Why am I not sleeping?

One thing sleep people keep saying but it's the opposite for me: Don't read or listen to or watch anything exciting! I guess the idea is that you can't calm down when you do this and that's probably true to an extent but if anxiety keeps you awake (perhaps also if that's caused by your worries about not sleeping) then something that really absorbs you may actually help because it takes the mind off the worries for a bit. It does that for me at least. I can be much calmer after reading a few chapters in a crime novel because I'm not afraid of the crimes commited in Sweden but of far less criminal things in my own life...

Hi Song,

Have you had a look at the NAS links on sleep? - some of it is focused on parents helping children with sleep issues but some of the strategies and suggestions are relevant for adults too. There are also links at the bottom to further sleep advice and services, some of which might be helpful: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/health/sleep.aspx 

Best wishes and hope you get some rest soon.

Heather - Mod

You sound as though you're too stressed out by not sleeping to be able to sleep. I'll suggest a few things with no guarantee that they'll work.

The sleep specialists always say if you're not asleep within half an hour/an hour (I forget which) you should get up and do something relaxing until you're ready.

Also their advice - get off the tea, coffee and anything with chocolate in it (they all have caffeine). Also don't have milk products.

Turn mobiles/computers, etc either off or onto night colours (orange/red rather than blue/green) a couple of hours before you want to sleep.

My personal advice would be to avoid bed altogether - at least if you have somewhere else comfortable where you might drop off (I regularly sleep on my sofa for a few hours). In bed we're thinking 'should be asleep' because that's how we're brought up so another space might be more relaxing.

One thing I've found is that if I worry about sleep (as you're clearly doing and who can blame you?) it's not going to happen. At times when I'm struggling to sleep I let myself off the hook (or let the sleep off the hook). I'll get comfy and say to myself that it's ok if I don't sleep, I'm just resting and I can do that for as long as I like. It takes the pressure off me to drop off. It doesn't always enable me to do so but at least I'm not stressing about it any more.

Good luck, I hope you can find solutions that work for you. You're human. Eventually your brain is going to shut down whether you like it or not because it can't not do. I promise the sleep will come, although I'd suggest not driving or operating heavy machinery until after it has.

I go to bed at night because I think I should, I never sleep very well, normally for around an hour and a half at a time in 3 instalments through the night.

I sleep in the same room as my husband we have twin beds right next to each other so my bed doesn't move if he turns over etc. 

I have used my melatonin spray but it hasn't helped the last 3 nights.

Thank you for posting this photo!

I really like it!

It calms me downs!

Are your thoughts fixated on some particular event or point of worry in your life? This can cause difficulty with sleeping. Have you tried taking a melatonin supplement? It might be worth trying that just to get into the habit of sleeping at night again. I have suffered from very severe insomnia so I understand how it can be unsettling. Do you feel tired but can't sleep, or do you only go to bed at night because you think you should?

I struggle to sleep anyway on a permanent basis, I think my brain is a bit hyperactive and doesn’t shut off, my doc prescribed amtryptilene which I take b4 bed and it really helps slow my brain activity down so I am able to get sleep that’s unbroken

Think of aromatic lavender fields