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Posted: 10/1/2014 11:48:13 PM EDT

[#1]

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Holy shit...I don't know what to say. That and a beer or two (or the whiskey you referred to) would make me sleep GREAT.

I guess you have a lot on your mind with businesses going and etc. When I have a lot on my mind related to work I take time to do what I call mental filing. I contemplate a lot of shit. I consider things, decide what's on my plate and what's concerning me, make some decisions, select things to deal with later, and kind of clear the slate so to speak. I take time to do this while relaxed but not in bed. When I feel comfortable with the process I call it good and hit the sack. I always thought this was jut one of my idiosyncrasies but maybe something like this would be of value.

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If you run (even a short distance like a couple miles) or do a light workout I bet you will sleep waaaaay better.

Maybe you already do that and then I don't know...maybe dial it up.

I am a big workout guy. I normally run 2-4 miles, do 40-60 pullups, 70-100 pushups and 100-140 crunches, 5 days a week. That's combined with a very physical work day I can't figure out why I can't sleep. I'm tired as hell most of the time.

Holy shit...I don't know what to say. That and a beer or two (or the whiskey you referred to) would make me sleep GREAT.

I guess you have a lot on your mind with businesses going and etc. When I have a lot on my mind related to work I take time to do what I call mental filing. I contemplate a lot of shit. I consider things, decide what's on my plate and what's concerning me, make some decisions, select things to deal with later, and kind of clear the slate so to speak. I take time to do this while relaxed but not in bed. When I feel comfortable with the process I call it good and hit the sack. I always thought this was jut one of my idiosyncrasies but maybe something like this would be of value.

I think you're doing a great job of compartmentalizing what you deal with. I do that better than most while I'm awake. The problem arises when I'm trying to shut things down and go to sleep. Then it's Katie bar the fucking door.

Posted: 10/1/2014 11:49:58 PM EDT

[#2]

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Try ambien. It's amazingly effective.

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In studies, it helps people fall asleep but not stay asleep. It also isn't indicated for daily use, although most doctors prescribe it that way.

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Posted: 10/1/2014 11:52:25 PM EDT

[#3]

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This will sound stupid, but...

Whenever a thought starts to pop into your head, interrupt it with a "no". It works.

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I'll bet I can do the alphabet backwards faster than anyone you know. I've done that as an interruption. I've also paired the first letter of the alphabet with the first number and say them in order...etc...a1,b2, c3........anything to take my mind off everything.

Posted: 10/1/2014 11:54:56 PM EDT

[#4]

Ibuprofen PM; has a few mg of Benadryl in it. Makes me a little more sleepy and helps me fall asleep. Not habit forming at all.

I started using it when I started using my APAP machine for OSA.

ETA I slept like crap before the machine; woke up feeling the same as I went to bed; for years. I'd suggest a sleep study if you can swing it.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:00:35 AM EDT

[#5]

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I'm honestly not responsible enough for Ambien. I'm opening a microbrewery/farm winery. There is no room for that shit. Trust me.

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Try ambien. It's amazingly effective.

I'm honestly not responsible enough for Ambien. I'm opening a microbrewery/farm winery. There is no room for that shit. Trust me.

Valium is the answer you seek.
Seriously

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:04:21 AM EDT

[#6]

I have a stressful job and my mind starts turning as soon as I hit the pillow. I quit fighting it long ago. I stay up until 12:00 or 1:00 and wake up around 6:00AM. When I get home I usually sneak in a 30 minute nap if I'm not doing some yard work or gun stuff. I've cut back on my during the week beer drinking. Exercise works too.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:08:08 AM EDT

[#7]

I'm also a small business owner (4 companies). Also married with 3 mini CLICKs. I hate trying to sleep. I really only sleep 4-5 hours a night. Liquor helps. Tylenol PM or Benadryl kinda helps. Between the stress of work, life, and back pain, I don't sleep for shit. I really only sleep great when heavily medicated.

I started making list before I "wind down" for the night. After dinner I'll write a few things down and stick the note in my wallet to find the next day. Or put a list in the Notes in my iPhone. I'll add little notes to the list through the evening and night. Stuff that needs a decision made, I'll write down the following date and a mid day time that I need to make the call on it. It helps me to not sit up trying to remember everything I need to do the next day. Also lets me push off decisions to the following day while at work instead of trying to make a judgement call while lying in bed.

Sounds dumb, but it helps me focus on my kids and wife more than anything. I still sleep like shit. But I don't forget as much stuff and can relax a little better.

