I am exhausted and can not sleep

 I can not sleep.  Every little noise and ache is bugging me.   The house smells bad, the sheets are too scratchy, the room too stuffy.  UGHHGHGH...too late to take a tylenol PM, and too early to make breakfast.

Urghhghghg!!

I just took my tylenol 'sleepy time' or whatever this crap is called. Give me 45 minutes, I'll feel that warm rush of heat, then off to night night land for me. Sleep doesn't come naturally to me. Have you tried buying a white noise machine? I bought one because I'm the lightest sleeper ever.

You need white noise.  I use a fan.
Open the windows, take a warm bubble bath, shut off the computer and all of the lights.

PS I slept like a log for 4 hours and am now wide awake.  Have cleaned the house as much as I can.  Even the history channel is not boring enough to help me fall back to sleep.

Ah real live people! 

I have a fan, it bugs me  lol

I don't know what it is, I have been on and off again insomiac all of my life.  Usually it is because of the full moon or my period.  But today - I dunno. 

I have to get SOME sleep though so I am going to try again.  nighty night

Waning full moon tonight.
AM talk radio can bore you to sleep.
Fan bothers me a bit as well, but as I usually sleep during the day, it sort of distorts the little booger's commotion. 

When  actually have the chance to sleep at night and can't, it bugs me a bit.

Original Post by madamq:

 I can not sleep.  Every little noise and ache is bugging me.   The house smells bad, the sheets are too scratchy, the room too stuffy.  UGHHGHGH...too late to take a tylenol PM, and too early to make breakfast.

Urghhghghg!!

 Is this a new problem. How old are you. Have you changed anything, started a new medication, changed your diet or exercise routine, bedtime, schedule. I have sleep issues also. Have not slept past 3am for over a year.

A few ideas you can try.

I use a fan in my room. I cannot sleep without it. The noise from the fan drowns out the rest of the sounds in the house. Try it. Works great.

Keep your room cool, not too cold but cool. If it is not cold outside leave a window open or cracked to let in fresh air.

Don't exercise too close to bed time.

Don't eat too close to bed time. If you do make it something light, like a glass of low-fat milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, whole grain cereal, turkey, bananas. Some of these foods contain an amino acid called tryptophan which can promote sleep. Nothing fatty or spicy. That will keep you up.

Don't drink a lot too close to bed time. Chamomile tea is good to promote a restful sleep but not within an hour or so of bedtime.

Keep on a regular schedule. Same wake and bed times everyday. Even on the weekend if you can.

Don't take any unnecessary medications. Don't take vitamins, minerals or herbs to close to bedtime. Best to take them in the morning.

If you are laying awake worrying about things. Keep a notebook and before bed write down your to do's, your worries, things you need to remember and then close the notebook and put it away. Try to forget about it until tomorrow. Tell yourself there is nothing you can do about it at night and you will be able to handle everything better after a good night sleep.

Avoid alcohol or caffeine.

Keep the room dark. Too much light before bed wakes you up. Light tells your brain it is time to get up an move. Read a relaxing book or watch something light on TV. Nothing stressful or upsetting. Dim the lights.

Take a warm bath or shower to relax. Epsom salt baths are useful. Also add lavender to your bath or use a lavender lotion. The scent is calming and will help you sleep.

If this is something new talk to your Doctor. There may be a medical condition or hormone imbalance that is causing your sleep problems.

Avoid taking any sleeping pills. These can be helpful for short term sleep problems but they can also become addictive and aggravate sleep problems if taken for a long period of time. It is best not to get into that habit to begin with.

Original Post by madamq:

Ah real live people! 

I have a fan, it bugs me  lol

I don't know what it is, I have been on and off again insomiac all of my life.  Usually it is because of the full moon or my period.  But today - I dunno. 

I have to get SOME sleep though so I am going to try again.  nighty night

I too have been an on and off again insomniac all my life. Sometimes I'll go several weeks or even months without sleeping well. The best I ever slept was when I worked nights from 10:30 PM to 7:AM and slept all day.

The moon was full just a couple of days ago, I could still feel the pull of it last night a little. I can't stand to have anything in the room that makes noise. We do have a ceiling fan and it is quiet so I don't mind it, but anything else will keep me awake all night long.

I have found that if I masturbate to orgasm it will almost always help me to fall asleep.

I'd love to sleep with my ceiling fan on, but it seems to wobble a creak (Hmm... need to get that fixed).

If I have trouble sleeping, I try to do this: lay on your back with your eyes closed.  Beginning with your toes (and moving upward), imagine each part of your body gently falling asleep.  Sounds silly, but a friend told me to try this and it works for me!  I can actually feel my body get the just-fallen-asleep tingly feeling.

I have terrible insomnia. Bed time rolls around and if I need to get up early for something I usually take whatever pm medicine is handy and listen to a meditation podcast that usually makes me sleepy. But I can be dead tired and still not be able to fall asleep. More than once I'll just be lying in bed for 6 hours and then turn on the tv. The sucky part is when I do fall asleep I can sleep for 13 hours to 15 hours straight lol.