Do you do anything to help you get to sleep at night?

I use:

doxylamine succinate (one of the two forms of Unisom)
sleep mask (for total darkness, helps in a multi-person household)
comedy (watch something funny on TV shortly before bed)

That combination works well for me. I don't notice any ill effects from the med, and my primary care doc is fine with it. It's very cheap in generic form.

I think pleasant thoughts for sure.

I don't have trouble getting to sleep. Sometimes I've had periods when I awake at 3 a.m.; so staying asleep is an issue (though not at present time).

I'm a light sleeper and tend to go down at 11 or so. If I hear commotion (wife and two sons) at 2 am a few times then it's hard to get back to sleep.

The best sleep I ever got was in the mid 90's when I worked on a shift. I had to be into work around 4:45 a.m. and I was the "shift manager" of about 300 people/supervisors, and had to be sharp first thing. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to fall asleep at night when you get up at 3:30 a.m. and spend 10 hours running a production plant.

I don't currently need anything to sleep but I have had experience with both sleep apnea and stress-related insomnia.

My sleep apnea seems to be strongly related to my weight. When I weighed 330 lbs back in 2007 I slept with a CPAP machine. Without the machine I was terribly tired and sleepy during the day. As far as I could tell I slept OK at night. I would occasionally wake up during the night slightly out of breath, granted, but it wasn't unpleasant, I would just take a few deep breaths, wait for my heart rate to drop, snuggle down in the covers and go pleasantly back to sleep. But I was tired in the morning and throughout the day. With the machine I wasn't aware of sleeping better at night but the crushing daytime sleepiness was gone.

I am a big guy. At 330 lbs I struck people as big and solid but not, particularly, as a waddling lard-ass. I made a change in my diet and managed to reduce my weight to around 275 at which weight my apnea seemed to remit. I gradually noticed that I did OK without the machine and I haven't used it in several years. But I still have it.

When someone describes daytime sleepiness like Todd did I always think of sleep apnea. It's quite common and treating it can make a huge difference if you've got it.

As for insomnia, I used to joke that I had trouble getting any sympathy for my insomnia because it was an acute instead of chronic, and people didn't understand how terribly I suffered during the two or three minutes it took me to fall asleep.

Then I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and I stopped sleeping. I could still go to sleep OK but I would wake up three and a half hours later and not be able to get back to sleep. My doctor prescribed a hypnotic sleeping pill. (I don't know if you remember in late 2011 when hypnotic sleeping pills were in the news because of a study linking them to higher all-cause mortality? That story hit a week after I started taking pills to sleep.)

I can't say they helped very much. I took the pill at bedtime and instead of 3 1/2 hours I would sleep for 4 hours. My doctor doubled the dose. 4 1/2 hours. I found that on weekends I could get a good night's sleep by setting an alarm clock for 3:00 am to take that second pill. During the week I had to go to work and was supposed to wait 8 hours before I could drive, so that 3:00 am pill was problematical.

I finally got past the problem -- can't say I particularly solved it. But I do tend to attribute the resolution of my insomnia to two things: first, I made the decision to seek treatment (surgery) and that did help reduce my stress, and second, I went on a ketogenic low-carb diet to lose more weight prior to the surgery and that seemed to help with my stress. Ketogenic diets do calm the brain a bit (they are used to prevent epileptic seizures in children) but it might just have been the added sense of being a bit more in control of my situation.

As for Todd, he has enough stress in his situation right now to easily explain stress-related insomnia. Someone has suggested Benadryl as a sleep aid. Maybe he could try my trick of setting an alarm clock to wake him up to take it. And, if his daytime sleepiness persists after the stress lets up (for which we all pray) then he should get a sleep study to see what is going on.

Constant long term problem for me, most of adult life. Been on 10 mg. of Ambien nightly, for 15 full years

I have no problem getting to sleep, but staying asleep for long periods of time has been a challenge. I also suffer from some version of Restless legs syndrome, so I have to get up through the night to walk around and get my circulation going again. I also use Melatonin(10 mg) to help me make it through some nights.

