For as long as I can remember, sleeping at nights has been a battle for me. I sleep past 2am most nights and wake up before 7am. In between, I toss and turn, then I take a stroll around my house, then sleep on the couch, then come back to bed. I don’t know what it is. My Mattress and Pillows are so comfortable and my blanket is so cozy and lovely, but I do not get why I keep waking up at nights. Maybe I am thinking too much, maybe a lot is on my mind, maybe I am thinking about so many people in my life. During the day I feel energetic, then I take a sudden power nap during the early afternoon for 15 minutes. I sometimes have a hard time falling asleep in my bed.
I went to the doctor about my sleep habits, he said that you are probably going through insomnia or you are probably thinking too much at night. Those can be the factors. I need to just sleep for a good 8 hours straight without waking up, but that is not possible. I am thinking of setting up an appointment at the sleep clinic to determine what is going on with me. My parents tell me I never snore or anything which is a good sign, but I need to get checked out. I am starting to freak out. I keep having these scenarios in my head that I want to happen, and I keep focusing on happy things, and that helps me fall asleep for a little while, then I am up again after 1-2 hours. I am going crazy. I don’t know what is happening to me.
This has been happening in the past 1-2 years, but now it’s become more serious and I feel like its getting a lot worse. I don’t know how I just get out of bed and walk around my house, and end up on the couch. I think it maybe sleep walking too mixed with it. Like I said, I have a super comfortable mattress, pillows, blanket, and I keep the blinds in my room closed at nights so I don’t see light, but I need to sleep with a bit of light. I sometimes fall asleep in front of the computer too for 10 minutes there, 5 minutes there, then wake up again. What are your opinions on what I should do? I know doctor and sleep clinic, but what do you think the factor maybe?
I keep searching the internet on sleeping disorders, and there is so much to absorb and I don’t want to get immune to sleeping pills or any pills for that matter. I need natural remedies that won’t effect my health….
I am out of clues on what it can be. Getting an appointment with my doctor this week. I need to get some more answers.
Talin Orfali Ghazarian 
Do you live in an area with a lot of light, especially unnatural light? The one very easy and simple thing I did that completely changed how I sleep is purchase a sleeping mask! The light outside my window as night was too much and I didn’t want curtains because I love waking up with the morning sun. So a really simple sleeping mask did the trick surprisingly well!
I also find jasmine tea helps me a lot, too. That stuff puts me out like a light!
Good luck, Talin! I hope maybe these can help and, if not, someone else has some brilliant ideas.
Hi L.S Engler. Yes I do live in an area with lots of Light. the sunrise comes into my room but I love seeing the sun too. I will try it out. I will be going to purchase a sleeping mask. I am going to see if it makes a difference for me. Thank you for your suggestions.
I hope your doctor can give you some good, orderly direction.
Thanks! I definitely need some answers.
A couple of things to try if you haven’t already – no computer or electronic devices for at least an hour or hour & a half prior to sleeping, be mindful of your last meal of the day or what you drink with dinner, a new mattress (I just got one – ready to try it out tonight) & a new pillow, make your last activity before bed a relaxing one…Good luck!
By the way – I am no pro to be giving official advise on sleep. I’m just giving a few tips that I think might help.
No, Rosy, hun it makes sense what you are saying. I will try that out and see where it goes, then I will no longer need a doctor to determine my diagnosis đŸ™‚ Thank you!
Maybe that is what it is because before I go to bed, I am usually on the computer working, or I am watching a bit of T.V. I will definitely try it out this week and give it a trial run. Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate it.
Try your best to get to bed early, though! I’ve read that you should go to sleep by 10:00 PM because the most restful time for the body is between 10 and midnight. For some reason, getting to bed by 10 has made it easier for me to sleep (but it may be just because I’m young). I drink chamomile tea before bed, and that definitely helps. Also make sure you eat early in the evening because your body’s digestion could be keeping you awake.
Best of luck to you! I hope you figure out something that’ll work for you! đŸ™‚
Joshua
With all of the things others have suggested, strenuous excercise can help sometimes. Get your body tired.
You poor thing – hugs. I personally could have wrote your blog. I went through the same thing a couple of years ago. Sometimes at night I just can’t seem to “shut down”. I made a few changes that seem to help for the most part although I still have my nights that I can’t sleep. I try to go to bed at the same time every night. No caffeine. I keep a fan on in the room for white noise to focus on and to keep it cool. I hope you get some relief soon. Hugs
I’m having sleep problem as well. The only thing different is that I’ll sleep before sunrise and the worst ever, I went to bed at noon and woke up at 3 pm, since I cant sleep at night. Stay up during the night and sleep for few hours til noon. Tiresome. I’ve tried everything, sleep just not coming at night and it is frustrating.
Wish yours will be gone after the doctor. đŸ™‚
There is a tea called “sleepy time”, which contains all natural herbs. I find it very relaxing. It might be worth a try…
Don’t take an afternoon nap, stay awake and don’t eat after 9 o’clock, you will be surprised how well you might sleep, đŸ™‚ Try Yogurt, no kidding, 15 minutes and you will be fast asleep….
Dear my friend… You can buy sleeping pills but you cannot buy sleep; you can buy medicine, not health; you can buy sex, not love…..Yes, you can by the husk, and not the kernel.
It is the peace of mind one gets from relief from obcessions.. Plz do not think about insomia, sleep will follow.
