Tips on sleeping better at night!!?

Question

Hi,

Right now I ain't been sleeping to well, have you good people here got some tips on helping me drift away to dreamland? I'm like sitting on this thing all night!!

Thanks!!

Answer 1

I personally have the problem as well. My problems are that it is hard for me to fall asleep, or I wake up at night and cant get back to sleep. I like to use an over the counter medication called melatonin. They sell it all over the place (walmart, grocery stores, etc..) I usually take one or two and it takes about an hour to kick in so I try and plan when I am going to go to bed. You might feel a little drowsy in the morning but it is not too bad. You don't feel like you are drugged. I find that it is best to take it for about a week or two, because it helps establish a sleeping pattern by increasing the melatonin in your brain which is the chemical that makes us sleep. Once you get on a routine, you will find yourself getting tired with out it. Though, I have heard that it doesn't work for every one, I personally have never had a problem. I just like to stay away from the habit forming prescriptions.

Answer 2

There are two ways you can get to sleep. With medicine or without. Personally, I use either Ambien or Lunesta which are prescribed to me by my psychiatrist. Both are safe and work fairly well. However, after seeing a "sleep doctor", he gave me some tips: turn your alarm clock the other way so you can not see what time it is once the lights go off. Only sleep or have sex in bed. Do not eat, talk on the phone, read, watch tv, or do anything else in bed. If you can not fall asleep within 20 minutes upon placing your head on your pillow, go into another room and dim the lights. Then do something terribly boring such as reading a manual on how to put together a lamp. Once you start to feel drowsy, go back to your bed and try to sleep again. Make sure that there is no light in your room. Go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. Exercise four hours before you want to sleep.
If you can, and this is my advice,try to get a massage before going to bed and make sure that you do not have caffiene past noon. Make a list of all the things that you have to do the following day and place it on your nightstand so you don't think about it all night. You know that there is a reminder waiting for you right next to you. Also, the sleep doctor told me that Tylenol PM was simply benedryl and Tylenol. He told me it was just an advertising ploy and it was much cheaper just to buy the benedryl if that helped. I find that it does not help but that dramamine, the travel sickness medicine does... I hope this helps..Good luck!

Answer 3

Well this being listed as a psychology question and knowing what I know about that subject and your screen name alone I could give you a partial answer and then some hard core "hippy crap".

First of all my psych babble. You probably can't sleep because you have way to much pent up hostility. Given your location and your screen name you are in the middle of some heavy psychological change, turmoil, possibly some huge mental growing pain. Therefore your mind is not sending the correct chemical cocktail to your brain........Wait don't hit the door for some meds, for any real doctor worth the money he or she paid for their education would also tell you that natural sleep is the only real reprieve from the symptoms you have.

You need to exercise first and foremost! It helps your brain create serotonin....Kind of the natural happy pill that all the pharmaceutical companies are trying to reproduce. And I know this sounds silly, however eating a daily round of good food, full of fruits and veggies does wonders for the body and soul.... Do some research on Holistic medicine, there really is proof in hundreds of years of human health before the pill was invented.

And if this is just a simple case of your mind won't stop going. You have to use a 5000 year old trick of the mind: Meditation. I know that word has a stigma attached to it but really, all it is, is finding out where your slow down point is. Make a dark, cool, very comfortable room in your mind.......take deep, slow, relaxing breaths, and play your favorite calm music in your head. Or whatever makes you at ease in life, this may involve some inner-reflection.

I have been using this technique for years to sleep.

Ok one last thing.

There is also the possibility that you have not yet tapped into your potential as a human being and the Universe is sending you an urgent wake-up call. In case of this particular affliction....You must turn off the television, the computer and get off your ***! Draw, read a book, build a house, mow your grandmother’s lawn just for the sake of doing something. WE are not meant to just sit in the house or office and generate crap on the computer. We are meant to interact with our fellow humans. Create something that is awe inspiring to you, dig through your brain and find out where your passion lies, and then shake the hell out of it and say "let's go!" And try not to harm anything in the process.

Peace! Love! and Harmony!
Kali

Answer 4

Okay.., this is an ancient technique but it is the only thing that helped with me,,and believe me i tried some!!!

Lay down on ur back in bed,..inhale as much oxigen as u can and stretch the inhaling over 8-10 sec,when ur lungs are full u keep em that way for 5 sec.. then release ALL the air in ur lungs, really to the very last bit but spread the releasing proces over 7 sec then 2 sec pause and start the whole sequence again. Try to do that 5-6 x ..U wont be able to! U'll be asleep very likely after doing that 3-4 x
Oh.... and put a good effort in the whole proces without getting urself to tired

Answer 5

it seems u worry about useless things a lot. so u should
1. take an evening walk daily
2. never take even short naps during the day time
3. do not smoke, or drink coffee/tea before going to bed
4. practice half an hour of meditation daily
5. avoid thinking about just anything as u go to bed, make it a habbit , initially it would be difficult though.

and never take sleeping pills!

Answer 6

Be more active during the day. I have 2 kids that keep my running all day long, so at bed time I am worn out. Before I had kids I had trouble sleeping. Take a long walk around the block would always help me relax.

Good luck and sweet dreams.

Answer 7

erms all i know is that to get a good night sleep your bed has to be a sleep only zone, your mind has to be completely sure that when you go to bed you are going to sleep.

dont watch tv in your bed, or go on your laptop or whatever you do. go there only to sleep and this could help

also try and make sure the atmosphere is right, try and get it quite cool and dark in there

if this fails watch a film before you are due to sleep, something that doesnt end on too much of a high...makes me sleepy all the time. sweet dreams x

Answer 8

I work the graveyard shift, from midnight till morning; sleeping from noon till eight in the evening. I found running a noise fan on low makes it hard for me to think of anything in general and I fall asleep. I heard you can set your radio in between stations, where you get that static, they call it "white noise." Same thing, your mind can't focus on things that keep you up. Ok, no fan, no radio, every time a thought crosses you mind, let it go, like a log jam, release. Sometimes thinking of gibberish, random thoughts does it. Sleep well, cheers.

Answer 9

Its always good to get into a routine.

A warm bath can help

Lavender is meant to help with sleep

try to tense all your muscles one area at a time and then release them and continue until you have stretched and relaxed all your muscles. can help them relax

warm milk can make you feel sleepy too

reading books can also make some people fall asleep

try not to have your meal just before you go to bed this can make people not sleep as easily

Answer 10

well i sit here all night too, but have realised theres sleep to be had...lol... i been an insomniac for years, tried so many different "cures", and still didnt find the answer, so i just slowed down 1 night, turned off my pc, and laid down in a dark room, softest music going, (silence makes u think, is not good) and just relived past memories i had that made me happy, i didnt have many...lol...but as i relaxed and gigled at a few, i found i drifted off to sleep and for 1st time in years, woke with smile... sometimes i think of the future im going to have with my b/f in florida, we will be together by xmas (my b'day) and these thoughts relax me too... happy thoughts work wonders... its like recalling ur special place.... it dosent work for every 1 but u never know till u try.... tc : )

Answer 11

like me you you might be fed up wit people telling you that you shouldnt eat near bedtime, you shouldnt think about things. so an alternative is drink camomile tea which has got relaxing properties, spray your bed linen with lavender oil, and play some low slow songs i.e. love songs. i sleep like a baby after that, and you fall asleep within half an hour or max an hour. you can skip the tea if you dont like the taste.