Things going on at work (already mentioned in the ‘What’s Going On at Work’ thread), also some projects at home.
I over think things a lot which keeps me awake and prevents me from getting a good night sleep.
Wish I wasn’t like this sometimes…
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Food poisoning. Or at least that’s what’s kept me awake the last two nights. Ugh.
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I’ve just been waking up between 3 and 4 AM for the last couple of weeks. I can’t seem to shake it
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What’s NOT keeping me awake?
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NyQuil?
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I’ve taken that and sleep gels and they work sometimes…
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For me, it’s my circadian rhythm “disorder”
It’s just a fancy way to say “nocturnal”
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I have that same thing. My body wants to sleep from about 1 AM to 9 AM. It still wants that no matter how many years I’ve forced myself to go to bed earlier. So I’ve pretty much learned to live on the 5-6 hours of sleep I typically get before the 7:00 alarm.
Working from home during the lockdown was like heaven… I could sleep an extra hour every morning because I didn’t have the commute.
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…Clown’ll Eat me!
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Yeah, I ended up going to a sleep therapist (after a disastrous referral to a sleep-disorder group therapy, which was me, a woman with bipolar disorder, and like eight old men with sleep apnea).
Now I use a routine I call Pumpkin Time: at 9:30pm I turn into a pumpkin. No activities, no bright lights, no conversation, no active TV watching, no food, no exercise. I sit my butt down on the couch and read or I put on MST3K (on a dark screen setting) and do easy crossword puzzles. Combined with a tab of Unisom and a Neuro Sleep beverage, this usually has me in bed around midnight. It works, but it also means two and a half hours of my day are dedicated to getting ready for bed. So it’s not a tradeoff everyone can make.
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Monday night I heard some helicopters yelling that someone was arrested at the alley near my house. Must have been a foot or car chase or something like that.
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I’m not good at sleeping unless I don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis. If I’m well-rested one night, I don’t tend to sleep as well the next night. So I aim for 7 hours, but I usually get less and that means I’m always a bit tired but I can usually get to sleep quickly at night.
I’m an introvert so I get worn out with lots of social interaction (yes, I’m a teacher and an introvert; I enjoy teaching but it is wearing). I need alone time to relax. I’m pretty much never relaxed around people and the only real alone time I get is after my parents go to bed. When that is changed, I have a harder time going to bed. Tonight, I had to babysit my brother’s kids (so I didn’t get to watch the Manos show live and I thought I might actually be able to. Alas.). They were here for almost three hours and while I love them and it wasn’t hard to watch them, I am now in my bedroom, trying to get the relaxation I didn’t get because they were here. Headphones on, ambient music playing and just getting my alone time.
I’m tired, though, so I might be able to get to sleep and my usual time, too.
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I have some sort of insomnia or sleep disorder. I take prescription sleep meds plus over the counter ones every night and still can’t sleep well. I’ve tried every trick in the book, had several sleep studies and still no dice. My dad is also like this, but he uses it as an excuse for his alcoholism.
I’ve completely blacked out my bedroom windows. I have a white noise machine plus a fan. I have books (which I’ve already read many times) and notebooks next to my bed. Etc, etc, etc.
The prescription meds I take are a low dose of antidepressants which helps my mind shut down. Then I take an all herbal sleep aid containing a few key ingredients that seem to work for me. The OTC helps me fall asleep and I have 5 or 6 that I rotate through so I don’t get too used to one. Rotating the OTC is a relatively recent discovery that has helped a lot in preventing completely sleepless nights.
If I don’t take my meds, I don’t sleep. Sometimes I don’t sleep even with them. Makes it very easy to stay up if I need to. And no jet lag, so there is that.
I agree with the previous comment, What doesn’t keep me awake?
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Yeah that was my excuse for a lot of years too. “But without liquor, I’ll be up until 5am instead of passed out at 2:30!” I mean, that was true, but it wasn’t helpful. I also tried prescription meds, but they were worse – Lunesta made the back of my tongue taste like cat crap all day.
Forward to now: seven and a half years sober so far, and sleeping better than ever thanks to my highly regimented and extremely time-consuming system!
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I’ve dealt with insomnia for most of my life. Mucking with the bloody clocks always screws up my sleep for a week or more, so that doesn’t help. I really hope that Senate bill passes the House and we don’t have to play this game anymore.
MJ is legal here in Colorado, and I’ve found that melatonin and CBD gummies has helped with the insomnia.
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I want to try the cbd for sleep, but even though it’s legal in my state, I’m a federal employee, so it’s still illegal for me.
Since both my dad and I have the same issue, I think it’s highly likely what works for me will work for him as well. Besides those ‘certain ingredients’ I mentioned includes hopps extract. I told him about it, but he won’t listen.
I’m glad you got away from it though 
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Kidney stones. I can feel when one’s coming on so I immediately drink up to a gallon of water which helps them pass 8 times out of 10 (the other 2 times send me to the ER). Had one coming on at work, drank my water (which worked) but was literally up every 20-30 minutes going to the bathroom. But hey- it beats a trip to the ER. 
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Yike, careful with drinking a lot of water in a short period of time. You can cause hyponatremia (low blood salt) which can be very dangerous.
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Thanks for the concern but I keep the amount well below what would trigger hyponatremia. I generally drink about a gallon a day which usually keeps the kidney stones away but I’ve fallen off that lately and paid the price the other day.
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