Change something, or you'll always be stressed and will always sleep like shit. Starting a thread, and then still doing everything the same, had never helped anyone.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:08:38 AM EDT

[#8]

I honestly have not slept WELL since 1969. That was the year that changed my life pretty much forever just like it did for thousands of others.

Oh well. You don't do 23 years for Uncle Sam and then just walk away like nothing happened. You think about it sometimes and you dream about it sometimes.

And I refuse to go to the doc and get chemicals to make me sleep. I do the best I can and that is good enough.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:23:59 AM EDT

[#9]

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I honestly have not slept WELL since 1969. That was the year that changed my life pretty much forever just like it did for thousands of others.

Oh well. You don't do 23 years for Uncle Sam and then just walk away like nothing happened. You think about it sometimes and you dream about it sometimes.

And I refuse to go to the doc and get chemicals to make me sleep. I do the best I can and that is good enough.

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I hope you can find peace somehow.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:26:00 AM EDT

[#10]

OK, I've been reading along and also thought enough exercise probably wasn't your problem.

Do you read much? Your brain obviously needs a distraction. Maybe a book on the night stand could help.

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Posted: 10/2/2014 12:28:04 AM EDT

[#11]

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Quoted:
I honestly have not slept WELL since 1969. That was the year that changed my life pretty much forever just like it did for thousands of others.

Oh well. You don't do 23 years for Uncle Sam and then just walk away like nothing happened. You think about it sometimes and you dream about it sometimes.

And I refuse to go to the doc and get chemicals to make me sleep. I do the best I can and that is good enough.

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Some chemicals can actually help you, with little to no side effects.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:01:17 AM EDT

[#12]

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Here's our normal sleeping habit....

My wife and I sleep very close, spooning one way or the other or sleeping on our backs and she's holding my hand with one leg over mine. We have no sound, no light, the room is always about 68F and we usually go to bed about 2300. We've got a pattern. We've been married for 14 years(officially yesterday). Great relationship, great kids, great life....I just can't shut my head down.

I can go to bed and be tired, not have a worry in the world, and start thinking about one bad thing and have it tangent off into the worst of all the world has to offer. Within fifteen minutes I can be trying to figure out how to save my wife and kids from "Taken 5".

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Glad to know I'm not the only one.

It's the damnedest thing, how your brain can come up with the worst possible scenario possible for anything in those

last few minutes right before you tip into sleep. It's the worst part of the damn day sometimes.

Try reading in bed for a while or til the point you can't stay awake any longer (which is what I do

).

If all those "stresses" come back after you turn off the light, flip the light on and start over again.

Think of it as conditioning your brain to get ready for sleep by doing this as a habit.

Most of the time reading works. I think it gives your brain something to work on besides what you're concerned about

in your real life. I also need a fan running to help me sleep, but that's more of a hearing problem than a stress one.

The other thing to consider is this shit happens in middle age.

Weird sleep patterns and the whole "piss break at 2 am" is annoying as hell too.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:07:20 AM EDT

[#13]

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I'm also a small business owner (4 companies). Also married with 3 mini CLICKs. I hate trying to sleep. I really only sleep 4-5 hours a night. Liquor helps. Tylenol PM or Benadryl kinda helps. Between the stress of work, life, and back pain, I don't sleep for shit. I really only sleep great when heavily medicated.

I started making list before I "wind down" for the night. After dinner I'll write a few things down and stick the note in my wallet to find the next day. Or put a list in the Notes in my iPhone. I'll add little notes to the list through the evening and night. Stuff that needs a decision made, I'll write down the following date and a mid day time that I need to make the call on it. It helps me to not sit up trying to remember everything I need to do the next day. Also lets me push off decisions to the following day while at work instead of trying to make a judgement call while lying in bed.

Sounds dumb, but it helps me focus on my kids and wife more than anything. I still sleep like shit. But I don't forget as much stuff and can relax a little better.

Change something, or you'll always be stressed and will always sleep like shit. Starting a thread, and then still doing everything the same, had never helped anyone.

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I like this. Been doing the list thing for while but only on and off. When on, it really seems to help.

It's hard for me to take the time to do it consistently though.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:16:53 AM EDT

[#14]

Melatonin You don't need to take it indefinitely, just long enough to reestablish a pattern, then occasionally after.

Go to bed at the same time every night.

No tv in the bedroom.

And if you drink caffeine quit.

Just a few things that can help, good luck.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:22:48 AM EDT

[#15]

Meh, I wouldn't feel guilty about some whiskey before bed if it helped me. IIRC, it was common practice as a sleep aid way back when.

