AIBU to want to sleep?

[Squeakydogtoy]

Just that? AIBU to want to have a good night sleep?

I go to bed exhausted, as soon as my head touches the pillow I'm wide awake.

I read hoping that will make me sleep, I try to avoid my phone as I know that doesn't work. I play silly alphabet games in my head...pick a topic and list 3 things starting with a, b etc . That used to work but it doesn't seem to any more

Honestly, I am so tired I could cry.

I'm up at 6 for work and I'm lucky if I get 3 hours a night. I don't know what to do any more

Same boat. It's grim.

I find audiobooks helpful to drop off to. Nothing exciting; Agatha Christie type gentle mysteries or romance.

It's horrendous.

Sorry to hear you're in the same boat

thanks for the tip

Don't know if it's relevant but I've started HRT on a tiny dose and it's helped me sleep. Apart from now that is!! Dreams/job anxiety this time 😏

I am of "that age", might be something to consider

Hope you manage to dropoff soon 🤞

Sympathy OP, I’m in the grip of the Insomnia Gods too tonight.

Audiobooks… preferably something you’ve read a million times. The Harry Potter series is one I have on tap and I’ve recently gotten into historical diaries.

they are great you can fade in and out of them.

WW1 Nurses diary: https://www.amazon.com/Dorotheas-War/dp/B00UVY1K9K/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

WWII Young man’s diary: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CB8PYNL?ref=adbl_mfpdp_mbr

set the timer for 3 hours so if you drift off and wake up your still listening.

I bet that’s it, it can be a bastard to sleep. If you get flushes/night sweats I really recommend Coolmax or similar bed linen - still got hot of course, but I never again woke up in cold wet sheets.

But for sleep itself, it can be difficult. I got really anxious, used to lie awake wondering what I’d forgotten to do at work that day. Have you tried CBD oil? Another thing that encourages sleep is ensuring you have nice warm feet before going to bed. As your feet cool down in your nice new Coolmax sheets(!) the cooling induces the sleep hormones that make you drowsy. A hot bath does the same thing. I don’t actually KNOW if a milky drink before bed helps, but because my Mum used to insist it did, I BELIEVED in the power of hot chocolate. I read recently that porridge before bed helps you sleep too.

Most sleep experts advise you not to stay in bed if you can’t sleep, that the bedroom should be a place for sleep (and sex if applicable). And on that subject the best sleep inducer of all is orgasm.

I've been relying on the "sleep with me" podcast. No idea how it works, but the quickest thing to get me to sleep.

Oh that sounds good, @Merrow - what does it involve?

It starts off with some annoying ads, but then it's just this man, with a voice that isn't stereotypically soothing, doing a long rambling intro about how it's hard not to be able to sleep. Then the main segment is about something really boring about something that you might be interested in. He did a game of thrones recap series (which is how I heard about it), but talked about things like medieval metal work rather than anything exciting that happened in the episode. I've only actually made it past the intro once!

I think there's something where my brain is engaged enough that I'm not going down some anxiety spiral / lying explicably wide awake, but it's not dynamic enough that I'm staying awake to listen (which is a problem I found with audiobooks). And I think there is probably something about the fact that his voice isn't something you'd automatically associate with bedtime stories or anything that further tricks my brain.

How interesting!

I used to record Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting, and watch it before bed. Something about his soothing voice but equally something in the rhythmical strokes of his brushes - chhh chhh chhh - ALWAYS had me nodding halfway through, so I’d go to bed and watch the second half the next night.

Might still be on BBC iplayer, not sure, this was several years ago.

Anyway, looks like OP might have gone to sleep, so think I will too. (My being up at this hour is because I’m by nature a night owl and now I’m retired have the sleep patterns of a teenager. It’s not insomnia any more.)

Try drinking a can of trip.

Try a magnesium supplement- it's worked wonders for me ☺️

Go see your gp! My sleep dr pointed out that if I had a crippling leg injury I’d be queuing up to get it sorted asap. Insomnia is completely debilitating but people seem to think they are just supposed to get on with it!

I've been seeing my gp about this for 3 years. Nothing has worked. I'm absolutely at the end of my tether.

I tried seeing my GP in my teens, 20s and 30s and gave up in my 40s. Insomnia has been lifelong for me, not always as pronounced as last night was but I rarely get more than 5 hours even on a ‘good’ night. And I’ve tried it all. No TV in the bedroom. Milky drinks. Not eating late in the evening. No caffeine. Boring talk radio/podcasts. White noise. Getting up. Listening to music on low volume. No screens (I give up on that now once it gets to a certain point where it’s clear sleep is remaining elusive - I may as well be entertained if I’m lying wide awake at 3.00a.m). Valerian, magnesium, melatonin, amitriptyline. HRT now I’m menopausal. Keeping a notebook by the bed to offload any nagging ‘don’t forget X / check to see if I did Y’ thoughts. Going to bed at the same time regardless, getting up at the same time. Sleep expert recommendations. And probably a few dozen other things too.

Nothing works. I don’t know what it’s like not to feel tired but for some reason my ‘sleep setting’ simply doesn’t function properly. I manage to get through each day but sometimes it’s a struggle, as it will be today because last night was particularly bad, I’ve had about 3.5 hours sleep and I have a busy work day ahead.

I find Kalms Night help to calm my mind when I go to bed.

Life time insomniac here,plus I worked nights for the last 30. A couple of years ago,did the Nick Littlehay, hygiene regime. Painting the whole bedroom white,needed new furniture, also white. Latest advice,is short afternoon nap,if you can manage it. Stay in bed and rest. I have never gone to sleep in 20 minutes in my life. I used to get up (Michael Mosley) you are meant to stay up till you get tired ... except I didn't! I went into full "Nightshift mode", then felt really rough in the morning. The last thing I am now trying is,stop trying to force yourself to sleep....force yourself to stay awake. You need a tiny bit of light source,so you can concentrate on an item, when you feel your eyes begin to close,snap them open. I imagine I'm a soldier on guard,on a rocky outcrop,if I fall asleep, I will fall! It has worked more than anything else.

Amiltryptiline at night helped me

I use the Calm app sleep stories or sleep meditations.

@Merrow - the boringness of the Podcasts you mention made me laugh at a memory. One of the Calm stories was the Rules of Cricket, read by a famous cricket commentator. Now, I have no interest in the sport and couldn't care less how its played so assumed it'd be a sure winner. But fur some reason it was the most interesting thing ever and I refused to fall asleep til I'd heard it all. Most annoying and terribly inhelpful! 🤣

According to my mum she sleeps like a dream since she started progesterone.

My DD uses pink noise. It has definitely helped her sleep better. She was also recently prescribed Phenergan to take on nights when nothing else is working.

My DS going the Calms Night valerian tablets helpful.

I had this. I cut out caffeine completely and went on HRT, which seems to have fixed it.

Hrt helps. On my worst weeks I used Nytol to get some sleep. Feel a bit groggy in the morning but helped me not completely fall apart. A bath in the evening also helps me fall asleep.