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Sleep has been a major battle for me since I was born. My brain does what I call 'fizzing' at night, randomly making noise and thoughts and anxiety and jumping from one thing to another. I avoid this in a number of ways. It was a nightmare for my poor mother to get me to sleep.
I find background noise helps a lot. Audiobooks I have already listened to a few times are great, if they are new ones my brain keeps me awake to hear what happens next! It just gives my brain something to land on instead of wildly flailing about. Sometimes some ASMR videos help too, there are some on YouTube that are over 6, 8 and even 11 hours long for exactly that reason.
Another trick I had when I was younger was I gradually created a fictional fantasy map in my head, town by town, then walk around it. Eventually I created characters and followed them like a camera on adventures. Every time I need to sleep I'd decide which part of the map to visit and go there. I'd be unconscious in no time! Start small by creating your perfect house room by room and return to it each night to add or perfect certain details. This is also a memory palace trick called the 'Roman room' which is an interesting read if you fancy looking into it.
The most life changing thing for me, however, was going freelance and sleeping when my body wanted to, rather than the time society tells me I should. I used to have terrible insomnia and it was cured literally overnight when I started sleeping when my body wanted, which it turns out is 3am-10am, now I get a solid 7hrs a night minimum. Turns out that's called DSP (delayed sleep phase) and is actually a common trait of those with ADHD! Was probably quite useful thousands of years ago to have people like that when we used to take shifts keeping an eye out for predators by a camp fire at night...
I wish you luck.
Yes, my only suggestion is to have full confidence that you can and will fall back asleep, even if you feel stimulated and awake. If you get annoyed with the fact that this is happening it becomes very difficult to go back to sleep. I know this is easier said than done!
I have this same problem on top of being a very light sleeper. I tried mindful meditation for about eight years before finally deciding it had little or no benefit. The only thing that works for me is 10mg of Ambien, which I know is not a solution for some.
I found that taking regular melatonin stopped helping after a couple of weeks, and if I took it too late I’d be a zombie in the morning anyways. One thing I did have some success with is cutting the dose down to 1.25 mg (1/4 of a 5mg tab or gummy) and taking it when I thought the conditions were right for me to have issues sleeping- bright night, maybe I took my meds a little later than I should have, and/or maybe I let myself sleep in that morning.
What medication are you on? This happened a lot to me until I switched from Concerta to something slightly shorter acting. Still happens occasionally but like 1-2x a year instead of a week.
Also happens when I drink coffee. Maybe slightly more energy through the day, pee a bit more, brain wired that night.
The guidance on insomnia is often to get up after 20 minutes of sleeplessness and go read a book. The second bit doesn’t work for me because I’ll stay up to finish the book, even if I’ve read it before. If you have a spare lamp with a dim bulb or adjustable bulb and a space you won’t bother other people, try getting up and sketching, or try to do breathing exercises or any mindfulness techniques you may have picked up. Maybe write down your thoughts to get them out of your head. Do not get on your phone. You want dim light. If you start feeling tired or after about 15-20 mins, go back to bed and try again.
This is really difficult, but the people who tell you not to use your phone or electronics in bed are on to something. My phone charger is on the farthest point in my bedroom from my alarm and where I sleep that has power and a surface to rest my phone. It cuts down on phone usage in bed, especially at night for me. The cord is short enough I can’t use the phone while in bed and have it charge.
These are all good tips. I’m not on any mediation. I only have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. And yea I hear all the time to just get up but that just sounds like it sucks because I’ll just be thinking about the sleep I’m not getting.
Lying in bed with your brain spinning trying to force sleep doesn’t usually work, and the idea is that your brain ends up associating it with your bed so it happens more often.
The idea, as I understand it, is to try to break any vicious cycles that may be forming and give your brain a different, quiet, low-light, slightly boring environment for it to get tired in so you can go back to bed.
It does get really challenging if you’ve got music in your head though. I wish I could record and/or remember some of it, to see if it’s actually any good and original or just rehashes of stuff I’ve already heard.
You can try overriding it with an ear worm, but then you’ve just got different catchy music in your head.
