Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Insomnia « Thread Started on Feb 4, 2009, 3:22am »
With all the excitement around this new forum, I'm finding it difficult to go to sleep. I TOSS AND TURN WITH THOUGHTS OF NEW THREADS AND POSTS and I don't want to fall asleep at the computer. HELP!
With all the excitement around this new forum, I'm finding it difficult to go to sleep. I TOSS AND TURN WITH THOUGHTS OF NEW THREADS AND POSTS and I don't want to fall asleep at the computer. HELP!
"Creative insomnia" is one of the best. When it is put to good use, who cares if you are comatose the rest of the day?
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Insomnia « Reply #6 on Mar 3, 2009, 3:35am »
I've been getting acupuncture for my knee injury and the woman I see is also a Chinese Herbalist,she studied in China with a elder Chinese woman. Anyway,I mentioned to her that I had been having trouble sleeping and she gave me a bottle of pills that when I unsealed them let off the most incredible aroma. I took 2 of them as she prescribed and had the most restful,peaceful slumber I can recall. I must ask her what is in them, the writing on the bottle is in Chinese.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Insomnia « Reply #9 on Mar 3, 2009, 5:11pm »
The brand name is PLUM FLOWER(GMP certified),they are called SUAN ZAO REN tang and they contain:Ziziphus jujuba seed,Ligusticum chuanxlong rhizome,Poria cocos fungus,Anemarrhena asphodeloides rhizome,Glycyrrhiza uralensis root Herbs made in China,Packaged in USA,Distributed by Mayway Corp. Oakland,CA,www.mayway.com MW Code#3935
My name really isn't Don, but I used to be anónimo.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 2,978 Location: Michoacán, México
Re: Insomnia « Reply #10 on Mar 4, 2009, 5:05pm »
I bought some capsules of "Duerme Biem" (sic), which contain a medley of tranquilizing and soporific herbs. However, they smell like dried toe jam or $hit. I didn't save the box, so I can't tell you exactly what's in them. Haven't helped much. I'm considering switching to gin.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 3,598 Location: Montréal
Re: Insomnia « Reply #11 on May 5, 2010, 9:59am »
I've been having a bout of the dread early morning insomnia - waking up in terror around 4am (it is still dark here then). Tonight I was in such a state that I got up and read both in print and online. Of course Renzo has gone to sleep on the warm spot I'd left ... they never have insomnia. Like many people, I have reasons to be anxious, but of course not getting enough sleep doesn't do them any good. I'm getting plenty of exercise.
The sun is up and the day looks beautiful, but I'm going to try to go back to bed for an hour or so to be ready to work by 8:30 or 9.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,441 Location: England
Re: Insomnia « Reply #12 on May 5, 2010, 12:37pm »
Poor you, Lagatta....that's miserable. Just an idea, but if you wake up in the small hours, make a mug of hot chocolate, sip it in bed, don't engage your mind....and don't put on bright lights. Going on-line is the last thing you should do.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 400 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Insomnia « Reply #16 on May 5, 2010, 1:32pm »
Hot chocolate,the sugar and caffeine in it would keep me more awake...herbal tea,chamomile,melissa,passion flower,valerian,hops, all so much better. Hope this passes soon Lagatta.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 3,598 Location: Montréal
Re: Insomnia « Reply #17 on May 5, 2010, 1:46pm »
I did sip hot water (just warm from the tap, not from the kettle). Will see whether I have herbal tea that is relaxing, I might among all the teas and tisanes.
Yes, it really sucks. I slept in until 9 am. And I'm very disciplined about keeping office hours on my own.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 35,186 Location: Paris, France
Re: Insomnia « Reply #18 on May 5, 2010, 7:44pm »
I sleep soundly but am sometimes awakened by weird unpleasant dreams that I don't want to continue and find out what happens next. I just hit the 59 minute button on the radio and it puts me to sleep in 3 minutes.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,798 Location: Mexico
Re: Insomnia « Reply #19 on Aug 2, 2010, 2:14pm »
Looking back at this thread, I see that melissa herb was mentioned and also lemon balm schnapps. Melissa and lemon balm are the same thing. As far as I know, it's okay to have a small amount of alchohol to make one feel sleepy, but that more will metabolize in the body in such a way to wake you up later in the night.
I don't know if this happens to other people, but even though I know I'll wake up around the same time every day, if I have any kind of morning appointment I set the alarm. That's because otherwise I tend to be wakeful all night long, sort of anxious about waking up on time. Of course that kind of non-restful sleep is the kind most likely to make me fall really asleep right before dawn and then not wake up on time.
The other thing I discovered about tricking myself out of insomnia was to get the clock out of the bedroom. I realized that I'd wake up, look at the clock, then think, 'If I can get back to sleep in a half hour, I'll have another three hours before I have to get up." This had the effect of setting up the same kind of wakeful anxiety about sleep as the no-alarm mentioned above.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 35,186 Location: Paris, France
Re: Insomnia « Reply #20 on Aug 3, 2010, 7:23am »
Whenever I have to get up super early, I wake up at least 90 minutes before the time I'm supposed to get up. If I have to get up at 6:00, I'm lucky if I can sleep past 4:00.
Whenever I have to get up super early, I wake up at least 90 minutes before the time I'm supposed to get up. If I have to get up at 6:00, I'm lucky if I can sleep past 4:00.
