What do you do when you can't sleep?

[CagneyDog]

I don't really want to resort to that but I guess I might have to.


I just don't understand, I've been extremely stressed out before and I have been able to sleep fine. I'm kind of worried....

[CagneyDog]

Thanks, I'll check it out

I managed to get a couple hours of sleep today, so I'm feeling a bit better

[RICHARD]

You can always tune into CSpan and wait until Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein or pretty much any California politician comes on..

But you want to be put to sleep, not bored to death....


Find a copy of Patricia Garfield's Creative Dreaming.

It's a great book, I read it years ago and still can put myself to sleep in minutes.

[CagneyDog]

Has anyone had Nyquil before?

It was awful. I'd rather not sleep! But then again, they work for my mom....They do work though. I only took it once, and I felt like I was drunk or something...they can be dangerous though. My mom took one, and got up to do stuff, and she passed out and hit her head on the floor!

Is this how you feel when you take any kind of sleeping pill?

[Daisy and Delilah]

I've seen those relaxation tapes/discs at Target and Walgreen's. I have one of those Febreeze Scent Story thingies that emits a scent according to the disc you put in it. They have a relaxation disc you can get. I have that one. It's lavender and a few other things. Nyquil is for colds, flu, etc. and it has alot of alcohol in it supposedly. Most people get knocked out with it right away but using it just for sleep might not be a good idea. I don't know too much about it. The most important thing is to get your mind cleared as much as you can. Pleasant thoughts will usually allow you to sleep very comfortably. Anything you can do to get your mind in a calmed state will be the best route to take. I can't tell you how much I sympathize with you and again, good luck in conquering this problem. I'll be cheering for you

[Nomilynn]

Apparently when I can't sleep I go on PT It is 4:30am here and I am wide awake. I did the same thing last night and ended up having to take Benedryl. My doctor told me that Benedryl is a safe *occasional* sleep aid but I can't get my mind to shut off. I've just made lists of all the things I have to do tomorrow, I've emailed the people I have to be in touch with, etc etc but now my mind wants it to hurry up and be tomorrow so I can get all these things done. The stupid part is I will be so tired that I'll fall asleep and get nothing done during the day.. :S I wish I knew how to break this pattern.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Justin often has trouble sleeping too. He usually watches TV for awhile, that usually helps him, but not always. He usually drinks a glass of milk before bed, almost every night. I don't know if that helps him or not though.

I almost never have trouble sleeping. When I do it's when I don't wind down before going to bed. I have to get everything else done, clean up the kitchen after supper, take the dogs out for their last walk, put my birds, rodents, reptiles to bed. Then I sit on the couch with the dogs, cats, & Justin for awhile and watch TV. That relaxes me and I can fall asleep easily after that. I wouldn't be able to sleep with out watching TV to wind down first.

If I can't sleep after winding down then I lay in bed and take really deep breaths and listen to my breathing, that relaxes me and clears my mind. This will sound silly, but I've done this since I was little- if I still can't sleep I lay in bed and imagine myself somewhere wonderful, like laying on the beach in Hawaii, or sailing with my favorite celebrity. Use your imagination and do something you'd love to do but probably never will, basically just day-dream until you drift off into a night-dream. Sounds silly, but that's how I'd fall asleep as a kid.

Another thing that helps me if I have something bothering me is to write in my Live Journal, if I don't want anyone to read it I keep it private, just writing it down helps to get it off my mind. If I have a lot of things that need to get done on my mind I make a ta-da list, then I don't have to worry about that until the next day.