I am desperate!!! What do you do to relax and fall asleep? Since i started working, I can no longer fall asleep until midnight through 2:00am. This is a problem because I get up early to start our day. So I am finding myself sleeping longer than I want because I am falling asleep later. This is drastically ruining my day. I can't function during the day and although it isn't really interrupting our school day, it is definitely making it harder than usual. I was going to give my two week notice today but my boss told me to try a few things and see if they work. In the mean time she is going to see if she can get me on a morning or early afternoon schedule. This way I can relax in the evening before bed. In the mean time, I told her I will try a few things and see if it helps. If not I will have to stop working evenings because it is really messing up our days. Any advice?? ...and please ignore my spelling. I didn't feel like rereading my post to correct it.
Have you tried a relaxing warm bath followed by a nice hot cup of chamomile tea with honey? I find both to be helpful when I can't sleep.
i have used melatonin for my daughter, i had to order it through walgreens online, bc they didnt carry it in the store. it is a natural hormone your body produces to sleep. we started out at half dose, and had to go to the full dose for a few weeks, but now im weening her off of it slowly, and it was a god send. she couldnt fall asleep for hours and then woke up multiple times at night. it has def helped her fall asleep!! she does get up maybe once a couple nights a week, but it really helped her get back in the sleep cycle. i recommend it, it wasnt expensive, and our pediatrician said it was a good supplement. they say to take about 15 min bf you want to go to sleep. if you take too much, it can make you drowsy during the next day, so we started half dose and then upped it until we had the desired effect. good luck, if you have any ?s pm me!
I was going to suggest Chamomile tea, Chamomile oil (or a variety of other essential oils like lavender... many would have the desired effect), warm milk (it's not a wive's tale. heated milk is scientifically proven to induce drowsiness), melatonin, or 'sleepy time' tea (I think that's a brand, but it has a good mix of herbs that really help). There are also a lot of things that can prevent a person from falling asleep. If you are working later, are you eating later? Are you drinking anything with caffeine in the evenings? Are you just having trouble winding down at the end of the night? Some people find exercise invigorating. Others find it tiresome. If you are in the latter category, maybe a late night workout could help unwind. Also, if you usually do your devotion time in the a.m., switching to p.m. can go a long way to getting your mind off your day and focused on more relaxing things. Does listening to classical music or any other genre help you relax? Truth is, there are tons of options, but you need to consider what helps you specifically relax and unwind.
BINGO!!!! You hit the nail on the head! I got home about 30 minutes ago and my body feels like I am ready to go back to work, although I am tired. My brain doesn't shut off either. What stinks is I never had this problem until I started working.
Thank you ladies for your advice. Baths do help my body relax but my mind is still going as if I was working.
Not really any advice here. I will just pray that you can find someway to help you get the needed rest. It sounds like you have a very busy schedule.
Valerian Root. It STINKS - but you just swallow a capsule. It's VERY Relaxing...helps with sleep too. On nights when I have trouble sleeping, I use these....usually cause no side effects for me. Also....a good bedtime routine, no screentime (computer, tv), reading only relaxing, fluff materials, cup of tea. Etc.
Patty, I didn't know you started work. Congrats. I guess. I don't know if you want it to be. Anyway. I have been having troubles for months and years falling a sleep at night. I find out that if I find a cd with head phones soft music on low and lay there and talk to God and fight with myself I finally fall a sleep. Yes I wake up at least once if not twice a night and turn the music back on again. My oldest does have trouble too. Shelby going to have to check that stuff out. But, what about the after efforts of it? That is what I am always worried about? Can they get addict to it?
L-theanine is supposed to have a relaxing component to it. It's an amino acid, so it's not habit forming. We use it to help our daughter focus as it's supposed to help relax the mind a bit.
