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[Putonahappyface]

I get insomnia some times and doing these three things help. I make sure the room temperature is cold, white noise from a fan and watch a load of weird asmr cooking YouTube videos.

 

[ipukespiders]

Low dose Melatonin was a life changer for me.

 

[Tschumi]

I get insomnia some times and doing these three things help. I make sure the room temperature is cold, white noise from a fan and watch a load of weird asmr cooking YouTube videos.

to each their own

lowering room temperature is, i believe, a thing, our core body temp drops 3 degrees (might be .3 degrees lol can't quite remember but the idea counts) when we sleep, apparently

and i also got a lot of joy out of fan white noise, especially during hot summer months in poorly ventilated uni apartments...

......er but i must get off ur train at the asmr stop... i'm glad it works for you but i've hated those little mouthsounds and stuff since i was like 3 years old and once in my late teens i smacked a friend upside the head for eating cereal next to my left ear - the closest i've got to a fight since i was... FIVE years old.

 

[Putonahappyface]

to each their own

lowering room temperature is, i believe, a thing, our core body temp drops 3 degrees (might be .3 degrees lol can't quite remember

......er but i must get off ur train at the asmr stop... i'm glad it works for you but i've hated those little mouthsounds and stuff since i was like 3 years old and once in my late teens i smacked a friend upside the head for eating cereal next to my left ear - the closest i've got to a fight since i was... FIVE years old.

Cooking videos don't have mouth sounds.

 

[Putonahappyface]

0.5mg of Clonazepam if i've not slept for three days. Hate taking the stuff but it's better than being comatose.

 

[Star-Lord]

I go to bed about midnight most nights, but struggle to actually get to sleep until past 2am and even then it’s sporadic. I’ve always been like that. I cope with it but really should look into it.

 

[Tschumi]

Cooking videos don't have mouth sounds.

i mean, yes, the "and stuff" after mouthsounds involved popping fat and sizzling sizzle and whatnot

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I get sleep paralysis randomly every once in a while. That freaky thing where you are awake and can look around the room but cant move. It goes away eventually.

But sometimes when I wake up, I'll immediately go back right into it if I just lie there.

Reading up on it, this works. When you wake up and dont want the risk of getting it again, immediately change position of your body especially go sleep on your stomach. It works. I dont know why. But it actually makes sense because out of all the times I get it, I'm always on my back. I never get sleep paralysis on my stomach with my half my head dug into a pillow.

Sounds dumb, but it works for me.

 

[Artoris]

Few things that have worked for me: increasing the temperature in the room and then opening the window just before laying down, thinking about a favourite game like of the characters in it and what they do something light

but the most important thing has been to wake up at the same time each day, and it can take months to get the full benefits of it.

 

[Spaceman292]

Usually okay but recently I've been waking up at 5am, farting non stop for about 39 minutes then falling asleep again. It's not bad tbh just noteworthy.

 

[Razvedka]

I wanna take a moment to edit in a suggestion that if you are suffering from racing thoughts come bed time it's possibly because you're drinking too much caffeine. It's not always just about when you drink it, it can accumulate, a single red bull a day will keep the sleep fairy away. Just a thought.

Happily, at the moment, i sleep fine. A few weeks ago i had like 4 coffees in one day and i couldn't sleep until 5am, but generally for the last few years I've pretty much dropped off as I'm supposed to.

That wasn't always the case. For most of my 20s I would toss and turn until around 3am before finally sleeping.

These things changed:
- I avoided caffeine after about 3pm
- I reduced how often i tried to sleep shortly after playing late night sports
- I put my mobile phone in the next room when it was time to sleep, so i wouldn't stare at the screen all night
- i changed the colour balance on my phone to remove all blue light
- Actually, and this is the fun part, I started hugging a giant pillow when i went to bed.

... I don't know why it worked, but having the extra support holding up my torso really had me conking out the moment i laid down. I felt like it was a scaffold. Maybe my back was strained by near daily futsal games (in my case) but I've never tossed and turned since the day i started hugging a big pillow.

I stopped hugging pillows years ago (didn't want to hurt bae's feelings lol) but i still drop off quickly, probably because of caffeine intake, but i also think I've trained my body on how to drop off and maybe with less futsal to play my back is less tense now.

