Sleeplessness

My late husband, who was a physician, used to say that people worry too much about sleep. That they should just say to themselves, "If I can't sleep tonight I'll just sleep tomorrow night." This seems to work for me and I don't usually have trouble sleeping because I don't worry about it.

However, for awhile after he passed away I did have trouble sleeping, so instead of counting sheep I decided to think of something more constructive. I started trying to remember US states, their capitals and nicknames. It worked every time and now when I play trivia at a local restaurant on Tuesday nights and they ask a question about state nicknames (and they often do), I'm right on top of it!

Roos, no doubt your medications may be partially a cause of your insomnia, as well as the stress you are presently undergoing. What a horrible side-effect! I really feel for you, it's awful to not get a good night's sleep.

You may be interested in this news article and video in which states that new research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (C.B.T. or 'talk-therapy') can be effective in helping chronic insomnia.

Here's another article about the same research, which also states in part "[sleep medications are] recommended only for short periods. Side effects include morning drowsiness and hallucinations if sleep does not arrive right away, and drug dependence is not uncommon. "


You probably don't want to add more medications to your list anyway. I wish you all the luck, and hopefully you will find a solution for your insomnia. Let us know how it goes.

I should add my own formula that works for me. I do a total relaxation of my entire body. Starting with my feet, I mentally relax each part, moving then onto my calves and so on, willing each part to relax and sink into the mattress. The hands, fingers, shoulders and head sometimes need more time than other body parts, don't be in a hurry to move on until you feel that 'that' part is now relaxed. This technique can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to complete. You should slow your breathing down too, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Hopefully this works for you.

I do the same thing, MadMags! I was taught this technique when I was pregnant with my first child, as a way of relaxing my body during labor. That was almost 30 years ago, and I have used it countless times to relax and drift off to sleep.

I'm with Madmartha - in general, I just don't worry about it. If I really am wide awake, I just get up and do something useful - any of you who have had your quizzes put online in the middle of the night can thank my insomnia.

However, sometimes this doesn't work. If I have to go into the city the next day, say, and know I will be facing a long drive home about the time that tiredness will really set in, I take a mild sedative to help me stay asleep. My problem is not falling asleep, it's waking up at 2 am and staying awake.

I think the only way out of the vicious circle of sleeplessness is not worrying about it as Agony says. There's nothing like having someone tell you to sleep or that you should be asleep to wake you up, don't you think?

If you think about babies and their cycles, the ones who find their sleep are the ones who put themselves back to sleep easily. Doubtless, one always gets one of each type in the draw! I was one of the babies who put themselves back to sleep apparently. I got one of the babies who put me through the wringer, then the other one struck an agreement that if he let me sleep, I'd be a much better mommy. He immediately let me sleep and in fact, still does!

So I try to accept the fact that it's ok to read until my eyes drop, or do something until I feel drowsy again.
The problem with chamomile tea or lavender (there's a wonderful combination by one of the Herbal tea companies out there) is that it makes you get up and go to the 'conveniences' which is going to wake you up.

My mother is experiencing difficulty sleeping with her chemo treatments and has tapes of books that she plays but that would keep me awake as the words would enter my brain.

I just read an article in Dear Dr. Gott, (from my local paper) about Barometric Pressure keeping people from sleeping. Evidently, it doesn't matter if it's high or low, it's the 'change' itself. The recomendation was for Central Air Conditioning, as a sort of 'climate control'-- to ward off the changes in pressure...Very expensive fix, I think!