I think I'm developing sleeping problems

EmperorSeth

I've needed less and less sleep as I've gotten older, but now it's getting pretty ridiculous. It's bad enough that I intentionally give myself only around 6 hours a night; lately my body won't even give me that. I find myself waking up around an hour or so before the alarm goes off (sometimes even earlier,) for reasons I usually can't explain. Sometimes I have a nightmare, like anyone, but usually I'm just BAM-up. And from there, I almost never can get back to sleep again. My brain refuses to shut itself up, and I'm stuck thinking about the day or philosophy or what to write next or video games or whatever until the alarm inevitably turns on. And I'm starting to suffer for it. I'm having a hard time staying awake all day or paying attention during meetings. That wasn't so bad when I was unemployed, but I don't want to drift off now that I'm working again for obvious reasons. And there are times when I can even start nodding off while actually doing something. Mind you, that's occasionally been true since at least high school, but it's more common and much less acceptable.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to avoid waking up suddenly in the first place and what to do when I am up?

Casual

Personally I would go to a doctor over this. Being chronicly tired but unable to sleep isn't good. As a stopgap measure until you get yourself checked out I'd take some energy drinks to work. But that is by no means a perminant solution. You don't want to become dependant on red bull just to function.

jedikuonji

Sometimes I get a string of days where I have issues sleeping, much like you describe. If it's only 1 or 2 days, I'm fine, but once it hits 3 then I "reset" myself. I make sure to go to be about 2 hours earlier than I normally would and I take two PM type aspirin to keep myself asleep. That usually fixes it for long enough that I can't remember the last time I had to do it.

When I do wake up, I try to think about nothing in order to fall asleep. It's really difficult though since I too start thinking about my day or gaming or whatever which keeps me up. Thinking about nothing has gotten easier with practice and now I can usually maintain a blank mind long enough to get back to sleep. What I do is just try really hard to not think about stuff and cut myself off when I catch myself going down some thought path. Rinse and repeat until I'm out. The hardest time for me to do this is when I find myself with an hour or less before the alarm goes off as I realize there's pretty much no way I'm going to get any meaningful sleep. In those instances I just find a comfortable position to lie in and relax as much as possible so I'm at least restful if not sleeping.

If I had to take PM sleep aids on a regular basis or couldn't stay asleep no matter what I did then I'd probably head to the doctor to see what's up. If nothing works to get you to the point where you can get enough sleep, then I would second the suggestion to see a doc about the issue.

geckahn

Your cortisol levels are probably all wacky.

Do you have anything in your bedroom that emits light? like anything at all. Including a smoke alarm. If you do, cover the lights. Pitch black darkness is hugely important for great sleep.

Any digestive problems?

Sarcastro

Be bored about an hour before bed? I have always found that when I am in the mood to do high brain activity, games, writing, reading, etc, until I get tired, when I finally hit the sac I am still thinking about those things.

Setting my stuff aside and creating a night time routine; tidying, showering, tooth brushing, etc, for about 45 mins before hand lets me wind down enough to sleep when its sleep time. Otherwise, when I'm in push mode, I feel like sleep is a time thief, and I keep thinking right through the night because fuck you, sleep. Course, the thing about punching sleep in the face night after night is that eventually, it gets its revenge by sabotaging your waking hours.

If youve been treating sleep well and its still giving you a hard time, ya, see the doc. Oh and also if your overweight youve just described classic sleep apnea symptoms, so like, ask whomever would know if you snore a lot.

Shogun

I battled insomnia for almost all of 2008 and its pretty miserable. Like you OP I began getting less and less and it just sort of stayed that way. It got to the point where I was sleeping maybe 4 hours every other day. I coped with it as long as I could until work and school performance began to drastically dive.

I saw one of the school psych's and tried several forms of therapy before trying medications. Did ambien and lunesta and I didn't care for how I felt when I awoke. It was as though I'd awake with no record of the previous night. I didn't feel tired but I also didn't feel rested. It was a strange feeling and I never stayed on the meds.

