Author Topic: Relief from insomnia  (Read 6509 times)

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dallas10086

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Relief from insomnia
« on: Sep 17, 2012, 12:43 am »
It's after midnight and I have the alarm set for 6:30am. I'm a person that has to get a solid 7 hours sleep, but so far I'm failing miserably. This usually happens when something important occurs the next day, good or bad, and my mind just can't slow down long enough to let me catch some z's. I'm terrible when it comes to a nightly routine to wind down, usually because my schedule is diverse day-to-day that I haven't been diligent about following one.

When my husband can't sleep, he swears by warm milk (gross!). I read that lying in bed awake is one of the worst things you can do, so I usually end up in another room of the apartment watching TV. They say the light makes matters worse, but I find that it tends to put focus on something else, and I start feeling groggy enough to try again.

What do you personally do to handle the occasional bout of insomnia?

Maribeth

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #1 on: Sep 17, 2012, 01:05 am »
I'm the same way- I have no problem going to bed early and getting up early if it's my everyday routine, but when my schedule switches back and forth a lot I struggle to get enough sleep and I end up doing the same thing you do. (Especially right after a show- it takes me a few hours to 'wind down' enough to sleep- my mind circles through everything that happened that day and I end up getting more wound up and unable to sleep.)

A cup of chamomile/herbal tea helps me. I've also found if I can get in bed and read a book for 20 minutes, that's usually enough for me to relax and get drowsy. (Without TV or other electronics in the room). My last ditch method is to listen to a movie on my ipad with my headphones in- something that I have seen many, many times- and I can relax and sleep.

ejsmith3130

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #2 on: Sep 17, 2012, 06:58 am »
I work an overnight shift in addition to stage managing, so I sleep during the day which can cause these issues too... In fact I'm online right now and should be sleeping.... so I guess I use the internet, but it isn't nearly as effective as other things.

Usually I try to read in bed- and something that I'm interested in, but is at a difficult reading level- that way I'm really tiring out my brain. I also know people who swear by "sleepytime tea" (it's a brand).

Hope this helps!

KMC

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #3 on: Sep 17, 2012, 10:42 am »
I have always found that exercise is a great way to get my brain to stop thinking about things a couple of hours before bed.  This could be difficult though if you're not on a normal schedule (as you've mentioned) or traveling away from home.
Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action. -T. Roosevelt

loebtmc

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #4 on: Sep 17, 2012, 12:35 pm »
I used to do a lot of convention work - that meant leaving on Thu nite or Fri morning and flying to someplace in a different time zone, working on their time until Sun nite/Mon morning, then flying home. I found some Chinese herbal remedies that worked (you may need an OMD to build prescription for that), but also Melatonin helped with occasional hyped-up issues.

General wisdom says 1) EXERCISE (but at least 4-5 hrs before you plan to sleep; 2) warm milk; 3) cheese (really - I actually saw this on Dr Oz); 4) sex (yup, really); and 5) meditation practices, such as tensing and releasing each individual part of your body starting with the feet and moving north. Some people say counting sheep helps, but it doesn't work for me.

ALSO do not do stimulating things close to bedtime - these include watching TV, eating, working on the computer, even reading a good book, or drinking anything with caffeine or other stimulants, like black and green teas, Mountain Dew, etc.

And - latest research says naps are a good thing.....

JMagill

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #5 on: Sep 17, 2012, 08:53 pm »
My last ditch method is to listen to a movie on my ipad with my headphones in- something that I have seen many, many times- and I can relax and sleep.

I am totally a watch a movie I've seen kinda guy.  When I was in school still, my 2 go to movies to fall asleep to were Aladdin and Phantom of the Opera. Odd choices I know! Aladdin was because I watched so much as a child and I think my mom put it in at nap time that it has become a Pavlovian response for me to just sleep.  I some times don't even make it past "Arabian Nights"  and I could have been so wound up 3 minutes earlier.   Phantom is the same way, I get to just before think of me and I am out.  My roommate thought I was so weird, because he would come in late from the library and Aladdin would be playing and I am sleeping away.

