OK, so I lied about the clown part… but, my God, I’m having the worst time sleeping lately. It’s not that I’m not tired; I’m just dealing with some unavoidable stress that’s screwing with my body. I’ve tried various remedies to help me sleep: lavendar on my pillow, changing the temperature/lighting of the room, listening to music, deep breathing exercises, getting up and doing something for a while instead of just lying in bed. The worst part is, if/when I finally do get to sleep, I have bad dreams (though not necessarily nightmares) that keep me from being well-rested. Stupid subconscious making ponder real-life ickiness when all I want is reveries about puppies and butterflies and rosepetals raining from the sky…
What’s a girl (especially one like me, who is desperately in need of beauty sleep ;)) to do? Beides complain about it on the SDMB, I mean?
So… does anyone have any good bedtime stories? Sure-fire ways to ensure happy dreams? Large quantities of alcohol that will leave me stupefied and without dreams at all for a bit? (Just kidding on that last one.)
[sub]This is as M and P as it gets.[/sub]
Sounds like your plain anxious/restless from a lot of strees. Ive been through the same thing. You should also note that youre going to have more REM (dream) sleep when you go to sleep after being deprived. So catching a 2 hour nap after staying up 24 hours will probably have more REM sleep (and REM sleep closer to wake up time). Youll have more vivid dreams in that short span.
For Insomnia - Ive heard that you should only go to your bed when you honestly intend to sleep. Dont go to bed and then get out, cause your body will stop equating bed with sleep. You want to generate a behavioural response to being in a bed that results in sleep.
If I tried to sleep with puppies and butterflies and rosepetals raining from the sky I’d check myself into the clinic in a big hurry, or at least close the skylight. Even a small puppy falling from the sky can hurt a person, not to mention pissing off the puppy something awful. Tried and true – if the night is sleepless, find a good book, brew a pot of good coffee, and force yourself to stay up all night, then have a day of it. I promise you’ll sleep well the next night. Sometimes the mind and body just need a readjustment.
Holy crap. Sounds exactly like me right now… I go to bed with the intention of sleeping, lie there for a while, realize it’s not working, and then go on the internet. When I can’t keep my eyes open anymore, I go back to bed, FINALLY (if I’m lucky), fall asleep, and then have these dreams that make me wake up feeling discontented/shaking/sick to my stomach/frightened out of my mind… well… you get the idea. No rose petals or anything out the sky, though… mostly cliffs, death, etc.
I know it has a lot to do with the circumstances I am in, but that doesn’t make it better…
Hmm. Oh well, I’m perfectly content with going around with bags under my eyes for the rest of my life…
Just my two cents here, but I used to have exactly the same problem. It went away, however, when I realized that I was spending too much time fixing the symptoms when I should be concentrating on the root cause. Namely, the stress. Find out what’s making you so worried and fix it. These days, I’m pretty ruthless about stamping out stress in my life and I never have problems falling asleep unless I’m sick or something.
The problem is, I know exactly what’s making me so worried and I can’t fix it at the moment. Maybe I should simply stop worrying, although that’s easier said than done… Right now, I think the most I can do is figure out how to handle the stress more gracefully.
Just a note that I use to sleep just awfully (great grammar, huh?)
I snored like a water buffalo with the flu and would wake exhausted each day. Turns out I have obstructive sleep apnea. Hundreds of times a night I would stop breathing. My body would have to wake up a bit to correct for it. It makes for lousy sleep.
If you sleeping with somebody, ask them about snoring and/or breathing stoppages during the night. If so, hie thee to a doctor and get looked at. Long term it can lead to heart damage.
