In Need of Good Sleep

[Mentia]

I have. That's why I'm on Ambien. I've tried out other sleeping pills but they just didn't work. In fact I was on Ambien CR (which isn't covered by my insurance) and it didn't allow me to fall asleep but it made me groggy for the rest of the day.

You should go back to your doctor who diagnosed you and see what he recommends.

[zenkai]

Wasn't a self diagnosis. It was one of my symptoms I had that helped being diagnosed with depression initially. I don't drink soda that often and don't really drink coffee unless its the occasional Starbucks when I haven't slept the night before to stop me from stopping & taking a long ass nap during the day. When I do have caffeine I cut it off around 7pm since I normally try and go to bed around midnight.

Some depressed people will stay away worrying about things, a trick I would try to use, and believe me it sounds silly but it works is pretending your asleep. Anything to clear your mind will help

[gaymer77]

Some depressed people will stay away worrying about things, a trick I would try to use, and believe me it sounds silly but it works is pretending your asleep. Anything to clear your mind will help

That's part of my problem. My mind races when I lay down to go to sleep. I'm on another medication that usually works for putting my mind to rest that I take at night 2 hours before I go to sleep. It normally works. On nights it doesn't work are nights I normally have to take a second Ambien.

[Deletedaccount1]

That's part of my problem. My mind races when I lay down to go to sleep. I'm on another medication that usually works for putting my mind to rest that I take at night 2 hours before I go to sleep. It normally works. On nights it doesn't work are nights I normally have to take a second Ambien.

I recommend that you either take up smoking cigarettes or investing in shisha as it is the best way of calming and relaxing the mind on command without the means of practiced meditation.

[gaymer77]

I have to say, I find it funny that a few of you are recommending smoking when its a stimulate. I do smoke though. I generally have one before I try and go to sleep.

[infinitemeridian]

I recommend that you either take up smoking cigarettes or investing in shisha as it is the best way of calming and relaxing the mind on command without the means of practiced meditation.

Cigarettes are stimulants, they would be terrible for falling asleep. If you want to do something to calm your mind, create an environment that calms you.

No computer in your bedroom, no lights before bed, avoid large meals/exercising before bed, avoid caffeine 10 hours before going to sleep.

[Gamdwelf]

Exercise you won't be able to stay up

[Khadgar]

So here I sit after having just 4 hours of sleep from last night turning you guys at MMO-Champ for advice on what to do. I'm basically looking for some advice on how to get a good night's sleep without having to result to drinking until I pass out or smoking weed. I suffer from chronic insomnia because of my bipolar depression. I normally take Ambien for sleep but there are nights I have to double up on the pill just to get to sleep and that makes it so at the end of the month (like right now) I'm short pills before my refill is ready. What can I do to fall asleep and stay asleep???

Are you on a SSRI for your depression? It could be potentially be caused / amplified by that depending which one you're taking, when I was on Celexa (citalopram) 40mg / daily I experienced terrible insomnia, it would take me hours to fall asleep and when I finally did I'd only stay asleep for around 4 hours and then be up for the rest of the day. After awhile I cut my daily dose down from 40mg to 20mg and my insomnia vanished.

[gaymer77]

I'm on Abilify 15mg nightly, Trazadone 100mg nightly, and Brintillex 10mg nightly for my bipolar. Trazadone by itself is used in low doses to help people fall asleep or get to a point they can fall asleep.

[Annoying]

You should go back to your doctor who diagnosed you and see what he recommends.

Yeah, this.
Also, remember that we don't allow explicit medical advice beyond "go see your doctor".
However, reasonable lifestyle/diet/environment change advice is alright.

I have to say, I find it funny that a few of you are recommending smoking when its a stimulate. I do smoke though. I generally have one before I try and go to sleep.

Well, strangely enough, nicotine is both a stimulant and a relaxant. In smaller doses, it's certainly a stimulant, but in larger doses, some people experience a relaxing effect. Depends on the person. I use it (e-cig) as a stimulant for sure, and avoid it in the evening, as it screws with my sleep.

[khazlol]

Do you work or anything? if not then you really need to give exercise a shot.

[gaymer77]

Yeah, this.
Also, remember that we don't allow explicit medical advice beyond "go see your doctor".
However, reasonable lifestyle/diet/environment change advice is alright.

