Sleep? What's that?

[pam]

14 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Mountain Dew? Doesn't this have caffeine? My sister swears by NyQuil. 

NyQuil does have a newer version that aids in sleep instead of a cold suppressant.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, pam said:

NyQuil does have a newer version that aids in sleep instead of a cold suppressant.

I remember trying NyQuil as a teenager when I was sick, and enjoying that warm-all-over, drowsy feeling WAY too much. 

[pam]

 

Not that I'm insinuating anything....just sayin.'  

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

I have wondered about this thyroid thing. I am exhausted all the time and have other classic symptoms of hypothyroid, even on medication... so since I'm on the "low end of normal" my dosage hasn't been increased in years  and years. 

Thyroid vs. Sleep symptoms go all over the board.  My wife had spells as a teenager where she'd sleep for 12 hours a day.  And she didn't feel groggy.  But her body needed it.  For many years she just dealt with it.  A few years ago, she started feeling tired all the time.  We finally had it checked a couple years ago and found she had Hashimoto's.  She then had insomnia issues AND was feeling tired all the time.

The doctor got her at a medication level that got her within the "normal" range.  But she was still not quite upto what she thought would be normal energy.  She then read and saw seminars about thyroid and found that the "normal range" was set by studies of people back in the 40s and 50s.  But the problem was that MANY more people had thyroid issues than anyone suspected.  So, the "average" was tainted from the sample they took.  

ALSO

Studies were done on military returning from WWII where tissue samples and blood samples were saved for many years.  Someone got the idea to cross reference all those who died premature deaths from unknown causes.  They found that nearly all of them had thyroid issues.

So, Mrs. Carb asked the doctor to up the dosage to the point that she was in the higher end of normal.  Now she feels fine.

One common symptom is for people to be intolerant of cold.  Think about the following:

• Women are often joked about as being thermally challenged.  You go to a professional outdoor sporting event and they'll hand out blankets to the women, but not the men.
• Women are much more prone to thyroid issues than men are.
• In Relief Society, Mrs Carb noticed that even though the AC is at 72 degrees, nearly all the women are wearing their coats or blankets or whatever.  She used to do the same.  But with her medication at the right level, she no longer needs her jacket in that room.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Guest

[anatess2]

18 hours ago, Larry Cotrell said:

After trying both of these things last night I tried to count sheep, about one per second. I gave up at 2,000 because the sheepfold was getting overcrowded. So, I don't recommend counting sheep. 

 

Counting sheep works but you don't JUST count sheep.  What you're trying to accomplish is to empty both sides of your brain.  Keeping up a count or performing mathematical algorithms empties the left brain.  Imagining  a sheep jumping over a fence or performing visual algorithms - like putting the sheep's face in your mind's focus with vivid colors - empties the right brain.  This makes it so that your entire brain gets fatigued enough to need sleep.

Edited September 8, 2016 by anatess2

[anatess2]

Ok, I have sleep issues.  Undiagnosed as I never bothered going to the doctor with it.  I have this thing called sleep paralysis and when I was little, I would be scared to sleep because I might get sleep paralysis, so I would fight sleep and sleep only the least amount possible.  As I got older it became a habit so that I have trouble actually sleeping normal.

Anyway, the thing that was the most effective is the relaxation tape I got from a hypnotist that was performing at the comedy club.  The hypnotist guy sold the relaxation tapes at the lobby and in the tape, he uses his soothing voice to do relaxation routine... like he would say, "Ten.  Focus on your toes.  Relax your toes.  Start with your big toe, then your middle toes.  Relax.  Imagine your toes floating in cool water.  Nine.  Focus on your leg.  Relax your leg... etc.".  When he reaches One, you're supposed to be asleep.

Unfortunately, the first time I tried it, I went into sleep paralysis FROM BEING AWAKE!  That never happens.  I go to sleep paralysis when I wake up from sleep - my brain is awake, my body is still asleep and I can't breathe.  Well, the relaxation tape brought my body to sleep while my brain was still awake!  I started to panic. It took a while of me counting sheep (like I mentioned above), trying to calm myself down, taking very shallow breaths, until my brain slept, So I didn't use the tape again.  But, that was the most relaxed, refreshing, peaceful sleep I've ever had...

 

[classylady]

18 hours ago, Larry Cotrell said:

I studied up on this for a while last night as I have also been having a hard time falling asleep lately.

