Sleep & Recovery

[Durandal]

I’ve an issue that perhaps some other folks can relate to – I need to function on way less than the recommended 8 hours/night of sleep.

It started when I was a freshman in college with one or two inexplicably bad nights of sleep per week, and slowly but steadily got worse over time. I spoke with a doctor about it when I was a sophomore, about 3 years ago, but his solution was to prescribe me sleeping pills (sigh…shoving pills down our throats is all doctors ever seem to do these days). Fast forward to the present: on a good night I get around 5-6 hours, while on bad weeks I get by on 2-3 (usually non-continuous) hours a night, typically for about week at a stretch, and often with one or two nights where I get absolutely no sleep at all.

I’m pretty sure my sleeplessness is here to stay, that it’s caused by an overly active mind, and that if I can’t figure out ways to deal with it now (or if I take the easy way out and just pop sedatives into my mouth) it’s going to cause Very Bad Things to happen as I get older. So, I’d like to forget about the symptoms of the disorder for a minute and instead address the cause of it…

I understand that if I want things to change, I need to do both of the following:

1) Boost my STR and CON stats like crazy (did I really just say that? I’m such a dork). I’m able to get through one sleepless night without too much damage, even without caffeine, and if I’ve come this far, then I bet I can go further. Being fit can be my safety net against a crappy week of sleep.

2) Improve my sleep hygiene. Part of this involves where, when, how I rest, and part of this involves finding products that can relax both my body and more importantly my mind. Some things work better than other - if people are interested, I can brainstorm a list of what I’ve tried so far.

I think that 5-6 hours is good enough for my body to recover from the running and bodyweight exercises I do; it’s also good enough for me to stay focused throughout my typical day. I’m pretty sure 2-3 hours isn’t, although on a side note I’ve read that Dean Karnazes sleeps only 4 hours a day and he’s an ultramarathoner.

In a nutshell, I’m looking for ways to get better quality sleep, and I’m running out of ideas on how I can get more rest. So if anyone’s in a similar situation, what is a nerd to do? Let me know if you can relate, and what you do to get through or avoid sleeplessness. Like I said, I can also write out all the stuff I’ve tried to improve the quality and duration of my rest if it’ll be helpful.

Thanks in advance. By our powers combined, we can help each other get through this!

[K Po]

I can understand some of your problems with having an overactive mind, but first let me throw in this link. Lots of good tips into improving sleep. Out of all those tips, sleeping in a dark room with no light really improved my quality of sleep.

Now to the overactive mind, I have this problem when I wake up during the night sometimes. The best thing I've found for me is to put on headphones and listen to the most calming music I can. Even if I can't fall back to sleep, laying down in a more relaxed state doesn't seem too hurt.

[ETFnerd]

Turning up the temperature works for me sometimes...

[positivelyrob]

I used to be terrible at sleeping. Try to avoid caffeine after lunch. Any caffeine after 3PM or so will wreck me.

[Ryan Sannar]

Go camping. Seriously being in touch with nature helps. Also set a bedtime early and crash. Try to wake up without alarms and etc...

[concretecavewoman]

In a nutshell, I’m looking for ways to get better quality sleep, and I’m running out of ideas on how I can get more rest. So if anyone’s in a similar situation, what is a nerd to do? Let me know if you can relate, and what you do to get through or avoid sleeplessness. Like I said, I can also write out all the stuff I’ve tried to improve the quality and duration of my rest if it’ll be helpful.

Thanks in advance. By our powers combined, we can help each other get through this!

What's your diet like?

Had sleep problems for several years along similar lines. The biggest factors in improving my sleep have been, in order:

• Blackout curtains
• Gluten-free/sugar-free diet
• Early morning exercise
• Reading before bed
• 1mg Melatonin on occasion

As an aside, though people like Karno get by on 4 hours sleep and run 200 miles a week while juggling a busy family/PR schedule, most of us don't have the extraordinary genetics to do such things, least of all on a regular basis, so I applaud you for working on getting sleep, especially via healthy/natural interventions.

[jessie75]

I often find myself going with less sleep than I would like simply because of life needs and sometime because of stress and a mind that doesn't want to shut down. There are several things that help me.

1. Develop a bed time routine. Mine involves cocoa about 1/2 an hour before I go to bed. Sometime some bailey's irish cream goes into it, though with my upcoming paleo challenge both maybe falling to the wayside.