Anyway, that was a bit of a PSA to my mind.

So, anyone else got similar stories/advice? Can we help our GAFers who have trouble sleeping?

- <2mg of melatonin 1hr before sleep + 200-400MG of l-theanine (occasionally).
- CPAP
- Strenuous exercise
- No Caff past 1pm
- 'Night time mode' for any screens i interact with
- I start to read something 1hr to 1.5hrs prior to sleep.
- Make sure Vit D levels are where they should be (demand that your doctor test you. If you live in the USA the insurance companies dropped coverage for this on the basis, I am told, that 'everyone is low so why bother testing?'. You will need to pay $100-150 but it is paramount). Vit D plays into all sorts of health issues, including sickness like w/ the Flu. Figure out based on your age, weight and sex how much you should be at. I take 6000 IUs a day. I make sure to take it with a shot of Olive Oil because it is fat soluble, so you need fat in your stomach to process it effectively. Pair it with Vit K.)

The Vit D one is absolutely huge, enormous life changer. Speaking for the US here, the whole country's levels are way below what they should be. There's mounting evidence that 'flu season' would be way less of a problem if we all had more D.

I sleep like a rock.

 

[AJUMP23]

I fall asleep fairly easily, and I sleep soundly until my alarm goes off.

 

[Tschumi]

Usually okay but recently I've been waking up at 5am, farting non stop for about 39 minutes then falling asleep again. It's not bad tbh just noteworthy.

Sounds like a high point to me!

 

[Tschumi]

I get sleep paralysis randomly every once in a while. That freaky thing where you are awake and can look around the room but cant move. It goes away eventually.

But sometimes when I wake up, I'll immediately go back right into it if I just lie there.

Reading up on it, this works. When you wake up and dont want the risk of getting it again, immediately change position of your body especially go sleep on your stomach. It works. I dont know why. But it actually makes sense because out of all the times I get it, I'm always on my back. I never get sleep paralysis on my stomach with my half my head dug into a pillow.

Sounds dumb, but it works for me.

Awesome to hear an "insider perspective" on the condition, I'm glad you can handle it somewhat...

...I went through a period in my, oh, late teens to early 20s when i had conscious dreams, like i was aware that i was dreaming and just did what i wanted.. pretty funny, i just humped everything around a certain shopping area in my birth town rofl talk about late teens early 20s... I'd like to experience those again lol let me mentally bang my wife all night long on lonely separate nights

*Misty ol' romantic eyes*

 

[Nester99]

I used to have problems falling asleep. Canabis helped me. Now I have two small children and can not stay awake. I will have a coffee after dinner then drink a Red Bull at 8pm and still pass out at 9pm with game controller in hand mid boss fight.

I keep adding more caffeine and it does not help me. I should stop fighting it but I have so little time for myself 8pm - 10/11pm is about it so try not to sleep for most of it. Weekends are often two rebulls after dinner. I used to game to 2am on weekends now if I make it to 11 it’s a success.

I honestly wonder how much I have messed with my system. I have 2 flats of red Bull in the fridge right now. Only drink sugar free so at least I avoided the calories. Also wonder how being in my 40s now impacts it all.

I really should do a caffeine purge.

 

[Thaedolus]

-routine: kids go to bed at the same time every night and so do we except maybe weekends
-exercise as much as possible
-no caffeine after noon for me except the odd Saturday lunch latte
-my biggest secret: quit drinking alcohol completely, probably for life. This has significantly reduced the weird anxiety/panic thoughts that would keep me up all night. Why the hell would my mind race and think up something like a water bill from 3 years ago oh shit did I pay it? Oh no did I forget something at work? Did I did I….yeah that’s all gone without booze.
-also don’t be overweight. I would saw logs and have sleep apnea when I was much fatter, not so much now

 

[QuantumZebra]

Problems:

- Back pain / neck pain
- Anxiety
- Acid reflux / heartburn

Solutions:

- Good bed, good pillow, good support
- Melatonin or other sleep-aid (that your doctor approves)
- Not eating or drinking anything but water 2hrs before bed, sleep on left side

Side notes:

