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Anybody ever had it and if so how did you deal with it.

I've always slept well apart from the odd night here and there; but the last few months it's been getting worse and worse.

Last Wednesday night I got 40 minutes sleep and last night I managed to stay awake the whole night. Thank God I'm not in work today.

I've thought of drinking myself into a stupor every night but that would be expensive so any useful (or not) tips would be gratefully received, thanks.

What has changed in the last few months? Are you stressed at work? I take it you have tried sleeping tablets?

I had it in the past when I was unemployed and just sitting around the house chain drinking tea, smoking fags and playing guitar all day... Best thing to do is try sleeping tablets and try getting into a pattern of going to bed at the same time every night. If the tablets don't work then see your doctor. There's a whole thing about caffeine intake and diet  that can effect sleep. Thats about all I can say mate

Work is an easy job; if anything I get bored.

I'm trying tablets at the moment with minimal success.

Don't drink tea or coffee and cut down on pepsi etc to cut out caffine.

I will try going to bed at the same time to see if that helps; if not I'm off to the doctor as it's driving me mad.

try reading before sleep, works for me!!

The tablets didnt work for me either.

I know it may sound weird, but try not to think about it.

I find the more you try to think about going to sleep, the harder it actually is. It's  the old 'counting sheep' thing.

I'll try reading too.

You're right about not thinking about it; i do try that. It's tricky though when you lie there at 3am wide awake as your mind wants to do something; I run out of things to think about as I get bored. I surf the internet; watch nighttime tv (that is crap!) rather than lay there.

So; bed at the same time; read a book and clear my mind. I will try that tonight and hope it works.

also if you're quite inactive in your day job or at home, ie not much exercise... this might be a cause. I have trouble sleeping when i'm off work because i'm a lazy little shit, but my jobs active, im always on my feet so sleep comes easy as im physically tired. If anything I cant get enough.

That could be one reason. Quite active out of work; but at work we generally sit on our backsides all day; it's office work and the only reason you get up is to get a drink.

I will try more exercise out of work though; that could help.

thanks.

Try joining in one of FB's late night threads.....that should send you to sleep.

100% success rate reg.

It could just be a worry in the back of your mind instead of something obvious stress. I'm constantly battling the bit of my brain which is saying that I'm not doing anything with my life. I go for the alcohol medication my self. Normally pass out at some point. Happy days!

Hmmmmmmmmmm.................

Anyone know how much sleep you need before it kills you!

I slept for 2 hrs last night; 90 minutes tonight and i can't see myself going back to sleep again. Sunday night I didn't sleep at all so adding in Monday nights 7 1/2 hrs which seems a miracle I've slept 11 hours in 4 nights.

I don't feel as bad as I think i should with that little sleep; lunchtime is a killer as it feels like evening to me.  :(

Ho hum; maybe I could get a job at night instead!

Im not working but cant sleep tonight either compounded by not drinking at the moment ive been awake for 42 hours bar a power nap this morning.Ive drunk a tonne of camomile/mint tea and thats not helped.

I dont get much sleep ever though.

Take an afternoon off and go to the pub till tea time then eat something stodgey and carb filled like mash potatoe.Always sends me off anyway.

Do you get on ok with that though Yeovil?

I've never had anything like this before; and although i'm not feeling great I think my body is getting used to 1 or 2 hours sleep a night and I'm still working etc. Don't want to get used to it but don't feel as crap as I think i should do!

Don't drink tea or coffee; off the booze too although I'm tempted to hit it big time to see if that would help.

I might try that; by lunchtime when I've been up 10/11/12 hours I feel like I should be going home anyway.

I think I will have this afternoon off and go to my local; thanks.

When Im at work I get 4/5 hours of broken sleep from 8am -12am.I sometimes doze for 5 minutes here and there at work as well.When im off I sleep 2am -7 am and then have an afternoon nap.I do tend to get a bit jet lagged after a bit and have to force myself to do stuff rather than doze and fall in and out of concienceness all day.

Seriously, just have a couple or 3 bottles of wine it will sort you.It sounds like you are thinking about it to much and the more you worry about not sleeping the less chance you have of sleeping.

