I've had some level of insomnia almost all of my life. It is extremely rare that I am tired when you "are supposed to be tired" and on the flip side I spend a great deal of time feeling exhausted throughout the day. I mostly never nap unless it is absolutely essential.
Because of this, most of my life I have been really tired to the point of looking and feeling ill most of the time during the day and then it got to a point where I felt like I had some sort of psychological block that didn't allow me to sleep at night like a normal person.
The trick I used to get back on a regular sleeping schedule might not apply to most people and some of the tactics I used could be seen as "bad" by some, but it ended up working for me in the end.
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Fight Club is an excellent movie by the way and I recently found out that it was attacked by critics at the time and didn't do very well in the box office as a consequence.
Some of what is in the quote is true though: My experience was that because sleep was so elusive to me that I often had difficulty figuring out what was real in my life and what was part of a dream I had. I would every now and then, tell my friends about some shared experience only to later discover that it was a dream hallucination that I had and they weren't actually there for it.
I required vast amounts of caffeine just to function at work and I think at least in part, my alcoholism that exists to this day began because that was one of the solutions I found that worked like a charm to make me sleep. It of course has some rather ill effects on the back end though, one of which is a hangover and those have gotten worse the older I have gotten. Societies entertainment availability hasn't helped, and that is part of the reason why insomnia reared its ugly head in my midlife portion of my life as well. I have an unusual job that doesn't necessarily have a schedule, so there were never any real consequences to me staying up all night. The only thing I ever really have a schedule for is my weekly bowling outings and those don't start until 11am.
My sleep patters were all over the place and for some people this might seem manageable. I know it kind of did for most of my adult life once I started working remotely without a start/finish time and I kind of took pride in it at some point in my life, but later I just felt like not having a sleep schedule was negatively affecting my health. So I made a few adjustments that changed everything for me and have been working to this day.
So what did I do?
Well for starters, I needed a little bit of help when I began: I'm sure there are some yoga masters out there or people who are really into meditation that would tell you that you just have to "mind over matter" your way through this, but I wanted to bring in the big guns at least to start.
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Step 1: Drugs
This is Zopistad, or as it is commonly known in the west, Ambien. Zolpidem tartrate is the primary active ingredient and it increases the activity of something called GABA which is a chemical produced in the brain that encourages sleep. If you are new to this product it will work as a tranquilizer of sorts meaning that after you take one, in an hour or so, you WILL go to sleep.
They claim it is not habit-forming but I am here to tell you that this is not true. Imagine that huh? Pharmaceutical companies lying to you in order to sell more products. That never happens now does it?
Well anyway, I chose a normal time of night to take the Ambien in the first week. This was always 9 or 10 pm. Then the next step I took is probably the most important.
Step 2: Get devices away from you in bed
How many of us have sat in bed "doom-scrolling" on a phone or just as bad, having the entire history of the world's cinema collection connected to a 50 inch TV on the other side of the room. It should come as no surprise that having these things around would engage my brain and keep me awake. I would say this is more true with the phone because it is a 2-way street if you want it to be, but it was just as bad with the TV. Falling asleep in front of the TV is fine and dandy in the afternoon on the sofa, but using it as a rock-a-bye-baby in the bedroom, I believe is a terrible idea.
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So in order to disengage my brain from the screens that were keeping me awake, I don't use the TV at night and I don't even keep the phone in the room with me. I read a book and there have only been a handful of books that have ever been capable of keeping me awake. With the drug and the book combined, I found my eyes getting heavy within 30 minutes. I also now had something to "calm my mind" because I would just think about what I had just read in the book to keep the intrusive voices about things like what I have coming up in the future at bay
Step 3: Wake up time, even when you don't have to
This part was a bit more annoying and is probably more specific to me because I don't have a traditional job. I would set an alarm for 6am for every single day even if I had no reason to be up at that time. For me this is almost every day since I can start and finish my work whenever I feel like it.
However, what I have experienced as far as my job is concerned is that if I was waking up at 6, I was finished with the work I could do that day a lot earlier Sometimes before breakfast.
