Why can't I sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep??

[southerngirlwriter]

Yes, I'm whining. So sue me.

I have tossed and turned for four hours now.

Waaaaaaaaa!!

On edit: I can't sleep because I am lonely and because it was supposed to snow, but didn't, and because the world is a bad place and I have terrible dreams almost every night lately.

[PennyLane]

1. I'm A Sleep Tech!

Cut the caffeine. Get everything out of the bed except you and the
pillow/blankets. Don't do anything in bed except sleep and the "wild thing!" Try some white noise......a fan, not music or tv. If all else fails, get up and do something until you feel sleepy. Don't
lament over it, it usually makes things worse. It's a vicious cycle.
Good luck! :boring:

[southerngirlwriter]

2. A Sleep Tech? Do you get paid to sleep?

Wow.

The only thing in bed besides me, the pillow, and blankets are two teddy bears. Is that okay?

[ClintonTyree]

3. Welcome to the insomniacs club.................

of which I'm a card carrying member. I average about 4-5 hours a day, a day mind you, not all at once. I've tried all combinations of sleep aids, prescription and OTC, but at the most I'll get 3 hours sleep and then be wide awake.
Bad dreams? About what? Not trying to be nosy, but if you want to chat about it, I'm awake. :-)

[southerngirlwriter]

6. Awful, awful dreams

Not the kind where you wake up too scared to go to the bathroom. The kind where you wake up horrified. In my last nightmare, I dreamed about the cast of Little House on the Prairie (FYI: I haven't owned or watched a TV in about five years). I was leading a group of kids through the sets -- the Oleson's store, the barn at the Ingalls' house, the church/school, etc. All the main characters (who I truly loved -- I used to wish I lived back then and Ma and Pa were my parents) had been murdered in grisly, horrible fashions. We kept finding their corpses and running away to get help, only to find another corpse.

I REALLY wish I was making this up. I don't watch TV, and I've never killed anyone or anything. No drugs or alcohol in nearly six years. No explanation for this.

[ClintonTyree]

7. Secret desires.............

to murder the Ingals family, huh? :-) That's a good one, tonight I dreamt about myself and a few friends being in a submarine beneath the north pole. I'm claustrophobic, so it drove me crazy to the point where I had to wake up to end the dream.

[southerngirlwriter]

8. NO! I LOVED Ma and Pa.

And Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards in those flannel shirts with his big teddy-bear like self. Hrm...I wonder if that's why I want John Edwards to be the next President?

The only reason that I can think of that Little House on the Prairie might have been in my brain is that I read the Celebrity Birthdays in the paper every day, and Matthew Laborteaux (played Albert Ingalls) turned 40 the other day. I was all, "No freaking way!"

But I didn't want to kill him. For sure. I thought he was a good brother.

[ClintonTyree]

10. Well.........

allow us here at DU to be your new family (since the others have been murdered), just don't let the same thing happen to us.
Have you tried anything like Tylenol PM before bed? That stuff worked for me for a month or so, but it was a very restfull month. They're non-habit forming.

[southerngirlwriter]

11. Hrm. I will try that.

I have Trazodone, but it only lets you *stay* asleep. It doesn't make you *fall* asleep. When I finally fall asleep, I will be dead to the world for six hours, no problem.

[ClintonTyree]

13. Give it a try.................

like I said , they worked for me for a while. They relax you enough to fall asleep, then you'll sleep quite well for 6 or so hours after that. Let me know how you make out. I'm a person that functions quite well on 4 or 5 hours a day anyway. If I got anymore I'd think I was wasting time. Good luck!

[aquart]

17. What have you been reading?

I usually dream in the genre I've been reading.

[nofurylike]

4. hey, whine away, southerngirlwriter. it may help you sleep.

it's been a wired world in the political rabbit-hole today. lot's of reason for insomnia

and clearly - check around! - for whining.

so, might'swell have yours!

i throw in my own insomniac whine with yours.

keep on!


peace

[Khephra]

5. Because the evil clowns will get you?

Or is it the things under your bed keeping you awake tonight?

:evilgrin:

[ClintonTyree]

9. Keph...........

you're am card carrying member of the insomniacs club as well, correct? I know you're up all hours, same as myself.

[Khephra]

18. Yep, card holder for life

:hi:

[VOX]

12. Hey, southerngirlwriter -- welcome to the Night Owl's Club!

There are a fair number of us REM-sleep challenged members of DU here, so feel free to whine.

Sorry to hear about the dreams, I know how upsetting they can be. Remember that they are *just* dreams.

Here's a sleep-tip that works for me. Lie quietly in bed, lights out. Take a deep breath, from the abdomen -- hold it as long as is comfortable, then slowly release. Repeat. Check your body for any tension, and let it go. Feel yourself sinking into the bed.

Now, working from your feet to your head (in sequence), mentally "speak" to your various muscle groups --"tell" them that they are "heavy, warm, and relaxed." Here's a good way to break it down:

Feet
Ankles, knees and calves
Thighs
Abdomen, hips and buttocks
Lower back
Chest and mid-back
Arms
Neck and shoulders
Jaw
Face and scalp

You would begin this relaxation exercise with the statement, "My feet feel heavy, warm and relaxed," and just go on from there.

Hope that this works for you. Hang in there, and here's to *pleasant* dreams!

[aquart]

20. Cool. That's hypnosis.

[Booberdawg]

14. I'm a night owl too. I nap during the day.

I'm up reading "Stupid White Men" right now. Good book!

[southerngirlwriter]

15. I'm listening to Al Franken's latest book on unabridged audio.

It's very funny, especially Supply Side Jesus and the trip to BJU.

[Booberdawg]

16. Oh yeah, I've read that too. That was funny.

[aquart]

19. Sleep techniques.

A candle shower: One candle lit, dangling in the shower, other lights off. It's a kind of sensory deprivation, yet very sensual. I burn peach incense, use my favorite soap and oil. I can't do it if I have one other thing to do before bed, because I just fall into it.

Something to distract the whirling, busy mind: Rhyming words: at, bat, brat, cat, chat.... Or reading a Sumerian glossary, downloaded from the internet. Or doing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle in colored felt tip pens.

Have an herb tea beside the bed with something antispasmodic in it, like chamomile or peppermint, or something specially for sleep.

Mineral Ice for anything that might ache.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Personal experience

which may not be applicable to everyone:

I have trouble sleeping when I'm retaining water, which is a condition I get into when I eat foods that I'm mildly sensitive to. For some reason, my mind races when I'm retaining water.

If that's not your problem, try my two favorites:

1) Eating some kind of combination of turkey and dairy products, both of which contain L-tryptophan.

2) Reading something utterly boring. When I worked nights one summer during college, I had trouble sleeping during the day. My technique for getting to sleep was to read a history of philosophy that had been written in the 1880s by a German and translated in the 1910s. I averaged two pages before lapsing into stupefied unconsciousness.

When I'm finally able to sleep after a bout of insomnia, I tend to have vivid dreams.