# Tips on getting a good night's sleep?



## gilt (Jan 7, 2010)

Have you ever suffered insomnia, or difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep? And if so, have you found any good methods - other than medications - for dealing with this problem? I'm interested in what others have found useful for them; diet, natural supplements, an exercise routine, meditation - you name it!


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## tweedyrat (Jan 8, 2011)

Yes, I've had a lot of trouble getting to sleep in the past ever since I was a kid and I still have occasion trouble but it's not as big an issue.

I've been taking St John's Wort which I can imagine has helped (primarily I've been taking it with depression in mind) and I'm planning on buying 5-HTP which is is also supposed to be good for sleeping. Of course there is always good old camomile tea-- I don't know if I can really say I've noticed anything from it but any herbal tea in the evening is nice.
I would also say exercise has definitely helped.

But the biggest thing for me is trying to clear my mind and worry less. Maybe cover your clock so you can't tell how long it is taking you to get to sleep (as a kid this was the biggest thing that aggravated my not being able to get to sleep -- worrying about how much time was passing and how many hours until I would have to get up to go to school)


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## strato86 (May 12, 2011)

I take Mirtazapine 30mg. That cured my insomnia immediatedly, incredible stuff, life saver. Ask your doctor about medication for it if your having troubles.


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## gilt (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for your reply, tweedyrat! You mention some good sleep aids. This is just the sort of information that I'm looking for. I've read that tea has a general calming effect, chamomile tea being very effective.



tweedyrat said:


> But the biggest thing for me is trying to clear my mind and worry less.


Much of the time it comes down to this, doesn't it? I would think that there are good meditative practices that can help to clear one's mind. It would be very useful if the effect extended into the sleep/dreaming stage to prevent an early wake-up (my particular problem).

@ strato86 Thanks for your reply too, strato86! although I am hoping to keep the discussion to sleep aids that do not require medication.


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## Kamen Rider (Apr 14, 2011)

Exercising daily, eating a banana & drinking a small ammount of milk before bed.
Anything in my room with an LED on it, has a piece of dark tape over it & I have dark curtains over my windows.

These have helped me.

My mother has insomnia, shes tried a lot of health food stuff & they didnt work for her.
Recently though, shes been taking vitamin D before bed and in the morning, she thinks it might be helping her.


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## gilt (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for your reply, Kamen Rider. Those LED lights create a lot of light pollution, don't they? It makes sense to eliminate as much light as you can before sleeping.

I like your banana & milk idea. For a while I was drinking warm milk w/ cinnamon before bedtime. I think that it really helped me, although for other reasons I had to cut it out.

Anybody else? I'd love to hear any & all replies!


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## lostinlife (Jun 2, 2010)

Sticking to a schedule & exercising right before bed. If I don't stick to a schedule, then I'll get distracted by something and it will be like 4AM before I realize it. They say not to exercise right before bed, but that really helps me clear my head. Otherwise, all the negative thoughts in my head keep me up.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

As far as non-medical approaches go, the following may be useful; 

*Try to get out of bed at the same time each day regardless of how much sleep you get the night before

*Allow some light to come into your bedroom at daytime by opening your blinds slightly, if your rooms too dark then your body may sleep too long, assuming it's still night time during the day.

*Get as much physical activity as possible during the day

*Expose yourself to bright light in the morning/daytime, and dim lighting at night time. The computer program 'F.lux' can also help to dim your computer monitor at night time.

*Avoid carbohydrate-rich foods at night time, and try not to eat within 2 hours of bedtime, but if necessary then eat a light high-protein snack.

*Avoid over-sleeping if possible, as it will just make sleeping the next night harder.

While these things are helpful, if there's an underlying medical cause such as sleep apnea, etc. then treating such with the appropriate medical treatment may be necessary to alleviate the problem.


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## paulyD (Feb 16, 2011)

gilt said:


> Have you ever suffered insomnia, or difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep? And if so, have you found any good methods - other than medications - for dealing with this problem? I'm interested in what others have found useful for them; diet, natural supplements, an exercise routine, meditation - you name it!


get up early every morning no matter how tired you are or how much you want to stay in bed. never press the snooze button.

exercise during the day and generally work hard during the day, try not to relax in the daytime. if you dont work then do something productive with your day like exercise, house chores, or do some work like studying or something. dont spend your day wtching tv, or reading books or relaxing

never have a little sleep during the day. no matter how tired you feel just work through it and save it for the night time

eat a healthy diet

avoid caffiene etc....

the best advice i can give you though is :

*whilst in bed use your imagination. remember a time when you were really sleepy and just try and relive. or imagine you are in a forest in a sleeping bag and you are trying to hide from people who are after you. this works for me

*be WILLING to stay awake all night. say to yourself ''**** it i dont care, ill lie here all night if i have to''. the more you try and fight it the harder it is to fall asleep. but the more you accept it the easier it is to fall asleep


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## RenegadeReloaded (Mar 12, 2011)

Unfortunattely, non medication methods i found it works wonders is falling asleep with your gf/bf. U fell really relaxed and have peace of mind and u can fall asleep easily.

