Sleep problems

I have an impression that many of us are not synchronised with cicadian system.

I make my day last few hours longer, and sleep at irregular hours. I go to sleep when I'm tired

Plus now the heat adds to the difficulty of falling asleep if you're not dead tired

I walk a lot and I’ve gotten into capri suns at the moment but eating and drinking isn’t something i remember to do a lot unless I’m told ‍ I haven’t but I can’t take baths I pass out for some reason. When I first got diagnosed my specialist wanted to put me on melatonin but never got round to it. I’m looking into getting a support worker so hopefully my dr can help me sort one out. I do have a lot going on in life right now and my home is no longer suitable to my needs and neither is my job but they are both working progresses. But I don’t think about these things at night because I know they set off my anxiety and I’m already struggling with that as it is but it’s never stopped my sleep like this only when I was servrly depressed.

normally I read on my phone (blue light filter on and I have it as a black background and white writing instead so it’s dark) but it forsnt seem to work at the moment

I’m worried that I would get too hot under an weighted blanket I’ve wanted one for years but they aren’t cheap. I’m very susceptible to heat but I can’t sleep without a blanket on

Thats such a good idea. Like for instance I love history, maybe I could research history stuff during the day to wear my brain out. Or cricket cos I write about that

Its such a good idea. Almos like wearing the brain out so it doesnt have the energy to go haywire or obsess on the wrong things

I'll join! haha

Yeah- learning that I needed some heavy lifting for the brain to wear it down (like Huskies need to pull a sled) took years to realise. If I don't have something to study, I might become highly critical of the wrong things. Perhaps it's a form of escape, but it seems to work and I learn useful things in the process!

JuniperFromGallifrey said:

I've had to make sure to continually study enjoyable things which far outweigh problems I cannot control

I like this (not sure why my comment is in italicis)

andi said:

I can’t seem to shut my brain off or get comfortable

This is your key. ^^

Shutting the brain off is an Autistic issue. 

Getting comfortable can be a biology need. What sort of exercise are you able to take daily? Do you stretch before bed? Do you stay hydrated (add the necessary amount of salt + sugar). Have you tried a Magnesium spray and/or magnesium salt bath. 

Night time: everything stops and suddenly everything we've ever left unresolved plus everything that needs doing plus everything I'd forgotten that day/week/year just all floods into my head all at once. If I'm working on something, I'm in a hyper-drive, the 'generator' powering my brain is on a slow intense climb turning over faster and faster. So, I've had to take rather drastic measures over the years. If I have to finish a project and my brain starts picking up momentum, I take a Xanax. I don't use them often but this is one good reason to. It literally shuts down the hyper-focued monotropic problem solving. 

Resolution can take time. Sometimes I just need to write everything out. I've had to let go of relationships that were harmful for this reason. I make lists. I continually try to learn to organise them. I've had to make sure to continually study enjoyable things which far outweigh problems I cannot control. This gives my head something to contemplate and problem solve weekly - putting to task a thing which needs a task. But I have found sudoku helps. Puzzles. And a rock salt lamp, incredibly low-light and a diffusor (rock), which breaks up an LED enough so it's bearable cutting out all blue.

I have similar problems. I dont really have any definitive answers but I find reading a book before bed helps.

the thing that seems to work the most though is finding a really familiar comforting TV show that you like ( a new one wont work as your brain will want to stay awake to see what happens) and just watching it until you fall asleep. 

Don’t feel you have to sleep in bed. If you drift off on the sofa, so be it. Any sleep is better than none at all, so game it while you can.

i didn’t think you should get up and do something, it often makes things worse. Have a cocoa or something an hour before bed, with low lighting and no screens, if you want, read a book. That’s might help you nod off.

You could try listening to a sleep yoga Nidra YouTube video or podcast, so you can follow along in bed. Some give you a feeling of having rested, and some guide you to sleep.

Do you use earplugs? That was the first thing I tried, and I slept a little better once I got used to them.

Lastly, have you tried a weighted blanket? I have found that my sleep has improved now that I have one. I might sleep 5 - 6 hours if I’m lucky. Previous to the blanket, I would wake after 3 hours, and lie there until 6 and have to get up. I still wake, but it’s less, and more to do with heightened anxiousness at the moment along with the hot weather.

I’ve tried that yeah but I get so confused because I feel tired and I want to sleep and I can drift off on the sofa but the second I get up to go to bed ‘ping’ it’s like I’m awake again but still so tired. Because I’m not sleeping well I’m then grumpy and struggle the next day. I’ve never slept well even since I was a baby but I feel like I have to push my self to the point of exhaustion to even get any sleep 

It is so hard when your brain doesn't switch off and even more so if it is for more than one night. Have you tried getting up, doing something like listening to music if you are still awake after an hour? Also sometimes it helps me if I have specific things on my mind to get up and write them all down.