I finally fell asleep about 2am, then woke up at just gone 3am and can’t get back to sleep! Usually I can sleep through on Nytol, but not tonight! Need to be up at 6am with the children too, thinking of just staying awake now! Is anyone else having difficulty sleeping tonight?
It's a very rare night that I don't have trouble falling asleep - kind of.
I say "kind of" because I almost certainly have delayed sleep phase insomnia - no matter what I do, my brain is convinced that I live somewhere in the US mid-west, so I'm on US Central Time! When I don't have any external reason to get up at a particular time, I can sleep perfectly well if I go to bed at about 3-4am and rise at about mid-day - I feel rested and refreshed if I do that. Trying to force myself to fit around the regular "9-5" schedule simple doesn't work - massive sleep deprivation is guaranteed. As Kitsuneremarked, it's quite amazing how productive I can be in the early hours, when there are so many fewer distractions (or even just potential distractions), and when my mind often feels at its sharpest.
I have been this way for as long as I, or anybody else, can remember, and several other family members have the same problem. To what extent it's biological, and how much from the night-time being less over-stimulating for my senses, I can't really say. However, it does seem that sleep problems in general, and late-onset insomnia in particular, seem to be especially common for autistic people. I've tried every solution under the sun - medication, light-boxes, different daily routines etc.- but nothing seems to budge my stubborn body clock (I have got to the point where hearing the same tired old advice over and over again makes me feel like biffing people on the nose! - much like autism, you just can't explain it properly to people who don't experience it.)
This being the hop-picking time of year reminds me that I sometimes used to keep a small pack of hops under the pillow. Mind you! I cheated by collecting my own freshly-picked hops whilst I was working on the hop harvest. I found it worked a treat. Out like a light and a lot of pleasant dreams. Hops are pretty close to hemp, I believe; both the legal and illegal types of hemp. With hops, the active ingredients are quite similar, but legal because of the needs of all those beer-drinking types (like me in the past ;-) Admittedly I was also working some quite strenuous days, But I think we all know that you have a very tiring schedule. Of course, you could also just get a hop pillow from newspaper ads etc. (Perhaps you could also collect wild hops and/or cultivated hops in your neck of the woods!)
But perhaps more seriously, your schedule really might be giving you far too much to think about in the evening. There are quite a few very practical books around these days on the sleep issue, but I suspect your reading list is already excessive. You might even need to read less! ;-) I have tried quite a few different approaches from such books, but have found that attempting self-hypnosis while lying down on the bed sends me to sleep remarkably quickly. So quickly that I rarely actually get around to the auto-suggestion part of the proceedings. And perhaps the resultant sleep is more important/necessary than the auto-suggestion anyway. If you go to bed fairly early and fall asleep quite quickly, you are also far more likely to wake up (and feel refreshed) at the necessary 6 for the kids
I'm a very long term insomniac.
It's difficult to predict which nights I will sleep.
I often wake up at around 4am and then it's read books, go on Internet, or just lie there and try and try and try to sleep.
I've read all the advice on how to get a good night's sleep. But it's all useless. If I can't sleep. I can't sleep.
My opinion is that lack of sleep is caused by both mental and physical conditions.
Several years ago I used to wake up instantly in the night and then I was unable to sleep. Doctors eventually diagnosed an irregular heartbeat causing the instant awakening.
Worry and mental problems are now my problems. I put off doing things. And the worry comes back to haunt me.at night. Yesterday I made phone calls I had been procrastinating about and I slept fairly well last night. Over six hours sleep!
Sleeping tablets are drugs to avoid. In a fit of depression I might take the whole bottle.
I have moved my computer set up, re-positioned the displays several times and can now free up two tables.
This insomnia situation has been going on sporadically since Xmas 2005 with sometimes no explanation why.
Sorry to hear that you're also suffering from insomnia!
To be fair I've been quite productive, it's amazing what I can get done when no one else in the house is awake! I've cleaned the cloakroom and done loads of admin that needed doing.
Going to feel it today though, looking after my 2 year old on one hour's sleep!
Yes, haven't slept a wink, just like Tuesday night.
