Trouble sleeping?

Taiden wrote:

Salanis wrote: Speaking of which, what kind of dance?

It's an evolved street dance called 'c-walk.' It actually was historically tied to the blood/crip gang wars, but I do it because I think it's fun. I'm not very good, but I would like to be. It's proven to be incredibly good for my balance thus far, and it's hilarious fun. Here's a video of someone who is significantly better at it than I am. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3v1KlA8jis

Before drug sales were passed from Mafia style gangs to our "more modern" gangs, the gangs were just kids who stirred E36 M3 up, fought, and street danced. They started dealing for Italian and Irish gangs and the E36 M3 hit the fans. Some gangs still dance.

I used to fall dead asleep right after sex. Every time.

A while back a DR prescribed hydroxayzene for itching. Its an antihistamine and works whole lot better than benadryl. I take 1/2 tablet every 3-4 days and I get some real good sleep as a side effect. It was prescribed to take one tab every 6 hours. First time I took a whole pill I was a zombie for two days. That's when I starting cutting them in half and going a few days. It does cause some bodacious dry mouth. After I Googled it, I saw it is also prescribed sometimes for anxiety.

Thought provoking... Anticonvulsants work great. I sleep a ton.

Taiden wrote: I also put a tshirt over my eyes to block any light.

ahah, the ol tshirt trick

learned that when rotating shifts and trying to fall asleep at noon, it works great and don't look as hoity-toity as those fancy blindfold gizmos. I can fall asleep n e where now.

The t shirt trick works well for me too. I put it over my whole face for a minute and it allows me to breath a tad more carbon dioxide back in than usual. Which in turn means a little less oxygen which has an end result of a lowered heart rate which = sleep. I had a REALLY MEGA HUGE struggle with sleep last January. I was sleepwalking, sleep talking, doing all sorts of crazy things. I had to quit drinking for a week or so. Lay off the caffeine and start reading every night again before everything returned to normalcy. I still take a week out of the month where I avoid booze and caffeine. During that week I usually destroy a novel and set my clock back to normal. Here's the thread I wrote at the time. It has alot of good advice in it.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/things-are-getting-weird-in-my-head/31199/page1/

PS At the time I was finishing up my bachelors degree, and that had alot to do with it. Which I suspect has alot to do with your problem. My other problem was a lack of exercise.

Along with reading or watching TV, is the room dark, are there noises ? There are methods to eliminate both.

Pee before you go to bed.

Yes, don't pee after you go to bed.

One thing that I do when I can't fall asleep due to not being able to turn my brain off, is... I make lists. I make lists for groceries we need to get, lists of things I need to do on my next day off, stuff to get at the auto parts store, anything that I have been saying - "Don't forget" to myself about. I categorize things into logical sections and just let the ideas fly.

We have a finite amount of RAM in our brain, and all of those things you keep trying to remember are taking up all of your temporary memory area and basically make your radar screen completely full of targets. There are so many targets it's just a solid green screen. So you need to clear your cookies so you will have room for new stuff to remember and new tasks. Write it down and get it out of your head. Then your brain will shut up long enough to go to sleep.

When you wake up in the night to pee, do not allow yourself to even entertain a single thought of math problems or any stressful idea just focus on breathing deeply, the sound of the fan/rain/traffic/cat snoring whatever static noise or rhythm you can so as to not start "thinking".

The loft bed also sounds like an excellent plan, keep the homework off the bed.

EastCoastMojo wrote: We have a finite amount of RAM in our brain, and all of those things you keep trying to remember are taking up all of your temporary memory area and basically make your radar screen completely full of targets. There are so many targets it's just a solid green screen. So you need to clear your cookies so you will have room for new stuff to remember and new tasks. Write it down and get it out of your head. Then your brain will shut up long enough to go to sleep.

I can't decide if I need to look for the Ctrl-Alt-Delete, or the fire button.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

I write lists also to empty my brain before sleep, usually just general to do's.... and it does work, but nothing gets the neurons firing like the next what car project especially after surfing car builds, suppliers and engine swap sites prior to sleep. I swear I still see web page images in my sleep.

C'mon, admit it , you all do that

Me, I find that what time I get up most definitely affects when I doze off . This old bag of meat and malodorous gases needs to be out of the sack before 6:30 AM, otherwise my sleep schedule gets screwed up. I get up at or before that time every day, including weekends.

I just wanted to do a quick follow up for all you fine gents.

A few things I have changed.

I have turned school into a 9-5 'job'. From 9-5 I do school, and that's it. After 5, I turn off school and turn on 'me time.'

If I have an outstanding project due, this is subject to change, but for now it has done a lot to reduce my stress.

Also, in addition to the now and then cwalk I have taken to jumping rope every morning when I wake up, and halfway through the day if I feel so inclined. This has helped a lot as well.

On top of that, my mode of transportation is now a longboard (which I made the deck by hand, just wanted to show that off for a second). This has also proven to reduce stress significantly, it is a great source of exercise, and I find myself with more time between classes because my 'commute' time is essentially chopped by 25% or more.

I always shut the computer down an hour before bed, and read fiction for about another hour. I'm actually digging up the books I used to read back in the day. It helps.

Finally, if my mind feel cluttered, I write down everything I'm thinking about, and stick it in my back pocket. Eventually, when I feel that I don't need to know what's on there anymore, I just throw them out.

Also, I aim to have my head hit the pillow at 11 and be up by 7:00-7:30

These changes have made a huge difference for me.

Last night I slipped up and hit the pillow at 12:45. Body woke me up at 7:30 and I am slow in the brain today. I have no idea how I survived those previous weeks. Insanity.

OH YEAH. And I lofted my bed today. We'll see how it works. Right now I'm not so sure, I gained space but lost the small amount of openness in the room. I'll have to play around with the setup.

So thank you all for your wise and inventive advice. It has made a huge difference.