Can't sleep, what are some of your tricks?

[brichter]

Get up and do something. Don't stay in bed. There's plenty of boring stuff on the tube at those hours. Or, read a technical specification, software specs work very well.

[Cabrito]

I have bouts of insomnia.. Fuck this week has sucked. Even when I'm exhausted I can't sleep...

I've tried Meditation, Benadryl, melatonin, Nyquil, weed gummies, but some of those only work for a few hours and then I'm up at 2-3am and feeling stoned or dopey...

Maybe I should try whiskey..

[Eldritch]

Originally Posted by Cabrito

I have bouts of insomnia.. Fuck this week has sucked. Even when I'm exhausted I can't sleep...

I've tried Meditation, Benadryl, melatonin, Nyquil, weed gummies, but some of those only work for a few hours and then I'm up at 2-3am and feeling stoned or dopey...

Maybe I should try whiskey..

Morphine suppository?

[Climber]

The answer is multi-part.

1. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, always try to go to sleep around the same time.
2. Exercise about 2 hours before going to bed is ideal, but early also helps.
3. No caffeine within 5 hours of sleeping.
4. No snacks within a couple hours of sleeping, especially not high in sugar. BTW, alcohol metabolizes into sugar.
5. For men, sex is great for sleep, our bodies release a tranquilizer agent after we orgasm, women aren't so lucky.
6. If my mind is wound up at night I take 1/5 dose of nyquil (or generic nyquil), after about 15 minutes is slows my brain enough to go to sleep.

[Cabrito]

Originally Posted by Eldritch

Morphine suppository?

Is that a thing? lol..

Originally Posted by Climber

The answer is multi-part.

1. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, always try to go to sleep around the same time.
2. Exercise about 2 hours before going to bed is ideal, but early also helps.
3. No caffeine within 5 hours of sleeping.
4. No snacks within a couple hours of sleeping, especially not high in sugar. BTW, alcohol metabolizes into sugar.
5. For men, sex is great for sleep, our bodies release a tranquilizer agent after we orgasm, women aren't so lucky.
6. If my mind is wound up at night I take 1/5 dose of nyquil (or generic nyquil), after about 15 minutes is slows my brain enough to go to sleep.

My Doc calls this sleep hygiene. Mine is terrible. Add to your list no electronic devices 30 minutes before bed - Fail, I read on my phone every night. Dinner same as snacks is a no no a few hours before bed, and in my household we sometimes eat an hour before bed.

[Slabhappy]

Magnesium Citrate, dissolve in a small glass of water.

[WoodsChick]

A soak in my 104° hot tub under the stars does wonders. I am sometimes accompanied by a glass of wine.

Sitting in front of the wood stove and watching the flames puts me out even faster.

My Berkshire VelvetLoft sheets have been the best purchase ever. Soooo soft and luxurious and comforting. I bought them for winter use but love them so much I used them throughout the summer. The top sheet made for a perfect lightweight blanket. I swear I think of those sheets in the evenings when I'm tired, and hear them calling my name

[Sharxfan]

I just got on the topic to see who posted my answer and Rodr beat me to it because it always works for me. If this doesn't work for her then I let her cuddle me afterward and she always crashes out. I am not a cuddler I just can't fall asleep this way but I take one for the team if it helps her out and once she is out for a bit then I slowly move away and can fall asleep myself.

Also, Benadryl makes me drowsy so if it is a hard case of the no sleeps I try taking one and it will make me drowsy enough in about 30 minutes or so to zonk back out.

[brichter]

Originally Posted by Slabhappy

Magnesium Citrate, dissolve in a small glass of water.

[Eldritch]

Originally Posted by Cabrito

Is that a thing? lol...

Put some up there and find out?

Originally Posted by Slabhappy

Magnesium Citrate, dissolve in a small glass of water.

Why you want him to waste all his morphine?

[ScottRNelson]

I don't have issues falling asleep most nights, but most of the time I use 5mg of melatonin 30 minutes before I want to be asleep to help out. I can still get to sleep without it, but it usually takes a little longer. I'll read for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep. When I read the same sentence three times and still don't get it, I put the book down and fall asleep.

My problem is that normally I sleep three to five hours then wake up. Like wide awake. It's been this way for years and I just live with it. Overall I get enough sleep every night, just not all at once.

Originally Posted by TheRobSJ

The entire series of those Bob Ross painting shows is on YouTube. I rarely can make it to the end of the painting.

This is good. I should collect a bunch of Bob Ross videos. I like documentaries most of the time because they keep a consistent pace with no exciting parts. Most of the time I like Modern Marvels. I have a collection of a few hundred episodes. If I'm not ready to fall asleep right away at least I learn something interesting. And it's rare that I'll still be awake after one full 45 minute episode. I'll wake up off and on through the night but with a documentary in the background I usually go right back to sleep. I keep a set of episodes on a thumb drive, which holds maybe 80 of them and my flat screen TV can play them directly. Once I've been through all of them twice I put a new set on there.

Originally Posted by 2strokeYardSale

Melatonin to stay asleep.

Melatonin does not help me stay asleep. Get to sleep, yes, stay asleep beyond 3-5 hours, no.

One other thing that helps me stay asleep a little longer, as an older male, is 600 mg of ibuprofen at the same time I take the melatonin. It normally gets me one or two hours longer before waking up and needing to take a whiz.

[Pushrod]

Oh . . . . oh. . . . .oh. . . .I know!

College level philosophy lecture dealing with the French Renaissance.

[berth]

Originally Posted by ScottRNelson

I like documentaries most of the time because they keep a consistent pace with no exciting parts.

That new Fireball documentary on Apple TV I found sleep inducing.

[Climber]

Melatonin leaves me feeling drowsy for the next 3-5 days. It's a non-starter for me.

Ambien works, at first, but after awhile I am awake after 5 hours with no way to get back to sleep. Also, if you've taken it for awhile it took me about 2 months to retrain my body to go to sleep, it's a dead end road. If taken once in awhile, about once a month, it works very well.

[ScottRNelson]

Originally Posted by Climber

Melatonin leaves me feeling drowsy for the next 3-5 days. It's a non-starter for me.

I find that surprising. If I take something like Excedrin PM (contains Diphenhydramine citrate 38 mg) I'll feel it all morning the next day. I can't feel a thing different with melatonin at 5mg. I guess it affects us all differently.