I have become nocturnal!!!!!!!!

[trac67]

who has the answer to a good nights sleep. I go to bed feeling absolutly shattered and as soon as my head hits the pillow, i am wide awake. I lay there and lay there for hours on end and still sleep does not come, by the time i manage to fall asleep the alarm is going off for me to get up. I am then walking around all day with my eyes hanging out of my head, as i am exhausted. I need to sleep for a week now to catch up on all the sleep that I have missed, any solutions would be much appreciated, before i am walking around during the day like a complete zombie.
Thanks Tracey[|)][:X]

[davebrum]

hi tracey
i found a bottle of vodka helps lol
seriously have you tried alternative thereapies like self hypnosis or calms tablets that sort of thing. i like a warm bath with lavender oil that calms me down enough to get some sleep
hope you zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz soon
love
david

[sarah]

Hi Tracey

I was exactly the same for months on end and it drove me and my husband crazy. I was nocturnal and because i slept during the day to make up for the sleep i was missing in the night my husband thought I was being lazy.

My cure??.......Hubby started dragging me out of bed kicking and screaming at 8am when he went to work and I spent the day being as busy as I could (agoraphobia permitting...lol). I did DIY, gardening, went for short walks several times a day, had a nice warm bath before bed and although it was hard at first I soon turned my sleep patterns around.
Im now back at work and I fall into bed at 10pm and sleep like a baby till the morning.

What do you do during the day?

love Sarah
xx

[Gemgems]

I have the same problems I can not sleep once I get in to bed.

I often try having a really hot bath with radox or Lavender as said in your other message also try Camomille Tea Avoid any caffenie drinks at least 2hrs before bed time and dont eat after 7pm I never thought it would work but it does help.

I also tried relaxation tapes with claming music and tried breathing yoga stylie LOL not sure if I did it right but it certainley help.;)

Avoid any caffenie drinks at least 2hrs before bed time and dont eat after 7pm

Luv Gem

[trac67]

hi everyone, thanks for all your advice, i shall certainly try everything, as it was 3am before i finally managed to sleep last night and then the alarm woke me at 6.30am. I try to do as much as possible in the day to tire myself out and to keep myself awake, i work (panics permitting) in my local newsagents 16 hours a week, i make hair accesories from home for a company everyday and also look after my 3 children, my dad, 2 cats and 2 dogs. I should fall into bed at night and be dead to the world, and hopefully after trying all your suggestions i will, im sure a good nights sleep will do me the world of good. I will let you know how i get on.
Luv Tracey:D

[nomorepanic]

Hi Tracy

I don't sleep very well atall. I find it hard to get to sleep and then wake up all night on and off. No good when you have to work all day is it cos I feel shattered at night but just can't sleep.

I did go and see a sleep strategist so look at this post ....

Sleep Strategies (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1372)

There may be something there that helps you.

I take Valerian too and that helps a bit but I wish I knew the answer to it.

Nicola

[aytonangel]

Ah welcome to Insomniacs International - my new club for nocturnal people.

I know what not sleeping feels like, I take sleeping tablets to remedy my nocturnal habits but only half a one every other night. The niht I don't take one I am wide awake till the wee small hours of the next day. Sometimes I can get to bed about an hour or two before I have to get up with the children for school.

Luckily I work from home so I can sleep during the day but then you miss the daylight - which we all know right now is in short supply. Us humans should have been programmed to hibernate through the winter I think.

I have some ideas of helping you drop off, you could try them. My sleep pattern has totally gone to pot lately as I have gone through a difficult patch. So I practice these methods quite a lot, sometimes they work sometimes they don't.

One of the most Important things to do is to try not to worry about not sleeping as this only makes the matter worse. If you can't drop off straight away then get up and do something until you feel sleepy again then try again. Don't do anything that will over stimulate the brain though - read or something like that. But do try not to worry.

You end up been wide awake as your brain will not shut down so best thing is is to occupy the brain with something that doesn't worry you so hear goes.

Scenario 1: Money is of no object to you at all - not one jot. Go through every room in your house and buy everything you want for it. ie: Living room - redecorate - what colour? would it be wallpaper or paint? new suite - what would it look like etc etc - go through the house from the downstairs up. You could even start in the garden if you want. Remember - MONEY IS NO OBJECT - so if you want a garage or a wall knocked through or a sauna fitted or even patio doors - you can have them. I usually find that I never manage to reach upstairs EVER. So the garden and downstairs are fabulous designer palaces and the upstairs is a tip LOL.

Scenario 2: You are laid on a glorious beach where you can hear the water lapping at the shore. The sun is warm and welcoming and you feel so totally safe. There is no noise, people or any rush for you to be anywhere. You can imagine your paradise to be anyway you want it to be - build your own vision.
Lay on your back in bed and tense your toes then relax them after a few seconds - feel the suns heat on your feet, tense your calf muscles and then relax - feel the suns heat. You need to do this to every moveable muscle in your body - which I guess means all of them. If you can't see or feel that muscle then imagine it tensing up and relaxing. Do this exercise till you reach your head - by this time you should be totally relaxed. This method is a well used relaxation technique (often used in Parentcraft classes and at the end of yoga sessions.

Scenario 3: Is to create in your head your own little paradise filled with all the things you love ad feel relax you - play in your Paradise for as long as want doing all the things you want whatever they may be. Nobody will know what you do whilst there so have as much fun as you want.

Failing that if you still can't sleep you could always spend all night posting on here LOL [:X]

[meesey]

HI, I am finding that i stay up quite late till i feel like i am real tired, then i go to bed and as soon as my head hits the pillow, my mind goes into overdrive, night time is the worst time for my panic attacks, as this seems to be when my mind races away... I have tried to beat this by listening to a relaxing music cd, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't...

[Marc]

Good post ayrtonangel, those sort of things sometimes work well ... but not always that's why I'm on here at 5am LOL

What usually seems to happen with me is I go to sleep fine, then in a couple of hours I'm wide awake again. - Then no more sleep till it's nearly time to get up!!!!! - I then get half-hours sleep and wake feeling really groggy.

Fortunately it doesn't happen every night but goes in cycles.
Anyway there's always NMP :)

Marc

[aytonangel]

I think we all owe a big thank you to the people who discovered the Internet and those who introduced all-night and Satellite TV - they must have had us Insominacs in mind.
I have been educated in many ways whilst I can't sleep. :D

As I said though please try to rmeove your worries about not sleeping, as the more you worry the less you sleep.

I know it feels as though you are the only person in the world wide awake, but just think of how many other people are actually up and around at the same time - hospitals, supermarket deliveries & shelf stockers, mothers with new babies, security guards. There was once a time when the world went to sleep for the night but not any more.

Been wide awake at night is a good time to sit outside in the garden as well, I take my dog make a cup of tea, throw my coat on if it's cold and sit on the garden chairs - it is a fantastic way to elleviate feelings of unreality that often accompany panic and anxiety. It is also fabulous for getting much needed peace and time out.