Anyone here ever have a sleeping problem?

[Branimal]

For the first time in my life, I'm having trouble sleeping for more than one night. Monday, I was up all night, not sleeping at all.

Tuesday I maybe slept for a few hours, Wednesday, maybe 3 hours, and last night, 2 and a half hours.

I'm still managing to fall asleep but when I go to bed, my heart is pounding out of my chest and I cannot get comfortable.

Anyone else have to deal with this at one point? What did you do to fix it?

[Deleted]

Is there something, stress and so forth, that you think might be the cause of it? I've never had it that bad, but I have terrible sleep habits.

[Baixo Astral]

You're getting old... oooollllddddd!

[Branimal]

Jan 8, 2010 6:43:23 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Is there something, stress and so forth, that you think might be the cause of it? I've never had it that bad, but I have terrible sleep habits.

I'm thinking maybe I'm putting stress on myself the last two nights, worried that I'm not going to be able to fall asleep..which keeps me awake. It sounds ridiculous and it is.

Just trying to turn off those thoughts are hard enough as it is.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2010 6:49:04 GMT -5 Branimal said:

Jan 8, 2010 6:43:23 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Is there something, stress and so forth, that you think might be the cause of it? I've never had it that bad, but I have terrible sleep habits.

I'm thinking maybe I'm putting stress on myself the last two nights, worried that I'm not going to be able to fall asleep..which keeps me awake. It sounds ridiculous and it is.

Just trying to turn off those thoughts are hard enough as it is.

Nah, you're doing something very common. I find that, if I think about trying to sleep, I tend to get worried too much and I can't relax. Then I brood about my day and the day to come and it stresses me out at times.

There's a million and one things that people could tell you to do but I think it's best that you try to relax and not dwell on it and don't radically change what you're doing. Hopefully, you should be able to sleep better.

[Branimal]

Jan 8, 2010 6:58:08 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Jan 8, 2010 6:49:04 GMT -5 Branimal said:

I'm thinking maybe I'm putting stress on myself the last two nights, worried that I'm not going to be able to fall asleep..which keeps me awake. It sounds ridiculous and it is.

Just trying to turn off those thoughts are hard enough as it is.

Nah, you're doing something very common. I find that, if I think about trying to sleep, I tend to get worried too much and I can't relax. Then I brood about my day and the day to come and it stresses me out at times.

There's a million and one things that people could tell you to do but I think it's best that you try to relax and not dwell on it and don't radically change what you're doing. Hopefully, you should be able to sleep better.

Thanks.

I'm off for the next two days from work, so in theory, I should have a more relaxing sleep as I have nothing to worry about getting up for in the morning.

[BxB]

Yeah, just try and not to think about how you've been having sleep problems, next time you go to bed. Just think about something relaxing or something that puts you at ease. I've had stress issues for a while now, and this is how I'm able to sleep.

[Stephanie McMahon Fan]

I have a similar problem too.

I have no idea why.

I just can't seem to sleep.

I used to sleep for 8-10hours very easily. But now, i'm just stuck at max 6 hours which is not enough for me.

[TheDieselTrain]

College screwed up my body clock badly. I get 4 hrs of sleep if i'm lucky.

[Big L]

Yea I had that problem too just try to relax try listening to music or sumthin

[Lick Ness Monster]

I hear ya, man. I've been working third shift at a factory for a little over a year now, and you NEVER get used to it. Sure, I may be in BED for over eight hours a day, but I wake up literally every hour on the hour and get absolutely zero quality sleep anymore. The same goes for the weekends, when I switch back to sleeping at nights, but it still doesn't stop the constant waking up. I fear that my internal clock may be forever f***ed up because of the nocturnal work schedule.

At any rate, I always turn on movies that I've seen a billion times to nod off to sleep. In the horror threads, I'm notorious for touting the virtues of the Friday the 13th films for their ability to put me right to sleep (and I do enjoy the films, btw).

[H-Fist]

I've had insomnia issues at a few points. Sometimes it's been mood-related. Sometimes it's been overall life-related. I agree that no big changes should be made, especially over a three- or four-day stretch. But making a smaller change - a little tweak to your routine - might help out. Whether you need to add or subtract some physical activity to your day; or find a way to "cool down" before bed [away from computer and TV screens, in my experience] with a book or something else, think about those kinds of things. And do spend a bit of time (not directly before bed) evaluating the potential stresses in your life to see if anything jumps out.

Most of all, just breathe. Try to let go of it and don't let it be a big deal.

[Branimal]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice. I usually try to read before bed..or listen to a slower playlist on my iPod..usually helps.

I'll give it a shot tonight.

The last time I had this problem was about 5 years ago..but it only lasted a night or two (not that 4 nights is that much longer). Nothing serious. This is the longest stretch of time that I've had to endure it so hopefully it goes away for me.

[i.Sarita.com]

Get some over the counter PM meds. Just use them when you're feeling like you can't relax. They usually arent strong enough to get hooked on.

[Tigerlily]

When I was a young kid I had loads of problem with sleeping, I rarely slept through the whole night without disturbing my parents in the wee early hours of the morning. This went on for so long they even took me to a child psychologist who could find nothing wrong with me (:

There have been a few weeks where I wake up every few hours feeling a bit sick and panicky because I want to find out the time, but as soon as I know the time I'm back to sleep within minutes.

[kickassJP]

I am such an insomniac it's not even funny. And when I try to sleep, I can't sleep without a TV on because I can't stand the silence.

[Jason Todd Grisham]

Some nights it takes me forever to sleep, and it's impossible for me to nap. I know what my problem is though, I think too much. The funny thing is that all of the methods I've taught myself usually don't do much. Then again, it's probably because while I do them I'm thinking about how they aren't working.

The best advice is the cool down time, I think. I mentioned how it sometimes takes me three hours to fall asleep to my doctor, and her advice was to sit down for an hour imagining I was at the beach or something. Some sort of relaxing happy place. As long as Shooter McGavin doesn't invade your thoughts, or as long as you don't think too much you'll be fine I think.

I also worked third shift, that was HORRIBLE. I swear for every three hours of sleep I'd get during the day, it would feel like two hours at night.

[The Line]

I always seem to, for various reasons. Stress, general excitment, not being in my own bed(I have a terrible time trying to fall asleep in other people's beds). Right now, I have a new tooth growing in, and that's caused the gum around the tooth to get infected, and that's super non fun right now, and causing me to not be able to get to sleep until usually 3 or 4 in the morning.

[Main Event Mark]

If you can't sleep tonight, give me a call. I'll come by and either hit you with a GTS or slap on the time tested sleeperhold.

[Branimal]

So, it got to the point where I needed to go to the hospital..I was taking panic attacks during the day yesterday and that was unacceptable. My wife and I decided to go to the ER, which I was dreading as it's usually a really long wait, however, there was no one there..so that was good.

They put me in a room and did a series of tests, the did an EKG, they did blood work and hooked me up to a heart monitor for 2 hours. I took an attack when they were taking blood which they said was good because that would give them the best results. They said that at the highest during the attack, my heart rate was 120 beats per minute..which isn't dangerously high, but not normal for someone who isn't working out.

They gave me something to sleep last night, which worked well as I slept for 12 hours. They told me that if my palpitations start again, I am to return to the ER and see the same doctor, who will become my family doctor. Also, they're getting me to come back next week for a blood work test done on my thyroid..also they're giving me a machine, to wear on my chest that monitors my heart rate for 36 hours.

Hopefully it starts to slowly go away and I slowly go back to normal.