So, insomnia.

Post Reply New Topic

My insomnia is going nuts lately. I think I read somewhere that insomnia is common for aspies. Who else here has it? What do you do to combat it?

Man, I have dark around my eyes all the time because of it. But I really can't do much about it. I simply cannot sleep some nights. Ugh.

I'm writing this in a tired-but-can't-get-to-sleep mode, so I apologize if this is about as well-written as a national anthem.

I've had periods of insomnia that lasted for years.

My problem was that the moment I went to bed my brain would start going off at high speed. Or I'd have anxiety attacks.

What I did was get xanax, and later klonipin. I also took Benadryl to help me sleep when I had neither, but it has a nasty hangover the next day - all headachey and not feeling quite rested (but more rested than not sleeping).

In the past few years I've started just staying up until I was too exhausted to keep going and sleeping then, and my insomnia problems eased up a bit, but not entirely.

I tried that when I was younger, waiting until exhaustion caught me, but I usually ended up staying awake for days at a time. Most times what I did to fall asleep was to eat (eating makes me sleepy) or to take various cocktails of sleeping pills, but I much prefer falling asleep naturally. It's more fulfilling. That is until I wake up and realize I've only been sleeping an hour or two.

Try exercising if you don't already. I can say that, for me, it helps quite a bit with insomnia. There are still nights I'll end up barely sleeping but I find that if I have been doing some sort of physical activity regularly the amount of sleepless nights I have goes down. Don't exercise right before bed though, that will just make you more awake!



This is exactly what happens to me when I can't sleep.

During periods of insomnia, I use melatonin (around 12mg) to help me sleep. It works more often than not, although when I use it I only end up getting five hours of sleep, six max. I've also used Xanax, Klonopin, Valerian, and Benadryl to fall asleep. Without sleep, my concentration and ability to memorize stuff drops dramatically.

I stopped using melatonin after I experienced exploding head syndrome while taking it. Probably a false association, though.

It did give me vivid dreams, however.

Ambian works without side affects. Melatonin messes with my moods. Regular exersise works well when done.

Top song.

That would freak the crap out of me. D:

Try things other than sleeping tablets first- they make things worse in the long run.

Drink Horlicks/milky drink or chamomile tea about 30 mins before bed.
Make sure you're not hungry- cereal good for this, or lettuce sandwich
Hot bath/shower, with lavendar oil in bath.
Put socks on feet
Make sure temperature in bedroom is correct for you- cooler than normal.
Turn off screens and bright lights about 1 hour before bed- I find candles work best for me.
Learn how to meditate- listen to your breathing/heartbeat
Read before you sleep, but not for too long
Go to bed when you feel tired, as soon as you can. I often feel tired about 9ish, but if I don't go to bed soon after then, it takes about 2 hours before I feel tired again.
Don't get stressed that you can't sleep- makes it harder

I have never had insomnia if I sleep at the right time.

I thought I was having a stroke or something. I do not think it was a side effect, though.

Just to say aye, I know what the insomnia feels like.

I've long since accepted sleep is going to be a little (very!) difficult, so instead I try to focus on how not to let being tired interfere with my life so much.

My insomnia's intensity depends on mood. I don't get it as often now because I'm generally a very happy person, whereas I used to go days without sleeping when I wasn't very happy. I would love to be able to simply not have it by going to sleep at the right time. D:

I get insomnia too. I get the sort of common variety where it takes me an hour or more to fall asleep most every night because my thoughts just keep rushing non-stop. To combat that, the only thing that really works for me is to find a train of thought and basically think myself to sleep. I'm something of a fiction writer, so usually I just start imagining a scene where my characters are going to sleep.

Then there's the other kind of insomnia where I just can't fall asleep no matter how tired I get and even when I do get to sleep I can't stay asleep for more than a few hours. This kind is much rarer for me, and the only way I've found to combat it is to take a sleep aid.

I keep a bottle of Tylenol PM around for emergencies, but I don't like taking it because it usually affects me so strongly that I sleep through my alarm clock if I don't have a good 12 hours or so to get it out of my system.

The only reason I have it is because I'm on dexedrine. GHB is the ultimate solution to insomnia. Its prescribe to people with problems with sleep quality because unlike zolpidem and other sleeping pills, the kind of sleep GHB induces is almost identical to natural sleep.