Sleeping Tips Needed

I am having one of the worst bouts of insomnia in my life. I’ve gotten less than 5 hours in the past 72+ hours. What do you guys do to help you sleep? I absolutely cannot take melatonin or 5-HTP supplements. 5-HTP has a nasty interaction with my tricyclic antidepressant.

This may sound cliche but I’ve had some serious bouts of insomnia and without the use of any drugs I’d breathe slowly and count my breaths. Lose count, start over.

NO ,

Tha Meditation Will Not Help ,

Unless You Can Do Tha Counting Sheep Thang Yo ,

Jus Picture Sheep Jumping Over A Peaceful Flowery Fence and Count Them ,

Drop Tha Meditation ,

Trust Me ,

Ok ,

Your Body May Drag You Throo Tha Symbolic Mud ,

But We Are Given What We Can Handle ,

So Drink Tha Chocolate Milk and Pass Tha Eff Out After TWO WEEKS OF NOT SLEEPIN !!! ,

OH MY GOSH !!!

I’d really like to tell you what I think of you. I am keeping my promise of trying to be less negative. Having said that, I have not a frigging clue what the hell you are talking about.

NEVERMIND Then ,

Back Ta Thine Program …

http://sleep-centre.ca/what-to-do-when-you-cant-sleep/

You can research it. I found many insomnia websites by googling “fighting insomnia” '.
Or googling “sleep tips”.

Here are some tips I culled from various sites a while back.

No caffeinated coffee and minimal tea in the evenings
Adopt a relaxing and fairly mundane pre-bedtime routine.
Remove from the bedroom all methods for encouraging wakefulness, such as the TV, radio and tea-making facilities. Only one book or magazine by the bedside.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol in any form, four to six hours beforre bed time.
Avoid nicotine near bedtime and upon awaking during night.
Avoid a heavy meal in the evening. On the other hand, a light snack before bed time may be sleep inducing.
.Avoid vigorous exercise within 3-4 hours of bed time. On the other hand,
regular exercise in the late afternoon may deepen sleep.
If you must take a daytime nap, keep it less than an hour and complete it before 3 p.m.
Go to bed only when sleepy.
Get out of bed when unable to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes and return to sleep within 30 minutes. During this time, do only a manual activity or count your breaths while breathing abdominall
Arise at the same time every morning.
Practice relaxation technique
Do not use your bed and the bedroom for non-sleeping activities, such as eating, paying bills, talking on phone, etc. Bed/bedroom should be used for sleeping purposes only.
Follow a regular routine. Set a specific time for waking, eating, and exercise, and then follow it consistently
Resist the urge to nap during the day. If you must take a nap, limit it to a maximum of 30 minutes. Longer naps during the day make it harder to sleep in the night.

Stay out of bed until you are ready to sleep, but get up in the morning at the usual fixed hour. Don’t go to bed too early. Let your body determine when it’s time to sleep. This way, you will probably wake up less often in the night and the quality of sleep might be better

Take a Warm Bath.It’s a great way to relax your body. Don’t overdo it, however. You merely want to relax your body, not exhaust it. Too long in hot water and your body is drained of vitality.

Drink Warm Milk.A glass of warm milk 15 minutes before going to bed will soothe your nervous system. Milk contains calcium, which works directly on jagged nerves to make them (and you) relax.

Drink Herb Tea.
If you don’t like milk - or are avoiding dairy products - try a cup of hot camomile, catnip, anise or fennel tea. All contain natural ingredients which will help you sleep. Most health food stores will also have special blends of herb tea designed to soothe you and help you get to sleep.

If you feel tense, try the following: Kava Kava, Valerian, chamomile tea, soft music, scented candles, a hot bath or a massage. Some also report that melatonin supplements taken near bedtime help them fall asleep. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone associated with the sleep cycle.

.

. Faulty habits that contribute to insomnia:

  1. Going to bed when you are wide awake and your body and mind do not want to do anything with sleeping.
  2. Staying in bed awake too long, even though you can’t fall sleep. Occupying the mind with problem solving, thinking, worrying, etc. , makes mind more awake.
  3. Lying in bed awake and trying harder and harder to go to sleep only increases anxiety and frustration which makes the sleeping problem worse.
  4. Oversleeping in the morning hours on weekdays or weekends may not be a problem for others but it has a harmful effect on a person with insomnia.
  5. Reading a book or watching TV in bed induces sleep in some people, but if you do not fall asleep in 30 minutes, it can make your sleep problem worse.
  6. If you fall asleep in places, other than bed, you get out of the habit of sleeping in bed.
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Thanks @animalchin, @firemonkey, and @77nick77. I think I’ve reached the point where I need pharmacological intervention. This has been going on for many years, but rarely this bad. I got an hour tonight, and woke up. I did make the dumbass mistake of going to bed too early. I was trying to catch up on lost sleep from last night. This is like a never-ending cycle. I don’t wish this on anyone. Good thing I see my pdoc in less than 8 hours.

Amen and good luck.

Might sound a bit weird but try putting fresh sheets on the bed. I think your body gives off stress hormones when you can’t sleep and these are absorbed by the sheets making it harder to sleep the next day. Might be ■■■■■■■■ but it is worth a try.

There is something else you might try that worked for me when the pdoc refused to give me sleep aids was valerian. I also know of others who have had pdocs prescribe small doses of seroquel as a sleep aid.

Sleepy Time Tea by Celestial Seasonings. You can get it at nearly any grocery store.

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I wish I had a great idea for hard core insomnia. My last insomnia hit was brought on by a manic phase… I felt great… even when I was tired… I was just too amped to sleep.

In the past… It’s been caused by worry and rumination… that is when it did help to take an hour or so before bed… start to dim the lights… turn off the electronics… start to calm the mind… writing down a bit of what was circling in my head so it could be out of my head. Slowly disengaging the mind did help.

It did sort of help to try and let go of the circling thoughts that was keeping me up…

I have been trying to keep a good sleep hygiene.

I guess it might also depend on what is keeping you up? For me… when I hit a manic or agitated state… the brain is tired… the body is ready to party. Then I need med help.

If the body is tired and the brain is racing… I have a bit more luck at calming and working with less meds…

I hope you feel better soon. I’m rooting for you.

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@anon40540444 Are you still taking Seroquel for sleep?
Maybe another med is in order

I used to take Elavil and I think I took it in the morning. You might need to tell your doctors. I looked up tricyclic anti depressants.

Many side effects may be related to the antimuscarinic properties of the TCAs. Such side effects are relatively common and may include dry mouth, dry nose, blurry vision, lowered gastrointestinal motility or constipation, urinary retention, cognitive and/or memory impairment, and increased body temperature.

Other side effects may include drowsiness, anxiety, emotional blunting (apathy/anhedonia), confusion, “restlessness”, dizziness, akathisia, hypersensitivity, changes in appetite and weight, sweating, sexual dysfunction, muscle twitches, weakness, nausea and vomiting, hypotension, tachycardia, and rarely, irregular heart rhythms. Twitching, hallucinations, delirium and coma are also some of the toxic effects caused by overdose.[40] Rhabdomyolysis or muscle breakdown has been rarely reported with this class of drugs as well.[41]

Valerian works for me too.

It seems like this might be helpful:

I take an amino acid complex as well as extra L-arginine that I feel balances out any hormonal deficit that the medications interfear with.