One of the few subjects i'm not very well versed on, and well I'm sure theres much betters places to ask this, I know none of them, plus know alot of bright people frequent this board.

for last few months I've been having trouble sleeping, my body is tired, brain is fatigued, Im sleepy..I should be able to sleep but I can't.

All I do is think of interesting things (tonight I layed awake for an hour thinking of different ways to mix pewter alloys..)
I just think of idea after idea after idea, almost like my brain picks up activity when I try to sleep.
Then it keeps me awake till it drives me crazy enough to get up and research/lookup some of the things I was thinking about.

I've always been like this, but for some reason last few months I can't turn my brain "off" like I normally could.

Any enlightment on this?

Thought about a heavy physical activity?

I'm not a specialist, far from it, but I know that when your body is asking for rest, even the most awaken brain won't take you out of sleep.
But you will probably dream a lot. ;)

I find TV or radio is good for turning off my brain. Any form of passive, mindless entertainment should work. If the room is dead silent, my brain tends to compensate by thinking more, which keeps me awake.

How much light is there when you try to go to sleep? I used to be able to sleep even with all the lights on, but I've found myself a lot more sensitive to light these days. It sometimes helps for me to wear something that acts like a blindfold, even when the room is already pretty dark. (On the other hand this is bad if you rely on light to wake up.)

I have extreme sleeping problems myself these days.. what I've found out from talking to my doctor is that it's related to the fact that I'm missing certain vitamines..Iron, B-vitamines and so on.. might be something to think about if you want a medical aspect of the whole thing.

Other than that, I have kind of the same problem as you when it comes to just getting out of bed and doing something I've been thinking about.. I can remember all the things I've forgotten to do the second I go to bed, heh.

As for TV and radio.. might work unless you get too interested in that, most of the time I have to shut off every light and everything that can make a sound in the entire apartment to be able to actually relax.. other than the humming from my computer, wouldn't be able to sleep at all without that -)

//Izola

pewter alloysAn alloy of an alloy! Insane. Good hardcore sex usually puts me to sleep. It works. I promise.

It's might be this SleepApnea (http://www.sleepapnea.org/geninfo.html)


Maybe?


Ibudin

One word.

Unisom.

I almost got hooked on the shit.

One gelcap, and 30 minutes later you can barely stand up.

hmm pills...

It's perfectly normal for your brain to go into "overactive" mode when it's sleeping time, it's what it's supposed to do. During REM your brain is a lot more active than what it normally is during daytime.

Having trouble sleeping can be related to many factors, but it's pretty safe to say that your affliction is either psychological or physical in nature.
Psychological can mean a whole shitload of things. For instance I personally have trouble sleeping if I know the alarm's gonna go off the same morning. I tense up knowing beforehand that my sleep will be disturbed and thus I don't get enough rest. That's a phobia/conditioning sort of thing. These kind of things are a lot more common than you might think.

Or, it could be the physical twist, in which for instance your body might have stopped producing the hormones necessary to go to sleep. That can happen for a number of reasons. Vitamin/mineral imbalance is one possible reason.

Anyways, if the problem is relaxation (like you're saying), here's a few tips:
Watch TV just before you go to bed! While watching TV your brain activity is lower than basically anything that's been scientifically measured in our every day life. TV is the brain killer :P.
Other options can be leaving a favorite record on repeat on throughout the night on low volume, then when you're trying to sleep, don't think of anything but the music, hum along with it if you want.

Physical exercise is good. It can in some instances force your body into sleep. When you're exhausted you'll simply collapse. However it should be noted that a physically exhausted person only sleeps on average 10 minutes longer than what an average person does. Maybe it won't help, but maybe physical exhaustion is the trigger you need to be able to relax. Such a thing as "sleep" is a pretty primordial thing and man is in its purest form a physical beast, we need to move about and be active to be happy.

Are you mostly active at night? If so your serotonin levels might be out of whack. Serotonin is a hormone that's produced when sunlight falls directly on your skin (no, windows don't count), it's the body's "wake up call", it triggers the waking up process of your body. If you're active mostly on the nightly half of the day your body's internal clock can lose track of what's day and what's night, which could definately result in sleeping disorders.

