Aaaargh! Can't sleep!

Anyone got any suggestions as to what I can do to get some sleep? Since a couple of weeks before Xmas, I just cannot get to sleep at night.

Before, I would be out within minutes, and then would sleep through anything (I have slept through a bomb blast, and a huge car smash - involving a drunk driver & our car - right outside my bedroom window). Then, in the morning, when generally I'd struggle to get up and could feasibly sleep until the early afternoon if left alone.

Now, my mind just won't switch off, and the slightest little noise will wake me just as I'm dozing off. I don't drink loads of caffeine - two small coffees & two green teas today, the last of which at about 5.30. This is no more than usual, and in fact in the past I could drink quite a lot of caffeine & still get to sleep. Anticipating problems tonight, I had a small whiskey just before bed watching Bruce Parry. Hasn't worked.

I can't say I'm particularly troubled by things I've lost sleep over in the past (e.g. work, money).

Generally what I tend to do as I go to sleep is I'll start to imagine a scenario I'd like to dream about (steady lads, keep it clean!:rolleyes:). Whilst I never ever end up dreaming the scenario, you could always guarantee I'd be out within minutes. Now, it just seems to go on: I get bored, run out of imagination, and find I'm still as awake as I was before. I might, if I'm lucky begin to go, but then a noise - one of the kids moving about the house, the dog having a shake - will wake me up 5-10 minutes later.

I was due up in 4 hrs, but have decided I can get to a nearer office, which'll give me an hour or so's extra sleep (when/if I do drift off).

Can anyone suggest anything? I'm not going to hang around for a reply, I do want to try to sleep. I'm currently downstairs on the sofa under the spare quilt, with a mug of warm milk, a book & the Sunday papers. Wish me luck...:closed:

softie, I think green tea has more caffeine than black tea. iirc some of the caffeine is lost in the 'fermentation' process that converts the green tea to the more familiar stuff we know and love. I've noticed when I'm in China and been drinking it all day, that it was quite a strong effect that I don't get at home from my usual Yorkshire Tea

SNAP! I can't sleep either SS, maybe there is something in the air :eek:

I get off ok - normal for me to not go straight to sleep, but within half an hour. Then I wake up at 2 or 3 and just lay awake for ages - usually drifting off just before the alarm goes off :closed:

Yuk! Green tea, don't think that's my problem. I think I spent all last year working so hard that I was just knocked out at the end of the day (and often only had a few hours in bed to sleep anyway). Since Xmas and starting back working in the actual city I live in, in a very low pressure (boring) job again, I am just not tiring myself out enough :rolleyes:

Finding a technique to help you sleep is very personal (ask any insomniac - me included).

Sounds like you have got into a habit of not sleeping well and now you're worrying about it and it's becoming self-fulfilling (if you understand me).

The usual thing about not drinking too much caffeine, not eating too late, not exercising too late etc

Try relaxation techniques such as - starting from your toes scrunch up that body part really tight and then let it go. Work your way up the body, including the face (especially the jaw). This works by relaxing the muscles which become subconsciously tense. You'd be amazed how tense you are even when you think you are not. It also focuses the mind on something other than the fact that you can't sleep.

Personally I always read before sleeping as it switches the mind off from everyday issues that you can lie there brooding about. Choose an easy read not something that makes you think harder. Some people find writing a diary helps as it sorts things out in your mind first so you stop thinking about them while you're trying to sleep.

Sometimes I've put some peaceful music on really low and focused on that.

Good luck.

Cheers for replies guys (& gals).

DT - I had thought that about green tea, I guess my point was that I hadn't drunk that much of it! I have in the past been able to drink up to a dozen cups a day and generally have two in the last 1.5-2hrs befor bed. Again, all without any previous problems.

OHW - sounds like you need to up your training then!;)

Flopsy - some interesting stuff. I think there has been a bit of habit creeping in. My thoughts as I go to bed are now more towards thinking 'right, tonight I'm going to try to get off quickly, I don't want to be up for hours', etc.

I do tend to do my non-running exercises later at night (finished a heavy weights sesh at about 9 last night), never normally a problem.

Reading, sometimes does tend to help, though I find the more complex a book the better - it tires my mind out thinking about it. If it's a gripping yarn, I'll just be up reading all night! Problem is that my reading light keeps my missus awake, so can't do this all the time.

As for the tensing/relaxing thing, we used to do this lying flat on the floor at the end of our Pilates session, and I was very nearly fast asleep by the end of it. Might give this a whirl tonight. (Though if I do go off, whether it'll be down to this or the 3hrs sleep I eventually got, I don't know!)

