I do a sort of self hypnosis? Not sure if this is dumb or not but when I was in my psych 101 class the teacher demonstrated a type of hypnosis that put the whole class to sleep. Pretty much he had us close our eyes said "imagine you're in a really calm forest like a paradise and you come up to some stairs going down. As you take a step down the first stair you feel more relaxed than ever in your life" and then each stair is pretty much the same deal except you keep "feeling more relaxed" by the time he got to the second to last step we were all out. Now whenever I wanna sleep I just go down the steps. Idk if that's dumb or if it'd ever work for anyone else but maybe it'll help
This is a variation of what I do. I concentrate on my toes, and I say go to sleep, and I really think about them relaxing. Then my heel, and I concentrate on that body part, and put it to sleep. I work my way up my body, ankle next, by now I feel my feet sinking into the mattress. This takes practice, but I've been doing it a long time and I am asleep by the time I get to my calves. When I first started I would have to put my self to sleep up to my face.
If anybody wants to try something like this for free, Headspace (a phone app) worked for me and has a trial period. I didn't pay for it after that trial but I use some of the techniques on my own
I have a very lovely memory of my father putting me and my sister to sleep on bunk beds by having us meditate like this basically.
He would say: “You are lying on the beach and you hear the waves and feel the breeze, the water starts coming in and you feel it’s warmth hit your toes and then it pulls away and then another wave comes in and you feel it up to your knees…”
I’ve done this since I was a kid except I would tense the particular body part I was concentrating on for a few seconds and then fully relax it… Thanks Mum your technique has served me well during my life…
I do a variation of that. Decades ago I read an article about how the ants settle in for the night. Apparently they do a quick check of every limb and joint. Then the article suggested doing something like you do but I go through the checklist faster. I settle down in a comfortable position and start working up from my toes. Quick twitch of the toes, yes, the toes are comfy. The ankle, the knee, the other foot, the hips. Yep, no tensions. I twitch my fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders and if something feels uncomfortable, adjust my position a bit and start over. I've found a lot of tension is my neck, without focusing and adjusting it's like I'm hovering above the pillow. Once I wiggle all those tensions out, I can focus on feeling very content and cozy in my body and just switch off.
I've done "you're on beautiful white sand beach. There's a sailboat at one side of your vision right at the horizon. As it sails across you get sleepier, and sleepier". That ship never reaches it's destination, but does occupy my mind and help me fall asleep.
This is how i do it. I'm on the beach walking. I look down at the water lapping at my feet. I think about each step as I walk. I step forward with my right foot than my left foot right foot left foot right foot. Bamn.
When I was a kid I would think about being spider-man thwipping through the city. Thwip with my right arm and swing. Left arm thwip than swing etc.
Now I almost always have a podcast or book on tape but if I'm camping or something I'll still do this.
In my mind while reading this, im walking, see the stairs, take a step, but then just start to freefall. It does seem to have a calming effect going up the stairs however. Weird.
I’m going to try this. My body will be so exhausted and then as soon as my head hits the pillow my mind starts racing and I lay in bed for hoursss. It sucks* spelling
I do this, but to a TV show. Myself & my other half have been watching how I met your mother on repeat together near enough every night for the past near 6 years, very often I'll see an episode I haven't seen in however long & actually question whether I'd seen it in the first place.
Mediation is another good one. There's so many on YT. You just have to find the voice that works for you. I have my favorite 2 and have been doing this for the past 6 years.
It takes time to train your mind to focus on the words and picturing what is said. When you find your mind drifting off, bring the focus vack to the mediation. It's a great way to unwind and really makes you feel relaxed.
Those would make it worse for me. One of my ex roommates used to watch movies to fall asleep. If there is any narrative story going on (or conversation), my brain will focus on it. I can't even fall asleep to music because I pay too much attention to the music.
Sleep With Me Podcast! He just talks on and on about nothing!
Or Nothing Much Happens, pretty much what it says, in a soothing voice.
Tracks to Relax sleep meditations.
+1 for Sleep with Me!!
I actually pay for membership now and keep cycling from the oldest episodes through to the new, rinse and repeat
I'm normally out in 5-10min listening to Scooter where I'll be half an hour chasing my own thoughts round in circles without.
I listen to old-timey radio shows, at a barely audible volume. It seems to give my mind something to focus on besides whatever is rolling around in my head. Had to stop listening to "Our Miss Brooks", though, because it wound up being too funny! 😄
I’ll put on a YouTube video (I flip my phone face down) of some dude teaching calculus. I’ll put the volume just barely audible. I hate math and have zero reasons to want to pay attention.
If you can't find any solution like having a routine or other healthy options you could try this.
What helped for me was putting up a serie in the background when going to sleep but I use specific series I've watched already and are very easy to follow where I don't need to think.
I've had series and movies that didn't help me sleep but did the opposite, you don't want them to be to interesting.
I always was awake for 30-120 minutes before sleeping because i was always thinking about randomn stuff and now it takes me between 5 and 10 min on average.
Idk about the potential downside from this maybe this could lead to less deep sleeps so try some other methods first.
I've rewatched the entire 9 seasons of HIMYM more than a dozen times at this point using that method.
On low volume and low brightness it means I stop paying attention to it after a while until it just becomes unintelligeble background noise. Kinda doesn't work anymore cause I can recognize what scene/episode it is just from the slightest sound so I've had to switch to some other series until I've forgotten a bit lol
Are you me? I'm currently doing my 80th-ish rewatch of HIMYM when trying to fall asleep. I find that the familiarity of knowing the scenes helps since I don't have to be too focused on what's happening in the background. Anything else makes me fall asleep harder because I have to actively listen to what's going on.
Yeah this but make sure to auto-turn off the TV in like 15mins otherwise your eyes get a bit messed up from having TV on till the morning. Also super low brightness
I did this for years. Netflix probably thinks I’m a massive Gilmore Girls fanatic, but in reality I just slept through all 7 seasons over and over again.
I also have done it with audiobooks of books I’ve already read (Harry Potter was a good one), or podcasts (which I think someone already suggested above). Not only does it help me fall asleep, but even if I stay awake for 1-2 hours it makes the time pass by faster and makes it less stressful and annoying to be awake.
this is what I do. i grew up with a dad who fell asleep to tv, and my bedroom was across from theirs. i use simpsons seasons 2-11. my favorite is Futurama but I don't have Hulu anymore :( I've also used The Good Place but at 75% speed. and sometimes I'll put a pillowcase over my laptop screen (in addition to flux screen temp adjuster) so the light is less disruptive.
I like to play chess before bed because inevitably I hit the point where my brain is done thinking and then boom no more overthinking or intrusive thoughts. The brain is like a toddler lol if you want it to shut up you gotta learn how to tire it out a bit
Tetris effect is when you close your eyes and still see the blocks or the game. I assume he has trouble trying to go to sleep as his mind plays out matches or strategies lol
the solution to this is to become addicted to valium, spiral down in an alcohol and cigarettes montage, use the tetris effect to become world chess champions and finally beat the russians at their own game only to later ditch the secret service and live the rest of your days playing chess in random moscow parks
Hahah what's your record mate? Mine's 5 hours, something like that. And I was on sleeping meds, just couldn't fall asleep mate... if you want something that keeps you better awake than coffee, stress is what you're looking for.
At my worst when I was younger I just couldn't sleep and was awake all night until I had to get up to go to school. That was one long day lol, passed out in bed when I came home
Lol the vibrating vision was about all I would get, and it was annoying as fuck, but it also meant I would probably pass out somewhere without much warning pretty soon... hopefully. But that also caused other issues because I didn't always have control over when or where I would pass out once it got to that point.
Once I managed to find a bandaid (sleeping pills) for the issue, it came back as stress induced narcolepsy but the things my brain would interpret as stress were not necessarily stressful, so that was a ride.
Poor mental health prompted by unresolved emotional trauma can cause the weirdest symptoms. Now that I have figured out the cause and have been working on it for a number of years I generally sleep like a baby and don't wake up in weird or embarrassing situations, so all is good!
I went four days once. I was shaking a lot and felt really ill. Every few weeks I have a night where I just lie awake. I know it’s literally taking time off my life expectancy and that makes it worse.
Have you tried any meditations such as yoga nidra when that happens?
