Folk Cures to Insomnia: Share Your Tips!

[Blahness]

Hey, anyone else here a nocturnal creature?

I'm definitely nocturnal, and annoyingly at that. However, since it messes with my school work, I need to sleep more at night. (I'm running on 5 hours of sleep! Woo.)

So, this is the thread of FOLK CURES TO INSOMNIA!

Post any you know/have seen/use, no matter how hilarious or idiotic(And yes, maybe some possibly helpful ones, if you know any

Thank you, and if this is posted 2-5 times, blame it on my school network(coughsuckscough), and delete the extras.

 

[Hootenanny]

I don't know of any 'cures', but 5 hours of sleep isn't that unusual. I've been functioning on about four hours sleep for the last two weeks; but then again I do like coffee.

 

[larkspur]

Completely discontinue caffeine, take a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement about two hours before bed.

 

[chroot]

I'm also fairly nocturnal, but not an insomniac. I don't have problems getting 8 hours of sleep per night, but I cannot convince myself that 10 pm is a reasonable time to go to bed.

For me, 10 pm has always been "the beginning of the night," and I've always found myself to be most creative and most able to concentrate between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. (I think a lot of it has to do with environment -- there are fewer distractions at night, when all the decent people are asleep.)

My solution was not to try to reprogram myself to thinking that 10 pm was bedtime, but rather to seek a profession which doesn't require me to get to work before 10 am.

- Warren

 

[JamesU]

the cure for insomnia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure_for_Insomnia

 

[heman]

Blahness,,sleeping 5 hours a day is not so unusual...i too had similar problem like i could not sleep despite trying hard to do it...

Byy the way there is a very interesting mvoie on insomnia ...The Machinist...which i happened to see yesterday in which the guy didn't sleep for a year and how life changes around him because of that...

 

[Evo]

I need 10 hours of sleep to feel ok. Different people need different amounts of sleep.

I also chose a job that allowed to me decide when to show up. I can come in at 10 am, noon, 2pm or not at all.

I can't work any other way.

 

[Lisa!]

No insomnia problem if I don't sleep a lot during the day, but I like staying up late at night. That's enjoyable. Right now it's 12 PM here, but I really don't want to sleep now.

I also chose a job that allowed to me decide when to show up. I can come in at 10 am, noon, 2pm or not at all.

Wow! You're lucky.

 

[franznietzsche]

I need 10 hours of sleep to feel ok. Different people need different amounts of sleep.

I also chose a job that allowed to me decide when to show up. I can come in at 10 am, noon, 2pm or not at all.

I can't work any other way.

Gotta love that flexibility.

 

[Mk]

Stephen King's book Insomnia was pretty entertaining.

 

[Moonbear]

I'm also fairly nocturnal, but not an insomniac. I don't have problems getting 8 hours of sleep per night, but I cannot convince myself that 10 pm is a reasonable time to go to bed.

For me, 10 pm has always been "the beginning of the night," and I've always found myself to be most creative and most able to concentrate between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. (I think a lot of it has to do with environment -- there are fewer distractions at night, when all the decent people are asleep.)

My solution was not to try to reprogram myself to thinking that 10 pm was bedtime, but rather to seek a profession which doesn't require me to get to work before 10 am.

- Warren

Same here. Though, the new kitten thinks I'm supposed to get up at 6:30 AM! SHE gets to nap all day after getting up that early.

 

[GeorginaS]

Kittens are funny that way, Moonbear. Mine's almost six years old, now, and she still thinks that 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. every night are good times for me to wake up. Yes, both times every night. Yes, I'm stupid enough to respond.

Five hours sleep a night is hardly insomnia, although I function best on seven hours. I too have always found that I start functioning my best creatively around 10 or 11 at night. I've always hated going to bed before midnight. It's as if I think I'm going to miss something.

So, but, to get more sleep, if you have to be up at a specific time, as larkspur said, cut back on or cut out caffeine, don't nap during the day, eat dinner earlier, don't snack through the evening, stay away from the computer for at least a few hours before you need to go to sleep to cut down on stimulation, have a routine that mentally prepares you for bed, had a relatively boring book bedside and read a few pages when you settle in. Get to bed at the same earlier time each night and it shouldn't take long to programme yourself to fall asleep then. And, especially if you're getting up early, you'll start wanting to sleep earlier too. See? No magic.

 

[JasonRox]

I'm also fairly nocturnal, but not an insomniac. I don't have problems getting 8 hours of sleep per night, but I cannot convince myself that 10 pm is a reasonable time to go to bed.

For me, 10 pm has always been "the beginning of the night," and I've always found myself to be most creative and most able to concentrate between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. (I think a lot of it has to do with environment -- there are fewer distractions at night, when all the decent people are asleep.)

My solution was not to try to reprogram myself to thinking that 10 pm was bedtime, but rather to seek a profession which doesn't require me to get to work before 10 am.

- Warren

I'm the exact same way. I think it's because the darkness is more calming and it's a lot more quite. Less distractions too.

 

[Moonbear]

Kittens are funny that way, Moonbear. Mine's almost six years old, now, and she still thinks that 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. every night are good times for me to wake up. Yes, both times every night. Yes, I'm stupid enough to respond.

I love that you lumped 6 AM in as night. That's my view on it. The sun is barely up yet! 3 AM I don't mind, because I'm often still awake that late, but I really didn't need my face exfoliated by a sandpaper tongue at 6:30 today. Just try to sleep through or ignore a kitten licking the end of your nose! I'm way too ticklish to ignore her morning grooming sessions. But, I might be on to something. If I wrap her up in a blanket and hold her still, she hates that, and soon after takes off for someplace else until I get out of bed on my own.