SLEEP

[Doolhof]

Hi All,

In the past there may have been threads on sleep and how to improve our quality of sleep.

I am starting this thread up and hope to include past thread titles.

For some of us sleep is a real issue, the more we can learn about it the better informed we will be.

Funny stories on weird places you have fallen asleep are welcome as well.

For me, I had just moved house and was very busy getting everything organised. Friends invited me to the drag races. I was so tired and exhausted that I sat down, leant against the fence right near the starting line and fell asleep for most of the evening.

Hope to read some of your stories and tips.

Cheerio for now, from Mrs. Dools

[fred4761]

I miss sleep 😞

I felt like I had finally gotten to a somewhat ok place in relation to my sleep, especially over the past five or six months. I was having more good nights’ sleeps than bad but this past month that has all gone out the window. I really do hope that I can get back to that after everything going on in the world settles down.

[Doolhof]

Hi fred,

You mentioned you had been sleeping better and now you are struggling. It is certainly understandable with all that is going on in the world for people to be having all kinds of issues, sleep included!

I'm wondering if you can go back to what did work and try to implement those things again if you have given up trying them.

A Dr told me once that having a good night's sleep is like forming a habit, so a poor sleep is habit forming also. He told me I need to break the habit...but didn't tell me the magic solution to that.

I don't know it is that easy! Hope you find some solutions!

Kind regards from a fellow poor sleeper, Dools

[quirkywords]

Hello everyone

I keep being drawn to this thread, with its big letters.

I have coped for so long on little sleep but always hope things will change.

[fred4761]

Hi Dools, unfortunately a lot of the things that I had been doing to help with sleep involved leaving the house . . . regular floatation therapy had made the biggest impact on my sleep routine but now my float centre is closed 😞

I have tried to float in an Epsom salt bath but it isn’t the same. Even when I meditate at home I find it harder to reach that same level of calmness and relaxation that I get from an hour in a float tank.

I am aware that the quality of my sleep directly impacts my depression, anxiety and OCD symptoms. Maybe I am getting more and more worried about sleep as I find myself slowly spiralling downwards. Although the way the world is at the moment it kind of seems like it is ok for me to be a little bit crazy!! I do feel a certain amount of disappointment at having finally gotten my sleep under control only for it be worse than it has ever been.

I appreciate the comments and support. It makes a difference knowing that I am not alone in my sleeplessness.

[Doolhof]

Hi fred,

I agree with you, it must be very disappointing you had found something that helped with your sleep and now it is not available. It sounds like you have tried to replicate it at home with a bath of Epsom salts. Most baths are not long enough to get all of you wet at the same time!

Either your knees are out in the cold, your feet, or you are twisted up like a pretzel!

Are there other ways you could create the softness of the flotation tank?

Do you have some soft quilts you could pile up, lay under a blanket to keep yourself warm, put on some calming music, do some calming breathing and tell yourself you are relaxing. Sometimes we can trick our minds into thinking they are somewhere else like a floatation centre.

What about a blow up mattress? Put a soft quilt on that.

Yesterday I went for a 13 kilometre walk hoping that would assist me in sleeping through sheer exhaustion. Didn't make a difference to my sleeping, but I had plenty of exercise and saw streets and roads in our region I'd not been on before.

Wish I had the answers for you!

Cheers from Dools

[Missy72]

Hi there. I am normally a decent sleeper, however, after going throughout some trauma late last year, my sleep is still very disrupted & short. I’m keeping a sleep diary, & getting on average 4hrs broken a night...although it seems & feels less than that.
I’m currently trying sleep restriction. I’ve been doing it for a week 11-5am. I’m getting to sleep ok, but waking about 1am, falling back asleep after 20mins or so, to wake up about 3.40am.
Has anyone tried this therapy? Did it work?
I take melatonin & some other otc stuff, but nothing seems to work.
I don’t want to take a sleeping pill.
I’m starting to get some anxiety from lack of sleep. (Mainly pressure in the chest)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Doolhof]

Hi Missy72,

Thanks for sharing your experiences here. Have you had a talk with your Dr about your sleep issues?

I have tried something similar and had limited success. We are all very different so what works for one person might not work for you as well.

It is certainly worth continuing though as you never know when you will be more successful with sleeping.

I found the more I worried about not sleeping, the less I slept.

If you don't mind me asking, have you been receiving help to get through the trauma you experienced?

My Dr suggested talking sleeping tablets for 3 nights in a row then leaving it for a week and trying for another 3 nights. This was so I didn't become dependent on them and so my body and mind had a chance to reconsider a different sleeping pattern.

Hope you find some answers. It sounds like you are working on finding solutions.

Cheers from Dools

[Gambit87]

Hi Missy72

Like Dools, if I worry about not sleeping - I dont sleep well.

What I have found that helps me is having a pre-sleep routine.

At 9.30 my phone goes into night mode, and dont look at it (sometimes I do fail haha), I make myself a cup a peppermint tea and put on something light on tv or maybe read or something like that. I try and just zone out and relaxed. It puts me into a state that when I'm ready to go to bed (I only sleep 6-6.5 hours naturally) i fall asleep quite quickly. I may wakeup during the night but i fall back asleep quite quickly.

all the best!

[Guest_1643]

hi all how is the sleep going during covid

anyone been able to find any helpful tools or appraoches?

hope you're all well

[Gambit87]

Not that bad! especially since I have gone back to work and things are getting back to 'normal' (im in WA).

I wake up a few times a night, but usually fall straight back asleep.