Sleep

[Nubclear]

I am having a large problem with sleep.
I am only able to get to sleep at a godly hour using melatonin. If I do not use melatonin, I will tend to sleep far far later in the day, and adjusting my schedule through various methods has not proven effective (at least, effective enough within an acceptable timeperiod).

Lately, however, I haven't been able to stay asleep. I keep waking up all throughout the night for no reason that is apparent to me. I usually fall asleep fairly quickly after that, but by the time it is time to awaken, I've typically had 3-5 hours of sleep with about 4-6 interruptions and I'm exhausted.

On occasion, I will wake up and be entirely unable to fall back asleep. I will simply sit there (until I decide to do something more productive).

I'd rather not visit the doctor again, as it is fairly expensive. Are there any herbal or other such things I can take/do in order to just stay asleep?

[Dauphin]

read a thread started by MrFun or Whaleboy.

[Proteus_MST]

It doens´t harm your health as along as you get at least a little bit of sleep (and as long as there is enough REM sleep among this )
Perhaps a sign that you´re getting old, as the amount of sleep you need decreases with age

But honestly,
If you aren´t tired from your lack of sleep, use the time you sleep less to do useful things, like keeping the house clean, start a major programming project and the like.
There was an old lady who needed only one hour of sleep every night. Asked about it she said: "I always wondered why the people waste so much time with sleeping"
(and btw. she didn´t get any health problems due to this, but was very healthy).

Needed sleeping time depends on the individual. Some people need more sleep others less (and, as mentioned the amount needed decreases with age). Perhaps you are an individual that needs less sleep than other people.

During the time I accomplished my diploma thesis in biopsychology I only slept around 4-5 hours every night.
Your body adapts to this very well if you decrease your sleeping volume in small steps (and reduces the amount of Level 1-4 sleep so that you can get enough REM sleep even if you sleep less hours) But normally I need 6-7 hours to feel fully refreshed.

[Heresson]

I've had similar problems. They passed.

[Dr Strangelove]

You're depressed. Stop trying to be a Russian, they're professionals at being depressed ( see: Russian Roulette ), but you're not. Mormons are supposed to be terminally sunny. Just try being who you really are and everything will work out OK.

[Dis]

speaking of, russian roulette is a good way to get some sleep.

But it may just be a phase. I was having a lot of trouble gettin sleep recently due to personal problems (with women of course- who else would cause problems?). But I'm sleeping pretty good lately.

[Jon Miller]

I sleep mopre when I am depressed..

My sleep schedule is all messed up also, I wake up 9-12 pm and go to sleep 1-5 pm, and there is no good reason for it..



JM

[Winston]

I don't think there need to be any medical reasons for your lack of sleep. In most cases there aren't. I think you need to wind down properly before bedtime.

Make a point of avoiding the computer, TV, loud music, telephone conversations and activities that require deep thought and concentration for a period of 1 - 1.5 hours before the time that you would like to go to sleep. Within a week of sticking to this, you should see some definite improvement, and it should encourage you to continue - until you won't even think about it. It will just have become a natural late evening routine for you.

Instead of the activities mentioned above, read a book, go for a short walk, take a nice bath.

[Darius871]

It's not the healthiest solution if used more than a few times a month, but if I can't sleep one night or need to get my sleep schedule back on track for a coming week, a very sudden influx of ~1500 calories seems to do the trick inside 30 minutes. Throw a few shots of bourbon into the mix and you're golden.

[joncha]

Think about germs and diseases and the likelihood that you might be in contact with said germs and diseases. That always works for me.

[Addled Platypus]

break the pattern - stay up for 24 hours or more

worked for me in the past

[BeBMan]

Also switch those anthems off before going to bed.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Questions:

1) What's your caffine intake like, and has it changed significantly lately?

2) When you wake up in teh middle of teh night and can't fall back to sleep, do you find you're thinking about anything in particular? (Keep it clean, I'm at work )

3) What do you do for the hour or so before going to bed? (See previous parenthetical comment)

4) How much outdoor activity and/or exercise do you get in a day?

[Last Conformist]

Sleep is for the weak.


Sorry, but it had to be said.

[Jon Miller]

1. I like caffiene but I have High Blood Pressure, and so have to keep it low, very low generally (sometimes I splurge and drink a 1/2 Caf Latte or something). I generally don't drink any.

2. I generally think about all the things I need to do, how bad everything is going, sex, .. that's about it.

3. I generally crawl in to bed and fall asleep (at least the first time). I didn't always do this, just right now although I am sleeping enough hours, I feel tired a lot).

4. I don't go outdoors all that much, but I hit a gym 4 days a week. I am trying to increase that to 7 (or put in some outdoors time to boost that to 7).

JM