There were days that getting up at 6 seemed a bit painful, such as days that I had alcohol the night before, but I did it anyway, without breaks. I've been doing this for a while now
Step 4: Exercise in the evening
This might be tough for some people but for me it really did the trick. It is a lot more easy to coax yourself in a sleep state if you did something rather exhausting just a few hours before you hit the sheets. It didn't have to be anything major and it could be something as simple as going for a walk on the beach for me or just taking Nadi for a longer-than-average walk on the crazy streets of Da Nang.
With these things combined I now experience very little difficulty in getting to sleep and I no longer fear the alarm going off in the morning either. I do not regularly take any medication anymore, that was only necessary in the first week but I will admit that I keep them in my bedside table should I ever have one of those nights where I am tossing and turning for more than say 30-40 minutes at night.
The end result of all of this is that the entirety of my overall life has improved. I am more productive, happier, and find things like getting regular exercise a lot easier. It also helps that I am kind of devoted to not drinking very much very often these days as well but it was really tough for me at the start and while I do believe that we should have as few pharmaceuticals in our life as possible, they do serve a purpose if you are strong enough to not get addicted to them.
In some of your countries I would imagine that there are strict controls on certain medications but here in Vietnam if I want to purchase enough Ambien to kill everyone in my neighborhood, the pharmacy has no issue with selling it to me. Just be careful with the stuff and follow the instruction on the box. Also, don't develop a habit because if you do that can just make your previous problem even worse.
I think the main thing is probably getting the screens away from you at night because they are such a ubiquitous part of our lives these days.
Glad you were able to overcome your struggles.
My sleeping difficulty stemmed from doom scrolling and intrusive thoughts. I prefer reading books when I can afford them, but puzzle games are a good alternative. I play puzzles for 30 minutes before bed, which surprisingly helps wind down my brain. I also listen to calming podcasts while playing, and sometimes I meditate, which really helps.
I really like your points, especially the warning about the risks of getting addicted to sleeping pills.
Warm greetings!🌹
intrusive thoughts! That is the word I was looking for when I was reading this. It really is crazy how that happens isn't it? Sometimes I will cringethink about stuff that recently happened or even things that happened decades ago. Why does my brain enjoy tormenting me so? Puzzles could be good for some people but for me I would need it to be something in a book like Sudoku. Maybe that's just me but if it was a phone I would be too tempted by the "dings" of incoming notifications and now i'm stuck doom scrolling again.
I have another rule that I mostly enforce in my life and that is that even if I am not going to go to bed right away, I will always stop my tv time or video games (which I rarely play but its still a screen) at 9pm or thereabouts. Honestly, I feel like my eyesight is negatively affected by all these screens.
"Cringethink” captures it so well:) It amazes me how the mind clings to those random memories, as though replaying them serves some purpose. May be the brain’s way of processing unresolved emotions, but at night it just feels like unnecessary torment.
Sudoku is definitely a healthier choice than phone puzzles💯, especially when it comes to minimizing screen time.
I admire your 9pm screen rule, it shows real discipline. I’ve noticed too that when I cut off screens earlier, not only does my sleep improve but I also feel calmer in general. It makes me think our bodies are quietly telling us to return to simpler rhythms, away from all the constant stimulation.
Good morning to you.
I been fighting sleep or I have insomnia that makes me feel to have a good sleep at night. Even I feel sleepy after lunch I do not take nap just to make a a good sleep at night but still I cannot sleep . Until I read about late afternoon walking or evening walking before bed time. I found out that late afternoon or evening walks was very effective and from that time till now I do walking before bed time.
that is good that you found a way that works for you. Exercise is normally a very good solution, the problem is the timing and also that the exercise might make you hungry (it does for me) so when i do training late at night I always make sure that I have some healthy snacks like fruit in the fridge so if I do get hungry I don't stay awake being hungry because that is the worst.
Happy morning! well I only do walk as an exercise because I think my body is not yet ready for a serious workout. I got my total Thyroidectomy last 2023 then my Radiation on the first month of 2024 then after six months another medical procedure for my Thyroid Cancer. Now I am trying to be healthy after I am Cancer free. So far, I do have stocks of foods either on fridge or pantry. Have a blessed day.