I still do a few things before I sleep to help myself. No caffeine after 3pm. You'll sleep better if can avoid drinking shit like soda entirely. Don't do anything in your bed except sleep and fuck. No reading, writing, TV watching, eating, etc. You can try the total darkness thing but it may not be a big issue. Before you actually go to sleep wind yourself down an hour or so before. Kill all games, music, TV, computer, etc. I don't recommend reading but I guess it also depends on what you would read before you go to bed. The final thing is try writing before you sleep. This technique didn't work very well for me but I've seen amazing results with others I've dealt with. Write for about 30 minutes before you go to sleep. It doesn't have to be like a journal or what the days events or whatever. Just write about whatever crosses your fancy at the time. Think of it as emptying your mind onto a page before you sleep.\

Regardless of what you do or the outcomes I wish you the best of luck. I found the worst part of insomnia to be the isolation. Anyone you know who hasn't suffered the same situation can be particularly useless and downright condescending about it. Either they may not believe or they just don't have the experience. Regardless do not be surprised if you find little to no sympathy from people who haven't suffered insomnia. To those who sleep like a baby the condition practically does not exist.

EmperorSeth

I'm not that overweight, but I can try to douse the lights a bit. The real problem is a window that faces one of the apartment complex's outside lights. But that's been here for 7 years now. I'll give that a try anyway. Hmm, what else changed? Well, I have a cat, and he used to wake me up at nights, but he's been good lately. I have a roommate, but half the time he's not even home and his sleep schedule doesn't interfere with mine. It might just be stress, since I just started a new job a few months back and am trying to pay off a lot of medical bills while figuring out if I need a new apartment and/or car. And I have done a lot of creative writing, especially at night. I'm doing National Novel Writing Month and I wrote a screenplay last month. I don't know if I can stop that any time soon, though.

Sarcastro

Creative writing wreaks havoc on my sleep. It takes a fair bit of concentration to keep the world model built in one's head. I found it helped to put a huge poster board above my monitor, where I can write out or sketch components before naptime. Once they are out on paper, its easier to let go.

Dunno about that waking up too early thing- i just make breakfast and try to pop out a few sentences before work. That's a pretty rare though, if I could drive while eating and getting dressed I probably would.

geckahn

I mean the fact that you're waking up early and very alert definitely hints of either excess cortisol production and/or not enough melatonin. The recent stress issues could be contributing to cortisol production, and the more light you're around when you sleep the less melatonin you produce, even if it's what you think is a trivial amount of light. Your body notices.

If you're going to go the pill route, get time release melatonin.

KrunkMcGrunk

I have small periods of insomnia now and again. I've found that the best thing that worked for me was, no matter how tired I was after a crappy night of sleep, I got up on time, and didn't let myself nap. Also, I made sure to wear myself out during the day. Usually that means a lot of activity, like walking, or an intense evening at the gym.

After I do that, I go to bed on time, but I'll take 2 tablespoons of Nyquil half an hour before bed, to ensure that I knock myself out. Usually after two or three days of this, I'm back on a normal sleep schedule with no problems.

EmperorSeth

I'll definitely be watching the light issue. As for digestion, I don't think so. Nothing serious. I've done a lot of overtime work, though, which really messed up my exercise cycle. If it is stress, that won't be fixed for a while. Besides the writing, I have to fix or replace my car and find a roommate in about two months, tops.

LewieP's Mummy

Echoing Shogun's sound advice. I have difficulty sleeping, both going to sleep, waking up in the night, and waking up too early. I took part in a course of CBT, to help me manage my CFS (that's the cause of the sleep problems) and discovered about the only thing I was doing right was managing my sleep.

If you can, have some exercise in the early evening.

Have a warm bath before you go to bed, a drink of hot milk - maybe with something like Horlicks in it, but no caffeine, stop watching TV/playing games for at least an hour before you go to bed.

If you wake up, after no more than 15 minutes, get up, otherwise you're conditioning your body/mind to accept being awake in bed, instead of asleep. Make a drink, relax for a while, then try again.

If its not too long from getting up, get up anyway, and do something productive with your extra time.

Try to avoid naps, as your body will demand them more, you need to stay awake during the day in order to need to sleep at night.