I had poor sleep for many years, then finally saw a sleep specialist six years ago at the recommendation of my primary care physician. As part of my work with the sleep specialist, I did an overnight study at the hospital sleep center, which showed no apnea or other medical issues.

Since, I have read many books on sleep and developed a sleep hygiene routine that works for me. Here are the top things that help me sleep well:

(1) No food or drink within 3 hours of bedtime. My stomach and bladder get a rest along with the rest of my body

(2) Suitable bedroom environment: Cool temperature, no distracting clock or other lights and a room air filter for allergies.

(3) Regular exercise, but no vigorous exercise within 2 to 3 hours of sleep.

(4) I shave before bed, which is a calming ritual using an old-fashioned double-edged razor, shaving brush and shaving cream.

(5) Sleep position: For me, sleeping on my side gives me the best quality sleep.

(6) A good mattress and pillow

(7) The dog is not allowed to sleep with us

(8) Set aside any worries for the next day.

(9) Listen to quieting music before bed.

(10) Try to keep relatively regular sleep hours

(11) A 30 minute nap during the day, if needed, but none in the evening.

I sleep very well almost every night, but I remember how it was, and keep up with my simple, effective sleep hygiene. This, of course, is anecdotal evidence, and may not work for you.

Post Edited (Tim G) : 1/21/2015 12:21:24 PM (GMT-7)

Purgatory said...
Constant long term problem for me, most of adult life. Been on 10 mg. of Ambien nightly, for 15 full years

Holy Guacamole, David, 15 years on 10 mg of Ambien!? Ambien is a short-term sleep medication. Have you read about then many side effects, for example, the rebound effect, which makes your sleep even worse? It's no wonder you can't sleep and are tired all the time.

I focus on my breathing if I'm having trouble. 2-3 counts in, 4-6 counts out. Slower breathing, focusing primarily on the exhale. This will calm thoughts I may have.

I also generally feel my brain downshift into alpha rhythm, which is rather pleasant. I can do it almost anytime I choose to do so. It's rather a meditative state of internal quiet. My wife thinks that's just weird, and I've long wondered if others can feel the internal transition. I do that after closing mye eyes in bed to get ready for sleep. The next rhythm down is theta, and I'm not sure if I feel that one or not, or if that's when we "blink out" to unconsciousness.

However, going to sleep is not usually a problem. My wife ribs me about it, since I tend to crash like turning off a light switch. It's not more than a couple of minutes once I close my eyes.

Due to hot flashes I'm awakened 2-3 times a night, and sometimes get up to use the bathroom (usually not more than once or twice anymore). I'm generally tired during the day, and that interrupted sleep may be part of it.

If I'm lucky I get six hours of sleep from 9pm to 3am... THis works OK for me if I can stay awake till 9..

Adding to Tim's nice list:

1) No TV in the bedroom
2) No anything in the bedroom for that matter. (cell phones etc)

An hour before bed I drink some Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate that is an anti everything and it has Melatonin in it. I also take a Magnesium supplement that my cardo suggested for stress.

Before surgery, even after diagnosis, I had little problem falling asleep. And I would sleep 7 hours straight , wouldn't even get up to piss.
Once in a while, if I did have a problem. I'd use an app on my iPhone called, I think, "sleep machin, and I'd set it to sounds of the ocean. That helped a lot

Since surgery, my sleep cycle is completely upset, because I haven't been getting up to go to work, I'd sleep till 9:30am, (of course I am now waking up 2-3 times a night to piss.) and thus have trouble falling asleep before 1-1:30 AM.
I stream Everybody Loves Raymond on Metflix (I think I mentioned this in Todds thread) and keep the volume really low. I usually am asleep within half hour to forty five minutes. Don't ask me why, but it does the trick.

Well, David, if several doctors are saying it's okay (long-term Ambien and opiates), I guess you're the exception that tests the rule. As it seems to be in so much of the medical treatment you receive--or don't--you're the outlier to conventional medical treatment, which never, as you say, ever gets to the bottom of your many medical issues.

Gary averages about 12 hrs per day. Sleep is overrated. For me, copious amounts of coffee, eye concealer and zumba. Zumba and venlafaxin for hot flashes and depression. Different thread, but too tired to go find it
Beth