[Cody Dawg]

What do any of you do about being unable to sleep?

In my case, I sleep until about 2:30 - 3:00 AM then I wake up in bed, lay there and try to go back to sleep, but inevitably I get worked up over various things and end up getting up. It's free-floating anxiety that attaches itself to whatever is bothering me that day, hour, minute. I hate it, but I don't know what to do about it. I don't drink coffee or caffeinated drinks anymore, no sugar, but diet changes don't help. Don't tell me to take drugs because first, I'm pregnant and second, I don't want to depend on drugs. Before I used to wake up and work all night, but now I'm not working for a few months so I can't distract myself that way.

So, any ideas?

P.S., I can't drink milk so the warm milk idea is out of the question.

[Hash]

Congrats on pregnancy. As soon as you will have normal sex life, you will be back to normal sleep.

[Cody Dawg]

LOL!





That's very funny...made me laugh.

It's true, though, isn't it?

Women have morning sickness for a few months and just want to be alone to suffer in peace and by the time that that passes then you have a baby jumping around in there...it's just kind of weird to think about "normal sex" when there's a little person poking at you from the inside-out and saying, "What's going on out there?"

[Big Mac]

Congrats, Cody. What number child is it?

[Cody Dawg]

Number too many - cuatro!



I'm always trying to diet and exercise and it helps, but this time I'm not getting enough sleep so it's hard to keep my stamina up to exercise enough, though I do try to get my swimming and Bowflex in (to keep muscle tone). What's happening now is that I'm losing weight when I should be gaining a little weight. I've lost so much weight that my legs are like toothpicks now. Oh well.

[Big Mac]

Well, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but if anything is bothering you, do not delay seeing your doctor (advice I know I really don't have to give, but I'll give it anyway).

[Cody Dawg]

I have excellent medical care, thank goodness. (I know some people do not, unfortunately.)

Thank you for that thought, however.

I just need some sleep!

[Peter]

I sleep until I'm woken up. And I'm a heavy sleeper.
Seriously, I can easily sleep 14 hours, I just sleep through alarms and stuff

[Teronzhul]

I used to have sleeping problems just like that. Then I started working 60 hours a week, and haven't had a sleepless night in months!

[OreoCookie]

Sorry, Cody, it's the wrong kind of insomnia … I can't give you any advice on that.

I hope you get better, though.

[Hash]

Sure, men can't give you advice on that

[KeriVit]

Cody, I do the same thing. Lay there filled with anxiety. Obviously, some nights are more filled than others. I started to pretend it was like a game. I try to count to 300 (5 minutes) w/o a toss or turn or major move. If I do, I have to start over. Sounds stupid, but it works for me sometimes. Mostly- I don't get past 200. I used to take alluna (herbal). But it's gone.

[Hash]

I think Cody's insomnia is different than just simple sleepnessless. She wakes up very early and can't sleep after that. Yours is simply insomnia. I have insomnia too, when I am tired after work, I sleep for 2-3 hours and wake up at 11-12 pm at night, then I do some work and sometimes cannot sleep until 4-5 am. Then I have few hours of sleep again. Sometimes I feel very exhausted.. Sometimes I sleep normally, go to bed as early as 10 pm and wake up around 6-7 am..

[davesimondotcom]

Cody -

A few things that help me and my wife, both of whom have trouble sleeping at times. These are non-drug options, all:

* I highly recommend a Sleep Number mattress. Since getting one, I've gone from taking either high doses of Benedryl or Lunesta to sleep to hardly ever needing anything. At the very most, I take one Benedryl when I used to take 4.

* Get a sound machine. They can be had at Target and such, made by companies like Homedics. You can play soothing sounds like ocean waves, mountain stream, thunderstorm, rain, waterfall, etc. I think they are made for babies, but they work well at drowning out the outside world, and the rhythm of the ocean waves (our favorite) really helps.

* Stretch before bed. This helps me from getting the "jimmy legs" - when you can't help but move your legs around. Just some basic stretches, nothing that gets your heart going or anything.

* Reserve the bed for nothing but sleep and sex. That means no reading, no TV, no snacks, etc. That way, your body knows it's either having fun or sleeping when you hit the sack.

* And for getting back to sleep after waking, try an eye mask. I wear one because I like darkness when I sleep, so I usually put it on when it starts getting light outside our window. Helps a lot.

Good luck!

[Cody Dawg]

Those are all great ideas.

I did get a sleep number bed, actually - king sized! That was a promise my husband made to me. "If we get pregnant again I'll buy you any bed you want." That's the bed I have.

I have an aquarium in my room and it's supposed to be soothing. I hate it. My husband loves it. I wake up and hear it - any sound at all wakes me up and I hate them all - and it pisses me off. Now my husband unplugs it when we go to bed.

I don't nap at all during the day and I do get exercise - last night for instance I did 20 laps in the big pool (it's competition sized) - and it doesn't seem to help.

Anyway, I went back to sleep at about 7AM and got a couple of hours more of sleep at least.