I can really relate to your story about struggling with insomnia. The part about screens and irregular schedules hit me too, it's so true how these little habits affects our sleep. I admire how you managed to turn things around with disciplined and small changes. This is really inspiring for me because I am also sometimes struggling in sleep.
get the screens out of your bedroom routine. I honestly think that is probably the biggest part in today's time
True! I think it's not easy at first but once I get used to it, I can sleep so much better soon. Thank you for your advice.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story 😮 I also have trouble sleeping sometimes. I never knew that phones and TVs can keep us awake so much. I like your idea of reading a book and doing a little exercise—it sounds easy and helpful. I will try your tips to sleep better too! 🌙📖💪”
please do, and then write a story about how it works for you if it does at all. But remember, it's not just one day... you have to have a plan and do it for I would say a minimum of a week before your body will change and this becomes easy for you. Get the screens out of the bedroom.
Thank you for these tips! You're right, must have consistency and not just one day. I think to follow it for at least a week and see how it goes. Removing screens from the bedroom sounds like a big help, too."
I'm glad you found some pieces that are working for you. I never really had trouble falling asleep, but getting a good quality sleep was a problem. Turns out I had sleep apnea and now I have a fancy machine for that :P Depressing, but it works!
I've often wondered about a sleeping disorder because certain friends of mine ended up getting one of those fancy machines and they said it changed their lives like nothing else ever has. The problem is diagnosis. I am always leery of diagnosis over here because often the clinics are mostly interested in selling you the expensive machines.
Yeah, I still think it's a racket. It seems they are diagnosing so many people with it. The monthly charges for the machine are through the roof until you hit your deductible. I was having panic attacks at night though and I think it was because I would stop breathing. Since I got the CPAP machine I've had maybe one case in the past year. My incidents per hour of not breathing has dropped from like 17 to less than 1. I don't get as tired through the day, but the mask is a pain to deal with at night.
Curing or besting Insomnia isn't something too many people can boast of. Am glad you found something that works for you...thanks for sharing
well it could all be reversed, as it has in the past for me, by breaking the good habit. All it takes is a couple days in a row of staying in bed nursing a hangover and taking tramadol to help me feel better to reverse the curse. I am very fortunate to have a job where I don't have to wake up at any particular time but in many ways it isn't great since there is zero incentive for me to wake up early, or at all.
The going for a walk in the evening sounds like a great idea and fresh air does make you sleepy for some reason. I am sure Nadi enjoys the evening exercise too. You also have a pool on your condo roof so you could also go for a swim. I know you have struggled with sleep and an active mind so it is good you have got this under control now.
Ever been checked for Sleep apnea?
i really should go and do that. It has been suggested by many people. There was a guy I knew that was always looking tired as shit, just looked terrible and his smile and attitude was kind of fake looking, like he always just felt in the dumps even though he wasn't depressed and had a good life. He tried all sorts of pills and natural solution and then one day he went to a real and reputable sleep clinic in Thailand and turns out he had sleep apnea. He got one of those i think they are called CPAC machines or something and honestly, it was, no pun intended, like night and day. It was a totally different guy that emerged on the other side of this situation. He said it was the single most amazing thing health-wise that he has ever done in his life.
So yes, I should probably go to that same clinic that he went to.
It's called a C-PAP
I can relate how depressing it is when our body refuses to follow a normal sleep pattern. It can really throw off our entire day leaving us exhausted and foggy. These simple habits, putting screens away and doing some evening exercise, really help signal to our body that it’s time to wind down.
it's crazy to me that this is even an issue with many humans. But our jobs have changed. When I was young my family owned a landscaping company and when I had time off school and wanted to make some money I would work with my Dad doing manual labor all day. I'll tell you what, you do NOT have trouble sleeping after 8 hours of that!
Exactly! When the day is filled with real physical work, the body naturally shuts down and craves rest, no struggle at all. These days so many of us are stuck at desks or on screens, which tires the mind but not the body, and that’s where the problem starts.
Sleeping matters is very essential in today’s modern world like how can we have a balance sleep with much work? And I am beyond proud of you that you strengthen yourself and got your sleeping clock back.
Sufro de insomnio desde jovencita. Por tiempos se calma un poco, pero es mayor la cantidad de tiempo en duermo mal.
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