if nothing else works I turn everything off and just close my eyes and take deep breaths.  even if my mind is racing it usually calms me down enough to fall asleep.


missliz

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #6 on: Sep 17, 2012, 11:43 pm »
I was told in college that you can train your body that bed is for sleeping only by not doing anything else in it. (Well, almost nothing else. ;)) But no TV, no computer, no eating or drinking, nothing. Exercise is also really helpful!
I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Ionesco

maximillionx

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #7 on: Sep 18, 2012, 03:34 pm »
I find exercising before bed really helps me and reading often times too (nothing like The Silmarillion from Tolkien to knock you out).  But when that doesn't work, I have a breathing/meditation routine I do and usually fall asleep in the midst of.

One of my biggest problems though is not the falling asleep part, but getting a good sleep once I do.  I stage managed a wedding this past weekend and despite my best efforts to get rested for it, I found myself bring startled awake from the nightmare of screwing up my friends' wedding! Awful...warm milk or exercise can do nothing against my unconscious fears...

dallas10086

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #8 on: Sep 18, 2012, 06:29 pm »
Awful...warm milk or exercise can do nothing against my unconscious fears...

That's usually the culprit!

Rebbe

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #9 on: Sep 18, 2012, 07:13 pm »
If I can’t sleep because something is on my mind, I find that getting up for a while and writing it down is helpful.  A to-do list, a pros/cons list, or just some stream of consciousness writing can help.  Once it’s on paper, I can put out of my mind and get to sleep more easily.
"...allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."  (Philip Henslowe, Shakespeare In Love)

Maggie K

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #10 on: Sep 20, 2012, 12:27 am »
I am a frequent insomniac due to not being able to turn my brain off and have a few things that I try.  Sometimes light exercise will tire me out enough to overwhelm my brain and I recently tried low doses of melatonin.  I'll often turn on a tv show or movie that I've seen a million times.  It gives me something to focus on that's outside my own brain but doesn't require a lot of brain power.  One thing that works really well is to take a warm bath.  It really helps me relax my body.  I'll often combine it with a book as well, usually one I've read before (again, outside focus with little effort involved.)  The most important thing is to remember to get out of the bath before I fall asleep!

Anyway, I think that different things work for different people.  The best thing to do is examine the situation, try to figure out what's keeping you up, and try different things till something works.
I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone. -Maggie Smith

On_Headset

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #11 on: Sep 28, 2012, 02:40 am »
I've had satisfactory results from over-the-counter sleeping pills. Boring, I know, but effective.

The catch is that even just taking a pill once or twice in a week will start to create a dependency upon them. It's helpful to think of the interaction as "borrowing": this pill will help you sleep tonight, but may make it more difficult to sleep tomorrow. (Since your body will be expecting that extra kick from the medication.) If that's a tradeoff you can safely make, go for it.

babens

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #12 on: Sep 28, 2012, 11:47 am »
If you are worried about the side effects/dependency from over the counter products you can also try melatonin supplements.  It's a touch less likely to build a dependency on the medication since it's based on the chemical your body naturally produces to aid in regulating your sleep cycle.  As a chornic insomniac I have found melatonin supplements to be the easiest to transition off of once my sleep cycle has re-established itself (though I will also say they are less effective than some of the drugs in the OTC products, I've found melatonin to be more effective when I don't feel the need to immediately fall asleep, as it tended to ease me more slowly into the sleep cycle)

MatthewShiner

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #13 on: Sep 28, 2012, 01:21 pm »
Also, discuss this with your doctor - sleep disorders, even slight ones, can be a symptom of a variety of health concerns.

I know that my sleep disorder lead me down a path of figuring a host of minor health concerns - - - just getting to sleep is a problem, but if there are other issues - solving them might be a better route. 

Not a quick help, I know . . . but health is for the long run.

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jessica

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Re: Relief from insomnia
« Reply #14 on: Sep 28, 2012, 02:33 pm »
Whenever I can't sleep it helps if I make my mind "rest" by doing something like reading or playing a video game on my DS that doesn't require thought (like Harvest Moon). It settles down my monkey mind with all of its stray thoughts and allows the weariness to register and take hold.

Hope this makes sense and helps!