Insomnia

[Cyclomega]

Hmmm... I have always been a late sleeper, and quite relenting to go to bed, but it got worse as I got older, culminating in reverse sleep patterns during my nervous breakdown in 2005, I would sleep at 5 or 7AM, wake up at 3 or 4PM, and basically experience a ruined day...

I tried to correct it by getting back to bed when I got back to college, and while ir marginally worked, the mix of internets, tv and other hobbies made me forget about the time (I always lose track of the time when I'm focused). Thus, I go to bed late and sleep only a little... yet I have to get up before 8AM to go go work...

I never tried curing it with pills or therapy, and just thought I'd let it slip and get more rest on weekends, did not work so well, but when I was living on my own and did not had to have dinner with my father and sister every evening, I would just fall into sleep early (sometimes before 10PM) and just sleep as much as I could, to reload the batteries from all the missed slumber...

Works in and out, but I'll have to get to more regular patterns if I want to get back in shape...

So far i've gotten used to sleeping 3 or 4 hours a night, and be a complete walking ruin for half of the day, but I'm still working on improving it...

 

[Gitsnik]

I'll be honest. Now that I'm on Melatonin (when I remember to take it. Cough) and my sleep is fixing up, I genuinely miss those early hours of a morning when it was just me, my thoughs, and whatever delusions I was having at the time. Not to mention I got a shit load more done in terms of art, schoolwork or whatever. Nothing sends me to sleep like consumer arithmetic.

Seriously you're not alone. I've been sleeping regularly lately because I've had the gf nearby rather than one of us heading home after dinner, and I'm so annoyed at all the things I realised I used to do during those long hours that I don't get to anymore.

Guess you can get used to anything hey.

 

[Labyrinth]

I'll be honest. Now that I'm on Melatonin (when I remember to take it. Cough) and my sleep is fixing up, I genuinely miss those early hours of a morning when it was just me, my thoughs, and whatever delusions I was having at the time. Not to mention I got a shit load more done in terms of art, schoolwork or whatever. Nothing sends me to sleep like consumer arithmetic.

Seriously you're not alone. I've been sleeping regularly lately because I've had the gf nearby rather than one of us heading home after dinner, and I'm so annoyed at all the things I realised I used to do during those long hours that I don't get to anymore.

Guess you can get used to anything hey.

I'm rebelling. I want my 4am munch time back!

 

[hippo24]

i don't sleep...sleeping is for pussies

but i had pretty bad insomnia for a few years but that's OK im better now...

there was a time in my life for several months that i consistently got 2 or 3 hrs a sleep a night (with the exception of weekends). let me tell you my friends that will seriously f*ck you up

 

[kinch]

I'm certain we've had at least one other thread on insomnia about a month or 2 ago. I'm pretty sure I even contributed to that thread. So where are all the guys condemning this thread for being a repost? You know, the same guys who post in all the other threads that are reposts, but the ones that are started by men...

 

[Labyrinth]

I'm certain we've had at least one other thread on insomnia about a month or 2 ago. I'm pretty sure I even contributed to that thread. So where are all the guys condemning this thread for being a repost? You know, the same guys who post in all the other threads that are reposts, but the ones that are started by men...

I'm female. I get free points to use up in 'needless' repetition because my gender represses any instinct of intellect or originality.

 

[Hey Joe]

I have this problem where my brain wave activity is off the damned charts. I went to a sleep therapy centre for a while and they hooked up the big ol' brain machines and everything. The problem is that because I have a massively fast metabolism that I have stupidly large amounts of energy I need to burn off. When I don't get the most out of every day, I can't stop thinking for about four hours before I finally fall asleep.

So my advice to you is this. If you have insomnia, try the prisoner insomnia cure. Do about 100 push-ups before lights out and you'll hit the sack in no time, as apposed to doing things like playing video games or reading which stimulates your brain activity patterns.

