Insomnia

pills?

hi, i have suffered from insomnia my whole life.
exercise is a good idea, don't do it in the hours before you want to go to sleep though.

have you tried pills? if not, try ramelteon. it's a softdrug, see also melatonin. it makes you feel sleepy. it's a natural thing, and for instance given to people with jetlag. works for several hours, you dont feel it after you wake up (given that you've got enough sleep). they don't work very fast though.

i've tried several harddrugs with good effect, but those can have serious downsides:
benzo's work good for me, i use temazepam sometimes when i want to switch from night to daytime rhythm. these are highly addictive! i never take them two days in a row and generally once a week or less. the effect is that you get supercalm, it clears your head, when you close your eyes you just drift away, and you're gone. these come in gelcaps and work really fast.

a drug that works on a daily basis (you don't need more after a while) is the anti-depressant mirtazapine in lower dosage (15 mg). it makes you feel incredible tired, cant keep your eyes open. you will sleep in 30/45 mins. downsides are that it becomes more difficult to get up (you sleep longer) you probably get weird feelings the moment you start or stop taking them, and worst of all: you might feel a bit sedated during the day. o, and you become incapable to feel very depressed.

these last two are hardcore and i am not sure if to recommend them, only if you really have serious problems.

the melatonin things is worth a shot though, won't do you any harm. it does not always work, and with melatonin i've experienced sometimes that you get to sleep a bit uneasy (bad dreams, waking up, etc) especially if you've taken too much. the ramelteon might help here, never tried it myself though.

i would just go with the up all night sleep all day schedule and not try to be normal...

statistically jazz musicians have the shortest life span among all types of artists. there are many contributing factors but I'm sure the fucked up sleeping pattern is a main one...

i work shifts and my body just don't know how to act.

it works me up when my head starts racing, and i i tell my duvet to fuck off around 5/6 times a night.

humans need on/off switches. do other animals suffer from insomnia, or do they not give a single shit cos they roll where they want when they want? what about some ape communities, they probably have diary dates to keep maybe?

exercise, no coffee. no stimulation for an hour or so before sleep.
also i have had hypnotherapy sometimes which helps.
i get it bad.

my method is to stay awake two days by force and collapse at a proper time. the odd thoughts and humour of the second day may alleviate your misery a bit (do not do this if you're a pilot or surgeon or are suicidal, etc). the following days make sure you keep 'normal' company, walk/exercise as mms says, keep your shutters open and so on, all the natural cycle things.

For a musician, it sounds like you aren't smoking enough pot.

Anyone know the cure? I often go to bed and just lie there with my mind racing until it's time for me to get up again. Then I do the same again the next night. I can normally sleep on the third one though.
Any help appreciated.

viz had a good tip.
insomniacs-use the extra waking hours to think about your fears and problems

IdleRich said:

Anyone know the cure? I often go to bed and just lie there with my mind racing until it's time for me to get up again. Then I do the same again the next night. I can normally sleep on the third one though.
Any help appreciated.

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i have the same problem and as boring as it may be, the only thing i find that helps is having a solid routine. i,e. waking up and going to sleep the same time everyday.