- Cut out caffeine after 5pm
- Exercise fixes ... everything
- Good diet

-routine: kids go to bed at the same time every night and so do we except maybe weekends
-exercise as much as possible
-no caffeine after noon for me except the odd Saturday lunch latte
-my biggest secret: quit drinking alcohol completely, probably for life. This has significantly reduced the weird anxiety/panic thoughts that would keep me up all night. Why the hell would my mind race and think up something like a water bill from 3 years ago oh shit did I pay it? Oh no did I forget something at work? Did I did I….yeah that’s all gone without booze.
-also don’t be overweight. I would saw logs and have sleep apnea when I was much fatter, not so much now

Ever since COVID hit and my mom relapsed w/ cancer I stopped working out and started hitting the bottle again.

I'm slowly regaining my health (I know she'd slap me upside the head if she saw me wallowing in sadness), and yeah, exercise and cutting out alcohol are huge.

For folks who have to have a vice: weed works really well replacing cigs/alcohol.

 

[Thaedolus]

Problems:

- Back pain / neck pain
- Anxiety
- Acid reflux / heartburn

Solutions:

- Good bed, good pillow, good support
- Melatonin or other sleep-aid (that your doctor approves)
- Not eating or drinking anything but water 2hrs before bed, sleep on left side

Side notes:

- Cut out caffeine after 5pm
- Exercise fixes ... everything
- Good diet



Ever since COVID hit and my mom relapsed w/ cancer I stopped working out and started hitting the bottle again.

I'm slowly regaining my health (I know she'd slap me upside the head if she saw me wallowing in sadness), and yeah, exercise and cutting out alcohol are huge.

For folks who have to have a vice: weed works really well replacing cigs/alcohol.

I found my drinking to start becoming a problem last year too. And it has this cyclical effect: don’t workout or eat great because you feel like shit from drinking, start drinking because you feel like shit and it (temporarily) makes you feel better, eat like shit due to lowered inhibitions, don’t exercise because you didn’t sleep and feel like shit from drinking and eating like shit…yeah there’s no end to that bottle but there will be an end to you sooner or later in that cycle.

I won’t claim to have broken it on the first try and I may struggle again in the future, but I just remind myself how much better I’m feeling now both physically and mentally now that I’m out of it. And the sleep is a gigantic part of the equation. Alcohol made me an insomniac. Weed makes me sleep like a baby with seemingly zero side effects to note, though I use it more sparingly lately

 

[GymWolf]

I get 8-9 hours a night. I go to bed at the same time roughly. I avoid turning lights on so the sun determines darkness. I avoid phone/screens when possible and use blue light filters when I do use them.

Only exception really is when I travel for work.

I should add too, since I work from home I haven't used an alarm. I almost always wake up at roughly the same time naturally. It's pretty cool.

8-9 hours?! Are you a fucking slowpoke?!

 

[MaestroMike]

One shouldn't eat (that much) just before going to sleep. It can work for you for some reasons but it shouldn't work as well on others (like for instance raises high blood sugar for the whole night which will lower natural production of growth hormone). The rest of your regimen looks good.

all the fiber I eat especially the beans during the day slows down how fast I absorb the last meal the rice because of the 2nd meal effect if i didn't eat anything all day and my stomach was empty i'd have absorbed the rice super quick which would give me the glucose spike. also since the rice consists of complex carbs it takes even longer to break the rice down. i like adding the pasta sauce because I slowly absorb the sodium as well to counteract all the electrolytes like potassium I eat from the vegetation during the day. I only eat like a cup of rice as well like 640 calories worth sometimes more sometimes less so like 560 to 800 calories. i also like doing this for days I have to go to work early the next day and don't have time to eat breakfast. but yeah I noticed it was helpful to me to fall asleep as long as I kept my other routines in check might not work for everyone

edit: tbh I actually don't sleep a lot some days because of my work schedule some days I have to wake up at 5 am some days 10 am some days I can sleep in late where I do a lot of my sleeping. so my sleep can range from 4 hours one night to 10 hours another night. other times I have naps which can also make me sleep less when night time comes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Awesome to hear an "insider perspective" on the condition, I'm glad you can handle it somewhat...