There's a few things I've mentioned that I keep saying are not normally a problem - caffeine, exercising, etc. - but it looks as though I might have to start changing things, as for one reason or another, maybe now they are proving a problem.

Flopsy makes a great point about sleeping habits

I find when I've been abroad my sleeping pattern can be disrupted for several weeks even after I've apparently re-adjusted my body clock back to UK time. My regular sleeping habits have been changed and I need to re-train myself to sleep normally again (I never usually have problems going to sleep but rather wake up early; often around 2 to 3am)

This time of year is not good for me in that I don't go out in the evening for a walk if I'm not training and I think some fresh air and gentle exercise (as opposed to training) helps

Light reading before turning off my bedroom light helps me too

I try never to do high-intensity exercise later than 7pm - if I want to get to sleep at 11ish. On the occasions I've done a 7-to-8pm BMF class, I've noticed I cannot get to sleep til 12-1am.

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Originally Posted by southernsoftie

OHW - sounds like you need to up your training then!;)

Flopsy - some interesting stuff. I think there has been a bit of habit creeping in. My thoughts as I go to bed are now more towards thinking 'right, tonight I'm going to try to get off quickly, I don't want to be up for hours', etc.

Reading, sometimes does tend to help, though I find the more complex a book the better - it tires my mind out thinking about it. If it's a gripping yarn, I'll just be up reading all night! Problem is that my reading light keeps my missus awake, so can't do this all the time.

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You need one of these :D

Attachment 4406

I think for me it has become habit - like you say SS, I too go to bed thinking "oh I hope I don't wake up at 2am tonight".... DOH!

Knew someone would suggest upping my training! I thought the same after I posted it!

http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/images/icons/icon9.png Run this evening then. (I am not a good evening person! Once I am home from work dragging myself out again is not easy! It's much easier getting up first thing and going)

I'm like that too, particularly at the moment, coming back from injury, even at the best of times if I miss a couple of runs, just don't sleep.

I personally find that listening to podcasts helps take my mind off other things. After partial asphyxiation by my earphone cable, I bought a Sound Asleep speaker-pillow which prevents almost certain death by strangulation and also, if the speaker is positioned appropriately near my ear, allows me to listen way happily without disturbing my better (and sleepier) half.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000...4701066&sr=8-1

Don't know if this is the kind of thing I should be admitting , but I'm sipping on Horlicks as we speak and about to start on my 7 year old daughter's " Horse & Pony " magazine , which from experience , is a potent combo for sleep inducement !

Slept better last night:

- Last green tea was earlier
- No training in the evening (too tired!)
- Shattered from no sleep the night before
- A couple of herbal sleeping tablets:eek: an hour before bed (which was 10 o'clock!)
- Took a warm milk to bed and read for 20 minutes or so.

Took me about 10 minutes to go off. That's better. :) Thank you all.

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Originally Posted by southernsoftie

Slept better last night:

- Last green tea was earlier
- No training in the evening (too tired!)
- Shattered from no sleep the night before
- A couple of herbal sleeping tablets:eek: an hour before bed (which was 10 o'clock!)
- Took a warm milk to bed and read for 20 minutes or so.

Took me about 10 minutes to go off. That's better. :) Thank you all.

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SS if your sleep problem continues try reducing the temperature in your bedroom, open a window or turn the radiator off, but make sure you're warm enough in bed. I sleep better if I'm tucked up snug in a cool room. Being too hot can be a big factor and with the recent cold weather it's likely you've had the heating on more than normal?

Fingers crossed that the problem is already resolved.

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Originally Posted by Stef F

SS if your sleep problem continues try reducing the temperature in your bedroom, open a window or turn the radiator off, but make sure you're warm enough in bed. I sleep better if I'm tucked up snug in a cool room. Being too hot can be a big factor and with the recent cold weather it's likely you've had the heating on more than normal?

Fingers crossed that the problem is already resolved.

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Aye, fingers crossed! It's tended to go that way: I can't get to sleep on a Sunday, possibly Monday night, but by Tuesday it's alright, but only because I'm knackered from lack of sleep the previous 2 nights. Then there's the effect it has on me during the day, which is more of a concern if I'm honest.

As to the heating, ours goes off about an hour before bed, and it is quite a cool room (dodgy double glazing and old stone built terrace!). I still sometimes end up on top of the covers mind, but that's normally in the early hours of the morning anyways.

