insomnia

[applegum]

Anyone else have this problem? During school my sleeping schedule usually falls apart what with staying up late to do homework and then getting up early and then going back to sleep after I get home at four, but now even this summer I can't sleep. I even managed to get to bed at 11:00 tonight, but then my friend called me at midnight and woke me up. I'm still trying to get back to sleep. Any advice?

[DebW]

My worst insomnia has usually been hormone related. When pregnant with my first child I had insomnia from 1-6 am for the first 3 months. In the first couple years of perimenopause I had insomnia from 3:30-5:30 for a few years. Unfortunately I have no advise to offer you.

[DirtDiva]

I suck at getting to sleep. Always have and should think I always will. Once I actually get to sleep though, I tend to be fine. Deb's right: hormones sure don't help - always have the most trouble sleeping when I'm PMSing. Exercise helps a lot in allowing me to get to sleep more quickly. I don't know how much of it is that I'm obviously physically more tired and how much of it is that I've had some quiet thinking time whilst I'm riding/running/swimming/walking/whatever and don't end up only having the thinking space when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

[mimitabby]

if something woke you up, go to the bathroom and do everything you usually do when yo go to bed
Then go to bed with the lights all out... if you don't fall right to sleep start counting backwards (or forwards,). If you lose track, start again. keep focusing on counting instead of all the interesting conversations you just had..

[applegum]

Yeah I've tried all the counting tricks and all that. Thanks for the tips though. It just takes a while to shut my brain down again once it's been woken up. Since I'm on birth control my hormones are usually pretty stable (since I use it for just that reason) so I'm hoping it's nothing to do with that. I didn't get as good a workout as I usually do rowing last night though, so maybe I should start going to the gym afterwards if I have too much excess energy.

[chickwhorips]

when i was taking classes all the time i was the same as you. no problem sleeping. but when summer came around forgit sleeping.

i figure class just wears out your brain and it just wants to shut down and go sleepy. i don't even remember dreaming much while i was in class.

now that i haven't taken classes for a while, my brain doesn't want to shut down and i have lots of dreams that i can remember. that's been my problem for the last two nights. can't sleep, the brain just wants to keep going, but my body is exausted. laying in bed last night i was tempted to get up and steal my bf's math book and work on some problems to make my brain tired. but i decided to toss and turn instead.

no clue how i'm moving today with no sleep in the last two days. sleep is as important to me as getting a workout in.

[Denise223]

Hi again!

I read through all the posts here, and since I didn't see it mentioned....I was wondering, (actually, my husband thought of it), do you drink coffee, coke or pepsi WITH caffeine?? Some teas can have caffeine, as well as chocolate.

How about yoga, meditation, etc...?

Hopefully you will find what works for you....

Off to bed now...

Have a great sleep!!

Denise

[applegum]

Got to sleep around 1 AM, way better than I've been doing lately. Now I can actually go on my morning bike ride instead of the gym (which I hate) . I read every night too. And most days. Especially during the summer when I have a ton of time to waste I end up going through a few books a week.

And to answer your question Denise, I avoid drinking soda and I quit drinking coffee after I got addicted to caffeine a couple years ago (pretty sad for someone my age). I eat chocolate rarely and have some bottled snapple tea, but I noticed it kept me up so I stopped drinking it anytime in the afternoon/night. I don't do yoga since I don't have the patience for it most of the time, but I do meditate sometimes and it comes in handy on really late nights.

Hope you guys all got a good nights sleep too, I'm off to ride!

[Nanci]

Ooh, valerian! I tried that when a friend swore by it. I got the bizarre dreams. I don't remember sleeping much better, though.

[margo49]

Sometimes there is a hormonal explanation
But to do anything about it is usually a case of the cure is worse than the disease.
Hormones are in a constant state of change anyway and therefore so are the problems they cause. LOL. Still, it would be worse to be a man and not have any hormones to rage

Personally I think if you can keep your life in time with the sun and the birdies chirping (or stopping) you get on better in total general health

[Kano]

The Weather Channel.

MP3 player with quiet music -- nothing that makes me want to dance!
(nice choices -- James Asher, the Great Wheel -- Jerry Garcia, Blues from the Rainforest, and I've even got a stash of baby lullabies in there! No Aerosmith though -- that's road music!)

Karen in Boise