...I went through a period in my, oh, late teens to early 20s when i had conscious dreams, like i was aware that i was dreaming and just did what i wanted.. pretty funny, i just humped everything around a certain shopping area in my birth town rofl talk about late teens early 20s... I'd like to experience those again lol let me mentally bang my wife all night long on lonely separate nights

*Misty ol' romantic eyes*

I get conscious dreams all the time. I love it. Call me a perv, but I love it when there's a hot chick or hottie I know in real life in it. lol

The great thing about conscious dreams is fear goes away since I know I'll wake up. It's a weird thing because sometimes I'll remember a dream where the first part I go with the flow not knowing its a dream but at some point I get conscious it is and I think for myself. In the those cases, even where there's something dangerous going on, I know it's a dream so I just stand there and take it. Or I literally jump off off something hoping my consciousness is powerful enough that I can control flight. SOmetimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

But dont give a shit since I know I'll wake up in 20 seconds.

I remember an old Batman Animated Series episode where he says you cant see numbers or text in a dream. Absolutely not true. I can see it all the time.

But sleep paralysis is randomly like once a quarter.

 

[Artoris]

I get conscious dreams all the time. I love it. Call me a perv, but I love it when there's a hot chick or hottie I know in real life in it. lol

The great thing about conscious dreams is fear goes away since I know I'll wake up. It's a weird thing because sometimes I'll remember a dream where the first part I go with the flow not knowing its a dream but at some point I get conscious it is and I think for myself. In the those cases, even where there's something dangerous going on, I know it's a dream so I just stand there and take it. Or I literally jump off off something hoping my consciousness is powerful enough that I can control flight. SOmetimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

But dont give a shit since I know I'll wake up in 20 seconds.

I remember an old Batman Animated Series episode where he says you cant see numbers or text in a dream. Absolutely not true. I can see it all the time.

But sleep paralysis is randomly like once a quarter.

This is very close to what I have experienced

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

I usually do auto-erotic asphixiation, you just need to do it right enough to not die.

 

[BigBooper]

I used to wake up a lot in the night just to turn over and go back to sleep. In the past two months I've found a solution. I've started using another pillow to prop up my back and shoulders and pillow for my head, so essentially I'm sleeping slightly elevated. I no longer wake up at night.

I think I've probably got sleep apnea, but I just don't have time for the sleep study stuff right now. So far my solution works great.

Also, I take 1mg of melatonin. Many people take too high of a dose and in my experience less is better.

I tend to sleep 8 to 11 hours a night.

 

[LaughingStock]

I usually go to bed at 2 am, wake up at 10.
On the rare occasions I can't sleep I just rub one out and sleep like a baby.

 

[Sosokrates]

Be active,valarian root tea and dont go to sleep hungry, a good amount of carbs has a serotonin releasing effect.

 

[T8SC]

Listen to thots eating silicon ears.

 

[Rockondevil]

I used to sleep very easily and never wake up until my alarm went off.
Since becoming a dad I can fall asleep even easier than before.
I only need about 7 hours sleep, sometimes 6 on the odd day.

Can't tell you any secrets. I'm in my 30's, very fit and have zero stress.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Cook yourself all day and you’ll get well sleep, hard work brings out good sleep I’m not interested in naps either I don’t know how people operate without 8 hours of sleep.

 

[SuperBabyMethod]

I’ve struggled a lot since high school. What works (most of the time) is a hot shower and melatonin gummies..... also helps not having a song stuck in your head and not overthinking certain situations.

 

[Jsisto]

There are of course nights where I struggle, but in general what works best for me is what others have already said. Limit caffeine. Try to keep to a fairly consistent schedule. Reduce screen time at the end of your night. Do not eat a few hours before bed. (This one is hard but incredibly important. Fixing this helps me sleep and solved some health issues as well.).

I work in retail and usually average at LEAST 10k steps a day, as well as work out three times a week. Being physically active is very important. Unfortunately, my schedule is very inconsistent which makes it hard sometimes to adjust.

I know it can be hard and for some it’s more complicated than this, but I guarantee you that for the average person it’s just a matter of breaking a few bad habits that you might not think contribute to it, but do.

 

[FunkMiller]

I suffer with chronic tinnitus, so as you can imagine night time is always huge fun for me

Have found the best ways to ensure a decent night's sleep are regular exercise, a decent diet, a regular sleep time, and no devices, food or drink a good hour or so before hitting the sack.

