Please help me get to sleep

Factual Questions
41

I have to disagree with Moriah’s big post (she sounds like a morning person). I 've always had the same problem (I’m 30). I’m better, but still not cured. Here’s what I’ve found:

  1. Yup - drop caffeine
  2. Yup - do some rigorous physical activity during the day (the more energy I burn in the day, the easier I go to sleep)
  3. Try to lay still with eyes closed. I sometimes do a mental exercise: I think of one of my favorite CD’s and I start singing the songs in my head (don’t pick Metallica - try Pink Floyd)
  4. Don’t read, watch TV or any of that crap- I find that all those things only keep my mind active.

Other notes:
Eating just before sleep has never affected me. Wearing pajamas keeps me awake (I have to sleep in the nude). Make your room as dark as physically possible. I recommend avoiding medication: just a short term solution and you may develop dependancy.

To wake up on time, I have two alarm clocks both set fast: one faster than the other and with alarms set at different times - one radio one buzzer. Basically - the way this works is the alarms go off at pretty close to the same time (about 5 minutes apart). Since I know both clocks are showing the incorrect time and I can’t tell which is most correct, I get confused and force myself to realize I don’t have much more time to sleep. I press snooze a couple of times on both clocks and eventually awaken (just about on time).

The only thing worse than having this problems is seeing some happy morning person who says, “You just need to train your body. Just go to sleep early and wake up early for a few months. That’s all it takes.”

THAT’S BULLSHIT!!!

okay… settling down now…

c-man

42

Synchronicity!

There’s a very good article on sleep problems in the current issue of More magazine (Sept/Oct). Seems very sensible and has some good tips, as well as the real low-down on “herbal sleep aids.”

43

I have this problem all the time, except I’m not a teenager, I’m only 13. I’ve noticed it’s complete and utter hell to wake up for school the way my sleep schedule works.

Anyway, I always play Weird Al/The Radio in the background, and I’m wondering if this is a good idea. Also, I leave my useless 486 on at night, thus creating light… is this also a no-no?

Where can I get these timers to activate the radio and such?

Finally, is it bad for me to take these antihistamines or not? Everyone keeps contradicting each other.

-Th’ JawaTrader

44

c-man: You’ve reported what has worked for you, I’ve reported what has worked for me. In addition, I’ve also reported what most doctors and sleep experts agree on: Don’t eat right before sleeping. I’m glad you don’t get reflux from eating right before sleep. Many people who do have reflux at night or in the morning and report it to a doctor are asked, “Do you eat right before sleeping?” They answer, “Yes.” The doctor says, “Stop it.” And when they do, the reflux goes away. That’s why the expert opinion is Don’t eat right before bedtime. Sorry if you disagree with this opinion, but don’t be telling people that just because you don’t get reflux, that they should eat before bedtime. It’s just plain bad advice. (Additionally, eating before bedtime, when body activity is low, is a good way to put on extra weight.)

Jawa: Appliance timing-control modules can be purchased at your local Radio Shack. For me, having the lights go on in my room has been a big help in getting up. (Not to mention there is a sound scientific basis for using light to ‘wake you up’ apart from my anecdotal experience.)

Peace.

45

Jawa–Of course you’re a teenager at 13! I remember how excited I was to turn 13, because I was finally a teenager! Of course, that was when we still counted on an abacus . . .

46

try counting backwards at odd increments. for some reason i always start with the # 897 and work down by 3’s first.

usually by the time i’m into the 500’s i’m so bored with it i just drift off.

or a good self-hypnosis cassette tape always works wonders. it may explain why i always wake up wearing nothing, but…

it sure works!

ALLUSIONS- my page

“Argue for your limitations; sure enough, they’re yours.”

47

Take a hot bath and read a book. It always works for me. Cut back on the sweets and caffiene.

If you eat before bed time now, it will become a habit and the pounds will attach themselves to you in the oddest places because eventually your metabolism dies on you without any warning or fan fare. You just wake up one day with an extra ten pounds around your gut.

Don’t worry, eventually you will be like the rest of us, falling asleep at 10p and grumpy that the alarm clock goes off at 7am and you haven’t had enough sleep.

48

This reminds me of a joke I heard.

Did you hear the one about the dyslexic atheist with insomnia?

He’d lie awake all night wondering if there really was a dog.

Therealbubba

49

This is akin to saying that since 10% of people with high blood pressure are sensitive to salt, everyone should cut down on their salt intake. There is so much well-meaning “helpful advice” out there that most people have to pick & choose what makes sense for them.

The kind of sleep problem Sanibelman was describing is a ubiquitous teen/young adult problem. Very few people in this age range are plagued with reflux; most do not have any kind of weight problem. Eating 2 slices of leftover pizza and a coke may not be a great idea, but a glass of milk and a couple of cookies does help promote sleep.

