Can’t sleep for the life of me atm… has been a month of waking up at 3/4/5am and not being able to sleep again before 730am when I get out of bed…

It may be in part anxiety

Anyone had anything similar?

stay up as late as you can.
the following night you will sleep well.

A fifth of scotch is what the ‘doctor’ ordered…

i cant sleep properly i cant just turn the lights out and close my eyes, i have to watch something really interesting or a film i enjoy and that gets me to sleep, try that ;p ull be asleep and you will wake up at the end credits and al you will hear is ” i like big buts and i can not lie” ;p

get a baby..

you will soon learn to fall into a very deep sleep every time that you remain still and uninterrupted for longer than 3.5 minutes..

get married

yunki speaks the truth

General tips for sleeping better (often called ‘Sleep Hygiene’)

The following are commonly advised to help promote sleep and are often all that is necessary:

* Reduce caffeine – do not have any food, drugs, or drinks that contain caffeine or other stimulants for six hours before bedtime (see above). Some people have found that cutting out caffeine completely through the entire day has helped.
* Do not smoke within six hours before bedtime.
* Do not drink alcohol within six hours before bedtime.
* Do not have a heavy meal just before bedtime (although a light snack may be helpful).
* Do not do any strenuous exercise within four hours of bedtime (but exercise earlier in the day is helpful).
* Body rhythms – try to get into a routine of wakefulness during the day, and sleepiness at night. The body becomes used to rhythms or routines. If you keep to a pattern, you are more likely to sleep well. Therefore:
o No matter how tired you are, do not sleep or nap during the day.
o It is best to go to bed only when sleepy-tired in the late evening.
o Switch the light out as soon as you get into bed.
o Always get up at the same time each day, seven days a week, however short the time asleep. Use an alarm to help with this. Resist the temptation to ‘lie-in’ – even after a poor night’s sleep. Do not use weekends to ‘catch up’ on sleep, as this may upset the natural body rhythm that you have got used to in the week.
* The bedroom should be a quiet, relaxing place to sleep.
o It should not be too hot, cold, or noisy.
o Earplugs and eye shades may be useful if you are sleeping with a snoring or wakeful partner.
o Make sure the bedroom is dark with good curtains to stop early morning sunlight.
o Don’t use the bedroom for activities such as work, eating or television.
o Consider changing your bed if it is old, or not comfortable.
o Hide your alarm clock under your bed. Many people will ‘clock watch’ and this does not help you to get off to sleep.
* Mood and atmosphere – try to relax and ‘wind down’ with a routine before going to bed. For example:
o A stroll followed by a bath, some reading, and a warm drink (without caffeine) may be relaxing in the late evening.
o Do not do anything that is mentally demanding within 90 minutes of going to bed – such as studying.
o Go to bed when sleepy-tired.
o Some people find playing soft music is helpful at bedtime. Try a player with a time switch that turns the music off after about 30 minutes.
* If you cannot get off to sleep after 20-30 minutes – then get up. Go into another room, and do something else such as reading or watching TV rather than brooding in bed. Go back to bed when sleepy. You can repeat this as often as necessary until you are asleep.

Sex?

Wow!

What junki said, I’d pay good money to have your sleep patterns right now.

Seriously though, here’s my tip. Download the most soporific podcast you can (Radio 4 has quite a few to go at – nothing that actual interests you though or you’ll end up just listening to it), or get an audiobook (one read by Alan Bennett would work) and play that. It works for me when I can’t get to sleep. I normally last about 5 minutes.

I used to worry about work and stuff. I realised (eventually) that I couldn’t change anything at 3.00 in the morning, so I change what I’m thinking, I normaly ride Bikefest course in my head, I’m gone by the first climb and I have a herbal tea and read for half an hour in bed.

get a baby? ive got one thanks and he sleeps through 7pm till 6am everynight 😀

Temazepam, works a treat!

Also got a 1 yr old baby, sleeps every day from 18.00-08.00. 😀

aye mines nearly 11 months now

What Ben says, all of it.