The tinnitus still keeps me awake a fair amount of the time, but I'm able to get a decent amount of sleep usually, using those rules.

 

[Rest]

Yup. I've had an incredibly hard time going to sleep my entire life. It didn't matter how tired I was, sleep came when it when it decided to. I could be completely exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open, and not be able to go to sleep. I could lay in bed literally for hours with my eyes closed and never fall asleep. I was never taken to the doctor to find out what was wrong as a child. In my 20s, the only thing I found that could keep me on a consistent sleep schedule was staying up for about 35 hours at a stretch and then sleeping for 18. Doing this made me absolutely miserable, and as you can imagine made it impossible to do things like keep a job.

I realized it was a medical issue and went to several doctors and tried all kinds of different things. Sleeping pills? Nothing. Relaxation exercises? Nada. Working out? It helped a little bit, but my brain would acclimate and soon I'd end up exhausted, tired, and still unable to sleep. Meditation? It did weird shit, like let me fall mostly asleep, while part of my brain remained conscious and continued to meditate. The thing that helped most was drinking chamomile tea, but its effects would diminish rapidly, and I'd have to brew it stronger and stronger and drink more and more of it to get any effect. It got the point that I would feel full from drinking hot tea right before bed, which was incredibly uncomfortable and ended up making it so that I couldn't sleep because it felt like I'd overeaten right before bed.

The thing that finally helped was when I told a doctor about a childhood diagnosis of ADD. They gave me adderall to try and it immediately made it so that I could fall asleep as soon as I felt tired. So far so good, no diminishing effects.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Tall glass of cold water and a cold shower when I'm struggling - seems to knock me out pretty reliably. Some nights though, it just won't have it.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

8-9 hours?! Are you a fucking slowpoke?!

Nope. I just follow Matthew Walker’s advice.

 

[IDKFA]

Yep.

Caffeine was my problem. It was free at work so I drank it all day. Cut out the coffee and it was all good.

Also, I found ear plugs combined with a eye mask worked wonders.

 

[Spukc]

OP fucking that waifu pillow

 

[Wildebeest]

Bright light in the morning, preferably natural light, is more important than dim lights in the evening.
No alcohol. Chamomile tea is a better winding down drink than alcohol if you have sleep problems.

 

[Yoda]

• Pillow is providing the correct amount of support -> adjust and/or replace as needed
• Blankets provide correct level of warmth for ambient room temp (night time).
  • Blanket pressure: I've been told this helps as well, but I don't have a personal anecdote for it.
• Room temp is consistent between nights
• Humidity is consistent between nights
• Bedtime is consistent between nights
• Wakeup time is as consistent as possible
• Have night-lights on for tasks like waking up to pee so your eyes don't tell your brain to wake up (fully)
• Keep your sheets/pillow cases clean
• Ensure you invest in a good mattress, if it's a foam mattress make sure to rotate it once every 2 weeks.
• Try to shower/bathe as close to bedtime as possible -> open pores -> easier to regulate body heat.
• Ensure no light enters the room until you want it to (black out blinds)
• Bed is only for sleeping and sex -> don't use it for browsing the web, watching videos, etc...
• DO NOT go over this checklist before bed; worrying about not being able to sleep is guaranteed to stop you from sleeping... So make an effort to ensure everything is setup hours in advance (ideally in the morning).

^ Ensuring all of these has increased my average amount of sleep to > 6 hours and sometimes 8 hours. Usually only work anxiety causes sleep issues for me nowadays.

 

[JimmyRustler]

After almost 2 months of sleeping like a baby I just had 2 rather bad nights. Wasn‘t that bad because it was over the weekend but still… Man, I hate this. Makes me feel super uneasy aber tonight already.

Really hope it was just the mix of Monster with prepump for my workout. Suspect it was because now it‘s 7:30 pm and I‘m quite beaten. Did around 20.000 steps todays just to make sure exhaustion comes.

The past 2 months with sleep have been quite eyeopening to me as to jst how important it is. Had more progress in the gym in 2 moths than I had in 2 years before that.

Big feelings from me for anyone who struggled with this even longer than it did. I wish it on no one. It‘s just horrible.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not surprising, since some of you surely got nailed with it. Sleeping on the couch = getting the worst back pain ever.