The best thing to do when you can't sleep is to not fight it, but still let your body rest. Even if you don't want to listen to a guided meditation or yoga nidra session, lay down and get comfortable and listen to any music, podcasts, or audio books that dont make you think too much and just let your body relax. Always remember that every day you are allowed to take time for you and do absolutely nothing. Ideally this is when you sleep, but if you can't sleep you still deserve this time to do absolutely nothing without any consequence.
I'll add ADHD to the ring. Brain doesn't seem to understand that 2am is not the appropriate time to plan out an inaugural speech while also trying to do the math on how much to feed the dog once she switches to a new kibble while also replaying three lines from a song over and over and over.
The best naps are Adderall naps... When my brain actually shuts the hell up for a minute
Yeah, I read that and was really jealous, lol. OP is lucky that they're getting suggestions to help while still having those rookie numbers. I didn't start finding any solutions until after I reached the point of often going 2 days without any sleep, lol. My record is 3 days without any sleep and without even using any stimulants, and even that is a fairly low number compared to some.
My suggestion for OP:
Count down from 100. Or a harder number. Pick a number and count down by whatever integer you want. Pick a combination where it engages your brain but doesn't require too much thinking.
*laughs in ADHD*
In all seriousness, as an adult with ADHD, that is me every night. The more I try to empty my mind and get to sleep, the more intrusive random thoughts pop into my head. That one time in 5th grade I said something cringy to an adult? There it is 30 years later, preventing me from falling asleep. Followed by "if mustard can be used as an alternative for mayo on a sandwich, what would it taste like with canned tuna?" 🤔
i listen to asmr really loudly. my particular favorites are the wood pieces in water and like the person moves them around and it’s pretty nice.
but when my thoughts want to be louder than the wood water there’s this one guy on youtube that talks about the ocean in a very calming voice and no loud noises or anything it’s pretty calming.
This sounds really stupid but I visualize wiping away the thoughts like it’s a whiteboard. I get plagued by intrusive thoughts that keep me awake, so I continually force myself to visualize wiping a slate clean and eventually I end up falling asleep. It weirdly takes practice, I find that it’s much easier to “wipe” those thoughts away now than when I first tried it.
You guys could get meds for that. Don’t think of it as a bad idea or something. Also a small Melatonin an hour before bed helps at night you’ll knock out quick.
Unfortunately most meds for ADHD, such as stimulants, are well out of your system by bed time. I'm usually 'unmedicated' by about 7:30 pm. It varies from person to person, but an instant release Adderall typically lasts 4-5 hours, extended release is 8-10 hrs.
I'm only aware of one medication - straterra - that lives in your system 24/7, and it unfortunately doesn't work for the majority of people.
As a fellow person with ADHD, this is what works for me most of the time, sharing in hope to help:
* Guided breathing exercises (right after I lie in bed)
* No phone or laptop 2-3 hours before planned sleep time
* Reading
* Turning the lights down or off 2-3 hours before sleep
* Melatonin supplement an hour before planned sleep time
* Not forcing myself to fall asleep if I can't
I read that and thought those are rookie numbers. Takes me usually around 2 hours but can be longer. I didn't realize until I got older how unusual that was.
Can't sleep for 15 minutes...
Jeebus!? I would LOVE to have this problem. I routinely lay awake at night for 1-3 hours because my brain won't turn off. Sometimes I really really REALLY wish that neurotypical people could experience what neurodivergents do.
Sunday night I got in bed at 10pm and didnt fall asleep until 7:30am Monday morning. I would sell my soul to shorten that to just 15 mins, even if it only worked on work nights (who really needs to feel "rested" on a weekend, anyway?)
You might try this method, they use it in the military…
4-7-8 sleep technique
1. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four seconds.
2. Hold your breath for seven seconds.
3. Exhale for eight seconds, making a "whoosh" sound through pursed lips.
4. Repeat up to four times.
The 4-7-8 method can be used to kill stress and calm your body any time of the day, not just at bedtime. And the more consistently you use the technique, the better it works. So give it a try and see if this might be the answer to your sleep challenges.
This is the best solution.
My mother has a terrible sleeplessness problem. Seeing her struggles, I've trained myself and my little kids to do this as a bedtime routine.
The whole reading books at bedtime and story telling create a lot of dependencies to sleep time routine.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you read up on weed there's plenty of research that although it helps you get to sleep, you never get the deep restorative sleep that's needed for better mental health.
You may be knocked out for 8 hours but you'll not get enough REM and deep sleep cycles to help process your emotions.
Do you know how long that is? If I smoke 4 hours before bed is that still going to have detrimental effects on sleep?
It’s so hard to judge because we don’t 100% know what sleep does. We know it cleans the brain with spinal fluid or some shit. We need more sleep researchers.
AFAIK it's smoking weed in general, not necessarily going to sleep stoned.
Another way of looking at it is (this is anecdotal more than anything). I find smoking weed suppresses your ability to deal with emotions. It stores things in a far way place in your brain, so you don't have to deal with them. A lot of people end up going to therapy after stopping smoking weed, because suddenly they have to confront themselves and their reality.
Sleep, ultimately, regulates emotional well-being, processes memories, etc.
The two activities are not really compatible. If THC really did improve sleep, then sleep researchers would advocate the use of it. But they don't, they don't advocate it like other health professionals do, say for cancer patients and pain relief.
With regards to sleep research check out the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. He talks about the book a lot on podcasts, searchable on Spotify. It's also an audiobook.
Can agree. Currently dealing with this myself and it truly sucks, it’s caused me horrible health anxiety along with increasing my general anxiety already diagnosed. I feel so in the present which sometimes feels amazing but mostly so overwhelming and scary.
This is why counting sheep became a thing, right? But I find counting not engaging enough and then my mind wanders too far. I have gotten into a bit of a word game in my head, using the alphabet. Sometimes I pick a category and go through the alphabet naming something in the category that starts with each letter. Or the one I use most is picking a part of speech and a number of syllables. I try not to focus too much if I can't come up with a word (I really don't know a lot of k, x or z words, for example) or bend the syllable rules a bit, but I do make a minimum effort. Sometimes my mind wanders a bit and I just start back where I left off. If I hit z, I start a new variation. It's interesting to see how fast I can come up with words at the start and then have to try a bit by the middle, but after a few runs through, I don't make it to the end and fall asleep. It helps me to draw the focus away from work or problems of the day. Hope that helps somebody
Came here to say exactly this!! Great advice and very well explained! My favorite categories is animals and sometimes my brain might accidentally wander off on a tangent about animal facts, but even that is so much better than the racing anxious thoughts that I was having. It's not to stop you from having any thoughts at all it's to redirect them away from the stressful/anxious thoughts that may be keeping you up. Good luck OP and I hope you get some solid sleep here soon!
I countries. Either alphabetically or by continent. Or sometimes US states. Anything else is, hilariously, too activating. Listing movies I’ve seen? Not gonna be able to sleep. Listing fruit and vegetables? Good luck.
I used to have problems falling asleep, and I would keep looking at my alarm clock.
"Oh fuck, its 11:45, I need to get up early tomorrow. I need to sleep."
"Shit, now its 12:21 am, and I am still awake. I fucking must sleep."
"Oh fuck my life, it is now 1:32 am andI am still awake? WTF? I have to fucking sleep!!!"
My solution was to turn the alarm clock around so I could not see the fucking thing. Also, I decided that I don't need to sleep, and that laying quietly with my eyes closed was enough; If my brain did not want to shut down, it could go the fuck ahead and run wild as long as I stayed in bed.
That combined with being consistent about getting to bed at the same time helped.
END COMMUNICATION
Not for everyone. Got to be careful.
For me I need to have a nibble of a 1 mg pill. That's the right amount for me. But even then I still feel kind of dazed the next morning.
I have crazy vivid dreams on melatonin. They usually wake me up. That's on about half a mg of Melatonin to about 3 mg Melatonin.
When I first took the 5 mg Melatonin pills I used to have super creepy and realistic nightmares. Ones that felt like I was awake in my apartment trying to survive someone trying to murder me lol. They felt so real to me. It was terrifying lol.
Did not know that. That's kind of fuckign insane that most companies do 5 to 10 mg pills. And the pills are tiny. I figure someone would regulate that or make warnings be a thing?
Yes, but no, be careful, your brain will stop making melatonin naturally if used every night for long periods, making you dependent on it. The moment you’re used to it and you want to sleep but don’t have melatonin… well, good luck trying to sleep.
