Anyone who knows me knows I struggle with insomnia. Actually, suffer from insomnia is more accurate. The Sleep Gods simply are not my friends. A good night for me is anything more than 5-6 hours with less than 5-6 wake-ups during the wee hours. A more typical night is, well, 4-5 hours of highly interrupted shut-eye.
As a result, I'm cranky in the morning. I desperately want to hit the snooze button repeatedly, but I know that those precious 9 extra minutes will do more harm than good in the long run. By the time I return home from work, workouts, errands, and whatever else I have to do, I barely have the energy to eat, much less cook something healthy and wonderful. Dinner ends up being cereal or a frozen Lean Cuisine doodad or worse. Then I sit, zombie-like, on the sofa and try to unwind from the day and give the critters at least a little attention before heading upstairs to wash up, get my gym bag ready for the next day, and go to bed... ever hopeful that this will be the night I fall right asleep and stay asleep for the whole 7 or so hours I've budgeted for that exact purpose.
And in the middle of the night when I wake up yet again and check the clock for the umpteenth time (only 3:13 a.m... good, I still have almost 3 hours), I wonder why I struggle so with something that's so elementary.
So I ask you, dear friends, for your advice. What are your go-to methods for (a) falling asleep quickly, and (b) staying in la-la land until the alarm goes off? Please don't suggest drugs. Prescriptions whack me out so much that I hesitate to take them, even when I'm deathly ill. What other tricks and tips can you offer?
4 comments:
do you workout at night or in the AM? when I work out at night it usually keeps up late as well. how's your caffeine intake for the afternoon/PM? anyway you can reduce it? and for me a glass of red wine usually helps a bit and no TV. hope that helps and you get some rest
What we got from the doctor: No media at least an hour before bed - no computer, no TV, no video games, etc. Bedroom is for sleeping only - meaning, don't watch TV in there, don't work in there. You could try a melatonin supplement, which is something your body naturally produces when it gets dark telling your brain it's time to rest and sleep. My personal tried and trues: Don't look at the clock when you get up in the night. The scent of lavender. I'm sending zzzzzzzzzzzz vibes your way chica!
I had a couple of years of bad sleep, I know it just sucks.
I agree with Jen and Joe. I don't do any caffeine after noon. No workouts after dark (usually I'm a morning runner, but sometimes it just doesn't happen then, but later in the afternoon). No TV, pretty much ever, but certainly not in the bedroom. I can usually read myself to sleep, even if it's exciting reading, but law texts and history texts certainly put me to sleep! I haven't been as good about this lately, but get up at the same time every day, no matter how much it hurts. That's generally 5am for me.
Some people swear by white noise, but it drives me nuts. Melatonin sometimes helps, as does Valerian (despite the evil smell).
Wishing you sheep and zzzzzs!
Kinda' echo everyone else here - no late night workouts, I took the TV out of my bedroom, and I intend to remove the computer soon.
Don't know if you can sneak in catnaps, but that's probably the only way I survive on the sleep I do during the weekdays.
In any case, I'm wishing you lots of zzzzz's and REM moments (not the band, of course.)
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