Sleeplessness

[night whispers]

Kay so to make a long story short:

college/Art school student + end of the year + loads of projects and papers due and overdue = anxiety and stress

which leads to>> not being able to work, being immobilized by stress, and more difficult than that, not being able to sleep.

So basically I'm not sleeping on weeknights or only sleeping an hour, and crashing in class, and it's getting ugly. And my grades will hurt for it if I continue.

I researched valerian root because I knew it helps, and I came to the conclusion that I should try it out.

But I want more feedback. Anything helpful is appreciated. It's 5:32 right now. This is typical. Sigh. I wish I could sleep.

[Guest Fosco]

I reckon you should go see your GP

When I was going exams and the like. I got so stressed and so tired I was almost in hospital! So you need to get some proper advise really soon, you really don't want to be too tired to even close your eyes to get some sleep.

My GP gave me a few tips, like staying out of my bedroom, and doing work elsewhere. Basically so your mind creates a clear definition between where in needs to work and where it needs to shut down and sleep. He also gave me some sleeping pills to attempt to get my sleep pattern back on track. I had to stay off tea and coffee and foods wIth loads of sugar, and do some exercise and hour or so before bed, to take my mind off work.

[kbrd143]

Oh, boy, but do I know insomnia well.

Fosco is right: bedroom is for sleeping only. Nothing else happens in the bedroom. (Good thing I'm asexual, come to think of it. . . .) No television watching, studying, or what have you. Just sleeping.

Sleeping pills can help; however, my problem is so pervasive that I am uncomfortable taking them. Besides which, I am such a drug lightweight that the effect often lasts into the next day.

Generally, I have what I refer to as my sleep ritual, and it rarely varies. I have a list of things that I do before going to bed, which gets my mind prepared for ... going to bed. A bunch of signals which I have taught myself to interpret as a shutdown mode, if you will.

If it doesn't work, I don't stay in bed, tossing and turning. It only leads to more anxiety: "I should be sleeping! Why am I not sleeping!" So, I get up, go out into the house, read a book, watch a little TV -- whatever it takes to further relax me, or bore me so much that I finally conk out.

Now, if you are in college and in a dorm room, this would make separating work/sleep areas a little difficult.

I know people who swear by melatonin or valerian. Personally, I find them to be a bit numbing and harsh. I can't sleep if I feel like I have a buzz going. I have found a tea by a company called Traditional Medicinals that usually does the trick without making me feel drugged. I had a little last night, in fact. It is called "Nighty Night". It doesn't have any valerian, but it does have other herbs which have been used to calm people over the centuries. It does, however, have camomile in it, which might be a problem for those with weed allergies. . . .

And, yes, Fosco is also right about seeing a GP. If your issue is temporary, there might be some short-term solutions ze can give you. . . .

Good luck!

[bbctv]

i've had recurring problems with insomnia my entire life. i've found all the standard prescription sleep aids to be useless too, though since i take a lot of medication for psychiatric purposes i tend to find that does the trick for me pretty well. i was prescribed GHB for a while (it is used to treat insomnia if there's pretty much nothing else that seems to work) but it gave me all sorts of weird memory lapses. right now i think i'm doing okay since every night i take about 4 different meds that say 'may cause drowsiness.'

but basically, talk to a doctor, and then ALSO be really demanding. insomnia i've found is NOT normally treated with much seriousness by docs - they'll rush you out with some pill that in the end won't do anything.

getting one of those sleep studies done might be helpful - a friend of mine turned out to have something like restless legs syndrome - they got him the right stuff and he was able to sleep better.

also, watch things like caffeine and sugar consumption very carefully.

[zoidberger]

oy... I'm sorry to hear about your sleeplessness.

I was an insomniac for 2 out of my 4 years of university. Partly it was stress... and partly because just random inability to sleep.

I tried all those "stay out of the bedroom techniques" and I've never been a huge caffeine/drugs person so there was not a lot I could change in that regard. Exercise for me, was opposite that of many other people. I was told to cut down on activities later in the day because I get a rush of energy that keeps me bouncing.

I finally turned to the doctors and asked about any types of sleep pills or clinics I could visit. Some of the stuff works, some of it is scary. I had some pills that actually made you feel your body shutting down and my mind was the last thing to go (kind of like a panic attack I am told)... but everyone's reactions are different. I would highly recommend visiting your doctor and see what they say.

I eventually was put on an anti-depressant pill that had recently shown decent signs of sleep-aid (remeron if anyone is interested, but only if the doc thinks it's a good idea). I was on it for maybe 2 or 3 months and my biological rhythm somehow kicked in and I've been sleeping great ever since (this was a bit over a year ago now). I consider myself to be a lucky case, as everything else I had tried did not work well. There are quite a few side effects with some of drugs, so be sure to let your doctor know if you don't think a drug's side effects are worth the benefit (for example, the one that worked for me made me gain 20 pounds in a two month period).