I'll keep all of those great suggestions in mind, though.

[himself]

I second davesimondotcom's suggestions.. especially stretching. I would also suggest tyring some light yoga/stretching, and maybe some meditatino. Meditation alone can work wonders in preparing you for sleep.

[Jawbone54]

I've struggled with insomnia since I was 15 years old. I'm about to give you an odd suggestion...

Read the Bible.

My doctor (a Christian fellow) actually suggested that to me when I went for a visit when I was 17 or so. I'd done it before and fallen asleep, but I didn't credit falling asleep to the material. I'm a Christian and I love my Bible, but it does the trick on sleepless nights.

[Cody Dawg]

That's a good idea, Jawbone54.

[mydog8mymac]

One thing that helps me when I have stuff on my mind that causes me to wake up in the middle of the night, is to make a list. This was recommended to me when I was a younger by a therapist. His theory was that as we mentally process the day we've just had, our conscious mind tries to break through — telling us we need to remember to do X, or don't forget about Y tomorrow. If you write these things down when you wake up, you will be freed to go back to sleep. It works for me most of the time.

When it doesn't work, I wake up my husband — but that's been covered here already.

[Cody Dawg]

That's a really good idea about making a list and feeling as though you've covered all your bases.



I'll have to try that out, actually...might help me feel better.

Some of what I worry about is stuff to worry about...like if Ernesto the hurricane comes our way and devastates our house and/or my husband's company.

Other things are just stupid to worry about - trust me, I worry about the most ridiculous things and get myself all worked up.

Anyway, even though I'm pregnant my obstetrician recommended sipping some wine before going to sleep of all things.

[ambush]

Good ol' Opium will do the trick.

[mydog8mymac]

BTW—forgot to say Congrats and send my best!

[11011001]

Dunno if this is any help, but I get anxiety when I am trying to go to sleep.

If I can't fall asleep on the bed, I will take my blanket, and pillows and sleep on the floor. Just rotating my whole body 180�, so that my head is where my feet were, seems to also help.

It seems that switchin, or changing the environment will let me leave the anxiety in the old configuration, such that I can fall asleep with a "fresh" un-bothered mind.

Though, working on the things in my life that bother me until I am utterly exhausted seems to help as I know there is nothing more that I could be doing. This is comforting.

I hate falling asleep!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ambush

Good ol' Opium will do the trick.

Not for me. Opiates keep me up all night.

[ambush]

Oh well. Never tried any opiates, but weed works very well for me, esp. the Nepalese import **** I bought in Amsterdam.

[KeriVit]

Perc, vic and Nyquil keep me up all night.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by KeriVit

Perc, vic and Nyquil keep me up all night.

All together or separately?

[besson3c]

smear a little peanut butter on your knees...


Old family remedy.

[KeriVit]

Originally Posted by Dakar

All together or separately?

Any of em make me tired but awake. It sucks.

[Dakar]

I've never understood the devastating effects of NyQuil.

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Cody, it is your constant fear of what is going on around the world that makes you restless. Please put your baby's health first and stop thinking about politics and all that for a long time. Be a happy woman and make a happy baby You have to resist the worries and the Political Lounge.

[Tomchu]

Lately for me it's been a nice dose of Lorazepam. Eases the trauma and deep pain of breaking up with my beautiful girlfriend of four years. :-/

I had huge anxiety attacks, and woke up in the middle of night in sweat, before I started taking it.

[bradoesch]

Originally Posted by 11011001

Dunno if this is any help, but I get anxiety when I am trying to go to sleep.

If I can't fall asleep on the bed, I will take my blanket, and pillows and sleep on the floor. Just rotating my whole body 180�, so that my head is where my feet were, seems to also help.

It seems that switchin, or changing the environment will let me leave the anxiety in the old configuration, such that I can fall asleep with a "fresh" un-bothered mind.

Though, working on the things in my life that bother me until I am utterly exhausted seems to help as I know there is nothing more that I could be doing. This is comforting.

I hate falling asleep!

For some reason that works for me too. I sleep much better when I've moved my bed. It lasts for months too. The only downside is that I'll sometimes wake in the night and be completely disoriented for a few seconds until I remember that I've moved my bed.

[Monique]

Don't you have 2 children already; so you might be nervous about having a 3rd one and the finances and everything. So to calm yourself down have you talk to your husband about the finances and what it means. Once you realize that everything will be fine, you will not worry so much. How is your pregnancy going, did you have insomnia with your other pregnancies? It will surely passed and I would not worry too much about it.

Also, you could masturbate a very good orgasm will relax you.

[andi*pandi]

one of the more irritating things about pregnancy is sleeping. you can only sleep on your side, you have to keep waking up to pee, moving baby wakes you up... your back hurts... I don't remember how I got thru it. Nap during the day if you can. White noise, tv, reading... hot cocoa instead of milk?

that pool sounds lovely.

[jonn804]

One word... Ambien.