[Guide] Sleep and Insomnia - Page 3

If you have trouble falling asleep but are fine during the day, then you are simply someone who needs less sleep.

On June 14 2009 16:07 Uraeus wrote:
Great guide !

I have a stressful job (Air-traffic controller) with weird shifts (including night and/or very early morning), so my wake-up time always varies.

I guess my occasionnal sleeping problems come from this, as I don't remember having any before. I had already put some of the tips you mention into practice, and they helped me a lot.
For example, exercising in the afternoon has proven to be extremely efficient for me. Dimming the lights 1/2H prior to going to sleep helps me a lot to.
Naps do me a lot of good, especially after a crappy night, or worse, a night shift. If I keep it short enough (about 1H max.), I wake up rejuvenated and I can still sleep the next night.

A few questions though :

- I found my dinner to have a tremendous influence on my sleep. IE, eating too much, or too fat, or drinking alcohol causes poor quality sleep, and makes me wake-up very early, even if I don't feel sick from overeating.
Any idea where this can come from ?

- Having a bedtime routine is supposed to help your brain go into "sleep" mode. Is there any scientific evidence to support this ?

On June 14 2009 18:40 Raithed wrote:

its advilPM if that means anything lol.

On June 14 2009 18:57 kdog3683 wrote:
Few questions to our Mr. Sleep Expert.

It's 3 AM right now. I'll probably sleep soon from watching a chess vod.
However, my body will wake up @ 9:00. I then say, "hmm, Sunday...nothing going on, I'm going to go back to sleep." I wake up @ 11, do this again, repeat again and finally get up @ 12.

Why is it, that I'm not getting enough sleep, and sleeping very late, yet my body still wakes me up @ 9?

On June 14 2009 19:07 SmoKing2012 wrote:
Nice guide micro.

Question: You mention that needing 8 hours of sleep is a myth, and that in fact required sleep time varies from person to person.

Can people change how much sleep they need? If you get into a pattern of consistently getting, say, 4 hours of sleep per night, will your body adapt its requirements?

On June 15 2009 00:10 Shivaz wrote:
Hey I have a question regarding this,

I don't have trouble falling asleep or need alarm clock waking up, however in the morning and afternoon when I am taking the bus to get to my school and back I always dose off during the 1 hour bus ride and probably enter stage1/2 sleep. Do you think I am not getting enough Iron/exercise or are my not getting enough sleep?

Yeah ok. The fact that you overuse them isn't dangerous or anything very bad, but it probably isn't that helpful after the first few weeks. However, like I said earlier, it's possible you have a placebo effect going on where taking the pill has become learned cue for sleepiness even though the medicinal effects aren't causing that... if so... do whatever works I guess. Personally, I like the idea of being able to fall asleep without any medical aids... placebo or not.

On June 15 2009 03:14 gLyo wrote:
Marijuana is an excellent cure for insomnia. Probably better for you than any sleeping pill and way more effective.

On June 14 2009 18:57 kdog3683 wrote:
Few questions to our Mr. Sleep Expert.

It's 3 AM right now. I'll probably sleep soon from watching a chess vod.
However, my body will wake up @ 9:00. I then say, "hmm, Sunday...nothing going on, I'm going to go back to sleep." I wake up @ 11, do this again, repeat again and finally get up @ 12.

Why is it, that I'm not getting enough sleep, and sleeping very late, yet my body still wakes me up @ 9?

On June 15 2009 03:14 gLyo wrote:
Marijuana is an excellent cure for insomnia. Probably better for you than any sleeping pill and way more effective.

On June 15 2009 04:28 Macavenger wrote:

There are plenty of sleep aid options that aren't full bore prescription strength stuff that really are not bad for you at all unless you do stupid things with them. Benadryl antihistamine has the same active ingredient as most sleeping pills, but in a much smaller dosage, and it will help you sleep in addition to clearing up allergies. 25mg of that once in a while to help you sleep won't do anything bad to you any more than popping one occasionally during allergy season would.

The main reason sleeping pills are bad is the potential for habit formation and inability to sleep without them later. Using OTC doses rarely when you need help sleeping for a particular night or something is really harmless - as long as you stick strictly to the "rarely" part. Certainly won't do anything to you compared to marijuana, not that marijuana is anywhere near as bad for you as its often portrayed in the media either.

On June 15 2009 05:02 micronesia wrote:

Good joke. Substances are not a cure for insomnia.

On June 14 2009 10:35 micronesia wrote:
(nobody has ever died from insomnia)

On June 15 2009 05:09 MMC.Lazerflip wrote:
On a serious note, cognitive therapy and drug-free treatments can only get you so far. Some people have very real conditions that cannot be treated solely through the peter-pan method (just think a happy thought). Seroquel and Ambien are effective at treating insomnia in patients in which ordinary drug-free methods simply fail to respond, and benzodiazepenes are often necessary for those who have insomnia stemming from anxiety or panic disorders that simply will not respond to treatment. While you clearly have a firm understanding of how the basic sleep cycle works in a normal person, you (erroneously) assume that all people suffering from insomnia are not suffering from a psychiatric condition that requires chemical treatment to restore proper brain function. To make the blanket statement that drugs are not a good treatment for insomnia is to give out potentially dangerous misinformation.

On June 15 2009 05:05 gLyo wrote:


Personally, I am lucky if even prescription strength sleeping pills put me to sleep; I imagine there are others out there like me. Marijuana usually lets me to fall asleep within minutes and get a good nights sleep.

On June 15 2009 08:02 Macavenger wrote:

Are you already tired when you're taking them? No sleeping pill is going to put you to sleep if you aren't already tired - at least, not at any safe dosage level. The active ingredient for many sleep aids, diphenhydramine hydrochloride, only induces mild drowsiness. If you're tired and having trouble falling asleep, it can be enough to push you over the edge and let you actually sleep.

Beyond that, I'm sure there are some people that are naturally resistant to the effects for whatever reason, but from my experience it should be pretty rare. Even in such cases, I'm dubious about the idea of a heart rate increasing semi-stimulant as a sleep aid. I'd personally wonder about a possible placebo effect there.

On June 15 2009 13:53 VIB wrote:
This guide were way more useful for me than any other from the beta contest!

Thanks a lot for putting your time to writing it.

On June 15 2009 14:38 obesechicken13 wrote:
At one point, maybe four years ago I sometimes had insomnia. Obsessively, during one of my great purges of bad habits, I googled insomnia, and got rid of it. I can't read all of that, but it looks helpful. Props.

On June 15 2009 08:02 Macavenger wrote:

Are you already tired when you're taking them? No sleeping pill is going to put you to sleep if you aren't already tired - at least, not at any safe dosage level. The active ingredient for many sleep aids, diphenhydramine hydrochloride, only induces mild drowsiness. If you're tired and having trouble falling asleep, it can be enough to push you over the edge and let you actually sleep.

Beyond that, I'm sure there are some people that are naturally resistant to the effects for whatever reason, but from my experience it should be pretty rare. Even in such cases, I'm dubious about the idea of a heart rate increasing semi-stimulant as a sleep aid. I'd personally wonder about a possible placebo effect there.