Suggestions for getting a good night's sleep?

bed early, chamomile tea, warmth, a cat (opt), and just something to slow your mind down

 

I'm no expert, but it sounds like you don't feel safe when you go to sleep, either unconsciously or consciously. What you need to do is get yourself into a routine where you feel completely relaxed each night before you go to bed.

 

I have that precise problem.. learnt to keep myself safe by simply not sleeping. Currently the only thing that regularly makes me sleep is olanzapine, which is an anti-psychotic. Actual sleep meds do make me sleep, but you can't stay on them because they're so addictive, so olanzapine it is.

I wish I had actual advice for you, other than 'yeah, meds help'. If you can find anything else that helps you sleep, that's a hell of a better option.

 

Yeah, I used to have severe sleep safety problems from PTSD. Got assaulted once in my sleep one time, almost died in my sleep another time, so ... yeah. Sleep and I are not friends.

1. I moved out of my parents' house, the awful place associated with so many years of mistreatment for me. Got me away from my mom. This alone made a huge difference in how safe I felt.

2. I got treatment for the PTSD. Got to the point where I was no longer afraid of nightmares.

3. For a brief time to stabilize myself, I used sleep medication. I get side effects like you describe from Ambien, but Lunesta worked great without any trouble. But as you say, this is not a long term solution.

Another drug you might try is OTC: Unisom's doxylamine succinate, that stuff knocks me out in under an hour. Much more potent than Benadryl.

4. I finally started on a low dose of an atypical antipsychotic, Abilify, which was actually given to me to treat depression. It didn't do jack for the depression, but it gave me one thing I've never had properly: a circadian rhythm. I now get tired on time, wake up on time, and have other perks like being able to going to the bathroom regularly. The mechanisms of these drugs are not fully understood yet and they have a wide range of possible effects. Abilify is not marketed as a circadian stabilizer, but for me, it's been great!

5. I also made differences in my sleep hygiene. These include things like:
- Don't use your bed for anything except sleep (and sex). Don't read in bed or use the computer in bed.
- If you are lying in bed trying to sleep, if you lie there for more than 20min, get up and do something for 30min or so. Don't just keep lying there.
- Don't use computers, televisions, tablets, your phone, or other brightly-lit screens within an hour of your intended time to sleep. Try to avoid using them at night, period. They produce a wavelength of light that activates your brain and tells you it's daytime. For your computer, there are programs that can red-shift your screen at night to reduce this effect (the culprit is blue light).
- Try to get exposure to natural sunlight, especially when you first wake up in the morning. Going for a 20-min walk outdoors in the morning is great for this.
- When you first get up in the morning, get out of bed promptly. Don't lie in bed for awhile or hit snooze. You are training not just your body's sleep hormones, but also its wake hormones.
- Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends. The body's clock doesn't know what a weekend is and wants to wake up at the same time each day. In humans, the clock can be sensitive to under a minute (some birds have it sensitive to within a second, which is awesome).
- Don't nap during the day.
- Don't drink stimulants like coffee, tea, soda, or hot chocolate after 2pm.
- Don't drink alcohol before bed. Go to sleep sober.
- Don't eat right before bed.
- Exercise.

Good luck!

 

You might try to eliminate electronics from the vicinity of your bed...
for example no cell phone, electric cable, radio maybe within 1-2m...
you might try another place for your bed...
if not too far fetched, you might get a gemstone, black tourmaline, and place it under your bed (medium size, rinse it before use)...

you might try not to eat or drink 1-2 hrs before going to sleep..
except for maybe a glass of milk with honey or tea...

you might try some exercises in the evening, so you get physically a bit tired...


(*hug*)

 

A bath or shower before bed is something I find helpful.

Also not to be looking at phone once being in bed (and silencing it or turning it off).

I also live alone so I do feel safe and know I won't get disturbed (which used to be at the back of my mind and keep me awake when I lived with others).

 

Hi. Most of the time, when someone wakes up in the middle of the night, it's because of hypoglycemia. Even if you don't feel hungry, it doesn't mean anything. You can have a hard time falling asleep after that or even not being able to fall back asleep. The solution is simple, have a protein/fat snack before bedtime. Like meat, eggs, nuts, cheese. I have a hard time digesting nuts, but I'm fine with the other things. It's best to avoid sugar and carbs. Proteins and fats will prevent the hypoglycemia during the night and should solve the problem. Going to bed while you're hungry or haven't eaten in a while is the worst thing you can do.

I would try that for at least many days and if it doesn't work, try to think about what could've changed in your habits/life. There's something behind this. But I think hypoglycemia is a good possibility. When you're under stress, you need more food to keep your blood sugar at a decent level.

Anyway, good luck.

 

Replacing meals with coffee is very probably why you can't stay asleep. It's a big stress. The body needs a stable level of blood sugar throughout the day. And at night, like I said, to achieve that you just need to eat a protein/fat snack before bed. So if you correct your eating habits, things should get back to normal. Froot loops are like plain sugar lol definitely not an option. It won't help at all. Try cheese, eggs or slices of meat by example. Again, good luck with that.

 

You might have a look here:
Foods That Increase Serotonin and Induce Sleep

and overall, a healthy diet should help...
you might replace the coffee with tea (if possible not only black tea, which also might be quite strong...)


(*hug*)(*hug*)

 

I either take a really relaxing shower or I put on my 'Sleeping playlist' that pretty much has only soft, gentle music and that usually helps me sleep.

 

I drink at least one cup of sleepytime tea, mist my sheets with a lavender spray an hour before bed, burn lavender incense a half hour before bed, and sometimes use a sound machine app of purring cats or distant thunder. And pet my cat. He loves to lay down next to me when I go to bed, so he's always close by.

 

Make sure your feet are warm.

And, honestly, sometimes a good masturbation session for bed is incredibly relaxing.

 

Anxiety can cause poor sleep quality

Google "sleep hygiene" for other tips

 

Sleeping pills.

 

I don't recommend doing what I do, but about three nights a week I will take more than the recommended dose on nighttime cold medicine. I am not sure if it helps or not. I suffer from bad anxiety, so I can never stay asleep because an attack will wake me up