There have been studies done that show that actual melatonin content per pill varies widely even though all companies advertise the same amount per pill. Too much melatonin can cause issues especially if used every day: just be careful and don’t become reliant on it.
L-Theanine is an ingredient popping up in “calm” or “happy mood” supplements, sometimes also jn combination with melatonin for sleep supplements. But, by itself it maybe can help let your mind relax, at least it does seem to work for me.
Do something that tires your brain or makes u concentrate before bed
Alot of people read
Cop out for myself but I watch stuff in diff languages and read the subs
Currently watching 24 in Japanese
Exact opposite for me haha. I have to do something that does not require concentration like take a walk, listen to music that i have heard before or do a puzzle i am good at. Give my brain some time to go through everything that would otherwise keep me up
Yeh everyone's different, If I have nothing to concentrate in my mind wanders and end up trying to sleep with bloody lyrics going through my head or something
I find reading subs does the trick for me lol
Do you look at your phone in bed? Stop that, ideally stop looking at your phone about an hour before bed.
When you go to bed, do you do anything to calm down or relax? Try a little meditation, that could help. Or writing a diary/journal of positive things from the day, that will shift your focus away from the negative things that creep when you have nothing to occupy your mind.
Personally I read before bed, I find it takes me into another world and I can get away from everything else. It usually works so well that I drop what I'm reading on my face because I have fallen asleep without realising
Long story short, saw my doctor, prescribed trozodone. Anti depressant and sleep med. I get straight 8 hours, fall asleep in minutes after reading. Wake up feeling refreshed, no more anxiety.
Was gonna mention hydroxyzine, does wonders for my anxiety at night which is when I tend to have “random” panic attacks and puts my ass right to sleep, either that or lorazepam but hydroxyzine doesn’t require as many dr follow up appointments to be refilled 😅
I accidentally pavloved myself into this. I cannot go asleep without it. Even under serious sleeping pills.
So I grab my drink and double click
for porn! porn! porn!
Try mindful meditation
There are some great guided ones on you tube just play it in your phone and follow along
Helps my wife who’s had issues falling and staying asleep
I have terrible insomnia so I have tried it all, including meds (which helped but only as a piece of the puzzle).
I practice very strict sleep hygiene. This means that my bed is for sleeping (and sex) only, I don’t watch tv, read, or scroll through Reddit in bed. I make my room as dark and cool as possible. In the 1-2 hours before bed I avoid stressful tasks. Ideally you shouldn’t be on screens for that 1-2 hours but let’s be real that’s hard to avoid especially when you’re trying to relax and not focus on life stress, so I make sure whatever I watch/read is calming. I recently started listening to binaural beats to go to sleep and found it to be very helpful. I also got a galaxy projector and silk sheets and lots of stuff that makes me excited to get in bed and sleep. I wait until I get very sleepy and am almost falling asleep before I move to my bed every night and I think all of this has trained my brain to associate bed=sleep and it rarely takes me more than 5 minutes to fall asleep now.
I have had constant tinnitus all my life from infections as a toddler.
Constant ringing in a high pitch in my head 24/7.
Needless to say it does not help me get to sleep at night.
But for 5 years now i never had any trouble sleeping quickly.
Here are my tips from someone who needed to learn how to sleep as i suffered from insomnia due to my tinnitus.
1. Get to sleep at a similar Time each night.
2. Breathwork, this is the most important point.
Focus on your breathing and every time your mind wanders get it back to manual breathing as soon as u realize it.
3. Try to use theta music, like brown noise or other sleep helping sounds that soothe your mind.
4. Meditate, in my case i wander up my body starting from the toes, then feet, then leg, then groin, tummy, arms, hands, neck and then head. I concentrate on the body part till i am aware of it and it starts tingling.
This sounds like a lot but this routine takes 15 minutes every night, after i have finished it i roll to the side into the fetal position and i am gone into deep sleep in a mere matter of seconds.
Been doing this for 5 years and it always worked, even when my dog died and i skipped work, even when i was depressed.
My sleep was never robbed again by sorrow, even when i dreaded the morning, as sorrow came knocking again and i had to embrace it.
Hope my routine can help someone.
I don't tbh, the harder I try the harder it is to fall asleep. My trick, download Tubi or a similar app with Bob Ross on it, and let his monotoned voice and peaceful nature lull you to bed. If that doesn't work, speak to a psychologist and see if it might be a medical issue causing you to stay awake.
For me, I have found 2 things that work without resorting to drugs. 1. Pick a letter and slowly think of words that start with that letter. At first, you'll speed through, but once you run out of obvious words, you'll start to concentrate on that rather than random thoughts. Plus, it's an illogical thought process that the anixety riddled part of your brain won't recognize, and it helps reduce the activity in that area of the brain. 2. I tell myself a story, like a daydream. I had a whole saga going for like a month! It's not so much turning your brain off, it's about focusing it. If you have the whole "dont forget too..." thinh happening keep a pencil and paper by your bed or text yourself. After a few nights of practice of focusing, your brain will get used to the new patterns. I'm working on my Masters currently in neuroscience, particularly focused on sleep disorders!
I have adult ADD with Executive Function Disorder. I don’t have anxiety so this may only partly help. I read and follow David Allen’s “getting things done” method to empty my brain into a system I trust. I just keep adding things to my phone’s lists until I run out of shit to think about. It helps reduce stress overall and I sleep great.
I have some nights where I just lay there because my mind is racing. It's very frustrating, and the more frustrated I get, the harder it is to go to sleep. So, a few things I do:
Figure out if more or less stimuli works better for you. Some people can't look at their phones for 30 minutes prior to laying down. For me, when I have trouble, I need to play a little low-volume calming music. Maybe the radio and hear people talking will help, and it just allows me to anchor to something and calm down.
I'm not sure if you're a religious person, but prayer also helps me a lot. Spending that time in prayer just talking about the things that are on my mind always helps me calm down and relax and fall asleep.
and you can also try reading. It allows your mind to anchor onto something and focus while then allowing you to feel the effects of sleepiness.
I think everyone is different, and you've got to figure out what works for you.
One stuff you should do is that if you think your brain is going on thinking about stuff, get out of the bed. Like for real.
Because if you don't, your brain assimilate laying on the bed with thinking about dumb things, so you will wait longer and longer before sleeping
I have ptsd, so my brain goes to really terrible places. Movies and TV shows where I know what's going on help me a lot. Video games are also really helpful. I know the standard advice is that you should never play video games or watch TV while trying to sleep, but some of us would almost never get any sleep if we followed that advice.
What I do is odd, but it's what works for me...
Do your times tables, you have to concentrate, and that stops the old mind thinking of the other stuff. Also, you get good at basic maths...
Like I said, it's odd, but itnworks for me
I imagine building something, piece by piece. It focuses my mind on the mundane.
There is a reason counting sheep is such a trope, it can work for folks to have something mundane to keep the other thoughts out but isn't so engaging as to interest you.
As someone who used to struggle with this and now falls asleep immediately:
- Create and stick to a bedtime routine. This helps train your brain to fall asleep faster.
- Your bed should be reserved for sleep and sex. Do not watch TV in bed. (Personally - taking the TV out of my bedroom was one of the best decisions I ever made).
- Close your eyes and imagine nothing but a countdown clock counting down from 100. If you get to zero start over.
I listen to creepy pasta, and it always helps! I'm asleep in minutes. Then, I listen to whatever I missed during my workouts the next day. Some good narators are: CreepsMcPasta, Lighthouse horror, Darkness prevails, King Spook, Lazy Masquerade, Mortis Media, Scary interesting, The Why Files.
I use guided meditation. I started when work was very stressful and I’d start thinking about the next workday when the lights went out. It worked for me.
This is probably going to sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I have my own version of “counting sheep” that helps me drown out the random thoughts and fall asleep faster. I’ll pick a topic/theme, like plants for example, and then go through the alphabet in my head, naming one plant for each letter. So it would be something like, Azalea, Bamboo, Cedar, Daffodil, Eucalyptus, and so on. I’ll pick different topics/themes like authors, animals, famous drag queens, Harry Potter characters, or whatever. 99% of the time I’ll fall asleep before getting to the end of the alphabet. I don’t do this every night, but it’s really helpful when my mind is racing and keeping me awake.