I only have problems falling asleep if I'm anticipating something major that's going to happen the next day. Like a vacation or major purchase. I keep thinking and revising things, what could go wrong, etc. etc.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:24:14 AM EDT

[#16]

It's 1:24am. You tell me,

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:29:51 AM EDT

[#17]

It takes a few whiskies for me to turn the "circus" off.

After a few drinks the "big top" comes down and I can get some sleep.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:31:01 AM EDT

[#18]

I find myself in the same situation OP. Unable to shut down the ole noggin from working.

Empty liquor bottles, melatonin, ambien, sex, workouts, warm milk, hot showers and muppet movies. Nothing has worked but maybe trying to find the answer is all the fun?

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:41:00 AM EDT

[#19]

Usually quit well, I may be blessed in fact. However, last night I dreamt Bruce Willis was yelling for me to get off my ass and follow him into mayhem...

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:41:12 AM EDT

[#20]

Not very well. I have severe arthritis in my right shoulder and wake up everytime I turn over in bed.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:43:16 AM EDT

[#21]

I sleep like shit. I'm a light sleeper. I can't sleep if there's noise or light. I wake up frequently. I would say i get four hours of real sleep per night.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:46:28 AM EDT

[#22]

Since getting a Sealy memoryfoam mattress, I've been sleeping better than ever. I never realized how crappy I was sleeping until we got this about 2 months ago.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:46:29 AM EDT

[#23]

I usually go to sleep within 15 minutes of settling into bed. When I can't, I either listen to "lighter" music to calm my mind, or I'll listen to something like Eurobeat that gets my heart rate up and stimulates my mind to exhaustion. Background noise like a fan/AC, clothes dryer, rain, gusts through the trees helps as well.

I have to get either 2-3, 5-6, or 9-10 hours of good sleep. If awaken before or after that amount of time, I feel like shit.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:49:51 AM EDT

[#24]

I haven't slept worth a damn since I was about 11, and these days if I don't knock myself out with something, I lay awake until about 4 or 5 in the morning. It's just the way it is.

Posted: 10/2/2014 1:57:39 AM EDT

[#25]

do not get into the habit of drinking to help go to sleep, thats the quickest way to becoming an alchoholic... just sayin.....

i also sleep amazing but then again im young

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:04:29 AM EDT

[#26]

ITT we explain what great sleepers we are while OP saws logs spooning his wife.

lol

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Posted: 10/2/2014 2:05:29 AM EDT

[#27]

I haven't slept a whole night in more than 10 years. I fall asleep fast (Narcolepsy), but wake up between 15 to 20 times a night. I wished a little whiskey would help, but with 3 sleep disorders I have had things much much stronger than whiskey that do not work. GHB (aka: Xyrem) and Ambien together.

I would say if it not effecting you negatively, and doesn't get outta control then have at it.

Wished I could tell you how to turn it off OP. I understand what its like.

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:07:26 AM EDT

[#28]

I can fall asleep easy.

But i wake up every 2-3hrs do too arm pain.

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:13:46 AM EDT

[#29]

I don't always sleep. I think it's a side effect of working so much- I usually work about 16+ hrs a day. I sleep at my desk sometimes, usually unintentionally, and it's become more and more common for me to just stay up and work for a few days (48-72hrs) at a time and then sleep for like 15-16 hours. My normal night's rest is maybe 4.5hrs of sleep. It seems really unhealthy, but I don't know what to do about it.

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:20:46 AM EDT

[#30]

I own a business as well. I went from severe sleep apnea to insomnia. I was up this morning at 6 and not tired at all. Sometimes I can't sleep enough. I'm going to die from sleep related heart failure

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:32:00 AM EDT

[#31]

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ITT we explain what great sleepers we are while OP saws logs spooning his wife.

lol

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I work nights, so this is normal hours for me.

Lately though my sleep has been a little fucked. Maybe 5 hours of sleep during the weekday. During the weekend I'll try and get 7 though.

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:32:50 AM EDT

[#32]

stutzcattle, sounds like you have trouble falling alseep, but how do you sleep once you're sacked out?

I don't like simply going to bed and trying to fall asleep, to me the stillness, silence and darkness feels a bit like being burried alive. I hate it.
What I do is put a movie on, volume really low, set the TV sleep timer to an hour or whatever, and I'm out in about 15 minutes. The trick is trying to stay awake watching or just listening to the movie, rather than trying to go to sleep. I keep the TV volume only high enough to barely hear what's going on, not loud enough to wake me back up once I'm out.

Posted: 10/2/2014 2:45:28 AM EDT

[#33]

Truck driver here. Some trips I will start at 9 in the morn do all my home stuff then drive till 6 in the morn and not even be tired. Some days I just can't even move I feel like a slug just dead no ambition at all..

