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snowbunny, I am certain that any decent doctor will hone in on the obvious disruption of your sleeping habits and not some neurological disorder. And the only thing that will help that is actual sleep, and trying to gradually work your way to regular sleeping habits. But most importantly getting the desired amount of sleep every 24 hour period, regardless of when.
snowbunny- not yet. we keep alllll our magazines, so we have a lot, and someone just threw them all out of order recently… gotta look some more
snowbunny-
why arent u going to a doctor? even if u x have insurence, maybe u should pay out of pocket just for this time.
snowbunny- no, it’s likely not neurological. But a sleep test could be helpful, though if your issue is insomnia, i’m not sure it’d help. I’m waiting to go for a sleep test myself :P. Glad you got a long night’s sleep though! Maybe it’s the boost you needed to remind your body to sleep more.
another all nighter? that can’t be healthy :-/
I had the same problem and actually got a sleep test but they didnt find anything. I finally found a psychotherapist who specializes in sleep disorders- once u have a sleep disorder for awhile it leads to a vicious cycle of anxiety, which keeps you up at night. There are also sleep hygeine techniques that you can research online. Overcoming Insomnia: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach Workbook (Treatments That Work) by Jack D. Edinger and Colleen E. Carney (Mar 27, 2008)
Good Luck
STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT
Take cold drugs, do whatever, but GO TO SLEEP.
snowbunny-
yaaaa mayb u shud switch ur dosage!!
mayb take benadryl..to fall asleep..
Abusing cold drugs will probably do less damage than you are doing right now…take Tylenol PM or something–that stuff won’t affect you adversely unless you take too much of it.
Is one of the side effects of ADHD medication sleep disruption?
oneofmany-
its a side effect of Ritalin. im very close w s/o w ADD
Also, it is much easier for me to fall asleep on shabbos night because on shabbos, i am not supposed to worry about so many things.
soo pls do relaxation exsersizes!! ur tense abt stuff..
Hmmm…sorry, didn’t realize you were on ADHD meds in my comments earlier. So you should definitely talk to the doctor that prescribed you that stat. Like, call him or something.
But you should probably talk to your doctor first…adjusting meds is something that the doctor should really be doing (I have a sibling with bipolar disorder, so I am not talking through my tuchus on that one). And he will probably also be able to advise you as to what additional therapies would be helpful. And you should REALLY let him know about your difficulties sleeping.
So what does he say about your sleeping problems and additional therapies?
I’m definitely not saying that I don’t believe you. What I am saying is that for real problems the most important thing to do is talk to the doctor who is intimately acquainted with your medical history and diagnoses, not a zillion random specialists.
Hmmm. Okay. I’m sorry if what I was saying sounded too harsh or judgmental (I do stand by it, though).
Sorry to hear about the insomnia! A few ideas:
1. Cut out all caffeine for at least a few months. Don’t even eat chocolate (which contains caffeine and the stimulant theobromine) other than in the morning.
2. First thing in the morning, get bright direct sun in your face. Obviously, don’t make yourself go blind by looking directly at the sun. But getting this bright light from the sun early has bee shown to reset your circadian rhythms.
3. Reevaluate your medications to see if insomnia is a side-effect of any of them. Change medications or cease them if necessary (obviously that should be done in consultation with a doctor).
4. Get some good exercise but only in the morning. Don’t do anything more strenuous than walking past mid-day or so. Exercising gives the body adrenaline, which acts like caffeine but is even more long-lasting.
5. Make your room extremely dark, with no light whatsoever. Get new blinds, or even duct tape thick cloth against your window if you have to.
6. Try visualization techniques in which you feel each part of your body get very tired and relaxed.
7. Even better, either in your head or softly whispering, thank Hashem for every little thing you can think of, over and over if necessary, until you fall asleep. For some reason this is very relaxing, and a little boring, so it can work really well.
8. Make sure to eat enough before going to bed, but not too much that you’re too full or that you’re not hungry for breakfast when you wake up. Try having something with carbs, protein and fat, like bread with peanut butter or hummus. (Hummus is good because it has a little garlic, which is a slight sedative.) Don’t drink water past 2-3 hours before you plan to go to bed. You might wake up in the morning really thirsty, but that’s OK.
Hatzlacha!
Also, prayer works for everything — have you tried devoting a certain amount of time (say, 15 minutes, or even an hour) to praying to Hashem in your own words to let you sleep normally? This can get great results — see books like In Forest Fields and Garden of Gratitude by Jerusalem-based Rosh Yeshivah Rav Shalom Arush.
Go for a massage.
did you tell him all his advice was worthless and he should keep looking for solutions/diagnoses??
Sometimes insurance will cover (part of) massage therapy.
I’m still searching for that magazine, no luck yet. After only sleeping 2 hrs last night, i was trying to think up what sometimes helps me, though nothing yet works always. Here’s some i came up with. -Focusing on my breathing. Your breathing is deeper and slower at night. Sometimes consciously doing it makes my body relax. -cooler temperature in the room. This is a biggie for sure! Cooler temperature will also slow your body down. – usually what keeps me up, if i analyze it, is my mind is wide awake and rushing. Clearing my mind is my best bet always, but it takes effort. Either just dismissin any stressful thoughts or schedule planning, or by focusing on something plain, like imagining myself on a beach or a walk, and thinking up all the details and not allowing stray thought in. Or, this is hard to describe, but really blanking my mind. Imagining just blackness, or a hole, or white, and nothing else, focusing on it, again not letting in stray thoughts, then shutting off my imaginations drawing so i only see the dark behind my eyes… I know, that made no sense to anyone but me :). But it works for me pretty well and quickly too.
sb- massage therapy or physiotherapy? How about chiropractor? (yep, i’m a believer!). If not though, you can get an hour session of massage therapy (not massage) for $50-$80. In e”y, if you can find one of the massage school there, you can get a student massage for $25. If you’re interested 🙂
get a reference, so ur not wasting any money. Hope it helps!!
mishpacha march 21. Now i got to find it 🙂
i assumed as much :). I found a reference in my emails. I just have to try to find the magazine now. If any other poster has old mishpachas and can look it up, please do! I cant guarantee i still have it
Snowbunny: Sorry you can’t buy books. Plenty of the same advice is on R’ Brody’s blog (Lazer Beams) and the Chut Shel Chessed Yeshivah’s webmagazine (Breslev Israel). They might even give you copies for free if you showed up at the yeshivah (13 Shmuel HaNavi Street, Yerushalayim.) I hope your sleep improves soon!
Possible sleeping disorder?
Refuah sheleimah.
DY -“Possible sleeping disorder?”
It’s not a sleeping disorder, but an anxiety disorder with side effects from the wrong Meds.
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