My mom gave it to me when I was having trouble sleeping and now she keeps me stocked up in case I can't sleep. I take 1/2 of a pill with no problems, once I took a whole one and it did help, but most of the time 1/2 pill works for me. Kris, get the red bottle at heb, it is the best one. Mom gets it right there in town!
I work nights and don't get off until after 10 which is why I end up posting late at night at all my boards. But I always have to have some type of unwind time, sometimes some hot tea, bath and even reading will put me to sleep. So either I read online or I get a book and read for awhile in the easy chair and sometimes fall asleep sitting there.
I find that if I'm watching TV, or using the computer, or really doing anything remotely stimulating within an hour of bed I have troubles sleeping...so now I take a warm shower or bath, then go out on the patio with a cup of tea and just sit and watch the stars/planes/whatever and chat with DH then we go to bed together and have a much better night for it! I will also say that melatonin is a great option if you aren't finding the other suggestions to work for you. Since it's a natural hormone found in your body it's safer than other sleeping pill type options. I don't think it's possible to get addicted to it, though if your body doesn't produce enough on it's own you may find it difficult to sleep without it. I've also found that moving my devotional time to the evening instead of the morning helps me to sleep better as well, and the extra plus to that is that Dh and I do devotions together now (which I always loved having him lead our devotions), then I just read a mini-devotional in the am and do my daily bible reading in the am now.
Babyboy's doctor told his mom to try Melatonin because he couldn't sleep and I recently started Crystal on it. It has helped a lot. I get hers at Walmart. Katie tried it and she loved it. She was not sleeping when her mother in law was in the hospital.
For years I've had trouble falling asleep. Can't shut off the brain. So - after the warm bath, warm milk or hot tea, protein snack, talking with God, watching some totally boring television, etc. - I give it something to work on -- like making a list. Oh, not a real list, like the grocery list or things to do tomorrow! No! That's just likely to cause more anxiety and less sleep! But totally unreal lists like when we win the Powerball, I'm going to ... (we won't win, because we don't play!) or When we win the Powerball and I remodel the house, I'm going to start with (one end of the house and by the time I get to the other I'm asleep) ... Or sometimes I just chant. Not "Om mane padme om" or anything, but just telling myself "go to sleep now" in a kind of monotone and rocking-chair-rhythm in my head over and over. Sometimes I resort to the old "feet go to sleep now. Good night", "legs go to sleep now. Good night, legs." "Knees go to sleep now. Good night knees" and by the time I get to my head, I'm asleep...
Ha! I thought I was the only person who did that. lol. I don't say it outloud, but I do 'tell' each part to go to sleep. If I'm really keyed up I start with each toe by itself and keep breaking down everything to tiny bits. It's cool because you can actually feel each muscle relax. I also tell myself stories, like the powerball thing. Only instead of making a list, I envision what our life would be like if.... I'm a visual person. Doing that also sets me up for a restful night's sleep and good dreams because I'm not dwelling on the usual stresses of the day or solutions to real problems. I'm just picturing a super idyllic life.
I'm a big fan of sleepytime tea! I get it at the grocery store. With a bit of honey I fall right asleep. It's proven that TV and computers stimulate you and can keep you from falling asleep. The best method is to take a walk and look at things when you get home, which helps focus your attention outward and helps you relax. Reading fairy tales is also supposed to help stimulate sleep. It's supposed to remind you of when you were a child, safe and being read to. So, in a nutshell: 1. Take a walk around the block and look at things until your attention is focused outward. 2. Make yourself a cup of Sleepytime Tea 3. Snuggle up with a book of fairy tales. 4. zzzzzzzzzzzzz :lol:
The thing that seemed to work really well for hubbie/I ....is having classical music on at night. I also have trouble turning my brain off at night, especially if I am worried about something. To listen to the music and just "feel" it can help me to block thinking too much. And the "biofeedback" that Lindina and ActressD mentioned is a great way to focus your mind off of things and calm it. Some of the kids prefer to just have a small fan running.....ambient noise. Hope it helps