I get my best sleep in the morn from about 6 to 10 am.

Posted: 10/2/2014 5:13:00 AM EDT

[#34]

First, the only reason I'm awake now is because the dog woke me up whining to go out. Usually he waits until around 6 am.

But I sleep like a baby now (after retiring). The only exception is when I'm backpacking and sleeping in a 1 man tent on the ground with nothing but a thin pad under me.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:00:53 PM EDT

[#35]

I fall asleep easily but wake up within a few hours.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:11:03 PM EDT

[#36]

Me so-so

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:17:00 PM EDT

[#37]

Without medication, I have serious troubles sleeping.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:18:34 PM EDT

[#38]

The meds I take keep me from sleeping very well. I can only sleep in 4 hour increments or so.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:20:41 PM EDT

[#39]

what is your caffeine intake like?

some people are more sensitive to it.
sometimes even one cup of coffee in the morning will keep me awake at night

my brain runs fulls speed and it hard for me to shut down also
like you I found that alcohol helps but I am a lightweight, a single beer 30 minutes before bed makes me sleep like a baby lol

this next one is going to sound stupid
while you are spooning get your wife to lightly rub your hand or your face
my wife can do this and it is a instant fight to stay awake lol
something about the repetitive motion will knock the both of you out in a hurry

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:21:10 PM EDT

[#40]

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I sleep like shit. I'm a light sleeper. I can't sleep if there's noise or light. I wake up frequently. I would say i get four hours of real sleep per night.

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Unlike the rest of us basement dwellers, you don't need the extra beauty sleep.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:22:33 PM EDT

[#41]

Usually I can fall asleep pretty fast. When we get back from calls I have a hell of a time falling back to sleep. It seems like I cant shut my brain off. Sometimes it takes me a good hour or so.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:23:47 PM EDT

[#42]

I'm out within a couple minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:25:50 PM EDT

[#43]

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Unlike the rest of us basement dwellers, you don't need the extra beauty sleep.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I sleep like shit. I'm a light sleeper. I can't sleep if there's noise or light. I wake up frequently. I would say i get four hours of real sleep per night.

Unlike the rest of us basement dwellers, you don't need the extra beauty sleep.

thanks

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:27:21 PM EDT

[#44]

Without chemical help, it takes me over an hour to fall asleep and I wake up frequently. I have to get up at 5:30 or earlier every weekday so that would be hell. I take melatonin and Tylenol PM, or else an ambien in order to fall asleep and stay asleep and I sleep fine.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:28:56 PM EDT

[#45]

I average like 2-3 hours a night if I'm lucky

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:35:35 PM EDT

[#46]

I own a small engineering business and I'm partnered with my family in another farm business. At the end of the day I'm so damned tired, I fall asleep easily. I can only remember 2 times when worrying about work kept me awake.

I wouldn't worry about 3 fingers of whiskey a day. Moderate alcohol consumption is good for you.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:40:50 PM EDT

[#47]

There's a lot of good advice in here. I'm a business owner too, and the note writing before bed is huge for me. I take 3 fingers of whiskey after supper, 3mg melatonin at bed time and go to bed at the same time almost every night. Sleep like a baby on my sleep number mattress.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:41:28 PM EDT

[#48]

Not very well at all, which worries me because the healthiest old guys I know sleep very well.

I knew this one man, 70-ish but looked ten years younger, strong as an ox, body torn up from hitting a mine in Vietnam but kept trucking with a great attitude. One day I asked him what his secret was and he said "hell I dunno.." He pointed at his filtered cigars and said "smoke a pack of these things every day, have a drink of Jack Daniels every night when I go home. Put extra grease in my sausage cuz the stuff they sell these days is too lean. I reckon the one thing I can say is that when I lay down in bed and something is on my mind that I can't do anything about right then, I just forget it and go to sleep."

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:43:41 PM EDT

[#49]

I usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of turning the TV off.

Some nights I'm just not tired until 10:30, so I don't even bother trying to sleep until I'm ready.

The fact that my mind doesn't run around in circles helps though.

Posted: 10/2/2014 12:45:22 PM EDT

[#50]

I used to have so much trouble falling asleep, and I never felt rested in the morning. I went to the doctor to see if something was wrong with me. What I have started doing is taking a melatonin pill an hour before I plan to go to bed, and then I turn off all electronic devices and read for the hour before bed. It has worked wonders for me. I feel fully rested in the morning. It had honestly changed my life.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How well do you sleep? (Page 2 of 4)

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