Insomnia, is it better to:?

Question

just carry on with your days and wait for the nights to get better or should you catch up on sleep whenever possible?
I'm at home now so I could sleep but I don't want to mess up my biorythm and slump in the afternoons when I go back to work.

Also the sleepless nights as such don't bother me and haven't really affected me during the day as yet, how much chance is there for the effects to come out during following weeks?

Answer 1

The best suggestion to start with is good "sleep higiene." Try following these rules and see if it helps.

1) Bed is for sleep and sex only. Don't read or watch TV in bed.
2) If you lie in bed for 10-15 minutes, get out of bed and do something non stimulating such as read a boring book or watch infomercials on TV until you feel sleep then try again.
3) Avoid caffiene, sugar, or alcohol closed to bed time. Man people think alcohol helps with sleep but it actually has a paradoxical effect and will cause you to wake up after it wears off.
4) Do not drink excess fluids near bed-time and be sure to empty your bladder berfore bed.

It may take several days to weeks for your body to get used to the changes, but after a while it should help.


Long term effects of sleep deprivation can include irritability, loss of appetite and loss of energy.

There are also a number of non-narcotic, non-addictive sleep aids on the market now as well as herbal cures to help you sleep such as camomile tea or lavendar.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I think it depends on what you do when you are awake. If you have a job; you should carry on as normal. If it gets you into "Fight Club" mode; take a break from work and sleep whenever your body tells you it wants to. Everyone can go without sleep for a short while, and you sound young enough to handle it, but if it is really an on-going thing, you should work out what exactly is causing your insomnia.
Is your head full of incessant invading thoughts when you go to bed? A mild tranquilizer such as diazepan might help.
Do you drink? Some people get sleepy after drinking alcohol. Others get excited and energized.
Do you exercise before bedtime? That can make you very hyper.
Maybe you drank tea or coffee or something with caffeine in it earlier? (For some people, caffeine can prevent sleep if taken even 6 hours or so earlier.)
Are the conditions for sleeping right? I mean - is your bed comfortable? Is it facing the right way? Is your room dark enough? Cool enough? Silent enough? Etc.
Or maybe you are just a night person? My husband and I have a theory that when you get sleepy enough to retire for a "night" depends on the time you were born. He was born at 10.00 a.m. and suffers if he isn't fast asleep by midnight, because he always feels so full of energy at 10.00 a.m. I was born at 2.00 a.m. and am a total night owl. I do all my best work in the middle of the night and can't stand the wee hours after dawn. Even if I have to get up before noon for some important reason, I am running on auto-pilot. Can't function at all.
As i mentioned, brief periods of sleep deprivation can be handled, especially the younger you are. But lengthy periods can cause both physical and mental health problems.
It sounds as if your insomnia isn't bothering you too much, but if it starts to, you might want to look into other jobs that suit your body clock better.
Good luck!

Answer 3

It sounds like a temporary thing. Whatever you do, avoid sleeping pills like the plague. They are a real no-no.

If you continue to have sleep problems, then you might have an excess of energy, so you could try jogging in the early evening, or some sort of exercise a few hours before bed time. You might be at a stage in life where you need less sleep than before. While 8 hours is normal, some people are fit and well on oly five or six.

I would just carry on as normal for a while, whilst taking care of my diet and exercise.

Answer 4

If it hasn't affected you in a few days, you probably don't need as much sleep as you think. I find that the idea of catching up is a myth after a couple of days - I need to re- zero my pattern and forget how I slept a week ago.
In your shoes I would try to establish a shorter sleep pattern unless I felt fatigued in the day again. Though it's usually social factors that determine bedtime - family / spouse habits etc so it may not be easy to change.
If you wanted to meditate, you could learn first, and then if you wake up for an hour you could get in an extra hours practice - bliss!

Answer 5

Have a short sleep in the afternoons ir you are tired, while you are off, but set an alarm and get up after 1hour whether you slept or not.

If you can't sleep at night try taking 'Nytol' for a short time until you get back into a regular sleeping rythm. They are from any chemist and do work very well.

Answer 6

I just sleep when I feel tired. Sometimes I stay awake for 2 days before I have a nights sleep. Doesn't really affect me it's just the way I am.

Answer 7

Just carry on as normal and if the insomnia goes on for a long time get some sleeping pills from your doctor just to get you back into the rhythm of sleep.

Answer 8

Ask your doctor about a short term use sleeping pill that you can use to get on a better sleeping schedule...

the best quality sleep you can get is at night!

Answer 9

If you are really dragging, you could try a power nap - set a timer for fifteen minutes and don't sleep any more than that.

However, unless you are almost unable to function, it's better to not nap if you are having problems getting to sleep at night.

ETA my suggestions for insomnia:

I had a bad problem with insomnia for many years, and did some research on it. Here are the things I’ve found that help the most.

1. Don't take the sleeping pills. Although they are not addictive in the way we tend to think (you won't jones for them if you miss taking them) they are addictive in the sense that once you have taken them for a while, you will have to take them to get to sleep, but they won't have the same effect they used too. This is because you tend to not get the necessary REM sleep you need to be rested. If you must take a sleeping pill, take it well before you go to sleep. For instance, I prefer to take sleeping pills 2 hours before I go to sleep, so that the pill can get into my system and make me drowsy before I get into bed, then get out of my system (hopefully) early enough that I get some normal sleep.

2. Try to go to bed at about the same time every night. You have some wiggle room on this, but if you stay out on Saturday night till 3, it'll be harder to go to sleep at 10PM Sunday.

(Which somewhat contradicts:)

3. If possible, don't go to bed if you're not sleepy. Note - one thing I have read and found to be true is that you have to be awake for 12 hours before you can go back to sleep. So if you sleep till noon, again, you won't be sleepy at 10PM.

4. Don't spend more than 15-30 minutes trying to get to sleep. If you notice that you've been in bed more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something for a while. Make sure what you do isn't going to make you more hyper; e.g. no exercising or energetic music or writing posts to online debates.

5. When you go to bed, choose a chore or some other task that you do not want to do and tell yourself that if you are still awake in thirty minutes you will do that task. Then, if you are still awake, get up and do your chosen task. This is my favorite suggestion, as it has worked nearly every time I've used it. .

Those are the most useful suggestions I have. Other things you can try:

Before you start getting ready for sleep, turn off high energy music and turn the lights down. I love R&R music, but I went through a period where I had to turn the radio off every night about an hour before I went to bed, or I would be too wired to sleep. And our bodies react to reduced light by producing melatonin which puts us to sleep.

Get plenty of exercise, but not right before bed. (Unless you're weird like me - exercise right before bed just puts me to sleep)

Another suggestion that might work is to relax your body, consciously, one area at a time, starting from your feet. You think about the ball of your left foot and relax it, then the ball of your right foot, then the arch of your left foot, etc. You have to concentrate (pretty hard) on what you are doing

Sex *grin* by yourself or with an SO, it produces a nice soporific chemical, which does a nice job of putting you to sleep.

Answer 10

try and stick to your normal sleep pattern, give it 2 weeks and if you still arent sleeping and havent been drinking alcohol or caffeine before bed, arent overly worried about anything, bed is comfy enough, are exercising during the day, eat carbs one hour before bed go see doctor may prescribe drugs or give advice on relaxation etc