• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Spyxos

Spyxos

Member
It's almost 4 a. m. here, I still can't sleep after several hours. Fresh air and moving a little has brought nothing. Sheep countin didn't help as well. What do you do when you can't sleep?

Donald Duck Sleeping GIF
 
Heimdall_Xtreme

Heimdall_Xtreme

Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Spyxos said:
It's almost 4 a. m. here, I still can't sleep after several hours. Fresh air and moving a little has brought nothing. Sheep countin didn't help as well. What do you do when you can't sleep?

Donald Duck Sleeping GIF
Click to expand...
Go to the bathroom to urinate and Drink water.

If you can't rest with that.... Use the 4-7-8 breathing and inhalation technique.

Close your mouth and inhale the air through your nose. Count to four. Hold your breath for seven seconds. Exhale the air completely from your lungs for eight seconds do it many times and you will sleep.
 
Last edited:
Spyxos

Spyxos

Member
Heimdall_Xtreme said:
Go to the bathroom to urinate and Drink water.

If you can't rest with that.... Use the 4-7-8 breathing and inhalation technique.

Close your mouth and inhale the air through your nose. Count to four. Hold your breath for seven seconds. Exhale the air completely from your lungs for eight seconds do it many times and you will sleep.
Click to expand...
Thx i will try this out.
 
Mistake

Mistake

Member
Billbofet said:
I go in my basement to lower my temperature. I read down there for about 20 minutes, and that along with being cold knocks me out 90% of the time
Click to expand...
There is something primal about it, but I get the best sleep when it's pitch dark, cold, and I'm under a weighted blanket
 
Last edited:
KrakenIPA

KrakenIPA

Member
When I worked night audit for a haunted hotel and had to sleep while the sun was up, i usually took a few sleepy pills. If you do take sleepy pills i would recommend starting with just a small dose.
 
J

JimmyRustler

Member
As someone who recovered from 2 year insomnia…

Nothing really helps, except maybe meditation if you have the patience. It’s probably some unresolved underlying psychological issue that causes stress.

Hope it’s just a one time thing and you get over it quick. Not sleeping sucks and fucks you up royally.
 
Last edited:
Hawking Radiation

Hawking Radiation

Member
mitch1971 said:
Coldness is the key to sleep. Your brain needs to drop it's temperature a few degrees for fast sleep. (It's why we turn our pillow over to feel the cold on our heads) Make sure you room is cold enough before you get into bed. Ten minutes and you'll be 'lights out'.
Click to expand...
Is that how you go about doing it to all your victims?

Kidding. That's good advice.
 
KrakenIPA

KrakenIPA

Member
T-0800 said:
Bored GIF
Click to expand...
Ironically it was a hotel with a golf course. It was a hundred years old. Once the restaurant folks ended their night i was responsible for the main building and an out-building. I had to clean the downstairs bathrooms and when I went down there i could always feel a presence looking over my shoulder. It was not a good presence: doors slamming, lights going on and off, and auto-dispensers dispensing for no reason. I lasted about a year there.
 
Dr.D00p

Dr.D00p

Member
Having a device by the side of my bed playing a white noise mix, on a low volume works for me. Gives you something to focus on rather than the internal shit in your head keeping you awake.
 
John Bilbo

John Bilbo

Member
I used to get up and do some casual stuff I do normally: make coffee or chocolate milk, watch YouTube, read a book or play Splatoon.

After a while I'd get sleepy again.

Edit: washing dishes and folding laundry also helped.
 
Last edited:
Ozzy Onya A2Z

Ozzy Onya A2Z

Member
Exercise during the day.

No caffeine or sugar at night.

Put pen to paper or a thought to do list on your phone 30mins before bed.

If you're past those above then melatonin, no other ingredients. Also don't use your phone at bed time.
 
Trunx81

Trunx81

Member
KrakenIPA said:
Ironically it was a hotel with a golf course. It was a hundred years old. Once the restaurant folks ended their night i was responsible for the main building and an out-building. I had to clean the downstairs bathrooms and when I went down there i could always feel a presence looking over my shoulder. It was not a good presence: doors slamming, lights going on and off, and auto-dispensers dispensing for no reason. I lasted about a year there.
Click to expand...
"But this is nothing compared to my colleague, he worked there for hundreds of years!"

Melatonin was already mentioned and I endorse it as well. 3mg sublingual or 5mg sublingual work like a charm, every time.
 
FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
If it becomes a chronic, long term condition, go to your doctor. They may prescribe amitriptyline or mirtzapine off label to help you sleep. Both work incredibly well.
 
Last edited:
ReBurn

ReBurn

Gold Member
I have prescription medication for that. I take it an hour before bedtime and turn off screens and I usually get about 6.5 hours.
 
Trunx81

Trunx81

Member
ReBurn said:
I have prescription medication for that. I take it an hour before bedtime and turn off screens and I usually get about 6.5 hours.
Click to expand...
You mentioned something very important: Screens. So many people are tired as hell, get into bed and spend hours on their phones. Get rid of them in your bedroom: Plug them in in the living room or kitchen and go to bed without this. Read a book. Avoid light.
 
Nobody_Important

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
I take a melatonin and a Benadryl an hour before bed these days. On a night where I know I am going to have trouble or when I know I need a full night's sleep I take a melatonin and 2 Benadryl.


It seems to work. It's especially handy during the fall and spring because the extra Benadryl does wonders for your allergies.
 
Last edited:
Portugeezer

Portugeezer

Member
Trunx81 said:
You mentioned something very important: Screens. So many people are tired as hell, get into bed and spend hours on their phones. Get rid of them in your bedroom: Plug them in in the living room or kitchen and go to bed without this. Read a book. Avoid light.
Click to expand...
It's funny, because my antidote to not sleeping is watching some long-form youtube video until I sleep. (I do turn on the eye comfort feature on phone)

And I find that worrying about sleep makes it worse. Especially when you know you have something important to do and want to maximise every hour of sleep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
Do some people sleep better by drinking alcohol? If so, why?
2
57
3K
Dacvak replied
If you got 72 hours notice of a nuclear war, what would you do?
2 3
105
3K
Laptop1991 replied
  • Locked
Politics... be always careful what you wish for.
4
861
TehDark replied
I feel like everything about my body is denying my current job at this point
19
1K
sono replied
Last night I had to put my cat to sleep
9
1K
Blade2.0 replied
Top Bottom