Thanks guys.
You need to find some support groups in your area, fill out your name tag as: Cornelius and just let yourself cry. That will do the trick.
What are your religious/spiritual views or leanings? (Just curious, as there could be some help in this area, depending on your views)
God, what a good book that was. The movie was ok... the book was so much better.
Atheist... if that helps.
I find I'm the same if I havent exercised during the day. The best thing I ever did was get into a regular routine of exercise. 7-8/9 i'm in the gym. by the time i've got home, cooked dinner and messed around on the internet for awhile i'm ready to drop, usually about 11ish.
May suit you or not but I found it helps my sleep, my energy levels and my overall fitness.
Exercise, eat properly, listen to soft music while you're in bed. Exercise helps your body slow itself down, eating properly generally seems to help with ... everything and I find listening to music helps me take my mind off things (as opposed to "thinking of nothing" which just means you're concentrating on "nothing" and keeping your mind active). Listening to music disengages me.
I would have to side with Mr Wall and Touched on this one.
Regular exercise is the way to go.
Get into a routine of going to the gym or going for a run....whatever you like, but for an hour or so in the early evening. It'll help you relax and get a lot of the unwanted adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormone) out of your body.
Then eat properly (you'll be hungry, believe me) and drink plenty of water to help flush all the crappy hormones out of your system.
I was afraid that exercize would be suggested...
I am not the
healthiest individual. I don't regulary excercize but I am not UN-healthy. I am kinda skinny without any actual muscle... so going to the gym is a good way to embaress myself.
My school is a bit of a "jock" haven... and the last thing I need to be doing is struggeling on the bench press with an empty bar...
Running might work... but I am aweful at distance. I could probably beat most of the people at my school in a short run (I am VERY fast [one redeaming quality]) but distance kills me. My groin is killing me after just running a mile and half...
Now that I think about it... physically, I am horribly out of shape but I am too afraid to work out in front of other people cause I know I am going to embaress myself.
For now... let's say that isn't an option. However, after the Physical Training thing we had monday I wasn't the least bit tired. It was about 45 minutes of push-ups and sit-ups and then the mile and half run... and I still didn't sleep. My room mate did... but I was up...
Take a shower or bath a couple of hours before you want to go to bed. The warm water will help dilate your blood vessels and thus lower your blood pressure. It'll have the added bonus of making you smell nice after your exercise.
(Though if you do it too soon before bedtime it'll just wake you up).
I think a lot of your problem is that you are trying so hard to get to sleep that you're keeping yourself awake. It's sort of a vicious circle. The more tired you become, the more stressed you get at not sleeping, and it's the stress that's keeping you awake.
Calming music may also help. Nothing with lyrics as you'll end up just trying to sing along.
Obviously caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea and coke are all out, even early in the day to keep you awake after another crappy night. Caffeine stays in the system for a long time in some people so it's just going to exacerbate the problem.
Try not to go down the drug route. Even over the counter drugs can become habit forming and in the end they're just masking the symptoms rather than addressing the root of the problem.
It seems like you've been training yourself to be an insomniac since you were young and you've now got get your body to un-learn all the bad habits you've given it.
It was a perverse sense of discipline that got you into this state and so I'd suggest you focus that discipline more constructively to get you out of it.
Good luck and sweet dreams.
Dizzy
I have always teken showers before bed (I despise going to bed dirty) and music distracts me cause I am thinking about it too much. I have lots of orchestral/instrumental stuff... but it hasn't helped. I can't listen to it out loud cause of my room mate and my CD player distracts me cause the music is right in my ear, rather than around my body...
I think your absokutely right about the highlighted section... I just hope I can. It seems like it was easier to develop this "habit" then it was to break. Now I vaguely understand what smokers go through to quit.
Are you sleepless without any reason?
It seems you sleep less than 6 hours/night. Do you drink a lot caffeinated or sugary drinks during the evening? Are you worried/stressed/agitated? Exercise may help if you have too much spare energy but if you are tired mentally and physically, yet can't sleep it could be something else. It seems you've always had these sleeping habits so it's unlikely to be dangerous. But I still think you should see a doctor as it bothers you.
I don't drink coffee (ever) cause I hate the taste and I take caffiene pills if I NEED them... which is once a month (if that). They usually give me gas (embarressing
) so I avoid taking them whenever possible, waking up "natrually".
The drugs you've tried, they're american brand names, melatonin I recognise but the others not, what substances are they?
The others are cold medicines with ingrdients to bring about sleep. They worked for a little while... but I think my body adapted cause the "safe" dose didn't do anything... and I didn't eperiment with "unsafe" doses like I did with the Melatonin.
When I'm nervous and agitated I sometimes take 25mg hydroxyzin. It's actually a histamine receptor antagonist and mainly used to reduce itching but it has calming effect too. It's a "non-abuse" substance and it helps me sleep when I otherwise cannot.
That
may be what was in the NyQuil and Benedryl... but I will look into it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for all your help so far. I tried a couple of them... and it looks like my only option is to exercize (grumble, grumble). I forgot to mention I am lazy...
I haven't been lazy all my life... just the last fiew years. I go to a college out-of-state and haven't made too many friends (my problem) so I don't go out much...