Not sleeping is sooo awful… I’ve had problems sleeping for many years. I found that mindfulness and a change of thinking helped me lots, and the introduction (sort of) to that was the Deep Sleep-app on my iPhone…. I managed to relaxe, and that was a big thing for me, and using the app, usually have me sleeping before it is finished. Google Andrew johnson deep sleep… Hope it can work for you too! đŸ™‚
Yoga. Meditation. No electronic stimulation. And no sleeping pills except natural melatonin. Check with doctor anyway; the sleep clinic may offer a solution. You need to sleep!
I, too, suffer from insomnia, though napping is not an option for me. When I go for three nights in a row, however, with little to no sleep, I can fall asleep during the day, but the process of falling asleep wakes me up. After decades of dealing with this problem, I finally figured out that I shouldn’t go to bed unless I’m completely exhausted. Sometimes that means staying awake for hours after what I would normally consider my bedtime. I still awaken frequently during the night and at least I know that I’ve never gone more than 3 days without at least 5 hours of sleep on the 3rd night. I don’t know what to recommend other than to say you’re not alone, and that some of us need far less sleep than we think we do. You should know, though, that I am by nature a very stressful person. I can’t relax (I’ve tried meditation but I can’t sit still long enough), and I know that is my problem. Hopefully, it’s not yours. Wishing you some restful sleep.
Try some chamomile tea, it helps!
I have been in your situation Talin. For me it turned out many years later to be a spiritual question of just “letting go” of what I could not change. I had to let go of the control of things, the order, the way I “wanted” to direct my life. It was only until I accepted that the most I could do was to put one foot in front of the other and let the Universe direct me to whatever was for my highest good that I finally came to a balance. Physically how I handled it sometimes, though, in order to be practical, was to just pick a night when I didn’t have to be anywhere early or even a whole set of days and just stay up and let my body and mind go to the extreme until it understood that it needed sleep. It will all work out for you. Dig deeper.
A few things ive read: get on a schedule where you go to sleep and wake up at the same time and try taking melatonin before bed.
Very sorry and totally hear you. If you can take it, klonopin helps turn off the overactive mind. You should ask you GP what would work best.
Absolutely disagree about taking Klonopin, which is primarily used to treat seizures and panic disorders. Side effects include thoughts of suicide!! There are natural ways to treat insomnia.
I assumed you’d tried all the natural ways without success. This is a last resort suggestion, but certainly do as you think best.
I should add that I do have panic disorder and that’s why I was initially put on the drug. I suspect the thoughts of suicide were already there in people and Klonopin just didn’t prevent them. It worked wonders for me at turning off the restless and anxious mind at night but I had to be taken off after a diagnosis of chronic leukemia was made as it and many other drugs can lower blood levels in susceptible individuals. As the doctor explained it to me, Klonopin at a low dose helps settle the mind so you can sleep. I’d tried all the natural stuff and had a breakdown before turning to him and prescription meds. Best of luck to you in your trials and searching.
Maybe this is just your body’s new rhythm – are you tired during the day? There is no rule that says you have to sleep from 11 pm to 6 am. If you are tired because of this new pattern, then my advice/comment is absolutely worthless.
There are so many things you might do. First be easy and patient with yourself. From reading your blogs you are very passionate about life, so switching that off when it is time to sleep may not be easy for you. Prepare for sleep by not eating late at night. Digestion is a very active process, don’t have it happening during the night. Television is very reactive and distressing, make sure it is in its quietest mode during the hours before bed. Consider quiet reading, simply stop keeping going, peaceful music is wonderful, allow that some of your habits can work against sleep, such as staying in front of your computer too long, enjoying engaging your mind with problems, etc. etc. Walking for a short time is good before retiring for the evening.
All of the above shines a light on how busy we like to run our lives, decide that after a certain time every evening you will be very quiet and by yourself, and allow that you will gently change your ways to bring sleep during the night.
The above are the easiest things to consider, try them first before heading into sleeping pills and doctors. Make a commitment to approach your life differently.
If you haven’t already tried this I recommend going to the nutrition store or pharmacy and picking up some Valerian Root pills or getting a tea that has valerian root extract in it. This stuff works as good as neo citron without the drowsiness after you sleep. Take this an hour to thirty minutes before bed time and you’ll get tired go to bed, fall asleep and wake up the next morning feeling rested. Another good thing to do is limit the exposure you are getting from TV’s, cellphones, tablets, and any other devices creating artificial light. This reduces your melatonin levels and thus makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
I hope you and your doctor can figure this out, Talin. Sleep is so important to your overall health.
I TOTALLY get where you’re coming from. My sleeplessness also worsened this year, and I got so worried I went to the doctor’s. He diagnosed me as suffering from ‘Anxiety’. I stared at the guy like he was high. WHO in this world ISN’T a little anxious??? Still, not sleeping is extremely harmful, he said (‘Duh’ I replied mentally) and would I allow him to prescribe me anxiety meds? Now, I’ve done my research, and the choice between anxiety meds and sleeping pills is PRET-TY scary. And horrible. And shouldn’t have to be made. So if you’ve tried exercise, hot milk, camomile tea and then all three together out of sheer desperation, still without success? I’d say, find an experienced pharmacist to give you the Inside Story on sleep aids (these guys can be pricelessly helpful!) or just go back to your doc, and bully him into ‘DOING SOMETHING’. What else are they there for?
Have you try exercising in the evening? Try listen to the relaxing nature sound when you go to bed. Rain might help.