Published on 12, July, 2020
Does Anyone With ASD Have Major Sleep Priblems! My Sleep Is atrocious and ive had lots of medication from my GP but nothing helps. Started doing sleep diarys to compress my sleep but still struggle. Doesnt help the environment im in i.e flat with dogs barking continuously, tvs loud, banging noises all of which irritate the life out of me!!!!! Ive also tried a snooze band with calming music, pillow sprays, weighted blankets, loop earplugs but nothing seems to be helping. It effects my mood massively and feel fatigued constantly. Anyone else relate and have any other options i just find it so hard to relax, always have to be on the go! Thanks!
Two things I can think of:
1 - tire yourself out physically before bed. e.g. hard cardio session at the gym followed by a hot shower, earplugs (not loop, just the ones that look like a christmas tree) and an eyemask. If the gym isn't an option then a bit of self pleasure is an effective option for some.
2 - learn meditation and there are exercises from this that let you focus on relaxing your body starting from your toes and often by the time you get to your upper body you are already dropping off.
Cut out all stimulants (alcohol, caffeine and sugar) from about 7pm and get into a habit of journaling before bedtime (ie write out all the stuff you are thinking about, what you need to do the next day, things to remember to research etc so you mind is not trying to process anything or remember it.
Also avoid screens for at least an hour before bed - go to read a physical book (not newspaper or anything anxiety inducing like a horror story).
Those would be my off the cuff suggestions.
iain i curently go to the gym 5-6 days a week and also have a whippet where i do 4 miles a day with him also. The gym is more of a compulsion and i need to go i cant not go. i walk the same route every day with my dog aswell and according to my apple watch readings im doing 140-160mins of excersize a day plus i cant sit still so even when i do all this it still dont wear me out its weird cos ya think it would, its as if me brain consistently needs stimulation with an activity or information.
ive just started journaling and im finding it hard on what to write i just find that if i write whatever comes into my head seems to help but i dont know.
I cant read a book either ive tried but i havnt got the attention span to read my brain just reverts to something else to stimulate it something active or a thought thats came into me head to look up on google.
I watch the same films on tv to cant seem to watch anything different and when i do i lose concentrationand put something on ive seen a 100 times back on.
its nuts......
George said:i cant sit still so even when i do all this it still dont wear me out its weird cos ya think it would, its as if me brain consistently needs stimulation with an activity or information.
This sounds very much like ADHD - and it responds well to medication which should also help with all the other issues you mention.
I would recommend speaking to your GP about it and asking for a referral to be assessed.
ASD and ADHD are quite common to exist together from what I have read here.
George said:ive just started journaling and im finding it hard on what to write
Instead of just stopping at the end of day and trying to dump the contents of your mind onto the page, maybe keep it beside you in the evening and write down the subjects you are thinking about that have any anxiety factor associated with them.
By the time it comes bedtime then you can work through the list of these topics and maybe use a process like mind mapping or just creating a list of things to do or research the next day.
Until you get the ADHD from wrecking everything it is unlikely to work well as your attention span won't let you complete the task, will make you anxious about it and further sabotage your attempts to sleep.