On the whole I'd consider consulting at first a doctor (do NOT go on the sleeping pills! They are a *last* *last* resort, when everything else has failed), and if that doesn't work, a psychologist. There's psychs and docs specialized in sleeping disorders.

Anyways good luck pal.

i think i have the same problem you're having.. not when it comes to lack of sleep but my brain simply won't stop racing.. one thought leaping to another leaping to another, never really stopping at a single one to finish it.
pretty much only thing that i've found that made it slow down atleast a bit is going outside and take a long walk with my favorite cd on.. luckily it's a rather calm one.

lately though, it's gone a bit worse, now i can't really keep thought in my mind long enough for me to say the whole sentence so usually it just turns out as jibberish to some people.. hard to explain really but it's a pita for sure :(

Get outside and get some sunlight for a period of time several times a day. Sunlight has a major effect on your body's internal clock.

Wind down in the evenings and do NOT eat after, say, 7pm or 8pm.

I find stress is one of my biggest problems, and winding down in the evening, going for a walk, playing EQ, whatever it takes to get rid of the stress helps.

Have some good old fashioned sex ..
(and no not the 5 minutes kind)

Read a book you already have read. If that does not work Ambien sure will.

"Are you mostly active at night? If so your serotonin levels might be out of whack. Serotonin is a hormone that's produced when sunlight falls directly on your skin (no, windows don't count), it's the body's "wake up call", it triggers the waking up process of your body. If you're active mostly on the nightly half of the day your body's internal clock can lose track of what's day and what's night, which could definately result in sleeping disorders."

my doctor recommended the same thing to me, and also said it could be because of a mineral defficiency, so i started to take 6 tablets of tums a day for calcium, after 3 days i started to fall asleep rather quick, in some cases instantly

so most of the time when i take my breaks, i take it outside, when i eat, i eat tums

Try some melatonin(sp)

it's a good otc sleep aid and is non habit forming, or some good exercise, and try and get some sunlight, might try adjusting your diet too if this continues for awhile.

If all else fails, try to hold out till Thanksgiving... that always puts me to sleep :p

Since other questions were asked I'll respond to them in order to maybe narrow it down abit.

Sunlight, I typically am out in the sun within 30minutes of me waking up, My mourning routine is always, get up, shower, eat, go out running.

I looked over my eatting habits again, and I'm getting appropriate amounts(least 100% DRV in most cases) of every vitamin/mineral, and Im not overdosing on any of them unless I have some special condition im unaware of.

I'm mostly active in the early afternoon far as all my work, and activities go.

when sleeping I tend to sleep in the ambient moonlight , always felt most comfortable like that(Have alot of windows in my bedroom), at first I thought maybe this was a problem as its been unussually bright latley, but closing windows didnt do anything.

I don't own a TV anymore =( guess I'll have to buy one

You should learn to meditate, or something to its effect. I used to have several nights a week where I simply could not stop thinking about whatever and couldn't sleep. To add to the problem I would start to get frustrated about it and that would make it even harder to fall asleep. After putting up with that garbage for awhile I tried to clear out my mind, basically making a conscious decision to not think; or as much as that is possible anyway. After a while I got pretty good at that and I started to regulate my breathing as well. I don't have nights like that much anymore, but when I do I follow my two step program there and I usually can get to sleep in 10 minutes or so.

2 words...

GET HAMMERED!

you'll have a hangover but what the hell.. you will get to sleep! :0

Right uhm I forgot to mention it, but I'm sure it's something you've thought of: Have you cut all stimulants? Caffeine really messes up your body a whole lot more than most people think, or notice.

Have you been going through a lot of stress lately? Think back to what's happened recently in your life and try to figure out if anything's changed dramatically. Sometimes the psyche will lock up on itself worrying about, or trying to work through, scenarios even without you ever knowing.

The meditation post is a pretty decent piece of advice, as it deals with relaxation. I've done it myself and it helps sometimes.

I had insomia for 2 years from and accident i had, meds helped some but my body developed a tolerance for them. The thing that helped me was the meditation

You know..I was just gonna reply "I dont drink any caffiene or stimulants"


Then I thought of something..choclate has caffiene doesnt it? or some other stimulant?

If thats the case..my insomia coincides with the time I switched from strawberry to choclate flavor in my protein shakes.

