Insomnia--Suggestions?

[Recluse]

I am seeking a cure that doesn't require a trip to the doctor.

Incidentally, small people shouldn't take Milk of Magnesia in its largest dose in the hope of "speeding things up." I'm presently making my usual kitchen-bathroom-computer circuit frequently enough to qualify as circuit training. But at least I'm getting some exercise.

[Usehername]

don't go to bed until you're SLEEPY tired. i was physically/mentally/emotionally exhausted when i was an insomniac so i would go to bed at like 9 pm and not fall asleep until 1-2 am and then wake up 1 hour before my alarm:

once i learned to stay up until i was sleepy and then wake up at a regular time every day (including weekends) i kicked the insomnia that i had for a full year at least.

[runvardh]

get laid or down a night cap (the latter tends to be my only choice these days)

edit: and my answer was not a joke

[cafe]

melatonin

[Zergling]

Use the time for something useful.

[ygolo]

Originally Posted by Usehername

don't go to bed until you're SLEEPY tired. i was physically/mentally/emotionally exhausted when i was an insomniac so i would go to bed at like 9 pm and not fall asleep until 1-2 am and then wake up 1 hour before my alarm:

once i learned to stay up until i was sleepy and then wake up at a regular time every day (including weekends) i kicked the insomnia that i had for a full year at least.

If I did that (and I still do that sometimes) I would be up for almost 48 hours.

I'm an insomniac myself. The only thing I can say is think of it as sleep-depravation training and soldier on.

[ptgatsby]

I've always been an insomniac... Not quite full fledged all the time, but I did have a full blown disorder for a year or two. Besides that, never slept well even as a baby (the stories my parents tell... egad).

It really comes down to why you can't sleep. If it is just behavioural, you can train yourself out of it really quickly. However, if it's a mix, or just biological, nothing you do will matter at all. You will literally take things that should knock you out... but they'll just make you drowsy - ie: drugged. If that's the case, you'll be stuck getting some very powerful things that practically induce sleep... and you have a very high chance getting addicted to them.

In any case, the three things I can suggest;

1) Use your bed for sleep. Nothing else but sleeping. When you go to bed, if you can't fall asleep within x time (normally from 10-30min), you get up and do something tedious. You don't read or anything similar. Nothing that engages your mind. And to emphasise this one more time - do not do anything else in bed - no reading, no napping, no watching TV... maybe sex, but that's about it.

2) Excersize, but give time before you go to bed - more than 2 hours. This works because stress and an active mind are bad news for sleeping, but the excersize does cause your body to wind down - after the high. It shouldn't be intensive, a good 30 minute walk or anything similar can be enough.

3) Create a routine for going to bed. This works well with #1, so it should start with or after you have made your bed your sleep area. Always do the same things in the same order for 10-15 minutes before going to sleep. Try very very hard not to interrupt this.

There was other stuff that the sleep clinic suggested, but I remember these as the core ones.

[Recluse]

Thanks for all the advice! Will try in random order.

Well, except for sex, since that would require losing my loner Recluse moniker, and then I'd have to think up a new user name.

[Mercurial]

I created a place within my mind I use to escape pain, or (more frequently) go to sleep.

I took an endless grassy plain with nothing man-made in it and populated it with a Tennessee Walker mare I bonded to a long time ago. I fade out my perceptions of where I am and just sort of mentally slide sideways into that place.

If you try it, build it one element at a time, and keep it simple. No other people or technology, no more than one animal. Start with what you're standing on in this place and expand outward.

I wrote this poem awhile back about it:

Air

Eyes closed
I ride white noise
To my midnight key.
Amidst low, lush green
She waits, munching geraniums;
A solo patch of other color
Marking the severed and buried.
Black-trimmed chestnut
Solidifies, chased by
Equine scent and whuffed greeting.
Muse of lucidity,
She keeps Daedalus silent
As I twist flows,
Ascending to sleep.

M:>

[Recluse]

I would like to get over this insomnia; it's sapping my energy and making me want to crack bad jokes. I can't focus on the things that are important to me.

I did manage to sleep for a full five hours last night. Perhaps I am being impatient. Tonight I'll try the Naem Visualization Technique, with imagery of my Manx cat, Waylon (who hopefully will refrain from his usual rollicking and bouncing about).