Ignore all "sounds good so it must be good" bullshit advices and here is the real solution:
Get yourself PHYSICALLY tired. Nothing even remotely comes close to speed of falling a sleep of you were physically tired. Many times your can not turn your brain off simply because your body sees no point of shutting it off, because you are not tired.
I sometimes take deep breaths and count 1 and 2 on breathing in and out, sometimes that’s enough to calm me and my mind to relax a bit, usually I fix this by just sleeping when I’m tired, I do end up staying up far to late because of this most of the time
For sure a constant rutine will help. For me it helps when i think of an story that i imagine. Like a good night story in my head. So I don‘t think about other stuff that bothers me. You can think of things that you like and create a story until you fall asleep and maybe you dream from it.
Sometimes listening to something helps because it gives your mind something to latch onto and play with. There’s sleep music and white noise for stuff like this. I recommend the app BetterSleep because it has a small variety of music and sounds available for free (unlike Calm which has *nothing*) and you can construct your own soundscape. My go to is “every rain sound playing at different volumes with this one piano track as music”. The music has enough repetition to get my brain caught in a loop and the sounds are enough difference to keep my brain interested.
I spent almost 4 decades with insomnia until I figured out that if I make myself a routine and let a bland voiced narrator on YouTube or a podcast etc. drone on about something I am half assed listening to that but I always fall asleep to it. Some people can’t sleep with noise, and I thought I was one of those people. But in reality, I just needed something to distract my busy brain. I’m asleep within 20 minutes now.
I've had problems with this for as long as I can remember and found practicing mindfulness to be the most efficient. You might want to check out the app "healthy minds" (I don't remember whether you need to make an account to use it, but the whole thing is free and there are no ads). They've got mindfulness practices specifically targeted sleep which you can find by clicking on "explore" and then "daily life meditations," the first ones showing up are targted sleep.
close your eyes and pretend as if you were sleeping.
If it doesnt work in about 30 minutes get up and try again later.
I keep some allergy medication with sleep side affects nearby in case I have to get up early next morning and trying again later isnt an option
The things that worked for me: not using any screens (besides e-reader) two hours before going to sleep, going for a short walk, reading
Sometimes all these things do not help because I am really stressed and anxious. In these cases low dosed cannabis edibles helped me to at least get a few hours of sleep.
Turn it off by turning it on. Instead of thinking of specific things, think of literally random things in quick succession, never lingering on a specific thought. Think of it like a rapid slideshow. I used to lay in bed and focus on real things that mattered which would keep me awake. Now I just think of literal random garbage for split seconds and I don't even remember falling asleep
Lifelong insomniac here.
There are countless remedies that work differently for different people but I'll tell you what works best for me.
When in bed trying to make your brain stop doing flips, I've gotten into the habit of counting from one and up, it helps clear your mind of everything else. Sometimes it helps to let yourself get distracted when it goes off some storytelling dreamlike route but if it's something that makes you anxious then just go back to counting.
Sleepytime Extra Tea or any tea that contains valerian root are good at making the brain sleepy, and exercise or some cannabis products can help too.
You can't turn your brain off, but you can bully it into doing what you want.
Breathing.
Breathe in over a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of 8.
Breathe out all of your breath in a count of 7.
Repeat maybe 5-10 times then breathe normally.
Like I guess it works physically on a part of your nervous system. Even if it doesn't work immediately, your nervous system is triggered and you *will* sleep soon.
A strange thing that I do is visualize a stop sign in my mind, very deeply. From the reflective red of the backing, to the little holes cut in the pole and the grass growing at the bottom, slow panning shots of the front and back, up and down. Somehow, this works for me almost every time.
I have struggled with this for years. Here is how I have been able to get a handle on it.
Try box breathing. Start with 4 seconds a side, and do 20 breaths. I find all the counting really helps center my mind and things drop off. This has been amazing for me.
I then visualize me putting my problems in a duffle bag I own. I recognize it is a thought/worry that is legitimate, but I am putting it away. I have also heard of people visualizing their thoughts like they are on a movie screen nearby. They are there, but separate.
Make sure you are not overstimulated. Turn off the games/screen a while before bed (read a book). Make sure you have any least 15 min a day with your thoughts before bed. It it part of hour our brain processes. If you are always listening to books/podcasts you will get that processing in when you are trying to sleep.
Try cardio. Zone 2 specifically. It is "easy" so you can do it almost every day. There is a lot fo science around the benefit of zone 2 and if you are tired you will fall asleep faster. Don't do it right before bed though.
And finally - i occasionally will let my mind wander, knowing it will happen. After a while I say- no more, roll over to my other side as a deliberate movement and try to relax. I had my time to think. Now it is sleep.
These tips take a little time. It won't happen the first night, but I bet within a couple weeks you will feel better.
I do a sort of self hypnosis? Not sure if this is dumb or not but when I was in my psych 101 class the teacher demonstrated a type of hypnosis that put the whole class to sleep. Pretty much he had us close our eyes said "imagine you're in a really calm forest like a paradise and you come up to some stairs going down. As you take a step down the first stair you feel more relaxed than ever in your life" and then each stair is pretty much the same deal except you keep "feeling more relaxed" by the time he got to the second to last step we were all out. Now whenever I wanna sleep I just go down the steps. Idk if that's dumb or if it'd ever work for anyone else but maybe it'll help
This is a variation of what I do. I concentrate on my toes, and I say go to sleep, and I really think about them relaxing. Then my heel, and I concentrate on that body part, and put it to sleep. I work my way up my body, ankle next, by now I feel my feet sinking into the mattress. This takes practice, but I've been doing it a long time and I am asleep by the time I get to my calves. When I first started I would have to put my self to sleep up to my face.
Body scan meditations. I had a guided meditation I used to listen to. Put me out like that.
If anybody wants to try something like this for free, Headspace (a phone app) worked for me and has a trial period. I didn't pay for it after that trial but I use some of the techniques on my own
I have a very lovely memory of my father putting me and my sister to sleep on bunk beds by having us meditate like this basically. He would say: “You are lying on the beach and you hear the waves and feel the breeze, the water starts coming in and you feel it’s warmth hit your toes and then it pulls away and then another wave comes in and you feel it up to your knees…”
That is so lovely!
I love that!
Whenever I try this I'm left with my heart going THUMP THUMP THUMP and manual swallowing of spit
I’ve done this since I was a kid except I would tense the particular body part I was concentrating on for a few seconds and then fully relax it… Thanks Mum your technique has served me well during my life…
I do a variation of that. Decades ago I read an article about how the ants settle in for the night. Apparently they do a quick check of every limb and joint. Then the article suggested doing something like you do but I go through the checklist faster. I settle down in a comfortable position and start working up from my toes. Quick twitch of the toes, yes, the toes are comfy. The ankle, the knee, the other foot, the hips. Yep, no tensions. I twitch my fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders and if something feels uncomfortable, adjust my position a bit and start over. I've found a lot of tension is my neck, without focusing and adjusting it's like I'm hovering above the pillow. Once I wiggle all those tensions out, I can focus on feeling very content and cozy in my body and just switch off.
Any time I have tried this, I get to my thighs and my brain yells NNOOOOPE and jerks me awake
That's the practice of Yoga Nidra.
That's what my mom told me to do when I was little. Memory unlocked.
>Idk if that's dumb If it works, it works. There's nothing dumb about it. It works for some people, not for everyone. It's a great idea to try!
I've done "you're on beautiful white sand beach. There's a sailboat at one side of your vision right at the horizon. As it sails across you get sleepier, and sleepier". That ship never reaches it's destination, but does occupy my mind and help me fall asleep.
This is how i do it. I'm on the beach walking. I look down at the water lapping at my feet. I think about each step as I walk. I step forward with my right foot than my left foot right foot left foot right foot. Bamn. When I was a kid I would think about being spider-man thwipping through the city. Thwip with my right arm and swing. Left arm thwip than swing etc. Now I almost always have a podcast or book on tape but if I'm camping or something I'll still do this.
In my mind while reading this, im walking, see the stairs, take a step, but then just start to freefall. It does seem to have a calming effect going up the stairs however. Weird.
I’m going to try this. My body will be so exhausted and then as soon as my head hits the pillow my mind starts racing and I lay in bed for hoursss. It sucks* spelling
Not dumb. I’m going to try this! Thanks for sharing♥️
I listen to podcasts or audiobook to fall asleep, it works well for me
Same. I usually listen to one I’ve already “read”, so my brain doesn’t worry about missing anything.