A couple of bottles of red wine & I'm out like a light.

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Originally Posted by Jez Hellewell

A couple of bottles of red wine & I'm out like a light.

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If I drink that amount of red wine will I run as fast as you? :w00t:

'Night Bert.

Good night Ernie.

Say, Bert?

What is it, Ernie?

I can't sleep, Bert.

I spent over twenty years not sleeping. And it took me nearly all of those twenty years to fathom it out.
Forget what people tell you what you should be doing as we are all individuals and are all different.
I use to go for two or three days without sleep. It was a bit well known on the forum that I could run at 2.30 am , do a twelve hour shift and keep going. I still can. But I finally solved my problem with sleep.

Nothing to do with milk, Bert, windows , green tea or that kind of thing.
Be honest with yourselves and you will find why you cannot sleep.
Right I'm off to bed

Oh when I was assessed by the medical health team before having treatment they calculated that I had gone 15 years on 4.3 hrs a night. That's not uncommon either.
So I wouldn't worry about a little bit after Xmas, that's normal.

Ps caffeine is bollox. I've had 2 x caramel lattes today and 3 normal coffees. It won't affect my seven hours tonight.

Fair play Daz. I knew there were people on here with PROPER lack of sleep problems, hence the post. I s'pose it does sound a bit whiny after only a few weeks of difficulties, but I thought I'd try and nip it in the bud if I could. Glad you've now got it sorted.:closed:

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Originally Posted by daz h

I spent over twenty years not sleeping. And it took me nearly all of those twenty years to fathom it out.
Forget what people tell you what you should be doing as we are all individuals and are all different.
I use to go for two or three days without sleep. It was a bit well known on the forum that I could run at 2.30 am , do a twelve hour shift and keep going. I still can. But I finally solved my problem with sleep.

Nothing to do with milk, Bert, windows , green tea or that kind of thing.
Be honest with yourselves and you will find why you cannot sleep.
Right I'm off to bed

Oh when I was assessed by the medical health team before having treatment they calculated that I had gone 15 years on 4.3 hrs a night. That's not uncommon either.
So I wouldn't worry about a little bit after Xmas, that's normal.

Ps caffeine is bollox. I've had 2 x caramel lattes today and 3 normal coffees. It won't affect my seven hours tonight.

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Just a note about the caffeine:

If you're used to it it won't affect your sleep. I drank it for years with no problem.

I gave it up about 5 years ago but still have a caffeinated coffee occasionally (sometimes by accident, and sometimes because you don't always get decaff even though you've asked for it and there's no way to tell at the time). When I do I get the shakes after, my concentration is heightened and I'm buzzing. I get absolutely no sleep.

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Originally Posted by Stef F

Just a note about the caffeine:

If you're used to it it won't affect your sleep. I drank it for years with no problem.

I gave it up about 5 years ago but still have a caffeinated coffee occasionally (sometimes by accident, and sometimes because you don't always get decaff even though you've asked for it and there's no way to tell at the time). When I do I get the shakes after, my concentration is heightened and I'm buzzing. I get absolutely no sleep.

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I take your point Stef about Caffeine but Ive yet to meet anyone who reacts like that after 1 x cup.

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Originally Posted by daz h

I take your point Stef about Caffeine but Ive yet to meet anyone who reacts like that after 1 x cup.

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I must be a lightweight! I met a Client at lunch time and remembered to ask for decaff...phew!

'Night Ernie...

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Originally Posted by Stef F

I must be a lightweight! I met a Client at lunch time and remembered to ask for decaff...phew!

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I asked for decaff but I don't think that's what they gave me :mad:

I don't have any problem with sleep, but have had spells of pretty severe insomnia caused by decongestant tablets or nasal sprays!

As it's the cold and flue season i thought i'd mention it!

I know that I've said it before, but rampant sex always works for me!! :w00t::D

Yep. Give the old flue a good rodding.

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Originally Posted by daz h

I take your point Stef about Caffeine but Ive yet to meet anyone who reacts like that after 1 x cup.

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Yes you have; I do too.

Much worse now I've largely given up the caffeine.

Had a real coffee by accident a few years ago; could feel the caffeine slowly circulating in the blood stream and pulse went crakers.

Scary (and off thread, sorry!)

i know its not a solution to a bigger problem but nightime covonia is a quick fix to a good nites sleep for me , obviously not to be reccomended for a full time cure but it does what it says on the tin allthough can leave you a bit groggy the day after

now wheres me cough formula