How to switch off and sleep!

[thetorturedpoetsdepartmentssecretary]

My mind is very active when I try to sleep! I start mulling over everything that has ever happened to me. I find it impossible to switch off and consequently I'm only getting a few hours' sleep a night.

Things that have worked for a while but don't anymore:

Counting backwards
Listening to white noise/ rainfall/waves
Listening to audio books
Thinking what I'd do if I won the lottery
The alphabet game - thinking of names etc beginning with each letter of the alphabet
Meditations

I get anxious if I concentrate on my breathing. I get distracted with audio books - spelling out the words in my head so I can't switch off.

I just need something to make me switch off and drift off! It shouldn't be this difficult.

I can't get up and watch TV - my neighbour downstairs hears the floorboards creak and complains.

What works for you?

I find a hot water bottle helps me sleep. Just making one now. Just put it at the side of me. I am on the sofa though with it as be too hot in bed with Dh. Do you have carpets ie the floor boards.

I take a wheat pillow to bed to cuddle, it does help a bit but I still can't switch off.

Yes I have carpet down.

It sounds like you have lifelong insomnia like me.

Yes as pp heat helps, also brisk walk during daytime. Talking to someone? It's hard to switch off when your mind is active.

I can't sleep either. And now the anxiety is keeping me awake. Sometimes yoga nidra works for me...but not tonight. You have my sympathies

I'm in the wide awake club too.

A. few carbs can be helpful to help you drift off.

Balance app sleep meditation course with Ofosu voice, with soft headband headphones you can sleep in. Made a huge difference for me (but currently back to night wakes following a stressful event). There’s normally a free trial of the app you can get.

I can't wear snooze bands or anything on my head.

For me one of the more obscure episodes of In Our Time - I have never got to the end of the one on mitochondria, it works a treat.
Beta blockers also helped, although I wasn't taking them for sleeping, but for palsy.

Have a notebook by the bed to write down things as you think them

make sure you have good sleep hygiene - wary evening exercise - hard as you can manage I would suggest. Telly off and read a book with some hot milk before bed

Most important of all - don’t worry about how long it takes to fall asleeep, your body is resting the way it needs to

This k about your breathing and visualise the air you are breathing in and out - fast streams of air and all the little eddy currents.

No caffeine or alcohol after midday. I don't stick this but if I need sleep I do!

Welcome to the insomnia club! It's so inconvenient and annoying, isn't it?

I find that having a properly dark room to sleep in is a big help. I have shutters, which are fantastic at blocking out any kind of light!

On the worst nights, when my anxiety is bad and my head won't shut up, 3mg of melatonin helps. Within around 30 minutes, my eyes just want to close!

Is melatonin a prescription drug?

I only drink decaff and very rarely drink alcohol.

CBD oil is good for dropping off to sleep.

I play out a film I've watched in my head. If my mind wanders, I make it go back to the film. 9/10 it works for me.

I have the same issue and it’s been worse the last month or so. Perhaps linked to anxiety although the thoughts keeping me awake are pretty mundane. Things that helped me:
taking valerian pills
counting sheep
brown noise rather than white noise
not getting stressed about not being able to sleep as it only makes it worse - just understanding that my body is still resting
resisting the urge to pass time on my phone

also recently heard of a podcast where the reader is reading train timetables or ingredient lists - can’t remember the name of the podcast but something like that might help

Oh my goodness, following as I'm also a chronic insomniac.
A totally dark room definitely helps.
I do use audio books, which work up to a point, but my biggest problem is waking up continuously rather than actually dropping off.
I just can't seem to stay asleep.
Love a hot water bottle!

I have embraced reality that I just don't sleep much. No value in getting excited about it.

No. I just bought mine online, after reading threads about it on here. My thinking was, "If it can make hyperactive people sleep, then surely it can knock me out for a while!"

Sorry for the late reply. Work and life gets in the way of things sometimes!

Caffeine has a big effect I think too. I recently stopped it altogether as it started upsetting my stomach. And I'm sleeping more normally again. I'd resigned myself to being an insomniac.

Same here. Do not really have a trick that works all the time, but keep trying different things. Melatonin does not work for me at all. I did notice that certain things makes things worse, so try to avoid it like eating or drinking alcohol, watching TV or being on my phone, right before going to bed. I think that these things help: doing some stretching (yoga) right before, reading a book, doing some hand work, like knitting or needlepoint and meditating. Every now and then when I feel exhausted I take Lorazepam and this works 99% of the time. Cannot take it all the time tough as it creates dependency.

Could you pm me the website? Thanks 😊

Go for a wee. It's always what I end up doing after tossing and turning if I wake up, so usually is what I need if I can't get to sleep.

Also magnesium has had friends re-set to good sleeping patterns.