But yeah, if you are suffering from anxiety you may be able to fall asleep but you won’t sleep for long and may have trouble getting back to sleep. About ten years ago I went through a phase of falling asleep totally knackered about midnight and waking up about 1 or 2am with my heart racing and that was me until the morning. Lasted about a month. Harsh.

I found learning to tune into my breath helpful. I basically learnt a breath meditation. You’d need to research this and learn how to do it. It takes practice. But the basic concept is that you focus on your breathing noting in and out breath. Done properly this keeps attention away from other thoughts.

If I wake up in the night it usually gets me beck to sleep

If I’m more anxious and this doesn’t work then I get up and read for an hour. This is less than once a year now….

Focussing on breathing deeply, counting, consciously tensing then relaxing your whole body, bit by bit, are all things that can work for me.

For me, avoiding alcohol for three days makes me sleep MUCH better

Sounds like a fairly short term problem if it’s only been about for a month, probably what Ben says will help a lot.

Personally none of that helps me, in fact most of it makes me worse lol.

Starting with your toes and working upwards, tense all your muscles in turn for 5 secs..like this..

Toes, 5…4…3…2…1…
Ankles/Achilles, 5…4…3…2…1…
Calfs, 5…4…3…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

I find that a simpler version of BH’s above advice works:

Try and establish a routine; get up at the same time every day, don’t look at the clock ever when in bed (will make you more anxious that you should be asleep), avoid too much alcohol and/or caffeine, have a good diet and exercise.

Maybe start by not going to bed until you are totally tired out but force yourself to get up at the allotted time. No catnaps ever either!

ach.. I don’t want to be seen to be losing this baby waving competition..

mine is 17 months and very jolly and sleeps from 7pm til 7.30am.. 😀

Stop self-abuse if it keeps you awake.
Start self-abuse if you haven’t already.
Get married and ask your wife about her work.

Have the window open so it’s a little cold(but not freezing) leave your feet/lower leg out from under the covers until they are cold (proper cold) then pop them back under the covers….sleep will be your soon as. Works for me…. 🙂

I sometimes wake up at 2/3 in the morning with work related stuff going round and round in my head, I pick up my phone and send the thoughts in an email to myself at work. It clears my head and I can go back to sleep.

+1 for cold feet..

Hot feet = No sleep

Go to bed later.

Fatty boombatties and a bottle of scotch.

red wine

How I would love an undisturbed night’s sleep!

I drop off but then waken at around 4.00 am. This morning, and also fairly regularly, there is a fox that shrieks continually for what seems an eternity.

I do however find that after a day’s riding, sleep is even more elusive. 🙁

best tip from above is to get up same time each morning regardless of how much sleep

What Ben sez except no tv or any moving pictures for at least an hour before you hit your pit. I find it just gets your brain going. I go for the cheez0 routine, both bits

Maybe start by not going to bed until you are totally tired out but force yourself to get up at the allotted time. No catnaps ever either!

That’s how I tend to go to sleep at 3am and then can’t wake up at 7 lol, and regardless of how tired I feel I can’t sleep again the next night, just lie there thinking.

I’m going through all this at the minute too, well, for over a month now I suppose. I go to bed about 11 o’clock and fall asleep easily but then pretty much every night I wake up at about 2 or 3am and end up just lying there until the alarm goes (at ten to six). Sometimes I’ll fall asleep again at around 4-30 or 5am, but usually I just stay awake.
I’m about sick of it, to be honest, but I don’t really want to go down the route of sleeping tablets although the way it’s going I might resort to that…..

I have an app which is rain falling on different surfaces. I put it on just before I want to go to sleep and I am usually out no more than 15 mins later. Worth a try if you find the sound of rainfall relaxing. They also have ones for waves, streams and wildlife and are free.

On a similar note you could give pzizz a shot. I fall asleep easily anyway so I can’t recommend it myself but a friend who has difficulty sleeping likes it. There used to be a sample 10 min track

Kava Kava and/or GABA are worth looking at. If you do take GABA have a read first because it feels odd.