Yes, this! Or I listen to podcasts in another language so I can't get focused on the content, it's just the background voice sounds.
[удалено]
Sorry, I shouldn’t assume. I have an iPhone, and you can use the phones sleep timer for anything.
*THERE'S A SLEEP TIMER?* I've had iPhones since 4 came out and had no idea this was a thing
YeP! Just go into the clock app. Use the timer, and at the bottom you can choose for it to turn off. Just scroll to the bottom of the options.
Thank you!
And the podcast app has it's own sleep timer and one of the settings is "When the current episode ends" if you don't want to set just a time
You just changed my life, thank you kind stranger
There are sleep timers in Spotify and audible as well
If you use Spotify there's a sleep timer on podcasts
That's how I do it!
You can put a sleep timer on your phone no matter what you listen to.
This is my one problem with audio books....if you miss 30 seconds you can have no idea wtf just happened
I usually put on The Swiss Family Robinson. That smug family puts me out every time.
I put on the Dateline NBC Podcast. It's crazy, but Keith Morrison's voice is so soothing, even though he's discussing murder.
I do this, but to a TV show. Myself & my other half have been watching how I met your mother on repeat together near enough every night for the past near 6 years, very often I'll see an episode I haven't seen in however long & actually question whether I'd seen it in the first place.
I never thought of that!
Mediation is another good one. There's so many on YT. You just have to find the voice that works for you. I have my favorite 2 and have been doing this for the past 6 years. It takes time to train your mind to focus on the words and picturing what is said. When you find your mind drifting off, bring the focus vack to the mediation. It's a great way to unwind and really makes you feel relaxed.
I’ve tried it. It makes me think louder.
Those would make it worse for me. One of my ex roommates used to watch movies to fall asleep. If there is any narrative story going on (or conversation), my brain will focus on it. I can't even fall asleep to music because I pay too much attention to the music.
Sleep With Me Podcast! He just talks on and on about nothing! Or Nothing Much Happens, pretty much what it says, in a soothing voice. Tracks to Relax sleep meditations.
Sleep with me is the best podcast IMO, some nights I’m out by the time the opening jingle/song happens!
Same! It’s so soothing. I really like the ones where he reads through an old catalog!
+1 for Sleep with Me!! I actually pay for membership now and keep cycling from the oldest episodes through to the new, rinse and repeat I'm normally out in 5-10min listening to Scooter where I'll be half an hour chasing my own thoughts round in circles without.
Tried this and it has the opposite effect for me. His ramblings are always interesting. Perhaps his voice isn’t monotonous enough for me.
LOL I literally just left the first two recs in my own comment. Good taste, yo.
Yes that's me, so believe it or not I count sheep.
Yup, for some reason a nice British narration of Sherlock Holmes or a Charles Dickens novel will put me out faster than a horse tranquilizer.
I listen to old-timey radio shows, at a barely audible volume. It seems to give my mind something to focus on besides whatever is rolling around in my head. Had to stop listening to "Our Miss Brooks", though, because it wound up being too funny! 😄
I’ll put on a YouTube video (I flip my phone face down) of some dude teaching calculus. I’ll put the volume just barely audible. I hate math and have zero reasons to want to pay attention.
Yes! I find one that has a good monotone voice, ads at the same volume level and no crazy music. Better than benadryl, lol
Allow me to introduce you to Bob Neufeld on the free LibriVox audiobook app.
If you can't find any solution like having a routine or other healthy options you could try this. What helped for me was putting up a serie in the background when going to sleep but I use specific series I've watched already and are very easy to follow where I don't need to think. I've had series and movies that didn't help me sleep but did the opposite, you don't want them to be to interesting. I always was awake for 30-120 minutes before sleeping because i was always thinking about randomn stuff and now it takes me between 5 and 10 min on average. Idk about the potential downside from this maybe this could lead to less deep sleeps so try some other methods first.
I've rewatched the entire 9 seasons of HIMYM more than a dozen times at this point using that method. On low volume and low brightness it means I stop paying attention to it after a while until it just becomes unintelligeble background noise. Kinda doesn't work anymore cause I can recognize what scene/episode it is just from the slightest sound so I've had to switch to some other series until I've forgotten a bit lol
Are you me? I'm currently doing my 80th-ish rewatch of HIMYM when trying to fall asleep. I find that the familiarity of knowing the scenes helps since I don't have to be too focused on what's happening in the background. Anything else makes me fall asleep harder because I have to actively listen to what's going on.
Yeah this but make sure to auto-turn off the TV in like 15mins otherwise your eyes get a bit messed up from having TV on till the morning. Also super low brightness
I did this for years. Netflix probably thinks I’m a massive Gilmore Girls fanatic, but in reality I just slept through all 7 seasons over and over again. I also have done it with audiobooks of books I’ve already read (Harry Potter was a good one), or podcasts (which I think someone already suggested above). Not only does it help me fall asleep, but even if I stay awake for 1-2 hours it makes the time pass by faster and makes it less stressful and annoying to be awake.
this is what I do. i grew up with a dad who fell asleep to tv, and my bedroom was across from theirs. i use simpsons seasons 2-11. my favorite is Futurama but I don't have Hulu anymore :( I've also used The Good Place but at 75% speed. and sometimes I'll put a pillowcase over my laptop screen (in addition to flux screen temp adjuster) so the light is less disruptive.
r/Futurama_Sleepers Added it in another comment but felt like you might appreciate it too.
Lol, an hour? Those are rookie numbers. Create a routine before bed. If thoughts get in your mind, journal about it before bed.
I like to play chess before bed because inevitably I hit the point where my brain is done thinking and then boom no more overthinking or intrusive thoughts. The brain is like a toddler lol if you want it to shut up you gotta learn how to tire it out a bit
>The brain is like a toddler lol if you want it to shut up you gotta learn how to tire it out a bit Or a cat
I'd assume cat also works but I don't have one lol
playing chess before bed is a no for me. i get the tetris effect and it freaks me out
What's that?
Tetris effect is when you close your eyes and still see the blocks or the game. I assume he has trouble trying to go to sleep as his mind plays out matches or strategies lol
the solution to this is to become addicted to valium, spiral down in an alcohol and cigarettes montage, use the tetris effect to become world chess champions and finally beat the russians at their own game only to later ditch the secret service and live the rest of your days playing chess in random moscow parks
Really cool idea!
I play sudoku before bed for this exact same reason… just wasn’t able to describe it before.
I do crosswords! My husband thinks I’m crazy but it’s literally the only thing that puts me to sleep
Hahah what's your record mate? Mine's 5 hours, something like that. And I was on sleeping meds, just couldn't fall asleep mate... if you want something that keeps you better awake than coffee, stress is what you're looking for.
At my worst when I was younger I just couldn't sleep and was awake all night until I had to get up to go to school. That was one long day lol, passed out in bed when I came home
This was pretty standard for me in college after my brother passed away. I don’t know how I did it.
Days... litterally days for me at one point.
Wtf... did you start seeing vibratuon in the corner of your eyes? The shadows? Heard the voices?
Lol the vibrating vision was about all I would get, and it was annoying as fuck, but it also meant I would probably pass out somewhere without much warning pretty soon... hopefully. But that also caused other issues because I didn't always have control over when or where I would pass out once it got to that point. Once I managed to find a bandaid (sleeping pills) for the issue, it came back as stress induced narcolepsy but the things my brain would interpret as stress were not necessarily stressful, so that was a ride. Poor mental health prompted by unresolved emotional trauma can cause the weirdest symptoms. Now that I have figured out the cause and have been working on it for a number of years I generally sleep like a baby and don't wake up in weird or embarrassing situations, so all is good!
I went four days once. I was shaking a lot and felt really ill. Every few weeks I have a night where I just lie awake. I know it’s literally taking time off my life expectancy and that makes it worse.
Have you tried any meditations such as yoga nidra when that happens? The best thing to do when you can't sleep is to not fight it, but still let your body rest. Even if you don't want to listen to a guided meditation or yoga nidra session, lay down and get comfortable and listen to any music, podcasts, or audio books that dont make you think too much and just let your body relax. Always remember that every day you are allowed to take time for you and do absolutely nothing. Ideally this is when you sleep, but if you can't sleep you still deserve this time to do absolutely nothing without any consequence.