That's basically what I was looking for is what I can do other than taking more pills.

[Khadgar]

I'm on Abilify 15mg nightly, Trazadone 100mg nightly, and Brintillex 10mg nightly for my bipolar. Trazadone by itself is used in low doses to help people fall asleep or get to a point they can fall asleep.

hm, it could certainly be related to one of those, insomnia is listed as a potential side effect of Abilify. I looked up Brintillex and found the same thing.

"Insomnia: For some individuals, Brintellix may be stimulating and lead to insomnia. If you feel less depressed, some minor insomnia may be worth tolerating as a side effect. If the insomnia becomes overwhelming and is taking a toll on your overall health, talk to your doctor about possible solutions."

Perhaps you could try taking them in the morning instead of at night and see if that helps?

[Morae]

I'm one of those people who never have trouble sleeping. I play on PC in dark rooms during night. I have rotated around my days when there is a chance to do so (i mean I sleep during days and be awake at night). I eat junk food. Still I sleep. I don't trust these guides that people give.

Not sure, if it is a way that my body simply works, but since childhood I have practiced certain things. I believe that these are what make me a good sleeper, but I'm not certain. These days I have added some extra stuff that I do daily before sleep such as meditating. Seriously, you don't sleep if you are stressed and meditating may help with that. Give it a try and see, if it works. Don't try anything weird shit associated with meditating. Just sit down or go in a position where you can relax.

People tell that you don't sleep if you think too much while attempting. Bullcrap... it is just matter what you think about. Go go watch my "pre-sleep" dreams or whatever they are. I invent myself stories. I play different scenarios how these stories would play out. I think more as I'm about to sleep than i do during day. It is just something fun. Seriously, I'd keep doing that stuff more, but I fall asleep. Some of these I have fixed up, filled gaps, made some more sense into it and written as stories. I believe these things prevent me from thinking stuff that would prevent me from sleeping... such as work and daily troubles.

I'm sure you people go ask doctors for your medicines, but as far as I know, you won't ever sleep properly without them after you start using.

To sum up. Find a way to get rid of stress. Sweep away stressful thoughts. Replace them with something fun. I wouldn't recommend sex fantasies, though. It makes hard to sleep.

[Julmara]

start a youtube video with rain and thunder ambience

[HumbleDuck]

Lack of sleep is my bigges problem. Its a bit better since I cut all coffeien and junk food ( mostly eating vegetables now) also started taking walks instead of driving as much as possible. But there are still nights which I can't go to sleep, simply panicking and panicking.
For me its the state of my mind, it tends to go out of control every now and then, but again its getting considerably better since I switched to a more active life style.

[Gib Lover]

Lot of good suggestions here I'm going to try as well. Recently I've been waking up every 2 hours or so, checking my phone only to see it's only 1am, then 3, then 5, then my alarm goes off at 6:45. It's a real pain.

[gaymer77]

I've had my run in with other sleeping pills that gave me bad experiences. I was on restoril & it gave me sleep paralysis. I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to move anything other than my eyes. I was on ambien CR and that did the same thing or it would just make me groggy for the rest of the day. That's why I'm looking for a change of scene to see if that would help with my sleep and what I can do to make it better. I would love to get off the Ambien all together but I'm afraid that may never happen because of how long I've been on it.

[Piglord]

I got diagnosed with insomnia a little over 20 years ago. I've tried just about every pill they make, even things that aren't specifically for insomnia. Nothing worked very well for very long. Anything that worked for any length of time were pills that stayed in your system for a long time. I got tired of feeling groggy all the time. One day I did an experiment. I quit taking everything, and I learned in a month or two that 4 or so hours of unmedicated sleep was so much better than 7+hours of medicated sleep. Yeah I'm exhausted by the end of the day, but to me it is better than being groggy all the time. Plus you can get a lot of shit done in a day.

My suggestions are
No caffeine after lunch
No stimulants after 8pm or so (caffeine,nicotine, food, exercise, and even showers can stimulate your body in some fashion)
No naps throughout the day (you'd be amazed how many people claim to have insomnia because they don't get 8 hours of sleep, then you find out the take 2+ hours of naps every day)
Be active throughout the day if you can