(no subject)

[blue_lotus13]

I have had sleep issues for the majority of my life. Apparently I rarely slept as a baby. I used to be able to survive on little sleep, but I've lost that ability.

It takes me a long time to fall asleep, and quite often, I wake up in the night because I have to pee or because one of my dreams wakes me up.

For one or two years of my life, falling and staying asleep was not a problem. This was in the time when I lived with a roommate for the first time, when I was about 23 until I moved to Wainwright at age 25. I remember hoping that all my sleep problems were gone for good. It turns out that they were not. I wake up often and I have a hard time falling asleep simply because my thoughts run away with me and turn like a hamster on a wheel.

What about you?

[Poll #1148444]

Comments

[elizawrites.livejournal.com]

I had really bad insomnia one semester in college, and I had to take Ambien to get back on track. Ever since then I generally fall asleep really quickly but I do wake up to pee if I drink too much money right before I go to sleep.

Also, I still totally owe you a critique, and I apologize for not getting it to you any sooner. Time just got away from me and I've been to embarrassed to say anything about it before.

[simplethymes.livejournal.com]

I've been having sleep problems only recently, but it is exactly how you described it: thoughts that turn like a hamster on a wheel. Very annoying. I used to not think so much, but I don't know what's going on with my thoughts lately. I'm thinking I will try to sit in meditation every night before bed (for like 5 minutes or just some period of time in silence)--maybe that will help.

[mizrobot]

I am just not a very good sleeper and haven't been for a long time! I can usually fall asleep really quickly if I am tired when I go to bed (I can't force myself to go to sleep early to get a good night's rest though) but I wake up a lot. Almost every night I wake up at 5am having to pee. I also get SUPER HOT when I sleep so sometimes that wakes me up, especially at my boyfriend's because he has this giant boiling comforter.

[chriskalen.livejournal.com]

i have always had trouble falling asleep. i can never just flop into bed and sleep; it's a gradual process of winding down, and even then i have trouble sometimes. shower first, then any last checks of email/weather, then i lie in bed with a book or watching tv for a half hour or an hour, until i feel sleepy. it's a way of distracting myself from the hamster wheel thoughts. this makes it easier to fall asleep, but once in a while it still takes me a long time (an hour or more) to fall asleep.

i have been waking up lately due to some pretty wacky dreams. i rarely get up to pee. i never realized that waking up to pee is routine for some people until i lived with my roommates this year.

[kickarse.livejournal.com]

I am usually a pretty great sleeper but obviously being pregnant is not doing my sleep any favors. I can still fall asleep in about 5 seconds flat though, I just wake up about 5-7 times every night, to pee, because my back hurts, horrible leg cramps, to roll over (a serious painful ordeal), etc. It's tough knowing it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[sadie6.livejournal.com]

I am a pretty sound sleeper. I do wake up sometimes (I share the bed after all with one husband and two giant cats) but I can usually fall right back to sleep and having woken up momentarily never bothers me. The only time I can't sleep is if I have to pee, but I hate to get up once I am in bed. It's so dumb since if I would get up and go right away I would go back to sleep in about 2 seconds. I usually wait until I really have to go before dragging myself out of bed.

[pescana.livejournal.com]

I often take Hyland's calms forte to quiet the never-ending hamster wheel in my brain. I think too much, and it wakes me up. I've also been having bad dreams a lot lately, and I wake up to get out of them. I tend to fall asleep quickly, but I don't stay asleep for very long.

[zooby.livejournal.com]

My issues with sleep stem from almost six years of swing shifts. It wasn't ever as bad as it is now though. I don't know why. Now, when I don't go to bed early enough (like at 4-ish), it takes forever to get to sleep and I find myself waking up throughout the night. Then, I get up when my alarm goes off and hit snooze like, five or six times. It's ridonkulous and I feel like a zombie.

I'm at the point where I am trying meditation to calm myself down before bed.

[windup.livejournal.com]

i've had terrible sleep problems my whole life too. i think they mostly stem from stress and anxiety. i have very vivid memories of lying in bed all night long as a kid, just trying and trying to sleep and never being able to... even as an 8 year old.

that said, i do sleep a lot better these days. i'm less stressed and my schedule allows me to stay up incredibly late so i only go to bed when i'm truly exhausted, and then i sleep like a log. also i've found it helpful to not eat late at night, avoid potentially anxiety-inducing things (like reading books or articles that i know will get me angry) late at night, and regular exercise. i know that i have a good workout or go to a challenging yoga class, i'll sleep like a baby that night.

[ainsley.livejournal.com]

I've had sleep problems my entire adulthood and for part of my childhood. Falling asleep sucks (I was on Ambien for years), and used to have to take something to keep me asleep as well. I've hit another rough patch recently, so now I'm trying some sleep hygiene--using the bed only for sleeping, going to bed at the same time every night, and the like. I just started seriously a few days ago (it's my March project), but I think it's helping.

[listersgirl]

I have a really hard time getting comfortable in bed, which definitely prevents me from falling asleep (all that tossing and turning). Lately I can't figure out where to put my arms. It sounds silly, but it's keeping me up.

[jopickles.livejournal.com]

If I don't have enough to drink before be, I usually wake up because my kidneys hurt. But really, I'm not a terribly sound sleeper at all, and everything wakes me up. The good thing is that while it takes me forever to fall asleep at night, once I'm asleep, I can wake up a million times and go right back to sleep.

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

I said it doesn't take me a long time to fall asleep, but that of course is "unless I'm having insomnia." In which case--foreveR!

[vestra.livejournal.com]

I'm not a great sleeper. It takes me a while to fall asleep, and I always wake up several times during the night. Luckily, I can usually fall back asleep quickly, but I rarely sleep for more than a few hours at a time. I don't know what wakes me up-maybe sounds, or being too hot...I'm not sure. I just always wake up, look at the clock, then go back to sleep. Sometimes I wake up and think it might be time to get up, but it turns out it's still the middle of the night.

Last week it was weird--for about 6 nights straight, one of the times I woke up was exactly 4:40 am.

[starfishchick]

I can usually fall asleep really easily when I am not in bed - on the couch, in the car, on the subway, etc.

If I am TRYING to sleep, it'll never happen.

[bitsandb0bbins.livejournal.com]

well, hrm, my answers are currently colored by the fact i'm growing a fetus...for some time i've had to get up multiple times a night to pee, which of course isn't great for sleeping/staying asleep. it was so bad for a while i was getting up about 6x a night. on the upside, i was remembering a LOT more of my dreams that way. but it totally added to the fatigue i was already feeling due to the pregnancy.

prior to being pregnant, i did a decent job sleeping through the night most nights. maybe getting up once to pee. small bladder, i guess! :P

sometimes it can be hard for me to sleep, and sometimes not. usually it's psychological. mind racing about this or that. or, if i took a midday nap, i usually have a little more trouble falling asleep later. but generally, i'm pretty good about staying down when i go down.

[elf-chick.livejournal.com]

i had insomnia for years in TX but since we moved to IL last August I have been sleeping great. In fact i had my first bad night of sleep just this week-end (due i think in part to me taking a nap in the evening -- couldn't be helped; i was exhausted -- and reading in bed). Now when i wake up at night i fall back asleep with relative ease. I also get to sleep in fairly late due to my work schedule so that may have some effect (i go to bed around midnight and sleep til 7:30-8 usually); not looking at the clock waiting for the alarm to go off as much.