As for medication, I take seroquel, but in the last weeeks as i switched to the slow release versions i fall asleep much harder, cause they don;'t produce standard fast realease version no more . arghhhhhhhhhh


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## qwertyman (May 14, 2011)

ratio cotridin syrup will knock u out


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## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

Lift weights.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

gilt said:


> Have you ever suffered insomnia, or difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep? And if so, have you found any good methods - other than medications - for dealing with this problem? I'm interested in what others have found useful for them; diet, natural supplements, an exercise routine, meditation - you name it!


I drink chamomile "sleepytime" tea in the evenings. It has chamomile, spearmint, and lemongrass in it. It is so calming. I also run in the evening. It increases the relaxation :lol. No caffeine six hours before bed. Paxil makes me more tired so that rule goes out the window for me.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

Abstaining from caffeinated beverages after 5pm has really helped me!


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

Neptunus said:


> Abstaining from caffeinated beverages after 5pm has really helped me!


My body must be hypersensitive to caffeine as I must start abstaining around noon.

A glass of wine can help you fall asleep. I have resorted to this before. Plus a glass of red wine is supposedly healthy.


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## macaw (Sep 6, 2010)

No computer 2 hours before bed. Exercise during the day. 

I've heard it's good to subconsciously associate your bed with relaxing, by not using a laptop or playing videogames while in bed. Electronics, at least to me tend to make my mind more active.

Not eating just before bed is good too.


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## FairleighCalm (May 20, 2007)

I used to not sleep at all. Cut out all dairy. All caffeine. Get rid of gluten and limit your grains/carbs. Exercise. get plenty of Calcium/magnesium/Zinc. Then I'll bet you'll sleep pretty well.


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## Addler (Apr 28, 2011)

Last summer I got to where I couldn't sleep at night because of memories and guilt and fear and worrying. I went completely nocturnal and could only sleep right around dawn; I even stayed up a day and a half (twice) to try to set myself back on track, but it never worked. It's starting to happen again: those gnawing fears and memories of all the stupid and awkward things I've done since I was a little kid (last night, I counted the times a friend I haven't seen in years got mad at me and felt terrible about it). 

I never found a way to stop these other than wearing myself out, walking several miles a night. Music and tv can distract for a time, but when it's time to sleep, the thoughts come back. It was only exhaustion that got me to sleep.

Now I'm on valerian and melatonin: they cut down the time it takes me to fall asleep from 1-2 hours to about half an hour. Until a few months ago, I was really anti-drug/anti-anything-resembling-drugs, but this stuff puts me out pretty solidly, and I'm glad I have it.


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## IfWinterEnds (Jun 4, 2010)

I used to be awesome at falling asleep, and being able to sleep as long as I wanted.

It's hard for me to stick to the good-for-you stuff like exercising three hours before bed, eating really healthy, avoiding caffeine, getting a regular schedule, saving 8 hours so you're not groggy from melatonin. Though, stuff like this is probably the best.

The only thing that works okay with my bad habits (no excuse for them really) is to just work on stopping thinking. It's probably the same advice as stop worrying, etc, but I just try to not think at all. The second any kind of thinking starts, I stop halfway through...sometimes repeating 'you don't have to think,' helps if I need something there in place of other thoughts.

I think my sleeping's gotten worse as I've gotten to this age and drink a little more often. Not a lot at all, but I can't sleep well at all after any drinking. Also, I've done some serious messing with my sleep patterns in the past few years.


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## Emptyheart101 (May 18, 2011)

I don't Even remember the last time I slept before 1:30 am. These past couple years my sleeping patterns have been unhealthy... I'm those types of people that overthink things and worry to much. People who are usually lost in their thoughts have trouble focusing and going to sleep. 
I can be in bed by 10, lights off..no sound..and 4 hours later..I'm still awake thinking about things. This kind of scares me..I hope I don't go insane one day.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

I run three hours before going to bed - get myself worn out. About the hour before I go to bed, I start to feel tired.


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## LostProphet (Apr 4, 2010)

I have tinnitus and have a very hard time falling asleep when it is completely silent. Having some kind of noise (white noise or fan on) helps me sleep. It also helps tremendously in distracting my mind from having 123412 thoughts race through it.


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## ReincarnatedRose (May 20, 2011)

The most important one is definitely to SET your sleep cycle and stick to it. I have been falling asleep anywhere from 8-10PM but consistently waking up at 5:30AM. And that helps me a lot.

During the day, exercise.

Avoid caffeine (I have taken it out COMPLETELY from my diet).

Eliminate insomnia inducing foods & activities 2-3 hours before bed. For me, these include:

- Watching TV
- Using the computer
- Chatting or talking with friends
- Eating a heavy meal
- Drinking sugar

If I do any of these right around bed time, the likelihood of me staying up ALL night is VERY high because I tend to be a night owl. So, in order to stick to my sleep schedule of going to be relatively early, I have eliminated all of those from my life.

