Sleep is very important for good health. How long does it take you to fall asleep, or how long do you give yourself to fall asleep before you give up?
When first going to bed, I can generally get to sleep within a few minutes’ time.
If I wake up in the middle of the night for a bathroom visit, getting back to sleep in a timely fashion is hit or miss. If it’s a good night, I can be back to sleep in a few minutes; as I get older, it might take an hour or more.
If I get to an hour of lying awake, I’ll get up and go surf the web for 30 minutes or so, and then try again. Sometimes that helps, but sometimes I’m awake for another hour before I can fall asleep again. Sucks.
I can generally turn off and on like a switch. To people who have trouble sleeping that sounds like a miracle, but it’s actually a sign of a pronounced sleep deficiency.
I go to bed around 9-9:30 on weekdays (I’m up at 5:30am). I’ve been taking a PM pill every night for years. I read or watch Netflix and fall asleep usually within a 1/2 hour. I then wake up around 2 for a potty break but can usually fall right back to sleep.
But then there are “those nights” when I can’t shut my brain down. If I can’t fall asleep I’ll read or watch something boring. It might take an hour or so, but eventually, I fall asleep. I would never get out of bed on those nights. I feel like at least I’m lying down. I think if I got out of bed it would wake me up more.
I’m generally asleep by the time my head hits the pillow. It drives my GF crazy, as she needs at least a half hour. She makes me give her a head start of at least an hour before I come to bed.
Unless I’m stressed, or sick, I’m asleep within a minute or two of getting into bed. When I’m feeling stressed, and I can’t get my mind to shut down, I often lie there for an hour or more.
I go to bed at 9:26, and if I’m not asleep by 9:40 or so, I take a sleep formula.
Should I give myself more time?
I don’t go to bed until I feel tired and ready to go to sleep, so it usually takes me 5-10 minutes. If it takes me longer than a half hour then I might get back up until I feel drowsy.
My unprofessional opinion is that is not enough time. But I tend to think people should avoid routine medication to fall asleep. Some of these do not result in restful sleep cycles. What is your “sleep formula”? How often do you take it?
Been taking it off and on since I was 15. I’m 26 now.
This is the sleep formula: https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/sleep-support-60-capsules/vs-2166
If I don’t fall asleep with 10 minutes I know I am gonna be wakeful. Insomnia sucks.
I generally take half of an Ambien at 9:30 while watching TV in my bed. I take the other half at 10 or so. And then I watch TV until my mind finally shuts off…usually before 11. That basically let’s me sleep through the night, if I don’t have to get up with one of our dogs to let them out to check for bears and pee on the bushes. I usually get up at 6:30 for work.
Depends on my stress levels.
If all is good, I generally only take 15-20 minutes or so to fall asleep, and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night at all.
If I am stressed, it is hit or miss- I might fall asleep quickly, or it might not happen at all, and I will likely wake up every two hours or so if I do manage to pass out.
I usually go to bed around 11 and watch tv. Within an hour I’m ready to put on my CPAP mask and roll over and drift off with the TV on. Usually within 5 mins of putting the mask on I’m asleep.
Before the CPAP I still usually could fall asleep pretty well. But obviously I wasn’t *being *asleep very well!
Hell, I thought I fell asleep quickly, but there’s some super sleepers in this thread! It depends, but usually 10-15 minutes. If I’m really tired, within a couple of minutes. I like to fall asleep to stand up comedy or random YouTube stuff (usually something technical like Vsauce or Numberphile or Computerphile) so I like to pay attention for a few minutes at least. I’ve always enjoyed falling asleep to the sound of people talking.
I wake up cseveral times during the night, but fall back asleep with 2-3 minutes. I’ve always been that way and feel cheated if I sleep straight through. Ideal for me is to wake up about two to three times, look at the clock, and go, great, I still have x hours to go!
I always wake up feeling refreshed, so it’s never bugged me. Like I said, I feel cheated if I sleep straight through.
I conk out almost immediately, with rare exceptions. I think it’s a holdover from boot camp 50 years ago, where you took every opportunity to grab a little snooze.
I have ADHD, and take a lot of meds. Could that be why I have trouble sleeping?
Anything between five minutes and several hours (or not at all). Thankfully I’ve only had a few sleepless nights lately. When that happens, I’ll usually manage to rest my eyes a bit and drift into a half-way dream state of competing thought-trains for around an hour before I need to get up. It’s around noon when my head starts killing me and the dots begin flitting about in my peripheral vision. Couple that with a sensitivity to light and it’s a bitch. But then again, I haven’t felt refreshed and replenished after waking up for the last 14 years no matter how long I’ve slept, so I’m kinda used to it.
I have a habit of looking at my alarm clock while I’m in bed, and just give up if I’m not asleep in 20 minutes.
How do I break this habit?
Get an alarm clock that doesn’t show the time. They’re out there. Lots of sunrise clocks are like that.
I have narcolepsy so when I fall asleep unaided, it tends to be straight into REM. For the past four years, I’ve taken Xyrem which puts me to sleep in 2-10 minutes. Around 2, I wake up and take a second dose. It’s been four years of bliss compared to the horror of trying to get restful sleep unaided.
As soon as my head hits the pillow, give or take 60 seconds. It’s a real gift, and one that I certainly appreciate.