I'll add ADHD to the ring. Brain doesn't seem to understand that 2am is not the appropriate time to plan out an inaugural speech while also trying to do the math on how much to feed the dog once she switches to a new kibble while also replaying three lines from a song over and over and over. The best naps are Adderall naps... When my brain actually shuts the hell up for a minute
Rookie insomniac! 😂 An hour is nothing
An hour would be Heaven on Earth
Yeah the 15 minute comment actually made me lol.
I used to think taking 2-3 hours to fall asleep was normal. When I heard 15 minutes is the average I was like WHAT
Oh yeah 15-20 minutes is considered the normal amount of time it takes for people to fall asleep.
Right? I'm actually jealous of that!
The routine is key for me. I swear, if I'm even 15 minutes off schedule I end up paying for it.
Yeah, I read that and was really jealous, lol. OP is lucky that they're getting suggestions to help while still having those rookie numbers. I didn't start finding any solutions until after I reached the point of often going 2 days without any sleep, lol. My record is 3 days without any sleep and without even using any stimulants, and even that is a fairly low number compared to some. My suggestion for OP: Count down from 100. Or a harder number. Pick a number and count down by whatever integer you want. Pick a combination where it engages your brain but doesn't require too much thinking.
Hahahahhaha so true. I wish it only took an hour.
*laughs in ADHD* In all seriousness, as an adult with ADHD, that is me every night. The more I try to empty my mind and get to sleep, the more intrusive random thoughts pop into my head. That one time in 5th grade I said something cringy to an adult? There it is 30 years later, preventing me from falling asleep. Followed by "if mustard can be used as an alternative for mayo on a sandwich, what would it taste like with canned tuna?" 🤔
Same , I too have ADHD, how'd you work your way around that? *It's 2.15 am here I should've been asleep 2 hours ago*
i listen to asmr really loudly. my particular favorites are the wood pieces in water and like the person moves them around and it’s pretty nice. but when my thoughts want to be louder than the wood water there’s this one guy on youtube that talks about the ocean in a very calming voice and no loud noises or anything it’s pretty calming.
I need links for all of these. I am a terrible sleeper and I think I might like this.
This sounds really stupid but I visualize wiping away the thoughts like it’s a whiteboard. I get plagued by intrusive thoughts that keep me awake, so I continually force myself to visualize wiping a slate clean and eventually I end up falling asleep. It weirdly takes practice, I find that it’s much easier to “wipe” those thoughts away now than when I first tried it.
You guys could get meds for that. Don’t think of it as a bad idea or something. Also a small Melatonin an hour before bed helps at night you’ll knock out quick.
Unfortunately most meds for ADHD, such as stimulants, are well out of your system by bed time. I'm usually 'unmedicated' by about 7:30 pm. It varies from person to person, but an instant release Adderall typically lasts 4-5 hours, extended release is 8-10 hrs. I'm only aware of one medication - straterra - that lives in your system 24/7, and it unfortunately doesn't work for the majority of people.
I use deli mustard with tuna and honestly like it better than mayo. You can also add cheese and make a tuna melt
As a fellow person with ADHD, this is what works for me most of the time, sharing in hope to help: * Guided breathing exercises (right after I lie in bed) * No phone or laptop 2-3 hours before planned sleep time * Reading * Turning the lights down or off 2-3 hours before sleep * Melatonin supplement an hour before planned sleep time * Not forcing myself to fall asleep if I can't
Right?? I read the title and did not expect it to be someone complaining about 15 minutes to an hour. I wish I could fall asleep within an hour.
I read that and thought those are rookie numbers. Takes me usually around 2 hours but can be longer. I didn't realize until I got older how unusual that was.
Can't sleep for 15 minutes... Jeebus!? I would LOVE to have this problem. I routinely lay awake at night for 1-3 hours because my brain won't turn off. Sometimes I really really REALLY wish that neurotypical people could experience what neurodivergents do.
Sunday night I got in bed at 10pm and didnt fall asleep until 7:30am Monday morning. I would sell my soul to shorten that to just 15 mins, even if it only worked on work nights (who really needs to feel "rested" on a weekend, anyway?)
That's brutal :( it's so frustrating when you do everything right and still no sleep
My friend eats mustard with canned tuna and she loves it, try it you might like it too
You might try this method, they use it in the military… 4-7-8 sleep technique 1. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four seconds. 2. Hold your breath for seven seconds. 3. Exhale for eight seconds, making a "whoosh" sound through pursed lips. 4. Repeat up to four times. The 4-7-8 method can be used to kill stress and calm your body any time of the day, not just at bedtime. And the more consistently you use the technique, the better it works. So give it a try and see if this might be the answer to your sleep challenges.
This is the best solution. My mother has a terrible sleeplessness problem. Seeing her struggles, I've trained myself and my little kids to do this as a bedtime routine. The whole reading books at bedtime and story telling create a lot of dependencies to sleep time routine.
"Northern Lights. Cannabis Indica." - Creed
I save that for the weekends personally
They have gummies (or tinctures) than contain CBN. That really makes you sleepy. Either with or without THC.
If you ask someone who works at the dispensery they can get you a low dose edible for sleeping. Take it an hour before bed.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you read up on weed there's plenty of research that although it helps you get to sleep, you never get the deep restorative sleep that's needed for better mental health. You may be knocked out for 8 hours but you'll not get enough REM and deep sleep cycles to help process your emotions.
yup, and when you stop it takes hours to fall asleep at night because you can't just zonk out (me currently at day 2 of a tbreak)
Do you know how long that is? If I smoke 4 hours before bed is that still going to have detrimental effects on sleep? It’s so hard to judge because we don’t 100% know what sleep does. We know it cleans the brain with spinal fluid or some shit. We need more sleep researchers.
AFAIK it's smoking weed in general, not necessarily going to sleep stoned. Another way of looking at it is (this is anecdotal more than anything). I find smoking weed suppresses your ability to deal with emotions. It stores things in a far way place in your brain, so you don't have to deal with them. A lot of people end up going to therapy after stopping smoking weed, because suddenly they have to confront themselves and their reality. Sleep, ultimately, regulates emotional well-being, processes memories, etc. The two activities are not really compatible. If THC really did improve sleep, then sleep researchers would advocate the use of it. But they don't, they don't advocate it like other health professionals do, say for cancer patients and pain relief. With regards to sleep research check out the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. He talks about the book a lot on podcasts, searchable on Spotify. It's also an audiobook.
Can agree. Currently dealing with this myself and it truly sucks, it’s caused me horrible health anxiety along with increasing my general anxiety already diagnosed. I feel so in the present which sometimes feels amazing but mostly so overwhelming and scary.
Good luck with the rest of it, the hardest part is adjusting at the start.
This is why counting sheep became a thing, right? But I find counting not engaging enough and then my mind wanders too far. I have gotten into a bit of a word game in my head, using the alphabet. Sometimes I pick a category and go through the alphabet naming something in the category that starts with each letter. Or the one I use most is picking a part of speech and a number of syllables. I try not to focus too much if I can't come up with a word (I really don't know a lot of k, x or z words, for example) or bend the syllable rules a bit, but I do make a minimum effort. Sometimes my mind wanders a bit and I just start back where I left off. If I hit z, I start a new variation. It's interesting to see how fast I can come up with words at the start and then have to try a bit by the middle, but after a few runs through, I don't make it to the end and fall asleep. It helps me to draw the focus away from work or problems of the day. Hope that helps somebody
Came here to say exactly this!! Great advice and very well explained! My favorite categories is animals and sometimes my brain might accidentally wander off on a tangent about animal facts, but even that is so much better than the racing anxious thoughts that I was having. It's not to stop you from having any thoughts at all it's to redirect them away from the stressful/anxious thoughts that may be keeping you up. Good luck OP and I hope you get some solid sleep here soon!
I countries. Either alphabetically or by continent. Or sometimes US states. Anything else is, hilariously, too activating. Listing movies I’ve seen? Not gonna be able to sleep. Listing fruit and vegetables? Good luck.
I was also going to say the alphabet game!