Basically, the criteria is to eliminate anything that can make you EXCITED because even if you are tired or sleepy but you have something exciting in your life that can immediately make you unable to sleep. 

You can also try to INCLUDE these activities and foods to help you sleep:

- Warm tea or milk
- Reading (this one is a HUGE help for me if I read 2-3 hours before bed time for about 1-2 hours I can fall asleep very easily)
- Instrumental music (if you don't feel like reading then just relax in bed lying there as you listen to instrumental music for 30-60 minutes and that really helps to relax you).
- Meditation and light yoga


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## caflme (Jun 7, 2009)

Complete Silence, Complete Darkness, No movement... Can't be overtired or hungry or Full... have to be relaxed - can't be amped up or distracted in thought. A really hot shower helps... I always imagine that really good sex would be a perfect way to relax enough to drift right off to sleep every night.


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## Darcy (May 22, 2011)

I usually find that even if my body is physically tired, my mind just won't shut the hell up, so doing things like Sudoku or iPhone games, which really helps me. I also used to not be able to sleep unless I had the TV going with some DVD on loop. I have gone through many, many sitcoms over the years!


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## kesker (Mar 29, 2011)

I've tried everything on this list except elliminating high carb snacks at night and replacing them with protein. I have been 4 years averaging 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night. I have no problem falling asleeep. I just always wake up at aroung 1:30 or 2:00 am and can't get back to sleep. Thanks for the thread.


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## Addler (Apr 28, 2011)

I dunno if this will be of any use to anyone, but I find that if I close my eyes and studiously don't move them, they start to ache and will hurt if I open them, so I keep them shut. This usually signals sleep will happen soon, but it doesn't stop the motor-mind.


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## andrewcubbie (Jun 9, 2007)

Melatonin and white noise helps me almost always. If I can't sleep, if I take a melatonin, I'll be out within the hour.


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## Oscar7 (May 20, 2011)

Emptyheart101 said:


> I don't Even remember the last time I slept before 1:30 am. These past couple years my sleeping patterns have been unhealthy... I'm those types of people that overthink things and worry to much. People who are usually lost in their thoughts have trouble focusing and going to sleep.
> I can be in bed by 10, lights off..no sound..and 4 hours later..I'm still awake thinking about things. This kind of scares me..I hope I don't go insane one day.


That happens to me, too. Now you have me worried I might go insane. *will think about this tonight*

Haha, anyways, my thoughts aren't exactly bad thoughts....
But doesn't warm milk help?


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## there.is.no.they (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks for all the tips. I've been stuck again in the vampire sched of being awake in the evening and asleep during the day, which makes it difficult to accomplish anything. I am hoping I could go back to the normal sched soon.

I used to meditate and had no trouble going and staying asleep, but recently I've been adviced to discontinue it. I am bipolar (2) and a doctor I met said it's not advisable. It's not been easy trying to get back to meditation especially as it's been almost 2 months since I stopped. I've really noticed the downward spiral started after I followed the doctor's advice.



Addler said:


> Music and tv can distract for a time, but when it's time to sleep, the thoughts come back. It was only exhaustion that got me to sleep.


Like Addler, I had to be really tired to be able to go to sleep, which is usually 5am onwards now. I can no longer stand silence. Having the computer in my room made it worse. I would also watch TV or be online til I was exhausted because I know thoughts would keep me awake if I go to bed. Recently, I tried to break my crazy sleeping pattern. I tried to sleep around 2am but ended up crying like sh#t. Hoping one from these will work.


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin (Nov 28, 2009)

Exercise regularly, don't eat too late, read yourself to sleep/do a crossword/sudoku,don't watch television or illuminated screens too late, these can overstimulate you if you're having trouble with cyrcadian rythym.
Sex is ideal if you have a partner (see exercise), also getting your affairs in order for the next morning before you hit the sack can lighten the mental load.

_A pig in a cage on anti-biotics._

: /

Radiohead quote fyi, _I'm not a psychopath__._


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## candiedsky (Aug 7, 2011)

Don't have caffeine after noon. And avoid working out at night, it gives you a ton of energy. 

I hate to admit it but lately I've been wanting to stay up all night and well into the morning. It is a crappy cycle but something about nighttime is better than the day. That probably doesn't make any sense...


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## artynerd (Sep 3, 2011)

Write a list of things you want to do and get them done. so you wont have to think about it when u sleep. It helps me, cos I cant seem to sleep unless I write it down or i forget. Thats 1 way..


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## calmdown (Feb 13, 2012)

try having a hot bath and thinking of things that are nice and distract you from worrying about getting to sleep.


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## there.is.no.they (Jun 5, 2008)

candiedsky said:


> I hate to admit it but lately I've been wanting to stay up all night and well into the morning. It is a crappy cycle but something about nighttime is better than the day. That probably doesn't make any sense...


Same here. I'm lethargic during the day, at night I'm kinda hyper, even my mind's very active. I wish my housemate was the same so I could finally do the chores I keep putting off.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

i guess if your in pain you can try a Tylenol /w codeine but dun take them all the time they will help you sleep, but give you stinky farts lol,


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