thebeave

hee hee... OK, the whipped cream thing was a bust... let's put her hand in warm water and watch her wet the bed....

Ronin

<snicker>Shhhhhh.......<snicker>

Silent Dave

HEY GUYS, WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CHRIST-ON-A-STICK? CAN I PLAY?


Dave

The Insomniac

Ah, the hazards of sleeping.

I only get Insomnia when I am stressed out, my brain just will not turn off. Thankfully I don't get stressed very often but when I do I get very stressed.

Sorry I have no tips except watch yourself while sleeping near these people.

christ-on-a-stick

ROTLMFAO!!!!

Geez... I missed all the good stuff once I finally fell asleep!!! I knew there was a good reason I lie awake at night... all the fun stuff happens after midnight!
No doubt!!! Although... hmmm... I suddenly have a strong craving for whipped cream

Silent Dave, I thought you were SILENT... but now I see what happens to you in the wee hours!

eldar1011

Well, this is a bit late, but that's because I could sleep last night.

I recommend melatonin. I only use it when I have a really really long flight to take. I usually have tremendous difficulty sleeping on a plane (actually, only when we've leveled out...for some reason, I am practically rendered unconscious during take-off/landing)...anyhoo...melatonin came in handy when I had to take a 24+ hour flight to Manila (which I, too, almost typed as Melanoma)

Invader Tak

OMG! Me too! *Especially* at landings! I thought this only happened to me!

Picture it: 8 hour flight to Rome, unable to sleep *at all*, upon landing, I was out like a light.

What the hell is *that* all about?

Edited for Punctuation.

eldar1011

I though I was the only one as well!

I don't know what it's all about, I have a theory about change in cabin pressure...but everyone else seems to stay awake. Also, isn't the pressure in the cabin maintained level?

So, I have no answers, but I do know that neither one of us should be pilots.

lisarea

I get your basic stress-related insomnia at fairly regular intervals, so I've put a lot of time and effort into coming up with solutions.

I don't know if any of these will work for you, but here are a few of things that work for me to varying degrees.

1. Lots of pillows. I have seven, in varying sizes and shapes. This way, I can adjust to a much finer granularity, modifying the arrangement of fat and thin, regular and king sized.

2. A warm bed in a cold room. I leave my windows open most of the winter, and I made a giant microwaveable rice bag to warm my bed up while I get ready for bed.

3. Room-darkening curtains, to block out streetlights, motion sensor lights, etc.

4. No patterns anywhere, of any kind. My whole bedroom is solid colors, in deep blue and light green. Nothing fussy or busy or distracting, except for this very strange overwrought chandelier I found that makes me impossibly happy. My bedroom is the only room where I absolutely won't have ugly furniture.

5. No controversial reading material. I like to read about woodworking and home decorating, because it's boring and inoffensive, and is unlikely to get me worked up in any way. After I get noddy, I can usually drift off to sleep pondering weighty issues such as table legs and paint colors. I used to do the crossword in The Nation, but there's a risk of accidentally reading articles and staying up being mad all night, so I don't do that anymore.

6. Clean, good quality bedding. If I had my druthers, I'd change my sheets every night, but to save water, I strictly limit myself to once a week. I always sleep best the first night. No manmade materials, and I mix my linens so that there's a combination of cool-crisp, soft cotton, and fuzzy flannel. As with the pillows, it lets me adjust my surroundings better.

7. I have to wear pajamas because I'm just absent-minded enough that I'd probably end up going to the mailbox naked if I didn't. My pajama rules are similar to my bedding rules, and in fact, I sometimes make pajama pants out of old sheets, but they go beyond that. WARNING! CRACKPOTTERY FOLLOWS! You know how men's pajamas look like little cartoon business suits, and women's nightgowns are like iconic ballgowns or something? I think there's something to that. I really do. I tend to choose different models for my attire, but basically, I like the idea of putting on some ridiculous little outfit and getting on the train to Sleepytown. My personal pajama semiotics lean toward more specific thematic elements, like wearing my Superman boxer shorts with my Whitey Will Pay t-shirt or a Krishna shirt and weird op-art pants or something. But I seriously am in a better mood when I think I look all cool in my pajamas. This is a little embarassing, and I'll probably never work again with this little confession out in public, but I'll be brave in the event it actually works for someone else.

8. Pretty smelling stuff. I rarely wear perfume during the day, but I do put it on for bed. Nothing too crisp or cloying, though. I like Lolita Lempicka and Demeter Dirt because they're nice, round, soothing kind of scents. (Pointy perfumes do more harm than good.)

9. A big, happy dog. Any bulldog-type guard breed should do nicely. They're short-haired, so you don't get fur in your nose, they're big and warm and snuggly, and they truly sleep the sleep of the just, providing you with calm, rhythmic breathing patterns to soothe you and put you right out. And, because they're natural guard dogs, they tend to calm any latent fear of intruders and such. In fact, you may want to trade your husband in for one of these. They provide all but two of the benefits of a husband, but without nearly as much whining and going through your stuff. And if you give them yogurt every day, they don't even fart!

10. As far as drugs, wait for a weekend to try melatonin! I've found that it gives me very vivid dreams--sometimes the type that wake me up and keep me wide-eyed and in one big fat What. The. Fuck. the rest of the night. I do take it sometimes, but I've come to think of it as more of a recreational drug than a sleep aid. Valerian kind of works, but not when I really can't sleep. I've found Theraflu has just the right amount of sleep drug to push me over when it's not serious, though.

Anyway, good luck. It sucks, I know.

christ-on-a-stick

Great suggestions lisarea - I will mull through all of those and see what I can employ but this one popped out at me especially -
Got that one covered and it does help I've got a 90-lb boxer (same kind of furcoat) who is big, warm, snuggly, huggable and squeezable. He sleeps with me and we spoon My husband works graveyards in ICU so Dempsey is my substitute those nights!

YOGURT will help stop the constant gas-passing? I am trying that starting TONIGHT. Thanks!!!