I would recommend 1. A doctor visit, 2. Probably a change in lifestyle and then 3. Some sort of sleep aid... as the lack of sleep really does get to you affects every part of your life.

[night whispers]

Now I'll probably be thought of as a fool right, but I'm going to share a rather embarrassing. I, over the years, have developed a fear of visiting a doctor. The last time I did (about two and a half years ago) I panicked really bad up until it, meaning the entirety of the week before it or maybe more than a week. The doctor took my blood pressure, and it was high. He told me to come back the following month because if my blood pressure was high then we'd have to do something about it. Well that just didn't sit well with me and I never went back. My dentist takes my blood pressure (weird, I know, but she does), and I always have a normal blood pressure during these visits. I get sick and I have reasons to visit a doctor, but I never do. I always find another way. Such as tea with honey for a sore throat. Or just finding really good OTC medicine if I get a sinus infection (Zicam). But I avoid the doctor at all cost.

So that being said, and me going to get yelled at by a thousand people for ignoring my body, I'm looking for other means.

Also, I should probably mention that I do have bad anxiety. I have social anxiety, so that is triggered when I see a doctor. But regardless, my point about the anxiety is that it does not help the case of sleep and rest any more.

I will try to get away from my bedroom more, but that has never been a problem before. I have been spending more time on my bed lately, working on it, this is true. So I will stop that. I live in a dorm, so places to go is a bit less than I'd like. Especially to work on art. But I will try to leave my bed for simply sleeping.

I think I will also try the sleepy teas. I've had a sleepy tea before and I remember the calming effects it had. I think if I were able to shut off my anxiety, that sleeping would come loads easier.

[ily]

Been there myself. :( First of all, get off the computer. The light keeps you up. If all else fails for me, I drink decaf tea and turn all the lights off, then watch a slow movie.

[uilleann_pipes_girl]

night whispers, sorry I don't have any advice, but man do you sound like me! I'm also an art student and have a terrible fear of doctors, and have been having lot of trouble sleeping lately.

Although my insomnia was triggered more by stress and anger about my dad than school, but it's been several weeks and I think I've calmed down from that (though I have not forgiven him), but still can't sleep.

My sympathies, and I hope you get some sleep!

So basically I'm not sleeping on weeknights or only sleeping an hour, and crashing in class, and it's getting ugly. And my grades will hurt for it if I continue.... It's 5:32 right now. This is typical. Sigh. I wish I could sleep.

Those bits could have been taken straight from my brain.

[Ack42]

I'm sorry about your insomnia. :(

I've had some degree of insomnia my whole life. I use: Melatonin (timed release), a set of things to do the hour before bed (TV, read), listening to relaxing music, low lights the last hour before bed, and visualization.

I try to make the visualization relate to a possible dream (as if I close my eyes in the real world and imagine I open my eyes in a dream world). I imagine myself in a no-stress situation (as if I fell through a protal into another dimension-but instead of adventure; I find relaxation and zero stress). I imagine that other dimention being filled with peaceful nature settings or nice architecture. My visualiztions are about as close as I come to meditation (which I can't seem to do).

Hope your insomina gets better soon! It's sounds like you're having it rougher than I ever did.

[ily]

I try to make the visualization relate to a possible dream (as if I close my eyes in the real world and imagine I open my eyes in a dream world). I imagine myself in a no-stress situation (as if I fell through a protal into another dimension-but instead of adventure; I find relaxation and zero stress).

That sounds really interesting, maybe I'll try it myself!

[Nugan]

It seems like all of the replies to this thread are focusing on medicating or patterning your life against a symptom (insomnia) of what is actually a larger problem: academic stress.

While perhaps one of their remedies would work, they would only relieve your suffering at night. They would do nothing about all of the other discomfort you feel as a result of the unreasonable--yes, if you are suffering, they are unreasonable--expectations and standards you are operating under for school.

I only say this because I abused myself--emotionally and, on occasion, physically--for four years trying to pursue perfection in my academic life, and I know how little that "A" means compared to the suffering that created it.

My suggestion, and I mean this honestly, is to cut corners. You do not have to do everything to the best of your ability, only to the best you can manage with limited suffering.

You shouldn't have to suffer for something as abstract and insubstantial as a grade point average. Grades are the arbitrary products of subjective departmental standards and subjective professors and instructors. (I say this as someone who has spent much of the last year teaching a freshman composition course and grading undergraduate papers.) They are not an objective representation of your skill or effort. They are not worth the suffering.