2. Sleep in as dark a room as you can get away with. Though I do have a alarm clock that I have to be able to see from my bed because if I can't wake up and see what time it is I can't sleep at all (I worry about oversleeping way to much)

and 3. I have a hypnosis mp3 that I listen to each night to help me sleep.

I don't know how much caffeine you consume but I read a study recently (I can't find it at the moment) that says that caffeine takes as long as 6 hrs to burn out of your system, avoidance of it may help significantly.

The flip side of that is something that I have noticed since I started cleaning up my diet and exercising more. I simply have more energy and find it easy to sleep at bed time. When I am eating well and making sure that I get some exercise everyday I drop off to sleep much easier and I wake up easily and in a good mood. I think that if you make a solid commitment for 30 days to 6 weeks and follow through you maybe surprised at how much those two things help you out.

[Jon5k]

Are you reading texts from your phone or surfing the net prior to going to sleep? I understand that the lighting used wrecks havok on your mind and makes it more difficult to fall asleep.

[thescrawnycaveman]

Do you use your laptop, do paperwork, read, or any other activity in your bed other than sleep (and "sleep")? If so try isolating your bed to only be used for sleep. I had this problem for awhile and once I stopped doing anything else in my bed it became a lot easier to go to sleep and stay asleep. So, give it a shot.

[catspaw]

http://lifehacker.com/5548150/how-to-reboot-your-sleep-cycle-and-get-the-rest-you-deserve

[Durandal]

Thanks for everyone's advice. The links were especially helpful! I used to read a lot on my bed, but I'll put an end to it. Setting a nighttime ritual also sounds like a good idea - maybe i'll just start habitually drinking sleepytime tea before turning in, as it always helps me relax. Plus I went ahead and installed F.lux to filter out my laptop's blue light, because I figured it can't hurt.

I generally avoid messing with electronics before going to bed, but I do sometimes drink black tea as an evening pick me up if I need to focus on something. It's an obvious mistake, and will be one of the first things I change.

I also reanalyzed my diet. I've been gradually going paleo since last month but still eat the occasional side of beans, brown rice, or whole wheat pasta. I've been eating only when I feel hungry (usually 3-4 meals a day) but after counting calories it appears that I've been eating way fewer calories than I should be. Definitely need more protein, too - I'm going to start eating meat every day. It's funny, but before I found NF I thought I was 'being healthy' by limiting how much meat I ate each week. Then again, it was only since yesterday that I understood what lectins, gluten, and phytates are, so I look forward to learning a lot more.

[21katykat01]

This is going to sound new-agey, but hear me out!

I don't know how big it is over in the US, but there's a big focus in the UK right now on Mindfulness therapy, especially in the mild-to-moderate Psychology services within the NHS. I used to train people how to do some basic mindfulness exercises when I worked there. At first my opinion of it was "Ah hippy stuff, nooo!" but I took one of their exercises, called a body scan, and adapted it. I needed something to quiet my mind, so that I'd eventually just drift off.

The mindfulness exercise I do at night is once I'm in a comfortable position in my bed, to try and picture as clearly and accurately as I can, my skeleton in sequence. Sounds weird, I know! But I work right from the top of my head (including all the teeth etc), down the vertebrae, shoulder joints, arms, wrist and hand bones etc etc. I find the level of accuracy needed keeps my mind engaged in the task without making it another endless thought spiral. If I get to my toes before I'm asleep, I start again.

A key thing to remember, if you do try a mindfulness exercise (and you'd find loads on Google) is that it's ok if your mind wanders - don't give yourself a hard time about it - just get back to wherever you were.

Good luck!

[maegs]

Plus I went ahead and installed F.lux to filter out my laptop's blue light, because I figured it can't hurt.

I looked up F.lux when you posted this & have also installed it. It definitely makes a big difference to me. I haven't broken the habit of being online right before bed, but I've definitely noticed less eye-strain when using my laptop in a dark room

[lulu]

This may sound daft, but have you tried taking a magnesium supplement? I used to have similar problems, but since starting overall my sleep has improved greatly.

Take one (maybe two, trial and error to see what suits) approx 12 hours before you want to wake up. I take mine at 5pm each night. First night I took it I was in bed an hour later and slept right through!

** note this post does not take into account your personal circumstances yadda yadda - it's just s,omethingthat has helped me**

[positivelyrob]

Don't sweat it if you make changes and your sleep doesn't change immediately. It will probably be gradual.