help getting to sleep when you aren't tired

i think what he meant was after looking at white lines all the time your eyes ten to get heavy but hey it works for you thats all that matters

 

It's not the quick fix you need today, but learning meditation will help. With a little practice you can make yourself sleep. Or look for a power nap/deep meditation CD on the internet or in a bookstore. You can pop it in the DVD player, zone out for a few hours in deep sleep and wake up ready to go.

 

Ok... coming from a Registered Sleep Tech who works at a Sleep Center ON Graveyard shift.

Ambien (Zolpidem) (NOT the Ambien CR version) requires a doctors prescription is for short term (less than 2 weeks) of sudden insomnia. It last about 4-6 hrs in the body. In the first 4-6 hrs if awakened while it still has a high level blood chemistry it is possible to do things and not remember them. Most people are cautioned not to drive heavy equipment or operate machinery until they know the effect of them. it takes 1-4 uses to get used to the drug in general

Ambien CR - does not have a generic currently, is for maintainence insomnia greater than 2 weeks. It requires a dr's written prescription. Its a combo pill which releases 1/2 pill for initial sleep initiation and then a time released version releases over the second 4-6 hours of sleep. the combo version stays in the blood chemistry 12-14 HRS... if awakened while on this medication effectiveness you will do things without remembering them.

Lunesta is also a dr's written prescription but has less side effects than its predecessor Ambien. It also enforces sleep and is in the body 12-14 hrs but does not leave the hangover side effect that ambien cr does. Its approved for long term (longer than 2 weeks) use and generally considered as safe as benadryl in some dr's offices.

Melatonin is a OTC pill taken only at nighttime hours. Its meant to be a secondary enforcer of the natural nighttime sleep rhythm. Melatonin is not intended to put you to sleep if it is still daylight out since it works in conjunction with your body's natural sleep to wake cycle. More than 3-5mg use in one 24 hr period can cause serotonin syndrome.

Benadryl/Diphenhydramine/Tylenol PM's - all the same chemical ingredient. With Tylenol pm you get added acetaminophen for pain. This is meant to be taken (in the sleep world) when you need to sleep regardless of time of day. 25mg-50mg is max dosage in ONE 8 hr period. anything more than that you can risk serotonin syndrome which is similar to a coma.

Unisom is a version of benadryl in a different chemical makeup. works just as well as benadryl but does have a hangover side effect. Its a time released pill that has similiar effects to ambien if awaken earlier than its intended use of 12-14 hrs. it is used for times outside the normal sleep to wake cycle and alot of graveyard shift workers use this.

OPTIMAL conditions for sleep. Dark room, eye cover, ear plugs... and whatever else you feel is comfortable. Best not to eat or drink 3 hrs before bedtime to preserve sleep continuity. Empty bladder before bed. No caffeine after 12noon or roughly 6-8 hrs before sleep. a white noise machine or fan usually helps most people.

Most sleep doctors do not recommend Nyquil because of the alcohol factor.

 

Personally I use:

Fan for white noise
Eye cover or eye mask
Dark room curtains

Generic Benadryl/Diphenhydramine from Walmart $4.00 Over the counter 50mg quick dissolve pill for when I can't make myself fall asleep during the day time hours. I have found if I have empty stomach it works faster.

I use Unisom as a backup if no benadryl available.

 

I have a script for zolpidem, as directed I only use it occasionally and when I do,I break one into 3 pieces and just take 1/3.It knocks me out like a truck ran over me with no hang over effects.The melatonin and nytol always leave me with a hangover.The best sleep is to work hard all day then fall asleep naturally but when I'm really upset by something and can't stop my mind from racing ,ambien does the trick.

 

For me I've used Tylenol PM's and they work great for the few times I've needed it. Otherwise nothing like a hard days flatbedding to put me right out!

 

its odd for me to need anything to get to sleep, but I always keep a bottle of nitequil just in case

 

That does it for me too

 

I am extemely hyper like tazmainian devil on meth hyper. My biggest way of sleep is actually energy drinks. I use them to wake up, and sleep. All the blood in my body came from an energy drink can. I dont drink water juice or anything else, 100% energy drinks, with the exception of a few beers with energy drink stuff in them on home time. I havent drank water, juice even coffee probley in years. When I cant sleep I slam small can of red bull, full throttle, or monster. My head races for a few minuts start daydreaming wondering off, then my screeming meemie starts blaring and its time to flip a page in my log book and start rollling.

Heard that from a lot of people who are just born wound for sound like me. Caffeine ets.. not only wakes them up, but also acts as a seditive for some strange reason.

A more logical approach is meat. All protein slows you down. All athletes go without protein the day before any big game or event. They instead bulk up on simple carbs. Simple carbs burn easily and fast and are storable. A small help might be to eat lots of meat and stay away from startches which contain carbs. Triptofan whatever its called is in poultry thats sposed to help you sleep, they even sell it in high dosses as a vitamin supplement over the counter. Ask a dock to give you a small prescreption of something that just knocks you out fast but only for a few hours. A great alarm clock is the screeming meemie, got it loud as hell I am sound sleeper when I do sleep, scares the sheet out of me even in sound sleep everytime it goes off. Been using it couple years never get used to its racket, its still as effective as day I first used it.

Just read whosedog post. Stay away from ambein! My ex tried using that for a short while, I put a stop to it real fast. It does some really really weird sheet to some people. Instead of them sleeping it makes them stay awake in a really gross zombie like way. Lot of other people had same effect to it as her. She was really hyper as well, so might have something to do with.

 

just got to be more creative with the night time driving waltsib--i love it---its a great time to get that air band going while you drive--i must admit that fuel mileage does go down quite a bit iff you play the drums too much tho