One thing that I had read said to eat a handful of almonds. This didn't work for me but it's worth a try because a lot of people said it works really well.

There is another method where you breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven, and breathe out for eight. You inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This also didn't work for me but some people say they can fall asleep in under a minute this way.

After trying both of these things last night I tried to count sheep, about one per second. I gave up at 2,000 because the sheepfold was getting overcrowded. So, I don't recommend counting sheep. 

 

Counting sheep doesn't work for me either. I once counted to 10,000.  Still wide awake after that. Of course, it probably didn't help that I was trying to see how long I was willing to count.

[pam]

[SilentOne]

Counting sheep is the opposite of relaxing for me. It starts out okay, then the sheep start speeding up, then some of them turn around and jump back over and I'm not sure whether to count them again or subtract from the total, and all the time the sheep keep speeding up and speeding up, and then I've got about five jumping over one way and two coming from the other with new ones replacing them before they hit the ground, with another big group just walking/running around the fence, and there's no way I can keep track of them all.

Edited September 9, 2016 by SilentOne
punctuation

[tesuji]

On 9/7/2016 at 4:47 PM, NeuroTypical said:

So, over the last several months, my ability to sleep has degraded.  Last night was a new low - lay there in bed, bored, until 4:30 AM, then barely slept for maybe 90 minutes total.   Had the pulseOx test, "40% abnormal" they said.  It's 2 weeks until the sleep study.

Looking for suggestions on stuff folks do to aid sleep, while I'm waiting for my sleep study.   All suggestions welcome.  

I often have trouble falling asleep. Too much on my mind.

What works for me is Audible.com books on tape.

I play the books using the Audible app on my phone and I have earbuds and a memory foam pillow, so I can sleep with the earbuds on without it hurting my ears. The secret is finding a book that is interesting enough to keep my interest long enough for me to fall asleep but not so interesting that I want to stay awake to hear it. History and science books do the trick. Novels wouldn't work for me, probably - especially page-turner types.

I usually set the book to stop after 45 or 60 minutes - there's setting in the Audible for that. Sleep cycles are 90 minutes so you might get woken then if the book is still playing.

You can get 2 Audible books per month for $22 (that's their best plan, as far as price per book), and they also often have sales. They also sell one book a day on special, usually 2-4 dollars, if you check out their homepage every day. 

 

Other things they say can make your sleep worse

- bright lights before bed

- eating before bed, especially sweets

- caffein before bed, obviosly

- don't take naps during the day, and don't use your bedroom during the day for other activities like TV, reading

Your room should be dark, quiet, and cool

Get good physical exercise during the day, but not 2 hours or less before bed

You might also check with your doctor - insomnia can have medical causes.

Google for more tips

 

Edited September 9, 2016 by tesuji

[mordorbund]

The secret to counting sheep is to shear them as your go. Then you know which ones you've counted and which one you haven't, regardless of how much they wander in and out of their pen or your mind. Also, after all that manual labor you should be exhausted. If you still can't sleep it's time to see a doctor. You can even try counting them (that's why they wear white coats).

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

The secret to counting sheep is to shear them as your go. Then you know which ones you've counted and which one you haven't, regardless of how much they wander in and out of their pen or your mind. Also, after all that manual labor you should be exhausted. If you still can't sleep it's time to see a doctor. You can even try counting them (that's why they wear white coats).

But what if it takes so long to go to sleep that the earlier sheared sheep grow their coats back again.  Then where will you be?

[zil]

17 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

But what if it takes so long to go to sleep that the earlier sheared sheep grow their coats back again.  Then where will you be?

In an infinite loop?

[mordorbund]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

But what if it takes so long to go to sleep that the earlier sheared sheep grow their coats back again.  Then where will you be?

In bed. Awake.

[SpiritDragon]

I have had sleep problems for much of my life. My biggest issues are having a racing mind and/or waking up after a few hours of sleep. The second tends to be my bigger problem as an adult. If I wake up within the first 2-3 hours of sleeping I often can't fall asleep again. One of the strangest things that I've discovered recently is that if I wake up in the night and switch my environment (go from my bed to the couch) I can fall asleep again.

