Best Method for Healthy Sleeping Habits?

[KeikoRyuu]

I am curious to know what some of you do to maintain a healthy sleeping regimen. I know there are several factors out there that contribute to irregular sleep patterns, stress, diet, over active sleep and so on. But what is it YOU do - to GET sleep, when sleep seems the farthest thing from happening when you NEED it to happen.

[CATRACCOM]

Don't laugh....but sex always makes me sleep well.

[SophieM]

Honestly? I take a few Benadryl. I am a night owl and would LOVE to get on a more normal sleeping routine, it just isn't happening.

[lucatoth]

Originally Posted by SophieM

Honestly? I take a few Benadryl. I am a night owl and would LOVE to get on a more normal sleeping routine, it just isn't happening.

Only thing that works, is consistency. Going to bed/waking up around the same time. I am keeping it up during the week-ends/vacation as well. Nothing else works for me. I have tried earlier different aids/pills. Found out there are two types: one does nothing to me, the others knocks me down for the whole next day. Some believe in meditation CD-s...I found it ironic listening at 3 am - being absolute awake - "and now you are falling asleep"....

You should take sleeping serious, especially if you are working out and on diet, can mess up all things, as you may have noticed. I stick to it with the same attitude as I am sticking to my diet.

[onnadafit]

A big swim or a hot bath

Originally Posted by SophieM

Honestly? I take a few Benadryl. I am a night owl and would LOVE to get on a more normal sleeping routine, it just isn't happening.

[gingernut76]

I find the best thing for me is listening to audio books. I lose myself in the story and before I know it, it's morning.

[jwdjrs]

My wife takes Melatonin a couple times a week, she claims it works very well for her

[CATRACCOM]

Originally Posted by jwdjrs

My wife takes Melatonin a couple times a week, she claims it works very well for her

My step dad takes this and it works for him too.

[dollface33]

Originally Posted by jwdjrs

My wife takes Melatonin a couple times a week, she claims it works very well for her

Shoot, I wish that stuff worked for me.. at one point, I was taking melatonin and another sleep aid and still not sleeping through the night, so I'm really interested to hear other's opinions on this too. I go to bed and wake up at the same time every night, weekends too. I've tried meditating, listening to a classical CD... everything! And I still sleep like crap. The worst thing about it is that I am EXHAUSTED when I go to sleep, I want nothing more than to be able to, and I still can't. Very infuriating!

[K11]

Originally Posted by jwdjrs

My wife takes Melatonin a couple times a week, she claims it works very well for her

This. Most of the time I can get to sleep without a problem, but once in awhile my mind will be going a mile a minute, I'm too stressed, my sleep patterns are off, whatever..and in that case, 3g melatonin makes my eyelids soooo heavy and I have no choice but to fall asleep. It's way better than sleeping pills too, because I don't wake up with a massive hangover the next morning.

[lucatoth]

Originally Posted by dollface33

Shoot, I wish that stuff worked for me.. at one point, I was taking melatonin and another sleep aid and still not sleeping through the night, so I'm really interested to hear other's opinions on this too. I go to bed and wake up at the same time every night, weekends too. I've tried meditating, listening to a classical CD... everything! And I still sleep like crap. The worst thing about it is that I am EXHAUSTED when I go to sleep, I want nothing more than to be able to, and I still can't. Very infuriating!

I used to sleep bad too (since I was a kid), and if I do not stick to a regular life I sleep bad still, ie. dont quite fall asleep, and I too wake up. The worst thing you can do is to "force" yourself. Rather read/watch something, that helps me. I am seeing your age (I am just a bit elder)...when I left university and started working and no more studies the nights, cut down on clubs/bars, it became way better. In Europe we have special "sleeping centers" where they can analyze your sleeping patterns, you might have something like that around you. You have to sleep there a night I guess under controll.

[BriannasMomma]

I don't really have a problem falling asleep but I always try to workout earlier in the day and not take naps.

[SophieM]

Originally Posted by lucatoth

Only thing that works, is consistency. Going to bed/waking up around the same time. I am keeping it up during the week-ends/vacation as well. Nothing else works for me. I have tried earlier different aids/pills. Found out there are two types: one does nothing to me, the others knocks me down for the whole next day. Some believe in meditation CD-s...I found it ironic listening at 3 am - being absolute awake - "and now you are falling asleep"....

