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]

[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]

[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.