Insomnia

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I know there's at least one other poster on here (step forward Freddie!) who suffers from insomnia. I just posted to a thread on the IMDB where someone was attempting to claim they had stayed awake for 12 straight days (utter bollocks BTW - physically impossible) but posting made me realise I had no sleep last night at all and have currently been awake for nearly 42 hours. I am dead, dead tired, but having been in bed for the last three hours staring at the ceiling I don't think there's much chance of getting any shuteye before having to get up for work tomorrows, so it looks like I'll be going into a third day without sleep. Now this isn't exactly uncharted territory for me - I've gone into a third day on a few occasions before - but I wonder if anyone else on here suffers from what is, for me at least, a pretty debilitating affliction.

My wife can't begin to understand it - she hits the hay every night regular as clockwork and falls asleep within five minuted every time. As soon as I get a bout of insomnia I toddle off downstairs or to the spare room as I know I'll keep her awake tossing and turning.

I'm just about to drink about three double brandies and see if that works

 

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Sorry to hear of your insomnia (didn't we cover this topic recently?). In the not too distant past, I suffered from sleep apnea. Every so many seconds, I'd stop breathing in my sleep and would wake up just long enough to start breathing again. As you can imagine, even though it *seems* like I've slept all night long, I'd have gotten virtually no meaningful sleep and would feel like a zombie the next day...after day after day after...

I've lost about 30 pounds in the last 5 months or so and am below the weight I was when this whole thing started. I still snore a bit (according to the missus), but I think I'm getting a better quality of sleep. I do wake up once or twice a night (which I wish I would stop) and so don't seem to rest as much as I'd like, but at least I seem to be breathing normally again during sleep (I had a relatively mild case and losing weight got rid of the nasty rolls of fat in my throat that were causing the problem).

As I've gotten older, I've come to value my sleep very much. Even at this time of evening (just after 9 p.m. here), my mind isn't particularly sharp and if I were to try to study, I wouldn't be a very effective learner. Even reading for pleasure will make me feel more sleepy. This is usually the time when I'll watch TV for an hour or so and then go to bed.

Hope you get some rest soon.

 

Sorry to hear about that, Zebu. I'm one of those who can fall asleep standing up. I often stay up late by choice, but when my head hits the pillow, I'm usually out pretty quickly. Dealing with insomnia's gotta be rough.

 

The mention of Insomnia and IMDB together reminded me of an off-topic addition to this thread.

It's a link to the longest movie ever made. Weighing in at a whopping 5220mins long it's The Cure For Insomnia!

Back on topic though dealing with insomnia must be tough. You could try sleeping pills maybe? Just be very careful with how you use them. Hope it all gets better soon for you mate.

 

Zeb i know where ya comming from!

Every few months i go through a period of very little sleep. I'll either be very restless every niht for a week, waking after an hour or so of sleep, tossing and turning to fall asleep again, only to wake up an hour later again. Or I wont sleep for 2 days solid. Worst time this happened was last september when i did the show in Holland. I was up from 6 in morn on the wednesday untill 2 the following sunday morinig solid, no sleep, and as it was a works thing i was out with teh lads each night eating and drinking, but still no sleep.

Sometimes for me, its because my mind starts racing. I get something on my mind and it just wont go away, and no matter how much i try not to think of it it always creeps in, keeping my mind busy. Other times its just because i'm uncomfatable in bed, so keep moving to get comfatable, only to give in after 2 hours and come down stairs as by then i'm fully awake again. A third reason is, that due to spending the 1st 2 years of my daughters life, being the one who got up at night to see to her, the slightest noise in her room wakes me up. I very often lie awake thinking i have herad her up or just moving in bed!

It is very annoying and very bad for your health not to get a good nights sleep, even if its only 4 hours. The mind needs this rest as well as the body. And if it dosen't get it, after a while you start feeling the effects. And if it keeps getting worse, it gets harder to return to "normal" until eventually your body just gives up and you collapse.

I wouldnt advise taking pills. I tried once, the doctor perscribed them saying that i could only take them for 4 weeks, but that to get the full effect i'd have to wait for weeks!!???! And that there could be bad side effects related to them such as lack of sleep once i stopped taking them. In that case what would be the point??

All i can say is, try to make sure your beds warmand comfatable, try not to get your mind busy an hour before you go to bed, and don't drink lots of coffee, or sugary drinks before bedtime. try to relax for teh hour before, listen to soothing music or read a slow book, nothing that makes your mind think too hard and then try sleeping.

 

zebulebu,

Do you notice if there's an overall pattern to your insomnia within a 24 hour time frame cycle?

 

I havent slept properly for years sometimes I get 1 or 2 hours full sleep a night. The rest of the time I am just dozing or staring at the ceiling. My problem is I think a lot and at night when its quiet I can concentrate my thoughts.

I actually find that between 6am - 9am are the times when I sleep the best. The only time I really sleep properly is if I get pissed.

 

That's why you can't sleep!

On a serious note if you're not getting any sleep in one night after trying that clearly isn't normal, muchless two nights! BTW, shouldn't you be asking a doctor instead of an IT forum?

 

Zeb, Sorry to read about the sleepless pbl. Have you tried physical excercise, or reading a boring book?

What’s a typical amount of sleep per night for IT folks? For me, it’s about 5.5 - 6 hours /night. I don’t do all-nighters. I’ve slept every night for at least 30-60 minutes.

 

That's about what I get.

I used to do all-nighters... but not anymore.

 

I suffered from insomnia when I was about 18 parents had just split up doing A levels blah blah

I went to the doctors cos I hadn't slept properly for about a week and was starting to see some weird lights and stuff. He gave me some tamazipan and I managed to sleep for about 2 days.

I'd definitely recommend going to the doctors although they do recommend counselling on top of the drugs

 

That's about normal for me. Occasionally I'll crawl into bed a bit earlier and get as much as 7 hours, but that's about it.

On a lighter note though, I got myself some of that insomnia a while ago but I lost so much sleep over it I gave it back.

Seriously though, sometimes when I've been really overdoing it at work I'll go to bed any my brain is in overdrive and I can't get to sleep for a couple of hours. Its never been so bad that I can't eventually sleep but it is annoying.

My sympathies zeb. It must be tough.

 

I have suffered from insomnia nearly all my life, I remember as a child I would wait for my parents to go to sleep then play quietly with my toys.
It has got better as I have got older I only have a few bad nights a week now, I never sleep for more than 7 hours and the bad nights only a few. The best thing I have learnt is never to dwell on the crap that passes through you head when your really down on sleep I guess this would be the start of mental problems, never give in to frustration.

Alcohol does not do the trick for me, yeah I sleep quickly but wake up after a few hours and their is no chance of ANY sleep after that. Forget about the drugs doctors give you, I went through that in my teens and none of them work for long.

My thoughts are with you Zeb, its crap. If you really want I can let you know what sort have helps for me and things I have cut out of my life which have helped a bit, just drop me a line. Just little things but I'll let you know when I find that miracle cure (yeah,f%$£ing right!)

Hang in there.