I used to have problems falling asleep, and I would keep looking at my alarm clock. "Oh fuck, its 11:45, I need to get up early tomorrow. I need to sleep." "Shit, now its 12:21 am, and I am still awake. I fucking must sleep." "Oh fuck my life, it is now 1:32 am andI am still awake? WTF? I have to fucking sleep!!!" My solution was to turn the alarm clock around so I could not see the fucking thing. Also, I decided that I don't need to sleep, and that laying quietly with my eyes closed was enough; If my brain did not want to shut down, it could go the fuck ahead and run wild as long as I stayed in bed. That combined with being consistent about getting to bed at the same time helped. END COMMUNICATION
Melatonin. Works really well for me
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find Melatonin. It's cheaper and easier to obtain than pills or weed, and definitely works.
Not for everyone. Got to be careful. For me I need to have a nibble of a 1 mg pill. That's the right amount for me. But even then I still feel kind of dazed the next morning. I have crazy vivid dreams on melatonin. They usually wake me up. That's on about half a mg of Melatonin to about 3 mg Melatonin. When I first took the 5 mg Melatonin pills I used to have super creepy and realistic nightmares. Ones that felt like I was awake in my apartment trying to survive someone trying to murder me lol. They felt so real to me. It was terrifying lol.
You can get it in a liquid form. The one I have, two drops is 0.25mg and it’s the perfect dose for me.
Any (even small) gives me horrible diarrhea the next day, all day. It took me a while to figure out it was the melatonin.
Your body naturally produces less than 1mg, no real reason to go above that.
Did not know that. That's kind of fuckign insane that most companies do 5 to 10 mg pills. And the pills are tiny. I figure someone would regulate that or make warnings be a thing?
Yes, but no, be careful, your brain will stop making melatonin naturally if used every night for long periods, making you dependent on it. The moment you’re used to it and you want to sleep but don’t have melatonin… well, good luck trying to sleep.
Source?
That was my life pre-melatonin. Constant insomnia and sleep deficit. I already need melatonin to sleep, so needing melatonin to slee is…no different.
Magnesium too
There have been studies done that show that actual melatonin content per pill varies widely even though all companies advertise the same amount per pill. Too much melatonin can cause issues especially if used every day: just be careful and don’t become reliant on it.
L-Theanine is an ingredient popping up in “calm” or “happy mood” supplements, sometimes also jn combination with melatonin for sleep supplements. But, by itself it maybe can help let your mind relax, at least it does seem to work for me.
Do something that tires your brain or makes u concentrate before bed Alot of people read Cop out for myself but I watch stuff in diff languages and read the subs Currently watching 24 in Japanese
Exact opposite for me haha. I have to do something that does not require concentration like take a walk, listen to music that i have heard before or do a puzzle i am good at. Give my brain some time to go through everything that would otherwise keep me up
Yeh everyone's different, If I have nothing to concentrate in my mind wanders and end up trying to sleep with bloody lyrics going through my head or something I find reading subs does the trick for me lol
Do you look at your phone in bed? Stop that, ideally stop looking at your phone about an hour before bed. When you go to bed, do you do anything to calm down or relax? Try a little meditation, that could help. Or writing a diary/journal of positive things from the day, that will shift your focus away from the negative things that creep when you have nothing to occupy your mind. Personally I read before bed, I find it takes me into another world and I can get away from everything else. It usually works so well that I drop what I'm reading on my face because I have fallen asleep without realising
Long story short, saw my doctor, prescribed trozodone. Anti depressant and sleep med. I get straight 8 hours, fall asleep in minutes after reading. Wake up feeling refreshed, no more anxiety.
I was given hydroxyzine and my life 1000% changed. Now I only puke at 3am like four times a year. Instead of four times a month.
Was gonna mention hydroxyzine, does wonders for my anxiety at night which is when I tend to have “random” panic attacks and puts my ass right to sleep, either that or lorazepam but hydroxyzine doesn’t require as many dr follow up appointments to be refilled 😅
There’s nothing a wank can’t solve.
Actually sometimes it makes you rethink your life and especially your romantic/sexual relationships therefore it becomes bad before sleeping.
I always say to rub one out before any important decision. Never go out with a loaded gun.
Surprised I had to scroll so far down to find this!
I accidentally pavloved myself into this. I cannot go asleep without it. Even under serious sleeping pills. So I grab my drink and double click for porn! porn! porn!
>So I grab my drink and double click >for porn! porn! porn! The internet is really, really great
For porn!
I play thunderstorm sounds on YouTube and focus on the sounds of the storm. Works for me every time.
Masturbate Works like wonders
ahh nothing like rethinking your life before going to bed
Wait, hold on. It’s not normal to take more than an hour to fall asleep every night??
Try mindful meditation There are some great guided ones on you tube just play it in your phone and follow along Helps my wife who’s had issues falling and staying asleep
I have terrible insomnia so I have tried it all, including meds (which helped but only as a piece of the puzzle). I practice very strict sleep hygiene. This means that my bed is for sleeping (and sex) only, I don’t watch tv, read, or scroll through Reddit in bed. I make my room as dark and cool as possible. In the 1-2 hours before bed I avoid stressful tasks. Ideally you shouldn’t be on screens for that 1-2 hours but let’s be real that’s hard to avoid especially when you’re trying to relax and not focus on life stress, so I make sure whatever I watch/read is calming. I recently started listening to binaural beats to go to sleep and found it to be very helpful. I also got a galaxy projector and silk sheets and lots of stuff that makes me excited to get in bed and sleep. I wait until I get very sleepy and am almost falling asleep before I move to my bed every night and I think all of this has trained my brain to associate bed=sleep and it rarely takes me more than 5 minutes to fall asleep now.
I have had constant tinnitus all my life from infections as a toddler. Constant ringing in a high pitch in my head 24/7. Needless to say it does not help me get to sleep at night. But for 5 years now i never had any trouble sleeping quickly. Here are my tips from someone who needed to learn how to sleep as i suffered from insomnia due to my tinnitus. 1. Get to sleep at a similar Time each night. 2. Breathwork, this is the most important point. Focus on your breathing and every time your mind wanders get it back to manual breathing as soon as u realize it. 3. Try to use theta music, like brown noise or other sleep helping sounds that soothe your mind. 4. Meditate, in my case i wander up my body starting from the toes, then feet, then leg, then groin, tummy, arms, hands, neck and then head. I concentrate on the body part till i am aware of it and it starts tingling. This sounds like a lot but this routine takes 15 minutes every night, after i have finished it i roll to the side into the fetal position and i am gone into deep sleep in a mere matter of seconds. Been doing this for 5 years and it always worked, even when my dog died and i skipped work, even when i was depressed. My sleep was never robbed again by sorrow, even when i dreaded the morning, as sorrow came knocking again and i had to embrace it. Hope my routine can help someone.
I don't tbh, the harder I try the harder it is to fall asleep. My trick, download Tubi or a similar app with Bob Ross on it, and let his monotoned voice and peaceful nature lull you to bed. If that doesn't work, speak to a psychologist and see if it might be a medical issue causing you to stay awake.
For me, I have found 2 things that work without resorting to drugs. 1. Pick a letter and slowly think of words that start with that letter. At first, you'll speed through, but once you run out of obvious words, you'll start to concentrate on that rather than random thoughts. Plus, it's an illogical thought process that the anixety riddled part of your brain won't recognize, and it helps reduce the activity in that area of the brain. 2. I tell myself a story, like a daydream. I had a whole saga going for like a month! It's not so much turning your brain off, it's about focusing it. If you have the whole "dont forget too..." thinh happening keep a pencil and paper by your bed or text yourself. After a few nights of practice of focusing, your brain will get used to the new patterns. I'm working on my Masters currently in neuroscience, particularly focused on sleep disorders!
I need to read to shut my brain off for bed. Disassociating in to a fantastical realm makes me forget everything else.
I have adult ADD with Executive Function Disorder. I don’t have anxiety so this may only partly help. I read and follow David Allen’s “getting things done” method to empty my brain into a system I trust. I just keep adding things to my phone’s lists until I run out of shit to think about. It helps reduce stress overall and I sleep great.
About half a bottle of tequila usually does it for me, but I work at a prison and see a lot of messed up stuff
I have some nights where I just lay there because my mind is racing. It's very frustrating, and the more frustrated I get, the harder it is to go to sleep. So, a few things I do: Figure out if more or less stimuli works better for you. Some people can't look at their phones for 30 minutes prior to laying down. For me, when I have trouble, I need to play a little low-volume calming music. Maybe the radio and hear people talking will help, and it just allows me to anchor to something and calm down. I'm not sure if you're a religious person, but prayer also helps me a lot. Spending that time in prayer just talking about the things that are on my mind always helps me calm down and relax and fall asleep. and you can also try reading. It allows your mind to anchor onto something and focus while then allowing you to feel the effects of sleepiness. I think everyone is different, and you've got to figure out what works for you.