You should take sleeping serious, especially if you are working out and on diet, can mess up all things, as you may have noticed. I stick to it with the same attitude as I am sticking to my diet.

I am consistent with my sleeping habits. I consistently go to bed around 2-3 am and get up around 11-12 pm. I just don't like my habits. I've only taken enough Benadryl to knock my out for the next day once. It normally works well for me when I want to try to "reset" my sleeping habits.

I do have a "Deep Delta Sleep" CD that I listen to every night. That's the only reason I don't have more trouble getting to sleep at night anymore. It used to take me HOURS to fall asleep, but now I'm usually asleep within 30 minutes.

Originally Posted by dollface33

The worst thing about it is that I am EXHAUSTED when I go to sleep, I want nothing more than to be able to, and I still can't. Very infuriating!

I've heard that getting worked up over not sleeping just makes it worse. If I'm not sleeping within an hour of laying down, I get up and do something. Laying there getting more and more worried about how much sleep I'm not going to get makes things worse for me.

Originally Posted by BriannasMomma

I don't really have a problem falling asleep but I always try to workout earlier in the day and not take naps.

Naps are my downfall. I have no life currently and do nothing all day except go to the gym and the occasional store. I nap more out of boredom than anything else though. I really need to cut down on the length of the nap if nothing else.

Oh, something else that has helped me is 5-HTP. I've only used it a couple times though.

[princessTiffany]

Originally Posted by dollface33

Shoot, I wish that stuff worked for me.. at one point, I was taking melatonin and another sleep aid and still not sleeping through the night, so I'm really interested to hear other's opinions on this too. I go to bed and wake up at the same time every night, weekends too. I've tried meditating, listening to a classical CD... everything! And I still sleep like crap. The worst thing about it is that I am EXHAUSTED when I go to sleep, I want nothing more than to be able to, and I still can't. Very infuriating!

This is me.

I know it won't last but it's kinda under control, now. Somehow, now I'm going to bed at (don't laugh) 6pm and getting up at 4am or 6am. I wake up in between at 11pm to get some food and go back to sleep.

No idea how it happened. All I know is I've always been a person who cannot sleep and for about 4 months I was going to sleep in the morning and staying up all night. Sometimes I'd stay up ALL DAY fall asleep around 12 noon and wake up around 7pm and do it again.

Melatonin did nothing. Neither did any other non-prescription sleep aid.
Work and school don't even help. I'm exhausted but can't sleep. Stress, I guess.

[PBanonymous]

I have had sleeping issues since I was little (like 6 years old) I used to cry at the dinner table... and when my mom would ask me why I was crying I would tell her that I was worried I wouldn't be able to get to sleep! <-----craziness!

After dealing with sleeping issues my entire life... and having everyone telling me that I just had to de-stress myself... I finally saw a dr!... and VIOLA! I am bi-polar! which is why I never ever ever can get to sleep. I have so much energy I could just stay up for DAYS! (which is called mania) Now I'm medicated and have a normal life of sleeping at night with NO problems.

Sometimes the answer is medication (although so many people don't want to be in "that" category.) I couldn't care less. I'm now a normal functioning human being without worring if I'll be able to get to sleep! YAY!

[jassa]

A nice little walk with romantic music playing on your ipod just before bed will do wonders give it a try ...

[top_5_percent]

I too have had major troubles with sleep. Often it takes me hours to fall asleep. I went through a stage of consistently taking sleeping pills. Well coming off them was absolute torture. It really stuffed my sleeping patterns up. It was terrible! Even though I was so tired from such lack of sleep it was like my body had no idea how to sleep anymore.

* Sleep hygiene is def most important - going to bed at the same time each night and waking up at the same time.
* Sometimes being on certain meds can affect your sleep and it can deplete your body of certain things. It may be worth seeing a naturopath to assist you with your sleep problems. She helped me alot. Magnesium and chronium have been very beneficial for me.
* I have heard that between 10 and 10:30pm is the time period in which most ppl can fall asleep most easily. And its about midnight for teenagers.
* Getting sunlight during the day also helps set your body clock.

[dollface33]

I understand what you guys are saying about not trying to force sleep and how stressing out about it makes it worse, but I can't be falling asleep at 10- 10:30 pm when I have to get up and work out at 3am. That is the one thing in my schedule I'm not willing to compromise on. I absolutely loathe going to my gym at night because its SOOO packed..