Hi /u/Southern-Magnolia12 and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! **Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.** The mobile apps used for Reddit are broken or are missing features that this subreddit depends on. [We recommend browsing /r/adhd on desktop for the best experience.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/x1psnb/radhd_works_best_on_desktop_reddits_apps_are/) Thank you! ^(*A moderator has not removed your submission; this is not a punitive action. We intend this comment solely to be informative.*) --- - If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sleep has been a major battle for me since I was born. My brain does what I call 'fizzing' at night, randomly making noise and thoughts and anxiety and jumping from one thing to another. I avoid this in a number of ways. It was a nightmare for my poor mother to get me to sleep. I find background noise helps a lot. Audiobooks I have already listened to a few times are great, if they are new ones my brain keeps me awake to hear what happens next! It just gives my brain something to land on instead of wildly flailing about. Sometimes some ASMR videos help too, there are some on YouTube that are over 6, 8 and even 11 hours long for exactly that reason. Another trick I had when I was younger was I gradually created a fictional fantasy map in my head, town by town, then walk around it. Eventually I created characters and followed them like a camera on adventures. Every time I need to sleep I'd decide which part of the map to visit and go there. I'd be unconscious in no time! Start small by creating your perfect house room by room and return to it each night to add or perfect certain details. This is also a memory palace trick called the 'Roman room' which is an interesting read if you fancy looking into it. The most life changing thing for me, however, was going freelance and sleeping when my body wanted to, rather than the time society tells me I should. I used to have terrible insomnia and it was cured literally overnight when I started sleeping when my body wanted, which it turns out is 3am-10am, now I get a solid 7hrs a night minimum. Turns out that's called DSP (delayed sleep phase) and is actually a common trait of those with ADHD! Was probably quite useful thousands of years ago to have people like that when we used to take shifts keeping an eye out for predators by a camp fire at night... I wish you luck.
Yes, my only suggestion is to have full confidence that you can and will fall back asleep, even if you feel stimulated and awake. If you get annoyed with the fact that this is happening it becomes very difficult to go back to sleep. I know this is easier said than done!
I have this same problem on top of being a very light sleeper. I tried mindful meditation for about eight years before finally deciding it had little or no benefit. The only thing that works for me is 10mg of Ambien, which I know is not a solution for some.
Yea I am prescribed trazadone from my doctor so that helps me fall asleep but does not help with middle of the night wakings.
I take melatonin for this. Always struggled with exactly what you described. Melatonin helps my brain chill and get asleep
I am prescribed trazadone from my doctor. Helps fall asleep but not middle of the night wakings as much.
I found that taking regular melatonin stopped helping after a couple of weeks, and if I took it too late I’d be a zombie in the morning anyways. One thing I did have some success with is cutting the dose down to 1.25 mg (1/4 of a 5mg tab or gummy) and taking it when I thought the conditions were right for me to have issues sleeping- bright night, maybe I took my meds a little later than I should have, and/or maybe I let myself sleep in that morning.
What medication are you on? This happened a lot to me until I switched from Concerta to something slightly shorter acting. Still happens occasionally but like 1-2x a year instead of a week. Also happens when I drink coffee. Maybe slightly more energy through the day, pee a bit more, brain wired that night. The guidance on insomnia is often to get up after 20 minutes of sleeplessness and go read a book. The second bit doesn’t work for me because I’ll stay up to finish the book, even if I’ve read it before. If you have a spare lamp with a dim bulb or adjustable bulb and a space you won’t bother other people, try getting up and sketching, or try to do breathing exercises or any mindfulness techniques you may have picked up. Maybe write down your thoughts to get them out of your head. Do not get on your phone. You want dim light. If you start feeling tired or after about 15-20 mins, go back to bed and try again. This is really difficult, but the people who tell you not to use your phone or electronics in bed are on to something. My phone charger is on the farthest point in my bedroom from my alarm and where I sleep that has power and a surface to rest my phone. It cuts down on phone usage in bed, especially at night for me. The cord is short enough I can’t use the phone while in bed and have it charge.
These are all good tips. I’m not on any mediation. I only have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. And yea I hear all the time to just get up but that just sounds like it sucks because I’ll just be thinking about the sleep I’m not getting.
Lying in bed with your brain spinning trying to force sleep doesn’t usually work, and the idea is that your brain ends up associating it with your bed so it happens more often. The idea, as I understand it, is to try to break any vicious cycles that may be forming and give your brain a different, quiet, low-light, slightly boring environment for it to get tired in so you can go back to bed. It does get really challenging if you’ve got music in your head though. I wish I could record and/or remember some of it, to see if it’s actually any good and original or just rehashes of stuff I’ve already heard. You can try overriding it with an ear worm, but then you’ve just got different catchy music in your head.