Insomnia mainly due to worrying - how do you switch off

[JustMyName]

I've been sleeping really badly, partly due to shoulder pain, but then my brain won't stop worrying. I can't solve the problems at the moment. Any ideas for how to switch off at night? Any really good podcasts or similar? I've tried breathing exercises, but get more stressed about it as it doesn't feel natural. I read every night in bed, sometimes for over an hour, but still can't sleep.

Grateful for any tips!

I listen to a mix of science/learning and comedy podcasts depending on my mood, things like the TED Talks/Radio Hour; Guardian Science; Stuff you should know and Shagged, Married Annoyed; The Horne Section, Off Menu.

I also have access to two audiobook apps with my local library and listen to a mix of history things, biographies and a fair bit of light romantic fiction.

I hadn't thought about audio books.

Calm app

I read for a bit (on my kindle as the light is gentler than a phone / iPad) - nothing exciting or scary - and it sends me back off to sleep.

Supplements like ashwaganda and l’theanine will help. Then, have a bath with Epsom salts (high in magnesium - lowers blood pressure), then download insight timer app and do one of their relaxation courses. You’ll be asleep within the hour. 👍

I play games on my ipad but I should do something more productive with my time.

Thanks, I'll have a look. Is it free?

They add 80+ free meditation/ relaxation courses daily. Some of the longer courses cost but it will say which ones require payment.

Sorry, I meant the Calm app.

I don't have a bath in my house.

I do read a lot, but it doesn't help, as soon as I try to settle down my brain starts whirring again. I think I need something that will actually play until I'm asleep .. But without my phone lighting up as I'm extremely sensitive to light, I have the room completely dark.

Audio books, radio plays on YouTube BUT they must be totally divorced from your actual life. Don't have to be comedies but they need to get you brain as far away from your problems as possible. Well, it works for me.

I second Calm app.
And also Oak app, it has one breathing practice called Deep Calm that is incredibly effective, it even busts menopausal insomnia.

I have an essential oils mister, like this:

https://www.nealsyardremedies.com/gifts/gifting/ethical-christmas-gifts/9390.html#foc=1916&fook=c8a4c21b8f44075ee1d5a5713e5a2fc6&fos=gplauk?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx6vigK625wIVRrTtCh1-RAHMEAQYASABEgLKGfDDBwE

I find it really soothing.

Aquick what oils do you use?

Calm is not free there is a weeks trial though. If you have spotify that has claiming sleep music on it too. there is also Headspace

Is the Calm app worth the money?

I like Astronomy Cast and In Our Time for podcasts to drift off to. If I don’t sleep I learn stuff and if I do, they aren’t intrusive. I also have a Dodow light thing to regulate my breathing which usually works. And when it gets really bad after a couple of nights I’ll take an antihistamine to break the cycle and get at least some sleep. Sympathy - it’s miserable.

BBC sounds app has a sleep timer so you can set it to turn itself off when you want it to. There are audio books / plays / docs etc on there, all free.

The calm app is about £30 for a year and I think so as it has quite a lot of stuff on there. It seems cheaper than Headspace. Only thing is the lady's voice is American so depends on whether you find the accent relaxing or not. I prefer Tim Puddlecombe's voice to be honest (Headspace) but it is more expensive. I thing give it a go with the trial to see, but remember to cancel before the week is up or they'll take the fee.

I watch comedy shows I’ve seen a thousand times before on Netflix or prime on my tablet. I have a case that stands the tablet up, put it on the lowest brightness and a low volume and get comfortable and then lay really still and watch it until I fall asleep.

I use the headspace sleep meditations (some of them are free and some are subscription only). I also listen to Audible, but not the things I'm really excited about the things I have heard or read before. If it's too interesting it keeps me awake. I find that reading doesn't work because I have to turn the light on, that music keeps me awake, etc. But listening to something same-y in a dark room does help.

I take a hot water bottle to bed now to cuddle. There's something very soothing about being warm, but I get hot easily in the night so like to be able to get rid of the heat when I need to! I also have a variety of cushion shapes and blankets, so that I can layer up and get into different positions. There's lots of wriggling involved!

I take magnesium an hour before bed and antihistamines when I need them (Nytol or Phenergan). I also keep a big glass of water next to my bed, and some puzzle books to do (Soduku that kind of thing) and colouring as they can send me sleep better sometimes. I do find that nothing works for very long, so I'm always coming up with new ideas.

I find using an eye mask helps, as I also need the room completely dark. I have 4 or 5, but found the best one is a faux silk one from Amazon.

One of my daughters has virtually solved her persistent insomnia problem with the podcasts idea. It also works, she says, if she is sharing a room with her snoring mother!

I know how easy it is for worries to start the minute one lies down. Sometimes mine are RIDICULOUS -like a memory of something I did or said wrong decades ago which makes me cringe and squirm - as if my brain was just waiting to leap in and torture me when I was off-guard. Or a worry springs up which is really unlikely but leads to all sorts of other what-ifs.

I've got a system to deal with this now and it mostly works - I lie down with a puzzle memorised to think about - say 5 words which can be anagrammed. I got a bit too slick at that so the worries would leap in - now I memorise a harder (but doable) word or lists puzzle from that GCHQ book which was doing the rounds a few years ago. Sometimes they take me weeks to work out - but they are absorbing enough to keep my brain off all other tracks.

(Wasn't there a film where someone gave a computer some long, insoluble mathematical thing to work out so gradually more and more of its circuits were engaged which stopped it from its evil master-plan of destroying the world?)

Good luck OP finding a method which works for you. It's horrible lying there with worries churning away in the dead of night.

Well, I was awake until gone 5.30 this morning, tried listen to sleep podcasts on Spotify but the American accent wasn't soothing. I just kept reading in the end.

I'll try something different tonight. I've no antihistamines here, but I'll try and get to a chemist.

I use 'This Works' sleep pillow spray sometimes which does have a nice calming, soothing scent. I struggle with insomnia as well and still haven't found a cure-all, just a combination of things which sometimes help. Magnesium supplements are meant to help. I take anti-histamines every day because of a dust allergy and they don't make me sleepy any more unfortunately. I also take amytriptiline for anxiety which makes me sleepy sometimes.

I'm very sensitive to strong smells, not sure I'd cope with a strong smell on my pillow. Does it smell nice?

I'm going to go through my medication, see if I've any nytol or similar. I can't stand another night like that.