[KeikoRyuu]

Wow,
Great feedback from everyone - thank you much appreciated. To go over some of the advice that has been given just for general feedback here is what i've gone through, that has already been suggested.

Sex - yeah, definitely helps - but I find that it's 50/50 for me.. either tuckered out, or revved up after, usually ends up being the later. I am always open to re-evaluate this method however.. lol (what?! - I am human, and don't say I am alone in this)

Melatonin - Used it in liquid form, didn't end up working for me

Valerian - Didn't work for me - and just can't get over the stinky sock smell as a motivator.

Sleeping Clinic - has been set up by my doctor before, and I ended up skipping out on it, ..because I figure hey if I can't sleep at home, I sure as hell am not sleeping with sensors stuck to my head at a clinic wired to a monitor.

Walking before bed - I find this keeps me wired too long after, it tuckers the body out at whatever the level of intensity - but it's the mind that needs the shut off switch.

Going to bed Consistently - doesn't work for me, my job keeps me working 11-16 hours a day on top of the fact that I am on call 24/7 (Which thank god hasn't woken me up much in the wee hours, but it's there on occasion)

Bath - helps make me feel lazy and not wanting to lift a finger, but still can't pass out unless I have 4+ glasses of wine on an empty stomach in the tub with supppper hot water.
(alcohol and heat... not a good mix)

Music - as a habit I switch between playing relaxing music depending on mood, 50/50 with getting me asleep - it relaxes the body.

Hypnosis - I actually purchased a hypnosis for sleep audio pack off of itunes, it said to keep listening to it for a week and then for maintenance etc. i forgot to do it at day 3 and just couldn't get over how much the guy talked on the darn intro before the actual hypnosis - and the instructions said I had to listen to the whole entire program from start to finish.. anyways I forgot to continue on, and think I may have fallen asleep both nights from pure boredom, I was too aware and intent on hypnosis working that it may have not worked due to a mild case of "not relaxing" as told... eager beaver syndrome.

I plan on trying some reading before bed, helps distract my mind from possible stressful events of that day (which is what I tend to dream of, and it wakes me) plus an old German tradition says if you read something before sleep, you will always remember it from thereon in. (Hence the reason I always studied for tests as a bedtime snack for the brain).... will see what happens.

I also believe ones diet has a lot to do with restless sleep - but I haven't been able to sleep on an absolutely clean diet just as much as a messed up one - I think the trick to sleeping better is at least getting the body to a healthy state so there is less chemical conflict.

Needless to say - I am continuing to test things out and may revisit a few methods..

Thank you again to everyone for the advice, keep it coming if you have more

~Jennifer~

[lucatoth]

Originally Posted by dollface33

I understand what you guys are saying about not trying to force sleep and how stressing out about it makes it worse, but I can't be falling asleep at 10- 10:30 pm when I have to get up and work out at 3am. That is the one thing in my schedule I'm not willing to compromise on. I absolutely loathe going to my gym at night because its SOOO packed..

Are you working out at 3 am??? That is 5 hours of sleep all in all if you fall asleep immediately...very few to be on top for the gym or to get through a day. Hope you at least have some time to take naps during the day.

[dreamteamgirly]

I have found for me its good to ave routine. I get up around 6:30 everyday so I like to make sure im in bed by at the latest 11:00. I also do my work outs and cardio in the evening at the end of my day so that may help me. Even on the weekends I dont let myself sleep that late. Also wind down before bed everynight with a book or something that calms you. When im on a scheduali function SO much better.

[soccersenior]

i work nightshift...but due to getting off work early or staying late, i don't have a set bed time....i find what helps me is to eat a snack before bed (cottage cheese or yogurt, with a teeny bit of fruit). i just find it helps me unwind, and i don't wake up cause i'm hungry.

[WDW120904]

Not sure what time you normally workout, but I recently switched from early evening workouts (4:30ish) to early morning and I sleep SO much better! I actually just noticed this about a week ago. I get up at about 5:30am, eat some yogurt and head to the gym. I'm in bed by 10:30 and I try to keep this up even on days I don't work out. Make exceptions on the weekends if I need to.

Good luck!

