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Complete inability to sleep

glithertglithert Registered User regular
edited December 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I can't sleep. It comes and goes. I just finished my first semester of college and I got shit grades because it came back halfway through.

Typically, I'll wake up at 7 or 8 on a schoolday. I figure I should feel tired and go to sleep around 11-midnight. But I don't. I won't start to feel tired until 3 or 4 in the morning. But I obviously can't stay up that late, so I go to bed at 12 anyway. Then, I lay awake in bed for 3 or 4 hours. Every single night. Even if I'm tired, I'll just lay there, tired, not sleeping until I pass out from exhaustion or something. It's incredibly frustrating, and sooner or later I'll get so little sleep that I'll end up sleeping through my alarm clock and waking up at 2 in the afternoon.

Every time I bring this up with my parents, doctor etc. The answer I get is more or less, "Maybe you'd fall asleep at night if you didn't sleep in so late, you big goof! :P"

So... What should I do?

glithert on

Posts

  • BlackjackBlackjack Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    glithert wrote: »
    I can't sleep. It comes and goes. I just finished my first semester of college and I got shit grades because it came back halfway through.

    Typically, I'll wake up at 7 or 8 on a schoolday. I figure I should feel tired and go to sleep around 11-midnight. But I don't. I won't start to feel tired until 3 or 4 in the morning. But I obviously can't stay up that late, so I go to bed at 12 anyway. Then, I lay awake in bed for 3 or 4 hours. Every single night. Even if I'm tired, I'll just lay there, tired, not sleeping until I pass out from exhaustion or something. It's incredibly frustrating, and sooner or later I'll get so little sleep that'll end up sleeping through my alarm clock and waking up at 2 in the afternoon.

    Every time I bring this up with my parents, doctor etc. The answer I get is more or less, "Maybe you'd fall asleep at night if you didn't sleep in so late, you big goof! :P"

    So... What should I do?
    If this is what your doctor is saying, you need to see a new doctor.

    Blackjack on
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  • Dunadan019Dunadan019 Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    try exercising before going to bed?

    being physically fatigued helps.

    Dunadan019 on
  • RuckusRuckus Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Dunadan019 wrote: »
    try exercising before going to bed?

    being physically fatigued helps.

    I recommend 3-4 hours before you plan on going to bed.

    Ruckus on
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    you need to try and and train yourself. my wife was telling me about a speaker she heard talk on this since i have sleep issues.

    basically the jist is you need to train your mind that the bed is only for sleeping or sex. basically go to bed when you are tired if you take a while to fall asleep, get up, leave the room(area if only a single room) when you are tired again go back to your bed. repeat this.

    eventually you will get over it and train yourself to go to sleep when you lay down.

    that was the only technique i remembered but there were more extreme ones.

    mts on
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  • EvigilantEvigilant VARegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    mts wrote: »
    you need to try and and train yourself. my wife was telling me about a speaker she heard talk on this since i have sleep issues.

    basically the jist is you need to train your mind that the bed is only for sleeping or sex. basically go to bed when you are tired if you take a while to fall asleep, get up, leave the room(area if only a single room) when you are tired again go back to your bed. repeat this.

    eventually you will get over it and train yourself to go to sleep when you lay down.

    that was the only technique i remembered but there were more extreme ones.

    This.

    I saw a doctor who gave me ambien, and before he prescribed me the medicine he talked about proper sleep hygiene.

    The bed is only for sleeping/or sex. Don't lay on the bed to play video games, read, or watch tv/movies whatever. You start associating your bed with other things than sleep so when your body is laying on it, it takes awhile for it to get the hint.

    If you sleep at 3-4, get up at 7-8. You'll have a shitty day, but oversleeping and not getting up until 2pm does nothing but reinforces the habit and keeps the cycle going. That day you get less sleep, try to stay as active as possible and try to stay awake until your target sleep time. Then don't oversleep and make sure to get up at the appropriate time.

    The other thing you need to do is make it a habit to get up regardless if you're still tired when you're alarm clock goes off. Setting multiple alarms/hitting sleep several times only tells you that you can sleep a bit longer and cause you to miss the next sleep alarm. The time the first alarm goes off, get up and start your day. It sucks, it's difficult, but it's the only way to ensure both sanity and maintaining a proper sleep schedule and hygiene.

    I have the same problem as you coupled with restless leg syndrome, where at night I need to keep moving my legs between cold spots on my bed (I enjoy the sensation of being cold and warming up under covers).

    Evigilant on
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  • sszzishsszzish Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I have similar problems (and am actually on PA right now because of it!! haha) and agree with what's been said, but would like to emphasize the getting-out-of-bed when not tired. Give yourself 30 minutes tops, and if you haven't fallen asleep/aren't right about to fall asleep, get out of bed and do something.

    I also find it helps to avoid looking at the time if at all possible, especially if you have something going on the next day (I even go so far as to hide the clock on the taskbar of my computer), so you aren't constantly counting down how much sleep you have 'left', as in: "I have a class at 10am and it's 3am now, so I only have 7 hours of sleep left...now it's 4am and I only have 6 hours left..." It makes it so, so, so much worse. Honestly, you can sit through a class with 2 hours of sleep, so worrying about it will just make you anxious, which will make you stay awake longer.

    sszzish on
  • Alfred J. KwakAlfred J. Kwak is it because you were insulted when I insulted your hair?Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    How long are you awake on average every day? You'll need roughly 7-8 hours of sleep. You might want to try to just get up earlier. Also, always set up multiple alarms.

    Alfred J. Kwak on
  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    My mother and I both suffer from insomnia. She started taking fish oils and says that it helps her. I, on the other hand, didn't get anything from it. I got sleeping pills from my doctor to help with me, but that's because mine (and being that I work nights) can keep me up for days without them. If your doctor isn't being helpful, you might want to get another doctor.

This discussion has been closed.