Likewise. And lately,I've been waking up in the middle of the night(well,my night anyway) at 2:30ish a.m. but,the cool part of it is,I see the Moon out in the back garden,right from my pillow. Seems to make everything all right,and I can usually drift off back to sleep for a few more hours. (If I had a decent camera,I would record...)
sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #22 on Dec 11, 2010, 1:22pm »
just wondering - how much sleep do you need?
because i need a lot. It used to be nine hours until a few years ago, now i can deal okay with eight hours usually. but when i for a while only got 6 or 7 hours per night, i started feeling always bad and negative, until i figured out it was due to lack of sleep. so even now, when i feel really down, often just sleeping will already help...
but a lot of people here seem to not only need very little sleep, but sometimes make remarks that indicate that i sleep too much. they of course don't call me lazy, after all i am their guest and all, but they have trouble understanding that if i don't sleep the night before our trip i will be in a horrible mood the next day (and thus prefer going to bed even if they stay up) - or that i would never manage to get up at five in the morning, at least not if i also have to stay up till 11 or 12 every evening...
even the kids of the family i am staying at sleep very little for their age. they go to bed sometime around 11 usually, and get up at around 7, which considering they are only 8 and 12 seems kind of little sleep to me (my parents would usually send us to bed at 7 or 8 at that age)... but maybe i am just from a very sleepy family?
Re: sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #23 on Dec 11, 2010, 2:37pm »
I don't think so. I need 8 hours to function properly and my wife needs 9 or more. It does seem there are many countries from the 'developing world' or whatever the PC name for them is now, whereby the kids stay up all hours. But I do know at the school of my kids there are problems with them falling asleep in the afternoons.
Re: sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #24 on Dec 11, 2010, 6:36pm »
well in latin america kids stayed up later than in germany too, but there they more often napped in the afternoon. here the kids have school till four. and i doubt they'd fall asleep in school, i have never seen any of our kids do that, and in the school the children of the family go to, a cane is still in use to punish the children and i am sure sleeping would be a punishable offense. but i do wonder if their concentration doesn't suffer, anyway...
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 35,186 Location: Paris, France
Re: sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #25 on Dec 11, 2010, 7:39pm »
I usually sleep about six and a half hours, which is not quite enough for me. I regularly have sleepy moments during the day, which prove it. Nevertheless, I am rarely asleep before midnight and I infallibly wake up around 6:00-6:30.
It is interesting to note that my wake-up time is more important to me than my bedtime. I absolutely despise waking up after 7:00, but it doesn't bother me at all to go to bed early if I am sleepy -- at 23:00, 22:30... or even 21:30 (very rare).
Re: sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #26 on Dec 12, 2010, 3:54am »
for me it is kind of the other way around. i can sleep until very late if i have the chance, but find it diffiuclt to go to bed early. well okay, sometimes i do go to bed early, but in fact, even if i am sleepy all day, sometime in the evening i suddenly seem to wake up and do not feel the need to go to sleep...
for me it is kind of the other way around. i can sleep until very late if i have the chance, but find it diffiuclt to go to bed early. well okay, sometimes i do go to bed early, but in fact, even if i am sleepy all day, sometime in the evening i suddenly seem to wake up and do not feel the need to go to sleep...
Agree, somehow I hate going to bed, but love it once I am there.
Sleep fascinates me. Rikita, I don’t think that you are hedonistic and from a sleepy family. It sounds as though you pay attention to your body’s natural needs. My history is of erratic and little sleep with lovely intermissions.
For about 25 years, I only slept about 2-5 hours a night. (because of work and schedules) Somehow I managed. As I got older, I managed less well. In the last 3 years, due to injuries, I could not work and didn’t have to get up at any specific time. Without an alarm clock, I found I naturally slept from 6-7 hours. The rare times that I was up for 24 hours, or had only 3-4 hours sleep, I was Clearly very affected emotionally and physically. Very depressed, edgy, volatile. Difficult to focus.
I have always been a very deep sleeper and I think this is important. Unlike most people I know, when I need to sleep I can go to bed at any time of the day or night, and naturally wake up 6-7 hours later. Your body does its most valuable repair work when you are in the deepest phase of sleep. REM? Also, from my experience, I feel that your emotional well being depends on having 6-8 hours a night. I think that many people are sleep deprived.
Another important thing about sleep that I have thought about over the years are the Circadian Rhythms and the biological clock. Somehow, it does seem that 6 hours of sleep from midnight to 6AM (in the dark) is more beneficial in all ways than 6 hours at any other period in the 24 hours. (from my experience) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm#Disruption
I love sleeping, especially in the colder months with my flannelette sheets and duvet.
Re: sleep and lack of sleep « Reply #29 on Dec 12, 2010, 9:16am »
I homed in on this thread as sleep is a slight issue for me - I have dodgy lungs and wake up regularly through most nights. I did the test in the link and scored 65% - whatever that means! But I am apparently a morning person and I am doing all the right things to facilitate sleep so I guess I just have to carry on feeling slightly tired most of the time and doing my best to sleep more efficiently..
Actually I think many women find sleeping more problematic after they have had children - you expect to be sleep deprived for the first few years but it can easily become a habit that's hard to overcome.