Sleep!

[SarahJane]

I really really need to be able to sleep and am finding ut really difficult!
I never normally need a lot of sleep , 4-5 hours is a good nights sleep for me, but over the last week I am getting a max of 2, maybe 3 hours max. I am sitting here wide awake at 1.40am, knowing there is no point trying to slepp as I feel hyped up!
Maybe its the painkillers or abx , I dont know, but I need to sleep!
Anyone got any fool proof ways of helping?
I could resort to sleeping pills or alcohol but dont think its a good idea.

[Millymollymandy]

Gosh I don't know but has it just happened since your operation? Cos that might be something to do with it or the drugs. What's abx by the way?

[Clara]

abx = antibiotics

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks, never heard that before. Thought it might have been some kind of shorthand for abcess!

[Davy stephenson]

Removed by author

[Annpan]

When I can't sleep (which is rare I admit) I try some relaxation techniques. Lie in bed in a comfortable sleeping position, release the tension in your hands (by opening them up), then your shoulders (by pulling them down), then your jaw (by allowing it to fall open) repeat until you feel more relaxed.

You could also try a bit of quite meditation in bed.

You could also get rid of all the distractions, TVs, computers, etc should not be in your bedroom. If you can't sleep, read for a while, a novel that requires your attention rather than a magazine or what have you.

Get more fresh air.

Use lavender to help you relax - I read that tests (done in geriatric wards) have shown that using lavender EO at any time of day or night helps you sleep at night

[Clara]

If you read make sure it is something you have read before or is somewhat heavy going - I find The God Delusion does it for me!

[Annpan]

My sure fire winner is The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolfe, but I have so little time to read that I have never got past the second chapter. Then at the next bout of insomnia I have to start again cause I forgot the plot.

Not sure The God Delusion would work for me, I'd just lie for ours pondering my own existence.

[Davy stephenson]

We have a sure fire way of helping us get to sleep, but I dare not mention it here, works every time,

[Rosendula]

I never used to be able to sleep, but these days I rarely have a problem (sorry, don't mean to rub it in). When I couldn't sleep was when I was working for money. In the early days, I would be looking after the children all day, then going out to work in a pub as they went to bed on some days, other days I would be going to university. When I got home I was hyped up and couldn't get to sleep. Then my son, who never needed much sleep would wake me around 5am! I was dead on my feet. When things settled and I gave up the job in the pub and graduated, I found I couldn't sleep despite now having the time to. I got a day time job (kids at school), where I was indoors all day. By the time I got home I couldn't be bothered to do anything. I became very, very unfit and was tired and stressed all the time. So why couldn't I sleep?

I left the daytime job when Katie was born, just over 3 years ago. I started walking to shops more in order to get a bit fitter (only just up the road, yet I would be exhausted when I got back). A few months later I took on an allotment. About a year later I got my old bike fixed up and started riding that to the allotment and to shops. These days I can sleep.

In my case, I think there were two factors involved in my insomnia. One was the change in work times - once you're used to being alert until the middle of the night, it takes a long time to adjust. The other factor, I believe, was in my lifestyle patterns. These days I do a lot of physical stuff outside in the fresh air, as well as having all the mental stuff (in all senses of the word) involved in looking after a little one and planning my Ish activities. I have found the balance between mental and physical is very important to my own well being.

I don't know about your situation, but if there is anything here that you can relate to it might be worth making some adjustments. Are you indoors all the time? Do you have plenty to think about and get plenty of exercise?

[SarahJane]

Thanks everyone. Generally I dont sleep great, but I can manage on 4-5 hours. I can usually get to sleep fine especially as I leave the house at around 5.55am and dont get in until 7.15pm but I wake up really early, after just a few hours.
It has been worse since the op. When I came round from the aneasthetic they told me to get some rest but there was no way I could sleep.....I felt although my mind was groggy my body was unable to relax. Since coming home I have had plenty of cat naps but not a proper sleep.
I may have found the reason although it may have nothing to do with it. I went for a follow up appointment this morning and was told that I have an infection where I had some of the surgery, so they have put me on stronger abx, so maybe that hasnt helped.
I sleep with lavender in the bedroom anyway and also amethysts under my pillow as I was told they help aid sleep. Not for me though.
I have been known to take the odd sleeping tablet when it gets to the stage where I am unable to function properly, but with me not being at work at the moment, I am not going to take any, as I dont need to function the same way I do when I am at work.
I suppose it isnt helping not being very active at the moment. I have popped into the garden a few times but I cant do any gardening really as if I bend down there is alot of pressure in my face and my stitches feel ready to explode!

[Annpan]

What about going for a walk? just a 45 min stroll, not hill climbing or anything... I think you have hit the nail on the head there with lack of exercise.


Oh I remember the feeling of the stitches pulling......ewwww.

[CyberPaddy66]

I feel for you I really do, I suffer with Insomnia and have done for the past 5 years.

I find soft music playing by the bedside helps me drift off to sleep and keeping the noises and light down in the room helps keeps me there, although a nap on the sofa is not uncommon. I have a small CD player by the bed that plays a CD of either ambient, natural sounds or one of the soft classics like Debussy when I lay down to go to sleep.

The Mrs also likes listening to music when we go to sleep so that really helps but it is possible to have a small speaker under your pillow if your OH (if you have one) doesn't like the music playing.

[Rosendula]

I'll second that CP66. I'd forgotten I used to put the radio on to go to sleep. However, I didn't put a music channel on because I would have been singing along, even if there were no words I would have hummed it . Instead, I put a talk station on and kept the volume really low so that it was a struggle to hear it. Straining to hear is hard work and puts me to sleep quite quickly. If you're OK going to sleep but can't stay asleep, perhaps switch it on when you wake up. Shipping forecasts are good for dozing off to.

[SarahJane]

I am struggling to stay awake at the moment but I cant go to bed at 6pm and hope that I might stay asleep until morning.

So now I have 2 dilemas..........how to go to sleep and how to stay awake!!!!!!!!!

If I really didnt feel at the end of my tether it would be funny! As it is, I dont find it even slightly amusing!