If reflux and/or weight are a problem, I agree the snack should be avoided, but otherwise it’s more important to avoid things like caffeine, strenuous exercise, showers, or intense mental concentration for various amounts of time before trying to get to sleep. Some people do do these things & still have no problem falling asleep; there is no reason for them to stop doing these things just because they may cause sleep problems for other people.

Sue from El Paso
members.aol.com/majormd/index.html

50

Forget the OTC and herbal crap, and the sexual advice. Suffering 10 yrs w/ this is no joke. Some of it may be just sleep patterns (owl vs. lark) but it sounds like more. What keeps you awake? Worrying? Just thinking? Whatever…do some reading on this. Lots of good advice, e.g. avoid caffeine, set a regular time for bed, don’t watch TV in bed, etc. And get some real help on it. Hey, ask your school counselors. And be very wary of the drug “solutions”. Whatever the problem and your particular solution may be, the answer’s out there–and logical place to start is finding out WHY your aren’t sleeping. You can’t find your solution until you identify the factors in your problem. Best of luck!

51

<body>
majormd posted:
<blockquote>This is akin to saying that since 10% of people with high blood
pressure are sensitive to salt, everyone should cut down on their salt
intake. There is so much well-meaning “helpful advice” out there that most
people have to pick & choose what makes sense for them.</blockquote>
And this is akin to saying <font color="#660000">“Some people
who smoke live to a ripe old age, so if I tell someone who wants to loose
weight to take up smoking, you shouldn’t be going around carping on the
lung cancer thing.”</font>
So, excuse me if I play the part of the Surgeon General to your Tobacco
Megacorporation.

<center><table BORDER=3 CELLPADDING=5 COLS=1 WIDTH=“55%” BGCOLOR="#CCFFFF" >
<tr>
<td><font size=+1>Warning: Eating right before bed time contributes
to the development of night time and morning reflux and to obesity.</font></td>
</tr>
</table></center>
<font size=+1></font>

52

There are evils out there far worse than bedtime milk & cookies.

Smoking is one of them. There is a vast difference in:
[ul][li]addictiveness[/li][li]severity of consequences[/li][li]knowledge of damage being done (how many people’s first knowledge of smoking-related damage is sudden death from a heart attack, or a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer). Got heartburn, chronic cough, or hoarseness? Stop the bedtime snack.[/ul][/li]
Another is a person with a myopic, self-centered view of the world who makes alarmist exaggerated posts.

Sue from El Paso
members.aol.com/majormd/index.html

53

What’s truly myopic is suggesting a remedy for sleeplessness which not only has absolutely no proven scientific basis that it actually works, but is definitely linked to reflux (admittedly, not in all people), and in weight gain.

“Here, try this unproven remedy which has some possible and some definite side effects.”

Just idiotic.

54

Guys, guys, guys! This is bad hoodoo, as Jimmy James would say. If you really want to fight, take it to the Pit. I’d like this to stay in General Questions, where it can help people. Right, Nickrz?

(Oh, BTW, I don’t get heartburn after eating the milk and cookies, but I don’t think they would because I eat them about an hour before I lay down…)

“I like Florida; everything is in the eighties. The temperatures, the ages, and the IQs.”
– George Carlin

55

San - I truly hope our yelling hasn’t been keeping you awake :).

My argument with Moriah is that reflux as a chronic condition affects a minority of people. It has numerous causes including genetic predisposition, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, obesity, spicy foods, and late night eating. Focusing this much attention on one of these factors, and suggesting that late night eating, by itself, is certain to lead to reflux is wrong. OTOH, my responses were probably overly argumentative because a personal crusade of mine is trying to put all the well-meaning advice people hear from friends, the media, BBs such as this into some kind of perspective.

Ask a doctor (and I am one) does late night eating contribute to reflux, and you will most likely get a yes, or it can, response.

Ask a doc to pick the 3 worst offenders for reflux, and smoking, alcohol, and either caffeine or obesity are likely to be the winners.

For a kid still in in school trying to keep his body on what seems an unnatural schedule, a modest snack is most likely harmless. I do agree with everything else she said about establishing a bedtime routine, avoiding pharmaeutical, or even herbal solutions, and that a sleep clinic evaluation is probably not warranted at this point.

Finally, I’ll crib her sign-off:

Peace
(and apologies if I’ve guessed Moriah’s gender wrong)

Sue from El Paso
members.aol.com/majormd/index.html

56

You might want to visit the Nocturnal Society website…
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/5423/index.html

I’ve always been a night person, no matter what kinds of day patterns I force myself into and no matter for how long. When I don’t have pressing daytime business for a length of time (like a week) I go back to the night schedule. Finally I just gave in. Now if I have to be up in the morning, I stay up all night for it.

>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions

57

I’ll try to play nice, too. :slight_smile:

I don’t want to sound like an extremist. I hope I was sufficiently using the subjunctive with regard to linking reflux with bed time snacking.

Peace.

(As regards to my gender, I like my online persona to be indeterminate, genderwise. So, use whatever pronoun you like, I’ll still answer :wink: )