 

[The Wooster]

It's not quite insomnia butI hit my creative peak at around 2am-5am but lose my ability edit and think coherently at around 6am. Writing on work days is pure horror.

 

[Same River New Water]

I have no problems getting to sleep, but sometimes my body wakes up while my brain is still asleep and I start doing something that doesn't make sense. Often I start looking for something that doesn't exist; the first time it happened my girlfriend asked me what I was doing and I yelled "I'm looking for the sounds!". When that happens I can get angry or scared or frustrated really easily (whereas I'm usually even-tempered). Three or four times now I've attacked my girlfriend as I was waking up - last time I grabbed her by the throat.

After that I sat down and thought about what might be causing it. I think it happens most often after I drink, so I virtually stopped drinking alcohol. It hasn't happened again so far.

 

[SmugFrog]

Funnily enough, I see things when seriously sleep deprived. Take the three-days-without style of thing. Shadows in peripheral vision. Lights. Movement. Shapes and colours really out of the ordinary. People around me always look different after that long.

I start hearing music after I've been up over 24-48 hours. It's always real faint, and a song I've never heard before. Almost like elevator music.

I'm the type of person that can sleep for about 14 hours a day, if I'm allowed to. Unfortunately over the past couple of weeks I'm having trouble falling asleep. I sleep fine once I do get there, but I can lay there for hours. This morning, I didn't fall asleep until about 2 and I needed to be up at 5:30.

I blame my continually shifting schedule - sometimes I have to be up all night and try to sleep in the day. Also, I've been drinking a lot of tea (they jacked up the coffee here), so I probably need to cut back. Also to blame is this:

Better than sleeping in the desert though.

For a few years I worked a night shift and slept during the day. I changed back and forth a few times, but it was pretty easy to adjust to the schedule while on shore duty with a really comfy bed at home.

 

[Labyrinth]

Funnily enough, I see things when seriously sleep deprived. Take the three-days-without style of thing. Shadows in peripheral vision. Lights. Movement. Shapes and colours really out of the ordinary. People around me always look different after that long.

I start hearing music after I've been up over 24-48 hours. It's always real faint, and a song I've never heard before. Almost like elevator music.

I'm the type of person that can sleep for about 14 hours a day, if I'm allowed to. Unfortunately over the past couple of weeks I'm having trouble falling asleep. I sleep fine once I do get there, but I can lay there for hours. This morning, I didn't fall asleep until about 2 and I needed to be up at 5:30.

I blame my continually shifting schedule - sometimes I have to be up all night and try to sleep in the day. Also, I've been drinking a lot of tea (they jacked up the coffee here), so I probably need to cut back. Also to blame is this:

Better than sleeping in the desert though.

For a few years I worked a night shift and slept during the day. I changed back and forth a few times, but it was pretty easy to adjust to the schedule while on shore duty with a really comfy bed at home.

Mm. I've got a friend currently on active service. He's not thrilled about it, as much as it pays well.

 

[Cyclomega]

Since I'm constantly lacking a couple hours of sleep, I have short hallucinations (I see people or memories that don't exist), sometimes hear things, and experience creepy feelings of déjà-vu on a regular basis...

Can be fun when you're trying to write a Cthulhu/Alternity RPG scenario... inspiration comes from your own dysfunctions...

 

[Labyrinth]

Since I'm constantly lacking a couple hours of sleep, I have short hallucinations (I see people or memories that don't exist), sometimes hear things, and experience creepy feelings of déjà-vu on a regular basis...

Can be fun when you're trying to write a Cthulhu/Alternity RPG scenario... inspiration comes from your own dysfunctions...

I've always found myself most inspired at 3am. It's quite amazing what I can come up with actually. And can be somewhat.. scary.

 

[Thomas of Gilead]

Funny how insomniac conditions seem to affect so many gamers...

 

[Landslide]

For years I've suffered what is termed 'delayed sleep phase' tendencies. It's left it's lasting impression, let me assure you. Months on end with 3-or-less hours a night, along with innumerable times where sleep for several days was not an option can do that to you.