[Linds33]

I have had sleeping problems my whole life. When i was younger i would go to bed really late and it would cause me to wake up really late. I would have such a hard time getting up for school in the AM. Funny as it sounds, as a kid i was afraid of being alone in my bedroom...i always thought there were ghosts around me and i was afraid to fall asleep.

When i was a teenager i had already developed the bad habit of going to bed really late which caused problems getting up in the AM too.

But here is the odd part. I have done a total 180 from what i was like with regard to sleeping. I go to bed every night at 9:30 or 10:00PM, maybe earlier. I have no problems falling asleep or staying asleep, but for the life of me, I can't wake up on time in the AM.

I set my alarm clock for 5:30 and i need to be out of my house by 7:10AM at the VERY latest (I usually like to leave at 6:55 to beat some of the traffic). My alarm will go off and i will press the snooze button on the phone and i do this unconsciously. Sometimes i don't even remember turning my alarm off. Sometimes i can even sleep through the thing without hearing it and it will go off by itself. I will end up waking up an hour to an hour and a half later when i am needing to leave the house, so of course i am rushed.

My boyfriend seems to think that it is a motivational thing or a conscious thing that i do, but it truly isn't. I desperately want to get up early in the morning and get stuff done before i go to work, but for some reason my body just doesn't want me to get up early no matter how much sleep i get. It also isn't a depression related problem. I have had depression related hypersomnia before where you almost force yourself to sleep all day so you don't have to face the world.

As for problems going to sleep, have you tried something like GABA?

[Honey86]

Originally Posted by KeikoRyuu

I am curious to know what some of you do to maintain a healthy sleeping regimen. I know there are several factors out there that contribute to irregular sleep patterns, stress, diet, over active sleep and so on. But what is it YOU do - to GET sleep, when sleep seems the farthest thing from happening when you NEED it to happen.

I'm usually tired and ready for bed around 10pm-11pm every night. But if I'm not and I have to get up early I normally take a 3mg melatonin. It's a vitamin that is the hormone that makes you go to sleep naturally. Or I usually will drink Sleepytime herbal tea, it has chaomile and jasmine in it which are very relaxing herbs.

[Honey86]

Originally Posted by Linds33

I have had sleeping problems my whole life. When i was younger i would go to bed really late and it would cause me to wake up really late. I would have such a hard time getting up for school in the AM. Funny as it sounds, as a kid i was afraid of being alone in my bedroom...i always thought there were ghosts around me and i was afraid to fall asleep.

When i was a teenager i had already developed the bad habit of going to bed really late which caused problems getting up in the AM too.

But here is the odd part. I have done a total 180 from what i was like with regard to sleeping. I go to bed every night at 9:30 or 10:00PM, maybe earlier. I have no problems falling asleep or staying asleep, but for the life of me, I can't wake up on time in the AM.

I set my alarm clock for 5:30 and i need to be out of my house by 7:10AM at the VERY latest (I usually like to leave at 6:55 to beat some of the traffic). My alarm will go off and i will press the snooze button on the phone and i do this unconsciously. Sometimes i don't even remember turning my alarm off. Sometimes i can even sleep through the thing without hearing it and it will go off by itself. I will end up waking up an hour to an hour and a half later when i am needing to leave the house, so of course i am rushed.

My boyfriend seems to think that it is a motivational thing or a conscious thing that i do, but it truly isn't. I desperately want to get up early in the morning and get stuff done before i go to work, but for some reason my body just doesn't want me to get up early no matter how much sleep i get. It also isn't a depression related problem. I have had depression related hypersomnia before where you almost force yourself to sleep all day so you don't have to face the world.

As for problems going to sleep, have you tried something like GABA?

I've done that a few times. It helps if you tell yourself a few times before you fall alseep that you need to wake up at this time....normally your body will wake itself up or prepare to wake up around that time if you do that. It sounds weird but it works. I do it and I'm normally waking up about 15-30 min before my alarm will go off.

[Honey86]

Originally Posted by dollface33

I understand what you guys are saying about not trying to force sleep and how stressing out about it makes it worse, but I can't be falling asleep at 10- 10:30 pm when I have to get up and work out at 3am. That is the one thing in my schedule I'm not willing to compromise on. I absolutely loathe going to my gym at night because its SOOO packed..

You do realize that going to sleep at 10-10:30pm and get up and work out at 3am is like 5 hours right? You also do realize that to gain muscle you have to sleep 7-8 hours....