Every couch I have has had arms, so I can never lie flat. I'm always curled a bit so I fit. No big deal. I curl up in bed too sometimes. Same thing right?

Nope. A couple years ago I took a nap on the sofa, woke up like normal and something happened because I could barely move. It hurt like hell for 3 days in my lower back I couldnt even stand straight up and wiping my ass was deathly hard. It was so painful, I seriously thought to myself those couple days what if this is permanent and I'm fucked for life like Hunchback of Notre Dame. I bought some max strength back pain pills and they did absolutely nothing.

It finally went away 98%. That final 2% of twitchy uncomfortable feeling (not pain) took 6 months to fully disappear. Now I'm good.

 

[nightmare-slain]

almost every night when i try go to sleep i start thinking about stuff. mostly fears and feeling angry/hopeless/ashamed/depressed. during the day i can put it out my mind but when i'm lying there trying to relax that's when it all comes crashing down on me.

my life is a mess. i suffer from PTSD and depression/anxiety. i'm not happy. it's just all a build up of shit from the last 15 years. so when i try sleep i will have panic attacks.

it's got so bad i will rarely fall asleep without doing anything. most harmless thing i do is have music on or listen to things like white noise or sound of rain to try calm me down and give me something to try focus on until i sleep. if im not listening to anything i will try taking deep breaths. on a more harmful side if i need to relax i will take painkillers and/or drink alcohol. the best sleeps i get are when i'm drunk. i fall asleep so easy and sleep through the night like a baby.

when i'm not drinking and once i do get to sleep it's not for long before i wake up again. i wake up every hour or so. and then there's the dreams...i often have nightmares and it's the ones that leave me thinking how much of a scumbag my brain is. i've had dreams where i watch people i love die and i've even had dreams of my cats being killed. thanks a lot brain you asshole.

not getting a good sleep ends up making me irritable and angry. i always wake up in a bad mood. i wish i could have a peaceful sleep without having to take tablets or alcohol.

 

[QSD]

When I was much younger I would sometimes have sleep problems. But these have mostly gone away since I started working out regularly in earnest. So that's one (pretty obvious) advice I can give. One thing that is curious that might be interesting to mention is: I work mostly evening shifts, so my workday usually starts around 13:30 till 22:00. That means I can usually sleep in. Occasionally I do have a day shift and have noticed I tend to have way more sleep problems on those days. Talking to some colleagues who also work a lot of evenings and they have similar experiences. So when there is a kind of "pressure to sleep" because I have to get up at 7 this is very counterproductive to actually getting to sleep. So if you're suffering badly, you could do worse than to try and see if changing your work schedule is an option, there might be more options now that a lot of people are still working from home.

But most important of all - Don't be a control freak, learn to relinquish the reigns of your consciousness sometimes and just go with the flow. It might be hard to do, for me smoking some weed helps on days that life's been stressful

 

[dr_octagon]

pretend you are playing Tetris

 

[chromhound]

anxiety pills put my ass to sleep

 

[Kamina]

Dont watch action movies, thrillers or other exciting media shortly before bed.
Avoid screens of phones, tablets, PCs…
A hot coco and a few lines in a book do wonders.
Write down your thoughts if they keep you awake, it helps the head deal with them for the moment.
Don’t force yourself to go to bed at a certain time. If you are not tired you are likely not able to fall asleep quickly.
Have sex.

 

[Beer Baelly]

I'm always tired so I don't have trouble sleeping

 

[WX3]

I just read a reply about caffeine and I think that is mostly to do with my racing thoughts. However, I do not see me making the right choices in life so I will just continue to roll around for two hours every night while the circus runs amok.

 

[Platinumstorm]

Bedroom humidifier = S tier for sleeping; regular exercise, regular schedule. [I'm a PCP]
A+ tier: No Caffeine [other than naturally occurring in tea] after 3pm. Bonus points for no caffeine at all
I can't help you if your body only wants 6 hours a night, like me. qqqqqqq

 

[BadBurger]

Adhere to your sleep and meal schedules as much as possible. Get more exercise every day. Get some Ambien, just enough for a few weeks to help you get regular, so to speak.

That's all that ever worked for me.