ok, well I actually suffered really badly from insomnia in Taiwan, at numerous points. one reason that no one seems to mention is low iron intake. Try upping your iron in take, that may be irrelivant toy ou, meditaing is very good for getting you chill and you head on straight bc. But really insomnia for me was a vicious cycle, can’t sleep tired cranky weird, stressed bc I cant sleep, making me more tired cranky and…so on.
one simple thing was go to bed earlier like by ten.. read chill out don;t worry about it. Also do not watch TV in bed, I got in the habit of doing that and suddenly couldn;t fall asleep in my bed.sit in a chair to watch tv and then go to bed even if it's less comfortable.
if all these fail I actually recomend medication but not what people have been recomending. You become highly dependant on drugs like stilnox and they have odd side affects (not person experience but close freinds, I watched a friend get really weird on stilnox she always felt really groggy the next day and remebered nothing). Go to most Taiwanese doctors and explain that you are very stressed out and can’t sleep, then ask if it would be possible to try Xanax. Xanax is and anti anxiety pill, in other words it makes you mellow and a llittle sleepy, similar to valuim with out the knasty feeling or all the side affects.
Basically it chills you out enough and makes you a bit sleep so you can get to and stay asleep. The generally give you a low doesage .5mg, and often half that and find it enough for me. I dont use it all the time just when I am really wound up from work a chill reading etc does work. Sleep is important to maintain your health and ability to function.
The reason i strongly recomend xanax is you sound like me and have being doing all the right hting but their failure is upseting, adding to the previously mentioned cycle. It helped me, and i rairely need to use it now.
I think the curse has lifted. Was really tired and sick and started howling and weeping like a girl in the middle of Tian Mu (WTF was I even doing in TianMu?). Cleared the cobwebs, went home and that night I slept for six hours. Six the next, and then eight for the last couple. Feel ‘cleansed’ but sluggish. S’OK, don’t have to do anything that requires human thought 'til the weekend.
I guess the key now is to keep regular habits and take care of things better.
Sorry to bore you all with the minutiae of my life but I was really on edge when I posted. I am kind of embarrassed. I figure that I am allowed x stupid questions because I never ask about my visa or where ‘where can I buy toilet paper?’ and ‘how do I wipe my own arse?’ questions, but I suppose that must mean I’m an even stupider person who hasn’t figured out basic biological functions yet. There’s no no shame in asking for help. Except when there is, of course. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.
Don’t have coffee after 5. No tea after 5 either. No chocolate… nothing with caffeine after 5. No sugar (of any kind) within 4 hours of sleep.
And I would love to tell you that something else worked for me, but I take sleeping pills about twice a week just so I can get caught up.
I’m not the only one? Yey!!! People have always thought I was weird when I told them this (including my wife, though she has now seen that this is true for me), but it has sorted out my insomnia totally (except in my case, it’s more like the deadline is 3 pm).
You guys are right, but I start work at 6. It would be physically, mentally and emotionally impossible for me to do my job without coffee.
I think my job’s the problem. I don’t get home 'til 10.30 at which time I’m not particularly relaxed. A day job that I’m qualified to do that doesn’t make me want to kill people doesn’t exist.
I’m not the only one? Yey!!! People have always thought I was weird when I told them this (including my wife, though she has now seen that this is true for me), but it has sorted out my insomnia totally (except in my case, it’s more like the deadline is 3 pm).[/quote]
Some of us are Caffeine sensitive. Some aren’t. My boyfriend can have an expresso and then come to bed. I think he is a freak.
My deadline would be 3 pm if I went to bed before 2 am.
Buttercup. Not saying don’t do caffeine at all. Just don’t do it 5-6 hours before bed.
Wait. This is exactly what I was doing when I worked in Spain. It’s a vicious circle, as you’re knackered from the insomnia, so need coffee to stay awake. Brake the vicious circle, and you’ll find that you don’t need the coffee so late in the day anymore.
I’m not the only one? Yey!!! People have always thought I was weird when I told them this (including my wife, though she has now seen that this is true for me), but it has sorted out my insomnia totally (except in my case, it’s more like the deadline is 3 pm).[/quote]
OMG! My deadline is 3, too! We’re like Coffee Deadline Twins, or something!
Buttercup, glad to hear the curse has lifted. I’m also glad you’re not telling people how it actually happened. You know it’s wrong to give free publicity to alcohol. Even if it is just red wine. Good girl!
Yes, I should drink more. Two glasses of red wine and I was three sheets to the wind. Or maybe it was a certain somebody’s Mexican wrestling elf jokes…
My insomnia would have to be near lethal before I’d take melatonin again. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll make you sleep. Oh yeah, the sleep’ll come all right. The problem with melatonin is the waking up. You won’t, not anytime soon. You’ll sleep for at least 12 hours, and then you’ll feel like one of the slower zombies for something like 24 hours subsequent to your awakening. Maybe longer.
Melatonin is to my sleep as a 16-lb. sledgehammer is to breaking eggs. Ponderous, massive, crushing, no autopsy possible. Grim. I shudder even to think about the last time I took it.
5pm on the caffeine for me, but I always work out afterward, in the early evening. If I didn’t my cutoff time would probably be noon. I can’t count the times I’ve stared at the ceiling wondering why I’m not sleeping only to think, duh, oh yeah, that coffee/soda/tea I had with dinner.
For what it’s worth, Buttercup, the key is exercise. Get your heart rate up high enough to sweat hard for at least 20 minutes, at least once each day, and your sleep will be sorted. Guaranteed.
Caveat. Don’t exercise within an hour or two of your sleep time, since that’s the only way such exercise can get in the way of sleep.
Glad to read you’re sleeping better. Best of luck!
Maybe my lifestyle is the problem. I don’t work a lot, but the hours are a joke. I have to walk home at 10, which takes 45 mins. I’m always pretty wired after work.
I swear, one day I’m going to go back to the UK and work in a shop. My life is ridiculous.
I understand what it’s like to be wired after work.
I can only add to the many suggestions you’ve already gotten.
Curtains! Get good thick ones that keep your bedroom really dark.
A good alarm clock. Know that your clock will wake you.
White noise is good. Taipei is bad (loud). Covering the horns and scooters with a fan etc. helps.
Chinese tapes. They all work equally well for me. You’ll get to know that first minute really well. Note: Don’t use a tape player or CD player that stops with a loud, “THUNK!”
Exercise. Yes, it’s been said many times before, but do it much earlier in the day.
A good pillow, bed and covers.
If you must watch TV, avoid any programs that are too stimulating; try one of the stock channels.
I read once (link below) that 6-7 hours is the optimum amount, and not 8+ like people like to think. I like that because I tend to sleep <7 (on average.)
[quote=“miltownkid”]I read once (link below) that 6-7 hours is the optimum amount, and not 8+ like people like to think. I like that because I tend to sleep <7 (on average.)
health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html[/quote]
I think the optimum is what my body normally tells me he needs, i.e. 10-12 hours if I won’t be interrupted. My personal record stands at around 18 hours, and I think I didn’t even wake up once to pee. (and neither did I pee in my bed, okay?)
