Insomnia

I also have frequent bouts ofMiddle-Of-The-Night insomnia. I have no trouble going to sleep initially, but I'll wake up at 4 am +/- 10 minutes regardless of when I go to sleep. If I do nothing, I'll typically be fully awake for about an hour before going into a light, restless sleep. My solutions are:

- Take 1 or 1/2 of a benadryl. This will frequently make me drowsy and I'll go into a deep sleep. Can't do it too often or else you'll build up a tolerance and it won't cause drowsiness.
- I tried melatonin, but my results were really random. I'm not sure if it worked or was a placebo.
- Get up, go to another room and either read or watch a B/W show like the Twilight Zone. After 1/2 hour I feel tired and can go to sleep like normal.
- Do not do anything interactive (computer, games) or jumpy (watch tosh.0, read short magazine articles). You want to do something that's kind of long and boring.

One thing that helped was to not get frustrated by it. Rather than being pissed that I was once again awake at 4, I instead just accept that this is something normal for me and I take care of it.

One benefit is that once I go back to sleep, I typically have awesome dreams. When I sleep through the night I can't remember any dreams. But when I have insomnia, I remember the dreams in that period after I go back to sleep.

I used to have issues sleeping even with regular normal exercise and intense martial arts (4 hr sessions 5 times a week) and an 'ok' diet and regular sexual activity. I had bouts of anxiety throughout but nothing that should have kept me away from sleep for that long.

I don't know if anyone else is like this but I would have an intense cycle of being awake, meaning I'm up and can be fully functional for an entire 20-26 hours before just immediately crashing. I would have maybe 45minutes of my body saying 'Hey, you're tired now - peace out' and then boom. I would either sleep for 14 fucking hours or I would sleep for 5 and the aftereffects and outcome were always the same. It absolutely started to take it's toll.

Turns out I have an andrenal issue and the doctor gave me the proper medication and an organic supplement that is fucking amazing. I'm not into the hippy shit but dude, it is a thing of beauty in the difference it has made. Also look up Dr. Page's Phase 1 & 2 diet plan. If you exercise and follow that diet (it's a pretty tough one if you don't like health food or austerity, didn't bother me though) and it completely helped me to detoxify my body. I started sleeping better and having insanely good energy results within a week and a half. If that diet isn't your golden ticket, still try and pay attention to your eating habits and also find out if your body is toxic and you just hadn't realized it. Cleansing works wonders for your entire system, not just sleep.

Also getting tested for your adrenal, thyroid and other sleep & hormone related things are very good advice if you are having serious sleep issues.

Home therapy - detox shower.
Start with cold water and open up your pores and wash your face. Use the most invigorating and natural stuff you can find. Slowly (do not shock your system over and over again as this can be dangerous) adjust the temperature back to warm water and start with your hair. Wash it, let it rinse thoroughly with warm water then slowly rinse it again with cold water. Now use soap/clean the rest of your body and gently adjust back to warm water. After you're done cleansing with watm water, do one roughly 2 minute rinse of your entire body with cold water and then hop out and dry off. The temperature changes open skin pores and bring deep blood vessels to the surface of the skin then back in again to get a deeper amount of bloodflow to the surface and by the 2nd or 3rd temperature change it allows your body to detoxify in a really simple manner. Do this every other day and you should absolutely notice a difference in 'clean' energy and healthier looking skin. Like I said though and I cannot stress this enough, BE CAREFUL and use your gut when doing multiple, even if mild, temperature changes at such a fast rate. I find that a shower like this when I first wake up and about two hours or so (if I can plan it) before sleep works very well. Also, cold showers are typically better than hot ones in terms of health and rejuvination but there is nothing wrong with a long, hot bath if that helps you sleep better. Just try not to rely on it every single night.

Also, if you can stomach it, drink herbal tea. A lot. It's so good for sleep.

Seroquel is the most fukdup shit I have used, bro. I had a 12 minute window after taking it. Well actually after I got the quiver... That weird quiver whEn you feel it 'activate'. 12 minutes to finish up and lie down because where you lie at minute 12 is where you awake in the morning.

In bed, or as in my glorious past, half naked on the hardwood floor, kinda wrapped in a towel still reaching for the volume knob on the amp.

Amazing what 9 hours on a hardwood floor does for your back. Not to mention the curtains still open and the lights left on all night.

My mother in law in Ohio, and Seroquel. Both should be listed on the UN WMD list. Fukn shit is nasty ass shit. Fuk that shit.

Elbas, how much melatonin were you taking. Curious...

So, eXarc, you just go to you local MD and say I have "adrenal" issues?

How did you get to that point?

No, I discovered it through a vey intense series of blood panels and urine tests to diagnosis my current condition that requires brain surgery as I described in the other thread.

Instead, go to your MD and ask if you can take an elective blood panel / urine test specifically to look for adrenal insufficiencies and possibly other hormone regulating organs that could effect energy levels and sleep. And I mean, just use common sense and never hesitate to ask simple stuff like, "Hey I can't sleep for shit, what can we do to figure out why?"

I work shift work 2 weeks of 12 hr night shift and 2 weeks of 12 hr day shift. I workout 6 days a week and have a physical job. I wake up at 0300 every morning on the dot and it takes a while to get back to sleep. If I sleep more then 4 hours after a night shift i get a tremendous headache.

Hate it.

That sounds incredibly hard for your body to keep up with that kind of activity with that circadian rhythm disruption as a constant factor. You have probably adapted as well as you can already, but look into polyphasic sleep cycles. That might help.

fortunately I will probably be taking another position in another state that works 10 hour shifts, 4 on 3 off, but your shift is steady for a year, and the shifts are lot more forgiving.

Trying Zopiclone now. Not perfect but I think it has helped. Although I often wake up about four hours after I fall asleep after taking it. I think four hours is its working window.

Ok, eXarc... So I have started the detox shower thing you suggested. I think you may be onto something. However, I have to admit that the annoying blinking of my Gaydar alarm kept flashing inside my head when I was poking my head out of the shower and re-reading your post on my iPad on the counter.

I kept fearing I was being trolled into some sort of bizarre homo-room encounter.

Yeah, I actually work for the NSA and was just waiting for someone to take my shower advice bait so I could get some great amateur home video stuff.

You're gonna go far in this industry kid, I'm tellin ya

eXarc_sl said:

Yeah, I actually work for the NSA and was just waiting for someone to take my shower advice bait so I could get some great amateur home video stuff.

You're gonna go far in this industry kid, I'm tellin ya

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I fucking knew it!

Araysar_sl said:

melatonin and working out does the trick for me these days. i'm in my early 30s.

i still get bouts of insomnia here and there, but i just use it to catch up on work and post on rerolled.

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You take it right before bed, or earlier? I was told today when I was with the therapist that taking it two hours before bed is now all the rage.

Araysar_sl said:

I typically take it 30-45 minutes before bed.

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Thx.
I think the 2-hour recommendation is way too long - for me anyway.

For four days in a row now I have woken up at 2 am or earlier. Today I woke up at 12. Always after about 1-2 hours of sleep. This has never happened to me before so I am not really having a good time. Just out of nowhere. Fucking sucks.