Insomnia - Can't sleep!

It’s very hard for me to fall asleep if I have taken an afternoon nap. (I’ll probably get little sleep tonight)

Too bad melatonin is banned where i live…

Wow, I’m definately going to try some of these things. I always have trouble sleeping. That 61 point meditation seems interesting… I think I’ll give it a shot. ^^

I’ve been trying to get to sleep for the last 6 hours and I can’t do it. I have to be up at 8:30 for the first day of school and nothing has worked!!

I think there are several reasons I can’t sleep:

  1. I was supposed to toilet paper someone’s house with my sister tonight but she was asleep

  2. I took 60mg of ritalin 10 hour so I could finish typing my summer homework at 20:00

  3. I am stressed out about school starting again

  4. I am excited to “reunite” with the girls at my school

  5. I am/was trying to remember everything that someone experiences when they go to sleep

I almost fell asleep several times but then I started thinking

I have tried everything from meditation to counting sheep (4,796) to trying to stay awake (I have read that that works very well)

I am wide awake and very tired at the same time!

I just want some input for the next time this happens

That is most likely why you can’t sleep. :wink:

Ive been getting alot more sleep recently because ive been skating everyday as hard as i can, i think this really helps because im nackared as i go to sleep, this is quite hard to do all the time though. sorry, other than drugs i dont have any other tips though.

I wonder if this “Ham-sa” means something… In some eastern tradition or what… Or is it just a set of sounds? It’s kind of difficult to concentrate on something you don’t understand what it is. I read somebody famous said he repeated the word “Cicero” to fall asleep…
About radio static and music, and all such things… I think it can really help. But it seems to work differently for different people. For example, when I hear two neighbors’ children running here and there above my head, I always feel like sleeping, while my mother cannot stand this sound and cannot fall asleep, when they run above her bedroom… But special sleep-inducing noises from Neural Noise Synthesizer never worked with me, probably because of the headphones…
By the way, what strange statistics about 8 minutes… Maybe, it was an instruction for super-agents or something… Or the time, which passes from the moment of the beginning to fall asleep till the state of deep sleep, regardless of how long it took to get to this moment…

You could most likely use any word. If it has a sing-songy sound it might work better. What it does is help put you into a trance. It is always easier to fall asleep from a trance as you body is often very relaxed.

I fall asleep in the car all the time, coming home from school today I fell asleep in the car for like 5 mintues…it’s only like a 5 minute ride really but still. It always takes me over a half-hour to fall asleep in a bed though, not sure why that is but it’s annoying sometimes. :eh:

I can’t seem to keep a schedule. I’ll never find another job if I can’t wake before 4PM. Worst of all, it’s limiting my dream potential.

Besides severely drugging yourself, are there any good cures for insomnia? I tried melatonin, but that made it worse. Diphenhydramine kills my dreams. I don’t even want to get into prescription sleep aids. I tried various foods and relaxation techniques. Nothing.

I want my dreams back. I want my fucking time back, too, if I ever mean to be successful. Dammit.

I had lots of trouble from insomnia and i tried many stuff except taking medication… and the only thing that worked (and worked very well for me), was keeping healthy sleep habits: only use the bed for sleep, and always go to bed at the same time, and always get up at the same time, even on weekends. Give it a try. If it doesn’t work, then maybe you should see a specialist?
Good luck :smile:

first keep proper sleep habits
second tame your mind

Find out what hinders you to fall asleep and try to eliminate that. You must keep in mind that your body will take care of your sleep, as soon as your mind steps out of the way. you don’t have to do anything to sleep but you can do alot to keep you from sleeping. Most important: DO NOT think about sleep!!!

BTW I had terrible insommina for a year, I know what I’m talking about…

I was only able to sleep 4 hours 2 days ago, and that was thanks to some mixture one of the old neighbors told me. Try spending time outside, maybe take a walk, this helps out a bit sometimes.

I used to have horrible insomnia, then around 20 years ago I read a tip, the gist of this tip was:

Lay still, because just by laying quietly and thinking pleasant thoughts you are resting your body and your mind.

While not quite as refreshing as sleep, it is quite enough to keep you going and more importantly it takes the pressure off of trying to go to sleep.

Laying still and not fretting, try it.

Hyperion, I’ve got two cures for you.

  1. Lay down in bed early, and practice using a WILD method. I find a lot of hidden fatigue will come up, especially if you can’t sleep for very long even though you get up at 4pm. Either you’ll be successful and get into an LD, or you’ll become tired enough to just fall asleep.

  2. Stay up for the whole day. Yes, it will be agonizing, but if you can make it to at least 4-6pm, then you’ll be going to bed and getting up much earlier. From there, you’ll only have a few hours to adjust if you want to go to bed at 9 or 10pm.

I recommend a freezing cold shower when it’s becoming unbearable to stay up any longer. Don’t use caffeine… you’re trying to cure insomnia, not make it worse.

If I were you I’d excerises every day or something, to tire myself out. I’d go for walks, swim, lift weights, anything like that. Also using your brain for things like reading can tire you out very nicely. I’d stay away from drugs altogether, they just limit your REM sleep, which isn’t good at all for lucid dreaming.

I feel for you Hyperion. I know what it’s like to suffer from insomnia. I despise it.

I would do everything from cleaning the house to reading books and writing short stories to get to sleep. I eventually tried prescription sleep aides but I started doing the strangest things at night and seeing the most horrible sights that I stopped that. Then it stopped all of a sudden.

I can’t say I found a cure b/c it still comes back from time to time. But I stay away from the prescription stuff.

I will have cornflakes w/ warm milk and some sugar (splenda) but sugar is better. or a cup of chamomille tea w/ honey.

I laid in bed from 2:30AM till 7AM without success. Damn this sucks.

Maybe you should visit a sleep clinic?

Do you go to bed thinking and hoping that that night you don’t have insomnia? If so, maybe that’s part of your problem.

Try keeping yourself busy right up until the time to fall asleep. Even if it means doing things you normally wouldn’t. See how that helps.