Insomniac support and tips

[Jackalope]

I know we have a lot of insomniac members. Let's have a thread where we can offer support and swap sleep tips and support, not so much a venting thread - not that venting isn't OK - but with an emphasis on therapeutic support.

[Jackalope]

Over the counter sleep aids, they all suck, amirite?

Stuff like Tylenol PM, yes. @Makers of Tylenol, I'm sorry you make a horrible product and you should feel bad. BTW the truth is an absolute defense against libel.

Those OTC things cause me the worst hangovers and really poor sleep.

I hear people with mild insomnia or who just occasionally need a little help use 5mg Melatonin to good effect.

I like diphenhydramine HCl 25mg myself. Good old Benadryl. Most nights I take it I sleep well and wake refreshed. Not habit forming. Also good if you have allergies.

[SteelCurtain]

Diphenhydramine is one example of a generic that doesn't work at all for me.

It has to be Benadryl. The Equate (walmart) and Up&Up (Target) brands do not work.

For me, when I am having episodes, it's usually my brain that fucks me. My mind is going 100mph. So I need to keep it occupied. Usually a boring audiobook, a science podcast (TED Radio Hour is the best), or a good music playlist on Spotify. (Sleep Better or Deep Focus are my go tos)

[Alex K]

Concerning the auditory hallucinations/sleeping aid. When I listened to podcasts to help me sleep, I noticed that the exact volume matters. Too much and it keeps you awake. Too little and it stresses you because you have to try hard to understand it

[Jackalope]

I'm finding that taking an atavan helps quiet the bugs. I think the onset of the psychosis is linked to anxiety somehow because an axiolytic solves the problem.

[Losty]

Here's your split...sort of...ya bully

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Sleep. I must be sleeping. Fml.

My sleep is FUBAR, really bad.

I took two different hypnotics almost an hour ago I got nothing.

I haven't been sleeping all that great either. Sucks.

I think it's been maybe a month since I had anything g remotely resembling a sleep schedule.  I mean, I'm lying down when I should be, just no sleep.

My sleep is FUBAR, really bad.

I sometimes worry the same thing. But since I'm already fucked uo enough as it is, I think I will steal myself away and lie in the dark quiet and hope maybe a bit of sleep will come.

I haven't been sleeping all that great either. Sucks.

It does, I feel for you.  It not great.for your health either, so sayeth the Oracle.

I sometimes worry the same thing. But since I'm already fucked uo enough as it is, I think I will steal myself away and lie in the dark quiet and hope maybe a bit of sleep will come.

Yeah, I do that too.  If I cant sleep, I'll shut off the lights and try to get into a meditative state, but seeings how the typical reason I can't sleep is a brain I can't shut off... you can imagine how well that works sometimes.

Yeah, I do that too.  If I cant sleep, I'll shut off the lights and try to get into a meditative state, but seeings how the typical reason I can't sleep is a brain I can't shut off... you can imagine how well that works sometimes.

Yep. I try it anyways but I find it annoying that it's always the first advice anyone give even though dark quiet usually makes my brain even louder. Oh well. Gotta try something

I know we have a lot of insomniac members.  Someone should start a thread where we can offer support and swap sleep tips and support, not so much a venting thread - both that venting isn't OK - but with an emphasis on therapeutic support.

I know we have a lot of insomniac members.  Someone should start a thread where we can offer support and swap sleep tips and support, not so much a venting thread - both that venting isn't OK - but with an emphasis on therapeutic support.

Sounds like a good thread! You should do it.

Tip #1: Don't make babies. Man, she was on a roll tonight.

Yep. I try it anyways but I find it annoying that it's always the first advice anyone give even though dark quiet usually makes my brain even louder. Oh well. Gotta try something

So probably everyone knows this already so it's no surprise to anyone that my condition features some mostly mild psychosis - manifesting frequently in auditory hallucinations, usually taking the form of sounds similar to a cacophony of crickets .  Accurate enough, that's the best way I can explain that.

Imagine trying to sleep with a fuckton of crickets in your head.  FMFL

Ouch CD, that sounds really annoying. Does mild music or running a podcast help?

Wow, CD...a cacophony of crickets in your head?
That can't work...
Me, I've been sleeping less than 5 hours a day, for a few months...  don't know how I can function, but after lunch I feel like I really need a nap... And I do close my eyes, but sleeping while sitting doesn't work very well, so all I get is eye-rest... Good enough to keep functioning.
But not enough to rest.
I'm always sleepy...always tired...

Seriously, the TED Radio Hour podcast is my go to sleep aid. Or the Spotify Deep Focus playlist.

Sorry to hear that, CD. Can't Imagine what that's like.

Ouch CD, that sounds really annoying. Does mild music or running a podcast help?

It might, though my experience with music so far is that overstimulates my brain.  Podcast, if not was sleep-inducing <- spotted the implied tautology

Psst there is now a thread for this, how bout a split?

Aww. Do I gots to Mr. Tentacle? Shucks.

Psst there is now a thread for this, how bout a split?

D:

Fuuuuck no. 2800+ pages. No. Not. A. Chance. I will quote all the posts over if you like.

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[pocaracas]

I've never tried any drug...and I don't think I'm in a place to need them...yet.
Like I said on the other thread...somehow, I manage to function.

I once tried "relaxing nature sounds" (check them on YouTube) and... It didn't work.
No sleep when noiseois all around...no sleep when sitting...heck, I can't sleep unless I'm in my special sleeping position in bed... Difficult sleeping when nose is clogged (good thing I don't get allergies)... No sleep in a brightly lit room (in Portugal we have blinds that can darken your room to pitch black in the middle of the sunniest day... When I was in the U.K., the curtains were a piss poor substitute, letting the sun's glorious rays shine through at 5am... With predictable results).

Add to that all the difficulties in life that keep the brain going when it should be turned off...
And I'm just waiting for the day when I crash and burn and sleep for a whole day... : fingers crossed:

[Losty]

I have never found a medicine that will put me to sleep when my brain refuses. Unless you count the abuse of prescription narcotics....which is illegal and dangerous and stupid...but it did work.

[energizer bunny]

Masturbation and regular exercise. Oh and get off the internet and read a book before bed instead. 

Its 4:40 am right now. Off to bed. Later. 

[Edwardo Piet]

Not forcing myself to stay still. Allowing myself to naturally be as restless as I wish, provided my eyes are closed and I'm in bed. Relax and let myself day dream away. Let my mind and body free, rolling around in my bed.

I always just daydream and roll back and forth until I fall asleep. I change from tummy, to side, to other side, to tummy, while I think of whatever until my thoughts make less and less sense and get more surreal and I'm practically dreaming already. It's like a ritual lol.

That's all I know.