lack of sleep « Singletrack Forum

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lack of sleep

28 posts & 21 voices | Started 8 months ago by Whathaveisaidnow | Latest reply from thomthumb

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Whathaveisaidnow - Member

help me beat it.

Got my wedding coming up, so fair bit playing on my mind.

Last two nights i've hardly had any sleep at all.

I'm a light sleeper, which doesn't help.

I tried those herbal calming pills last night, so felt quite relaxed and wasn't thinking loads, just wouldn't drop off to sleep and by the time I did, the alarm was there to wake me again.

I've tried sleeping tablets before now too without much joy!

of course the more I worry about it, the worse it gets, thinking of taking to the Whisky tonight!!

Posted 8 months ago #
The Southern Yeti - Member

Have you tried exercising like crazy?

Posted 8 months ago #
neilsonwheels - Member

A 40+ mile road ride or a good night ride normally does it for me.

Posted 8 months ago #
SamB - Member

Get up early, exercise like crazy. Exhaustion has to kick in at some point, just don't oversleep on the big day

Posted 8 months ago #
woody2000 - Member

W*nk a lot.

Or maybe just give yourself some time at the end of the day to just relax. Read a book, that kind of stuff.

And w*nk.

Posted 8 months ago #
cheshirecat - Member

As a person who finds it tough to sleep sometimes, I find that associating something with sleep helps. For me it's a particular podcast - started this a few years ago, and now I go to sleep after a few minutes of listening.

Posted 8 months ago #
philconsequence - Member

As a person who finds it tough to sleep sometimes, I find that associating something with sleep helps. For me it's a particular podcast - started this a few years ago, and now I go to sleep after a few minutes of listening

good tactic... i use BBC nature docs with attenborough narrating, favourite being the deep sea one in the Blue Planet series.

Posted 8 months ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

I sleep like the dead.

But once I got sterssed over a house move. All sorts of stuff going round and round in my head. I couldn't sleep.

So I got up and wrote it all down, in the early hours of the morning. Just over 3 sides of A4 paper all told.

It was like downloading all my worries, and it cleared my brain right out.

I slept well after that!

Posted 8 months ago #
camo16 - Member

Combination 1:

Chill out tablet(s), don't watch the news and stay up a little later than normal.

or...

Combination 2:

Find a podcast you can w•nk to whilst engaged on a good night ride.

Posted 8 months ago #
derek_starship - Member

Take a Nytol one-a-night (diphenhydramine not herbal!) half an hour before retiring. Have a bath and put some cool clean sheets on your bed. Read something non-taxing for 15 mins and then try and relax. Tense up your calves and hold for 15 secons and slowly relax them. Try this with other large muscles.

HtH

Posted 8 months ago #
Whathaveisaidnow - Member

some good ideas, cheers.

Posted 8 months ago #
yossarian - Member

So I got up and wrote it all down, in the early hours of the morning. Just over 3 sides of A4 paper all told.

Is that all it can hold?

Posted 8 months ago #
konabunny - Member

imho tablets are nae good because they tend to knock me out and i wake up with a start. unconsciousness doesn't feel like sleep.

get really hammered so you pass out at 8pm and then give yourself a 12 hour sleep period?

Posted 8 months ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

derek starship's suggestion is good. in combination with a good dose of herbal sleeping pills. only thing i'd say is tense each bit of your body in sequence starting with your toes and finishing with your face. it's a good relaxation technique.

whisky also helps

Posted 8 months ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

Is that all it can hold?

LOL

Yeah, that's about it!

Posted 8 months ago #
philconsequence - Member

i once fell asleep in a relaxation session with a bunch of patients

had to get comfortable, shut my eyes and visualise breathing in light from a floating ball of warm happy awesomeness in front of me, as a breathed out i had to imagine dark cloudy air leaving my body. (my body filling up with warm light and expelling the nasty stuff essentially)

the Buddhist chap leading the session was kind enough to wake me up before the patients so they didnt awake to see me slumped on a sofa dozing away

the conscious relaxing of muscles is also a good one, start with your toes and work all the way up... slowly!

Posted 8 months ago #
philconsequence - Member

ohh and alcohol is not recommended for helping you sleep! maybe getting off to sleep, but you're much more likely to wake up in the middle of the night after drinking due to the cycles and processes your body goes through to try and get the poison out your system

(its technically a poison... dont read that as me preaching against alcohol!)

Posted 8 months ago #
camo16 - Member

had to get comfortable, shut my eyes and visualise breathing in light from a floating ball of warm happy awesomeness in front of me, as a breathed out i had to imagine dark cloudy air leaving my body. (my body filling up with warm light and expelling the nasty stuff essentially)

Annoyingly, the Buddhist deep breathe/expel negative energies thing just doesn't work for me. I can't focus on warm happy awesomeness for very long... and before I know it my monkey mind's back to its old tricks.

Sleeplessness is a big deal for me. Not watching any news after, say, 6pm is a big help though.

Posted 8 months ago #
TurnerGuy - Member

1/4 sominex tablet is good for keeping you asleep once you get to sleep and not waking up feeling groggy.

reading a technical book in low light is good for making you tired (not good for eyes though).

Posted 8 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

Have children then you will find you can sleep at any given opportunity*

*Unfortunately you won't get many opportunities.

Posted 8 months ago #
derek_starship - Member

Getting off to sleep in hospital is very difficult. You get admissions coming in at all hours, the "nurse.......nurse......NURSE" shouter and a lot of other things. I'd gone about nine nights without sleep and asked for something to help me as IMHO no kip is not good for recovery. My doc prescribed tamazepam. The very next night, I managed to drift off to sleep naturally only to be woken by the nurse...to give me my sleeping tablet!

The ironworks.

Posted 8 months ago #
ir_bandito - Member

I've recently got into the habit of staying up til midnight/1am getting on with various bike-fettling tasks and general stuff on the infinite "to-do" list. By the time I get into bed, i tend to be so tired i drop straight into a deep sleep and wake up (or am wokne up by son) at 6ish.
Works a treat.
But if I just stay up watching TV and doing nothing. I can't sleep.

I find that if I go away and i can get more sleep, I feel rubbish.

Posted 8 months ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

Check Philly out; getting all PREACHY AGAIN.

Posted 8 months ago #
konabunny - Member

ohh and alcohol is not recommended for helping you sleep!

As a rule, I would ignore anything that I say.

Posted 8 months ago #
corroded - Member

Don't think staying off caffeine has been mentioned yet? Alcohol is counter-productive - will help knock you out but reduces the quality of sleep. I'd go along with a previous poster: get some exercise in the fresh air in the morning, don't nap during the day, eat a light, early meal and avoid TV or laptops late at night. Of course, the best thing to do is deal with the anxieties keep you up...

Posted 8 months ago #
thepurist - Member

A daft thing that helps me is counting down from a stupidly huge number, something like 7,346,227. It gives something for me to think about other than all the other 4 sides of A4 (ha, take that PP) that's rattling around my head but it's so non taxing that I start drifting off. Kinda like counting sheep, but that's never going to work again after that video that alpin posted.

Posted 8 months ago #
leffeboy - Member

eat a light, early meal and avoid TV or laptops late at night.

+1

Also I have a friend who rates pzizz although I find it only relaxes me rather than helping me get all the way to sleep. However, as was mentioned, with two children getting to sleep is no longer a problem.

Posted 8 months ago #
thomthumb - Member

was gonna mention caffeine. normally doesn't bother me - up to 18 cups of coffee a day!! - but when i can't sleep i cut caffeine down to 1 at home 1 at work. nothing after 1pm.

Posted 8 months ago #