Yeah; I'm sure you are right. Once i get a good couple of nights sleep I'm sure it will be all back to normal.

I have 5 bottles of wine; various bottles of vodka and lots of other alcohol in the house; so I will hit that later on.

I'm struggling at the moment. I'm working at 9am tomorrow (today actually - thur). I'll cope, but have been continuously putting off how much sleep I need. I've gone from I'll got to bed at 12   and get 8 hours sleep to I'll go to bed at 4.30 and get 4  hours sleep very quickly. I'll probably end up getting 3.

More of a change of sleep patterns for me though. Slept until 2pm today and didn't get out of bed until 3.

Annoying thing is that I'll have to re-reverse it tomorrow (today - thur) night as I'm doing a late evening shift on friday. Afternoon nap is going to be my friend.

I reckon because you are worried about not getting any sleep this is affecting you. I never sleep well when I have something on my mind and perhaps this is the same for you. I went through a period last year when I was struggling to sleep and had the same problem, tablets didn't work either. I think I eventually took a week or so off of work as I was so exhausted and managed to shake the problem and back to normal.

Good luck though, I know how you feel.

Drinking is not recommended, it adds to your stress and you only get drunken sleep not proper deep sleep.  Go to the dr.  There are loads of things you can try.  Eating late in the evening is a no no also.

It's horrible. I have has a few bouts of insomnia. Not much worked really. One was brought on by jet lag disturbing my sleep pattern, one by an anxiety problem I had. Thankfully both cases turned out to be temporary.

Aside from the medication route, try excersise in the day too.

Failing that try a healthy mix of alcohol and masturbation.

Thanks. I am sure the worry about not getting any sleep is part of it; I've been up 12 1/2 hours now and still got 4 1/2 hours at work to go; I am knackered!

I am going to the dr start of next week and hopefully get some tablets to get me sleeping properly. And I am not going to drink to try to sleep; I know that wouldn't help.

i'd get an emergency appointment at the docs bedford asap.
i can only imagine how you feel.i sometimes have the odd sleepless night but i cannot understand how you havn't nodded off with the lack of sleep you have had?

This has happened to me loads of times. Usually it's when I'm a bit busy at work or stressed out for some other reason. It can be really hard to clear your mind enough to get to sleep.

Whilst I know you said early in the thread that you're not stressed, it sounds like you've now got to the stage where just the thought of not being able to get to sleep is preying on your mind. This can happen, you have one disturbed night for no particular reason, you then go to bed the next night thinking "shit I've got to get a decent 8 hours tonight, I'm knackered", and as a result you get yourself tense. It happens again and all of a sudden sleep's become a big issue.

The only tips I can give you to get over it are:

1. Try sleeping alone - if you normally sleep with your other half and you've got a spare room then move into it for a few nights - if you're keyed up then any little thing they do is going to keep you awake
2. Start getting ready to go to bed at a set time and have a set routine,  take a bath and try to relax, read for a bit, but have a set time that you'll turn out that light.
3. Try to clear your mind. You say that you get bored and end up watching TV or logging on here. Don't! Lie back and try to think of nothing. I know that's really difficult but it's the only thing that works. If you're like me what's keeping you from sleep is your head refusing to switch off. You lie there with your mind turning things over. As you get more tired you can't even settle to think about anything properly, and your mind runs all over the place, jumping from thought to thought until your head hurts. You have to make that stop!

Try deep breathing. It's best to lie in a different position to how you nornally go to sleep to trick yourself into thinking this isn't about sleep but about relaxing. Take deep deliberate breathes and hold each one for a few seconds and than let it out slowly. Think about each breath as you breath in and out, try to visualise the breathing, waves flowing in and out, that kind of stuff. Concentrate hard enough on this and you can clear your mind of everything else.

Do that for 5/10 minutes and your heart rate will slow down and you should be pretty relaxed, you should feel yourself start to drift off.

4. Roll over and go to sleep!

Of course, if the option is available to you, shagging usually helps aswell!

Go to the gym!!

After a good workout i'm ready for bed!

So when it's black this insomniac take an original tack
Keep the beast in my nature under ceaseless attack
I gets no sleep
I can't get no sleep

 :\/

do do do do do do do do do do

I like that tune.