I've certainly tried things like relaxing before bed and taking things like melatonin and so on with inconsistent results. The one thing that I absolutely find to be a must now days is that if I start having trouble with sleep I make sure to get supplemental magnesium. I had read a study abstract that showed magnesium to be helpful in improving sleep quality in the elderly and thought I'd give it a try although I'm not elderly. To my great surprise and pleasure it has changed the sleep landscape forever for me. I wake up feeling well rested, something I had forgotten what it felt like. I do have to say that I find powdered magnesium citrate to be the best form for me. Further anecdotal evidence among my friends and family would suggest the same. Those who simply take a cal/mag tablet or even a magnesium tablet without the calcium don't seem to get the same effect. I would suggest not taking calcium with magnesium if sleep is the goal as they act antagonistically in muscles with calcium acting to create contraction and magnesium acting to flush calcium out and create a relaxed state in the muscle - this little bit of information I learned in physiology while becoming a fitness professional also just made sense to me as a reason to give it a try, I mean relaxed muscles sounds like reason enough to think it could help.

I like the brand natural calm, but I'm sure any decent magnesium supplement will do over time if your magnesium levels are part of the trouble for you.An estimated 68% of Americans do not meet the RDA for magnesium daily suggesting it is a likely culprit in many sleep issues. Of the several friends and family members I've told about this who've tried it almost all (around 70%) have noticed some improvement while a few like me have found it be an answer to prayers yielding rested awakenings in the first time in recent memory.

It's pretty safe to take quite a bit as well, in people with proper liver and kidney function excess magnesium will simply act as a laxative so your worst case scenario would be some loose stool. However if you have compromised liver or kidney function you'll want to be very careful about just trying it out. 

[Guest]

I'm prescribed an anti psychotic medication so I can sleep at night.

[jerome1232]

On 9/8/2016 at 8:01 AM, pam said:

NyQuil does have a newer version that aids in sleep instead of a cold suppressant.

If you are talking about zzquil I don't recommend it. It's alcohol and benadryl in a syrup. It will knock you out initially but I found it doesn't help later wakefulness and it leaves you crazy groggy.

 

I work a night shift and have trouble sleeping during the day, and swapping my sleep times for weekends the swapping back to day time sleeping for weekdays. I personally found melatonin (a supplement, it's the hormone your body naturally releases to signal it's nighttime) to be helpful, reading a book also usually helps me.

[pam]

1 hour ago, jerome1232 said:

If you are talking about zzquil I don't recommend it. It's alcohol and benadryl in a syrup. It will knock you out initially but I found it doesn't help later wakefulness and it leaves you crazy groggy.

 

I work a night shift and have trouble sleeping during the day, and swapping my sleep times for weekends the swapping back to day time sleeping for weekdays. I personally found melatonin (a supplement, it's the hormone your body naturally releases to signal it's nighttime) to be helpful, reading a book also usually helps me.

Yes that's what I was talking about.  Personally I've never tried it so have no idea how it makes you feel.  

[Sunday21]

You are going to think I am crazy but I tried this and it worked. When I was a student I often did not get much sleep. The lack of a steady bedtime threw my sleep cycle off. I listened to a radio show on insomnia on the Canadian network, CBC. We are famous for completely humourless information shows in which they find the county's best expert on a subject and grill this person merciless for hours! Tomorrow a salute to the root vegetable! This is my country.

I suffered through a whole summer of such broadcasts when I worked in rural Canada. One day we had a salute to insomnia. The researcher advised intentionally going without sleep for at least one night and going to bed at your regular time. If one night doesn't do it try two. This worked for me. 

We also have an incredibly low tech method of getting rid of chronic skin problems eg rashes, if anyone is interested!

Edited September 17, 2016 by Sunday21

[zil]

24 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

We also have an incredibly low tech method of getting rid of chronic skin problems eg rashes, if anyone is interested!

Does it involve frozen maple syrup? 

[Sunday21]

4 minutes ago, zil said:

Does it involve frozen maple syrup? 

No! But everything here is frozen half the year anyway! ? 

[Jojo Bags]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 4:47 PM, NeuroTypical said:

So, over the last several months, my ability to sleep has degraded.  Last night was a new low - lay there in bed, bored, until 4:30 AM, then barely slept for maybe 90 minutes total.   Had the pulseOx test, "40% abnormal" they said.  It's 2 weeks until the sleep study.

Looking for suggestions on stuff folks do to aid sleep, while I'm waiting for my sleep study.   All suggestions welcome.  

