Insomnia

[Astro_Bot]

Anyone have any suggestions? Watching TV with the lights down doesn't seem to help. (What's on you ask? The Love Boat, Buck Rogers, Charmed ... I'd much rather be asleep, I can tell you).

[MrB]

I find sleep to be the perfect cure for insomnia :lol:
Being serious tho, if I try to read in bed, I get woken up by the book landing on my face.
Have you tried a book yet?

[Larryp]

A glass of good tawny does it for me:thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:) I am the same as Simon , a good read and I am nodding in 1/2 and hour or so .
Brian.

[ZeroID]

I have major sleep issues because of Tinnitus so have my wee iPod and some nice music with some miniature in-ear plugs. Part of the problem is to take the focus away from the problem and the music does that. A wee dram of something nice beforehand helps too.

[Barrykgerdes]

I have the opposite problem.
How to keep awake while watching TV so you don't miss "who dun it":thumbsup:
Reading a book in bed and not keeping check on the pages so that when you nod off you don't lose your place.:shrug:

The only way I know to beat insomnia is to try to stay awake!:P

Barry

[Iain.k]

I have some nice sleeping tablets which do the job rather nicely on those days that sleep eludes me. They normally do the job.

[casstony]

It would be worth talking to your GP since chronic lack of sleep is not good for your health. The doctor will have a systematic approach including eliminating habits that discourage sleep, looking for related health problems which need to be addressed (eg. anxiety disorder) and as a last resort minimalist medical intervention.

One thing you could try is taking a magnesium tablet at bedtime. Magnesium reduces nerve excitation and 1/2 tablet makes me a little sleepy and calm making it much easier to drift off to sleep. It's not a knockout drop though. You also need to look for interactions if you're taking any prescription medications.

[MattT]

Exercise.... I mean hard stuff like riding a bike 60+ km's at a good pace. It's hard to find the time, so I ride to work sometimes taking the long way round.
Matt

[Kunama]

Calcium deficiency causes insomnia .............. take more calcium
the old remedy of a glass of milk will help many people ...
Calcium helps the brain use the amino acid tryptophan to manufacture the sleep-inducing substance melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods

[jjjnettie]

I can't sleep without reading first.

At the moment my sleepy time book is "The Bedside Book of Algebra".
Man....I feel sleepy just thinking about reading it. :)

Some white noise is good too, I have the ceiling fan on low every night.

[GeoffW1]

Hi JJJ,

That would have to be one of the more fringey choices for bedtime reading :rofl:

Where are you heading with that one :question:

Cheers

[FlashDrive]

Hey Astro ....What's that ....the ' Memory Lane ' Channel ...:rofl:

Flash ..!! :D

[jjjnettie]

LOL My math skills are lousy. So I figure if I can get through this book, I might take a catch up course at TAFE. :)

[troypiggo]

I'm usually asleep within seconds of some lovin with my wife. Can I say that here? :)

[Larryp]

You just did!:lol::lol:

[jjjnettie]

You already did. :)

[Steffen]

As my grandma used to say, insomnia isn't anything to lose sleep over…

;)

[blink138]

what about composing a long letter of complaint to celestron ha ha!
pat

[GeoffW1]

Good idea, go for it. Lots of help here on IIS of course, and you can often do those TAFE courses online and with some correspondence.

You'll soon be debating Prof. Pearlywhites :D :thumbsup:

Cheers

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks to those concerned for the advice on insomnia - I'll try some of those things out. :thumbsup:

On the upside, the "memory lane" programs seem to be more watchable than a lot of the prime time stuff. :screwy:

[Meru]

Haha! Well if it helps, I have been having erratic sleep patterns for the last few years actually (Pretty sure borderline insomnia but not sure). I find that reading as a few have suggested is a great way to fall asleep. Another is physical exercise; I sit at my desk for ~7 hours a day, and then another 2.5 getting to and back from work. So i'm mentally tired from sitting almost 10 hours but not physically. I recently started gymming again/going on walks and trying to eat more veggies, and its definitely helping me fall asleep. I would try to stay away from alco, it definitely does help, but long term could lead to problems!

Also, in the most politically correct way and not a loaded sentence, you should use your bed only for sleeping :P By that I mean, don’t surf the net on your laptop, or call a friend for a while or watch TV in your bed (If you have a TV near your bed). If you treat the room only for sleeping, it will psychologically 'help' you sleep. We are creatures of habit after all.

However by far the biggest thing I found was learning to 'switch off' at night. I find that I just simply cannot do this; 4 hours of sleep the previous night, I'll still be up at 1am thinking about that damn OAG I need to get or whether I should move closer to work. Even whether or not I should do something interesting in Christmas! Maybe try making a list of things on your mind before sleeping. And focus your thoughts on just sleep, on void, and nothing else. I find that to be more effective than anything else.

Hope this helps!