Thanks Kivorn..(and others)..Gonna go back to strawberry and see how that plays out.

Appreciate advice, this has been running me ragged for awhile now

well im honestly not sure what your problem is man but if its a simple case of your brain just going a thousand miles an hour, balt's suggestion is probably the best. for the first several months after i quit drinking, i had major trouble sleeping at night (part was physical but alot of it was centered in my mind).

Tonight, when i go to bed, i will do a quick moral inventory of my day before my maker, and ask for his guidance for tomorrow for me to correct where i went wrong, then i lay down and am usually asleep within minutes.

Perhaps im just making assumptions, but are you perhaps trying to keep your mind occupied so that you dont have to deal with some root issues? (fears, resentments, self-pity, etc)?

if its mental/spiritual in nature, there are books and people you can talk to concerning that issue. if its physical, go see a doctor. odds are its something going on in your head and from what ive seen of your postings, you are an extremely bright guy and its a blessing as well as a curse (id highly recomend not drinking or doing drugs escpecially for the wrong reasons because many inteligent people are very susceptible to addiction)

Getting hammered doesn't help, sure you'll sleep, but it's almost worthless sleep (aka. Drunk Sleep). Caffine has a half life of 8 hours, remember that, so if you want to sleep by 10, dont injest any after 2 or so. Even if you do fall asleep while loaded up on caffine, its crappy sleep; your body is still awake and working harder than it should. Over the summer I tried melatonin a few times, that did the trick.

thanx for the info sart. ive been trying to cut down on my caffine intake (especially at night). like tonight ill probably have about 6 cups of coffee or more between 7 and midnight :( . ive noticed on nights that i drink little to no caffine, the quality of sleep i get is much better.

anyway Darus, youre a bright guy, but dont ever be afraid to ask for help or admit that "i just dont know". Pride will whip my ass in a heartbeat.

Have some good old fashioned sex ..
(and no not the 5 minutes kind)Huh? There's another kind?

Chocolate will release dopamin into your brain, which is in every aspect a stimulant, and of course chocolates also contains a buttload of sugar.
I'm not sure what your nutrition shakes look like content wise but if the problem surfaced just as you switched... hey, you might be onto something.

Just read some of Nydia's posts, puts me to sleep every time :evil

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

A lot of good information on this thread, but lemme tell ya one thing that worked incredibly well for me. A friend of mine actually did some doctorate thesis on sleep disorders, and gave me some advice about how to get my sleep pattern changed back when I wanted a 9-5 job. It boiled down to one thing, really.

Eat only at 7-8am, noon, a snack in the afternoon, and dinner no later than 7:30pm; with NO more food after dinner whatsoever.

Worked like a charm, almost immediately.

sanchek is right, i would add some heavy sexual sports too and it s even better:smokin

The great thing about what Sanchek suggested is that if you don't eat after 7.30 and then go to be 3-4 hours later, your body will be in fat burning mode and you will actually lose weight (fat) during sleep.

Hmmm, I wouldn't reccomend trying or using Unisom. The active ingredient is, in large doses, a rather potent hallucinogen. It also causes damage to the frontal lobes of the brain if used regularly.

Sexual sports are always a plus.

I had actually tried sleeping pills of various sorts (including Unisom), before asking this guy for advice. I gradually worked my way up to trying 3 times the recommended dosage, without even getting groggy.

no caffeen
no soda
no artiffical shit in your system for hours and hours before you sleep. it just causes your body to do in to shock.

dont use the computer or watch TV, turn on some music and do something like clean a hobby that does not involve thinking of 20 things at once. calm the mind, dont have deep thoughts.

try working for 30-60 minutes some time mid day but not to close to when i want to go to bed.


i off and on have Insomia usally because of stress or when ever because i start doing something new and think to much like thinking of 20 things at once and no matter what i do i cant sleep or even get rid of all the thoughts in my head. but working out and running every day usally makes pass out as soon as i get off my computer that's my temp fix.

Smoke some pot. I take at least a couple bong hits before I hit the sack every night, and it puts me right to sleep. :)

If you are a habitual smoker, then smoking pot will definetly get you to sleep. If you don't smoke often then it may take some time before the sedation kicks in.