I use my priesthood and cast out the evil spirits that are afflicting me.  It doesn't always help, but quite often does.  Here is a quote for you to consider.  It is by a Bishop Woolley, the grandfather of President Spencer Woolley Kimball, and was delivered in a general conference.

 

Quote

I have learned that we are sometimes troubled and we scarcely know why and what about and, although we may strive and pray, yet we find it almost impossible to remove that feeling; we feel very different at other times, there is a different atmosphere around us, our feelings are different, we enjoy a great deal more, and still we do not pray any more, we are not anymore faithful than when suffering from those unpleasant sensations and still we enjoy a great deal more.

Why is it, and what is the reason? Why cannot we feel the same when we are busily at work day by day? There are periods when we will be happy and comfortable in our minds for weeks and months, and then after this there will be clouds, and there will seem to be no possible means of eradicating those unpleasant feelings from our minds. Though we may pray and contend against the powers that trouble us will all our faith they still hang around us for days and in times that are past, I have known such to be the case for weeks.

I do not know that I can fully explain to you the reason of this, but I can give you my ideas and opinion upon it, and my opinion is this, that evil spirits sometimes come and make a violent attack upon us to endeavor to overcome us; They will gather around us, get into our houses, and be a source of great trouble to us, and we may try to cast them out, yet it will take a season to do this; it will be some time before we can get those evil spirits away from our persons and our habitations, and I believe that the experience of others will correspond with mine when I say that it requires all the power within our grasp, at such times to cast them out.

I view this as a trial of our faith. I have had some experience in this matter, and conclude that the time the enemy comes upon us is the time when we must exert a double influence, that he may not gain more power over us than is necessary to try and test our integrity.

There is something upon my mind that is rather singular, but still it has a bearing upon this subject; it is a matter that occurred no longer ago that last night, and I will mention it to illustrate this part of my subject.

I perceived there was an evil spirit about my habitation, but still it did not take possession of any member of my family, still I could not pray him out of the house before I went to bed, nor could I succeed after I had retired, and the consequence was he tormented me all night; I did not sleep good nor rest well, and there was not that peace of mind that there is at other times. I know that there was an influence there that was endeavoring to thwart me in my designs, and make inroads into my family.

Have any of you ever felt so? What is the reason that we sleep so much better sometimes than we do at others? It is because there is a spirit around that is contrary to our faith and doctrine, and that is opposed to that exaltation that we are aspiring to.

The devil is a good deal better acquainted with ‘Mormonism’ than a great many of this people are, and he knows what we are endeavoring to do and to obtain, hence he endeavors to throw every thing in our way to oppose us he possibly can, and he is ever ready to thwart us in every thing that will tend to exalt us in the kingdom of God.

We read of one man who had a legion of devils and when the Savior cast them out they went into a heard of swine. Devils are ever on the alert, they are right on hand, and only let the least vacuum be made and they are ready to enter in, and there is a great deal more trouble to get them out that it was to admit them.

 

Discourse by Bishop Edwin D. Woolley in the Bowery, Sunday Morning, May 17, 1857

Deseret News, Jun 3, 1857, Pg. 100

 

[askandanswer]

On 9/8/2016 at 8:47 AM, NeuroTypical said:

So, over the last several months, my ability to sleep has degraded.  Last night was a new low - lay there in bed, bored, until 4:30 AM, then barely slept for maybe 90 minutes total.   Had the pulseOx test, "40% abnormal" they said.  It's 2 weeks until the sleep study.

Looking for suggestions on stuff folks do to aid sleep, while I'm waiting for my sleep study.   All suggestions welcome.  

As a free service to the members of my ward, I teach effective sleep skills by examples during most sacrament meetings. Feel free to come, watch and learn.  

[Sunday21]

On September 7, 2016 at 10:17 PM, zil said:

Meanwhile, it seems we've forgotten a good one: prayer.  (Not that I recommend you fall asleep during your prayers, but rather that you pray for help falling asleep and staying that way.)

We've also forgotten at least one bad one: You could ask wife or children to bash you over the head with a brick.  (Depending on the day, they might be willing...)

You are soooooo funny! ?

[Sunday21]

14 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

As a free service to the members of my ward, I teach effective sleep skills by examples during most sacrament meetings. Feel free to come, watch and learn.  

I have frequently fallen asleep in sacrament. ?