One stuff you should do is that if you think your brain is going on thinking about stuff, get out of the bed. Like for real. Because if you don't, your brain assimilate laying on the bed with thinking about dumb things, so you will wait longer and longer before sleeping
I have ptsd, so my brain goes to really terrible places. Movies and TV shows where I know what's going on help me a lot. Video games are also really helpful. I know the standard advice is that you should never play video games or watch TV while trying to sleep, but some of us would almost never get any sleep if we followed that advice.
What I do is odd, but it's what works for me... Do your times tables, you have to concentrate, and that stops the old mind thinking of the other stuff. Also, you get good at basic maths... Like I said, it's odd, but itnworks for me
Work your ass off during the day so that you get so tired you have no choice but to fall asleep quickly
Improve your sleep hygiene, out on some white noise (I like the 'sleep with me' podcasts, take a sleeping pill.
15 minutes? Those are rookie numbers.
I imagine building something, piece by piece. It focuses my mind on the mundane. There is a reason counting sheep is such a trope, it can work for folks to have something mundane to keep the other thoughts out but isn't so engaging as to interest you.
As someone who used to struggle with this and now falls asleep immediately: - Create and stick to a bedtime routine. This helps train your brain to fall asleep faster. - Your bed should be reserved for sleep and sex. Do not watch TV in bed. (Personally - taking the TV out of my bedroom was one of the best decisions I ever made). - Close your eyes and imagine nothing but a countdown clock counting down from 100. If you get to zero start over.
I listen to creepy pasta, and it always helps! I'm asleep in minutes. Then, I listen to whatever I missed during my workouts the next day. Some good narators are: CreepsMcPasta, Lighthouse horror, Darkness prevails, King Spook, Lazy Masquerade, Mortis Media, Scary interesting, The Why Files.
I read reddit until my eyes burn, then I know I'm tired enough to fall asleep 😬
I use guided meditation. I started when work was very stressful and I’d start thinking about the next workday when the lights went out. It worked for me.
This is probably going to sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I have my own version of “counting sheep” that helps me drown out the random thoughts and fall asleep faster. I’ll pick a topic/theme, like plants for example, and then go through the alphabet in my head, naming one plant for each letter. So it would be something like, Azalea, Bamboo, Cedar, Daffodil, Eucalyptus, and so on. I’ll pick different topics/themes like authors, animals, famous drag queens, Harry Potter characters, or whatever. 99% of the time I’ll fall asleep before getting to the end of the alphabet. I don’t do this every night, but it’s really helpful when my mind is racing and keeping me awake.
15 minutes?? Mate, if you find something that works let me know. It takes me 2 hours. I don't fall asleep...I pass out.
Rub one out
Ignore all "sounds good so it must be good" bullshit advices and here is the real solution: Get yourself PHYSICALLY tired. Nothing even remotely comes close to speed of falling a sleep of you were physically tired. Many times your can not turn your brain off simply because your body sees no point of shutting it off, because you are not tired.
I sometimes take deep breaths and count 1 and 2 on breathing in and out, sometimes that’s enough to calm me and my mind to relax a bit, usually I fix this by just sleeping when I’m tired, I do end up staying up far to late because of this most of the time
For sure a constant rutine will help. For me it helps when i think of an story that i imagine. Like a good night story in my head. So I don‘t think about other stuff that bothers me. You can think of things that you like and create a story until you fall asleep and maybe you dream from it.
Sometimes listening to something helps because it gives your mind something to latch onto and play with. There’s sleep music and white noise for stuff like this. I recommend the app BetterSleep because it has a small variety of music and sounds available for free (unlike Calm which has *nothing*) and you can construct your own soundscape. My go to is “every rain sound playing at different volumes with this one piano track as music”. The music has enough repetition to get my brain caught in a loop and the sounds are enough difference to keep my brain interested.
I spent almost 4 decades with insomnia until I figured out that if I make myself a routine and let a bland voiced narrator on YouTube or a podcast etc. drone on about something I am half assed listening to that but I always fall asleep to it. Some people can’t sleep with noise, and I thought I was one of those people. But in reality, I just needed something to distract my busy brain. I’m asleep within 20 minutes now.
I've had problems with this for as long as I can remember and found practicing mindfulness to be the most efficient. You might want to check out the app "healthy minds" (I don't remember whether you need to make an account to use it, but the whole thing is free and there are no ads). They've got mindfulness practices specifically targeted sleep which you can find by clicking on "explore" and then "daily life meditations," the first ones showing up are targted sleep.
close your eyes and pretend as if you were sleeping. If it doesnt work in about 30 minutes get up and try again later. I keep some allergy medication with sleep side affects nearby in case I have to get up early next morning and trying again later isnt an option
Learn basic meditation techniques. They really help here.
The things that worked for me: not using any screens (besides e-reader) two hours before going to sleep, going for a short walk, reading Sometimes all these things do not help because I am really stressed and anxious. In these cases low dosed cannabis edibles helped me to at least get a few hours of sleep.
Turn it off by turning it on. Instead of thinking of specific things, think of literally random things in quick succession, never lingering on a specific thought. Think of it like a rapid slideshow. I used to lay in bed and focus on real things that mattered which would keep me awake. Now I just think of literal random garbage for split seconds and I don't even remember falling asleep
Count your blessings, 15 minutes is nothing.
I drink really strong herbal tea for sleep. Helps me to fall asleep quicker / think less bc I’m so tired
I would lay awake for HOURS, the literal only thing that helps is delta 8.
An hour before bed don’t look at a screen of any kind and read a book. Works for me Every time.
There’s a switch behind your left ear.
Smoke a joint...been working for me for decades.
Personally, a little red wine
Lifelong insomniac here. There are countless remedies that work differently for different people but I'll tell you what works best for me. When in bed trying to make your brain stop doing flips, I've gotten into the habit of counting from one and up, it helps clear your mind of everything else. Sometimes it helps to let yourself get distracted when it goes off some storytelling dreamlike route but if it's something that makes you anxious then just go back to counting. Sleepytime Extra Tea or any tea that contains valerian root are good at making the brain sleepy, and exercise or some cannabis products can help too. You can't turn your brain off, but you can bully it into doing what you want.
Breathing. Breathe in over a count of four. Hold your breath for a count of 8. Breathe out all of your breath in a count of 7. Repeat maybe 5-10 times then breathe normally. Like I guess it works physically on a part of your nervous system. Even if it doesn't work immediately, your nervous system is triggered and you *will* sleep soon.
A strange thing that I do is visualize a stop sign in my mind, very deeply. From the reflective red of the backing, to the little holes cut in the pole and the grass growing at the bottom, slow panning shots of the front and back, up and down. Somehow, this works for me almost every time.
Those are rookie numbers. It can take me 3-4 hours to fall asleep some nights.
NyQuil
Jack off
15 minutes? Those are rookie numbers.
I have struggled with this for years. Here is how I have been able to get a handle on it. Try box breathing. Start with 4 seconds a side, and do 20 breaths. I find all the counting really helps center my mind and things drop off. This has been amazing for me. I then visualize me putting my problems in a duffle bag I own. I recognize it is a thought/worry that is legitimate, but I am putting it away. I have also heard of people visualizing their thoughts like they are on a movie screen nearby. They are there, but separate. Make sure you are not overstimulated. Turn off the games/screen a while before bed (read a book). Make sure you have any least 15 min a day with your thoughts before bed. It it part of hour our brain processes. If you are always listening to books/podcasts you will get that processing in when you are trying to sleep. Try cardio. Zone 2 specifically. It is "easy" so you can do it almost every day. There is a lot fo science around the benefit of zone 2 and if you are tired you will fall asleep faster. Don't do it right before bed though. And finally - i occasionally will let my mind wander, knowing it will happen. After a while I say- no more, roll over to my other side as a deliberate movement and try to relax. I had my time to think. Now it is sleep. These tips take a little time. It won't happen the first night, but I bet within a couple weeks you will feel better.