Now that I've got the whinge bit over with, I was wondering how many other people in our unusual forum suffer from insomnia, no matter the severity.

So I haven't read all the replies here, so I'm not sure if anyone's said what I'm about to say. Anyway, I had pretty insane insomnia for over a decade. Brain just starts churning, and it would just keep me up. I'd tried everything. New kinds of beds, pillows, sound machines. All kinds of over the counter stuff. I also had a prescription for one of the sleep aid drugs (Ambien) for a couple months. No joy. I mean the drugs would sometimes knock me out, but never reliable enough to use regularly (and you're really not supposed to use Ambien regularly).

Anyway, early this year, I started doing some pretty rigorous exercise. It didn't help me sleep much, but it DID start giving me heart palpitations. I'd never had any kind of health issue remotely like it, so I freaked out a bit, and went to the doc. We spoke a bit, and then he finally found the problem.

So, I dunno about you, but as an insomniac, my fuel is (was) caffeine. Lots of caffeine. Around the time I started having the heartbeat irregularities, I was consuming huge amounts of caffeine every day. Like, two venti Americano's, and 6 cups of office coffee during the day. In addition to diet splenda coke. We tallied it up, and it was a ridiculous amount. So, my doctor suggested I lower my intake. Instead, I removed it entirely from my diet.

I gotta tell you, it really made a lot of differences. I used to get annoyed at the jackasses who would try to tell me how and what to eat - but I really have to admit, no caffeine has been nothing but positive. I sleep solidly now, and get to sleep easier. And if I think I won't, a Tylenol PM or two knocks me out in half an hour (much more effective than before). I also gave up chocolate initially as well, but... Well, it's chocolate. So, I now consume trace amounts of caffeine, but nowhere near what I used to. No heart issues. And I sleep so much better.

So, in summary. If caffeine is a part of your diet, my personal suggestion is you dial down how much you drink, and at the very least give yourself a cutoff at noon. No stims past noon. You don't have to get nazi about it like I did, but I really have to recommend it as a very real method of combating sleeplessness.

Good luck!

 

[Cyclomega]

I must say I've had lots of coffee, and pretty strong with that (offic coffee is free, I work in a coffee company yay !), but it usually never stopped me from falling asleep if I can't stay awake at all... Except starbucks coffee, I don't know how they can make coffee that speeds you up that hard...

But it surely plays a part, especially since you seemed to pour literaly industrial amounts of it into your stomach...

 

[GTXanatos13]

For years I've suffered what is termed 'delayed sleep phase' tendencies. It's left it's lasting impression, let me assure you. Months on end with 3-or-less hours a night, along with innumerable times where sleep for several days was not an option can do that to you.

Now that I've got the whinge bit over with, I was wondering how many other people in our unusual forum suffer from insomnia, no matter the severity.

I've had exactly the same thing pretty much my whole life, with the occasional night where I would wake up every 10 minutes and get no sleep at all as a result. I suspect this has had an impact on my grades. It certainly didn't help that I had to get up at 0500 every morning to catch the school bus, leading to an average of 3 hours of sleep on a school night and I would often spent half of the weekend unconscious to make up for it.

 

[SmugFrog]

Did you go through caffeine headaches / withdrawals?

 

[Landslide]

If you'd asked people here what my favorite consumables were, the answer would be "Coffee and Chocolate." So yes. People are still adjusting to me not stopping at S'bux after lunch.

 

[Landslide]

Did you go through caffeine headaches / withdrawals?

Oh Hell yes. Strangely, nothing for most of the first week. Then the next two weeks were basically a blurry non-stop pounding headache. I knew to expect it though. I had tried giving up coffee a few years earlier (A tandem diet with an ex), and gave up after about 10 days. But I got through it this time.

But yes, be aware - caffeine's a drug and you will have some withdrawal symptoms. Wasn't fun.