Insomnia

[Sentinel]

Anyone else having problems with getting a good nights sleep? Ever since I was very young, probably around puberty, I've had problems falling asleep.

I get to bed, turn off the lights -- and become more energetic than ever. I try to relax and to distract my mind by counting to a thousand etc, but it keeps going back to issues that worry me, or events during the day.

Now, I work on a ten days on, ten days off schedule onboard a ship so at home I'm fine with this. I can sleep all day if I want and spend the nights on the computer or whatever.

I'm also single so my nocturnal activity doesn't bother anyone else. But it is when I get to work that the problems begin. :(

During the first half of my shift I usually get around 3-4 hours of sleep on a given night (the first night sometimes no sleep at all). I then feel like a zombie all day -- right until the point I am finally allowed to go to sleep.

Only after having been onboard for at least a few days I usually get so tired that I fall asleep relatively early, getting almost six hours of sleep on a good night.

I have been prescribed sleeping pills, which work, but the doctor was very reluctant and might not prescribe them again.

Share your insomnia tales, if you can't offer any tips at least you might make my waking more enjoyable..

[Misanthrope]

It's probably because of such an exotic sleep and work schedule, you probably knew that though lol. I'm having sleep troubles right now, I need to go somewhere in 5 hours. Nothing a little weed can't fix though right?

[al8]

My waking ours tend to be 18-19 hours instead of 16. So I always encroach upon the night a few snippets of hours every day.

I tried to go to the chemist/drug store once to ask for sleeping pills. I got informed that I would need a prescription from the doctor, but got immediatly sugested a 'natural medicine' they where selling. That incidentally, she said, also worked on stress, general uncomfortableness, coughs and a host of other things.

I was quite taken aback by her promotion of quackery. I wanted to go beserk on her but lead out a mealymouthed "I'm not much for natural medicine thank you very much" instead. I regret doing nothing more than this, but I had other priorities. I shoudn't have been surprised anyhow, I know how this works, these stores are just for-profit that put uneducated clerks into science-doctor costumes to sell whatever gets profits. But it still felt like a blast from the middle ages.

[RedAnarchist]

I tend to have very irregular sleep. Just this weekend, I didn't sleep at all between around 9am Saturday and around 1am Monday morning. I usually don't go to bed until at least 12 and often stay in bed until up to 11am. I think I need to start having a regular amount of sleep.

[NecroCommie]

Every night? Yes...

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I used to be able to reset my body clock, if I couldn't sleep in a night, by staying up the next day and having an early night, but that doesn't seem to work any more.

[Manifesto]

If I go to bed at 12 I will be lucky to fall asleep at 3 if at all.

[Pogue]

yeh i usually lie there for 3 hours

[Pirate Utopian]

I have a holiday which means I wake up at 15:00 and go to bed at 6:00.

[Os Cangaceiros]

A lot of people have that problem around where I live, especially in the summer, because it's light outside basically all day long in the peak of the summer (only about three hours of mostly total darkness, between 2 AM and 5 AM.) Tourists come here and always comment on the fact that there are kids riding their bikes around in broad daylight at 12 at night.

I've personally never had insomnia, though...at least not non-self imposed insomnia.

[Bright Banana Beard]

I usually have 3-5 hours of sleep, but rarely for 7-9 hours.