy at all..

also if i try going to sleep earlier i just wake up earlier, dont get more sleep at all, and i have trouble sleeping in, unless i stay up till 2am

should i maybe go see someone about this? :s

[steevo d]

Originally Posted by XR-CHIEF

i dont know if i have insomnia, but most nights i find it hard to fall asleep as i cant stop thinking, one thought leads to another and it just keeps going in circles until i eventually just crash, but then i might randomly wake up at 5, still very very tired, fall back asleep wake up at 7.15 but still tired, as if i got no sleep at all, this doesnt seem normal for a 16 year old guy at all..

also if i try going to sleep earlier i just wake up earlier, dont get more sleep at all, and i have trouble sleeping in, unless i stay up till 2am

should i maybe go see someone about this? :s

ahh puberty.... don't we all wish we could do it all again??
yeah when i was a young bloke i could run on the smell of a beer coaster all night too!

[EA2BA]

I am 36 and can run on very few hours sleep, I quite often feel better with less sleep, like 3 hours a night
When I do sleep I do not dream (well I am told I must but don't remember)

[SLO-04L]

i have a similar problem being a uni student and working in hospitality my days and nights just become a blurr some nights dont finish till 4 in the morning and then have to be up for uni in 5 hours but try getting straight to sleep when 10 minutes ago you had some drunk grandma yelling at you because their pokie machine hasn't payed out all day when she got there at 10:00 in the morning and pumped her entire pension through it.
with all the random start and finish times of uni and work not to mention the late nights finishing assigments and the stress that comes from that it is impossible to get a regular sleeping pattern down no two weeks are ever the same i quite often find myself driving around at 4-5-6-7 in the morning because i cant sleep
doctor has given me some tablets now that i use just when i NEED to get to sleep for something the next day and have been doing alot better since

[Rob]

I had problems sleeping in anything but my own bed, so the doctor gave me Stilnox........

This was probably 3 years ago - before Today Tonight jumped on the wagon and exposed the side effects.

I tell you what, some of the stories I heard about myself that I have absolutely no memory of..... scary stuff. Sleep drinking, sleep talking, breaking things, falling down stairs, trying to play computer games while asleep, incoherent speech and phone calls...

Careful what you take!

[XR06T]

Originally Posted by XR-CHIEF

i dont know if i have insomnia, but most nights i find it hard to fall asleep as i cant stop thinking, one thought leads to another and it just keeps going in circles until i eventually just crash, but then i might randomly wake up at 5, still very very tired, fall back asleep wake up at 7.15 but still tired, as if i got no sleep at all, this doesnt seem normal for a 16 year old guy at all..

also if i try going to sleep earlier i just wake up earlier, dont get more sleep at all, and i have trouble sleeping in, unless i stay up till 2am

should i maybe go see someone about this? :s

i was exactly the same in high school and a couple of years after.. i just gave up trying to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Loved it!! living off 5 hours sleep a night, uni, partying, working, good times.

get a good 10 hours once every 10 days and you were set!

[GS608]

sounds good, i used to be up till 2am or around there..5 hours sleep and was fine, but after a while it start to get to me.
ah well

and now im trying to sleep at 11..doesnt work lol

[DDXR6T]

Redbull gives me chronic insomnia. Multiple redbulls.

[Van D]

I used to have real hard times getting to sleep, saw heaps of people, took drugs etc..
I now work 10 hour days, up at 5am, home at 5.30pm, by the time i've made dinner and worked out or jammed for a bit i'm out like a like light. A (that's one) beer or spliff also help.

Friend of mine used to be the same and we both changed habits and it's worked real well.

Seriously, if anyones having trouble sleeping on here and doesn't do these things.. Get outside more, do more exhausting things (even if it's sport, gym, going for a walk etc after work) during the day/evening, EAT/DRINK HEALTHY (don't drink coke/soft drink, red bulls, sugary drinks, caffeine etc, anywhere near bed time, or even at all, also stay off maccas etc as much as possible), spend as little time as possible in front of a TV/computer, especially before bed. I've been told staring at a computer screen before bed tricks the mind into thinking it's still daytime. I stopped and it helped me.
I find reading and listening to classical/technical music help me, as it exhausts my mind, and by the time I go to bed it doesn't want to think.

That's my 2c.

[NAPARM]

I'm guessing not many of you "insomniacs" do much exercise. I normally seem to sleep better on nights that i go to the gym.

[[Tonko]]

I have nights where my mind just wanders, around and around in circles, so i just chuck on a DVD that i've seen a million times, and imagine what they are doing while i listen, usually fall asleep within 10 minutes...
I cant sleep when the missus is here either, single for 3 years in a king size bed, then stuck with someone that "hogs" it... and wants to cuddle....

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by Van D

Seriously, if anyones having trouble sleeping on here and doesn't do these things.. Get outside more, do more exhausting things (even if it's sport, gym, going for a walk etc after work) during the day/evening, EAT/DRINK HEALTHY (don't drink coke/soft drink, red bulls, sugary drinks, caffeine etc, anywhere near bed time, or even at all, also stay off maccas etc as much as possible), spend as little time as possible in front of a TV/computer, especially before bed. I've been told staring at a computer screen before bed tricks the mind into thinking it's still daytime. I stopped and it helped me.

Originally Posted by NAPARM

I'm guessing not many of you "insomniacs" do much exercise. I normally seem to sleep better on nights that i go to the gym.

They're your answers folks... its the thought of trying to stick to these that keeps me up at night.