can't sleep, clown'll eat me

[MsCrankypants]

So it's 2 a.m. where I am, and I am incapable of sleeping.

I'm not sure why...I'm fairly tired, and I've tried to get out of the habit of surfing the Internetz until the wee hours as I am wont to do when I am bored (or when there isn't much else to do, like at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning).

It could be that it's still about 80 degrees out and it's just plain uncomfortable to sleep, or the message I got on FB from a friend who I was convinced was giving me the cold shoulder (which made me incredibly happy), or any combination of a number of factors that is making it impossible to sleep right now.

I desperately wish I could sleep (and that I liked warm milk). This coming Monday is not my Monday off, so I need all the sleep I can get (I get alternating Mondays off - my next one falls on Labor Day, though, so I'll be getting 8 hours of comp time, yay!!).

I guess I'll go listen to an audiobook and try to get back to sleep. Gahh.

[NightAngel]

This is what I do to fall asleep- it ususally works:

Think of a movie or tv show episode that you like. Try and remember it in as much detail as possible (like it's playing in your head). If you find your mind wandering back to other things- stop! Go back to 'watching' your movie.

Hope you got some sleep.

[MaggieTheCat]

Yeah, I find that concentrating on something that isn't stuck in your mind helps me fall asleep. Counting sheep has actually worked for me. What I usually do now is count houses. Sounds weird, but I picture a neighborhood that I know well and start trying to remember/count how many houses there are on each side of the street. I usually don't make it all the way up and down one block that I can remember.

I hate not being able to sleep well. Hope you can get some rest before you have to work.

[BookstoreEscapee]

One trick I've used is called 2 to 1 breathing. Inhale for, 2 seconds, and exhale for 4. Or 3/6...whatever is comfortable. Exhale is twice as long as inhale. Between the breathing itself and the counting, and the concentrating on both, it really works, once you get the hang of it. (Warning, the first time I actually felt it working it freaked me out and I woke up again...).

[MsCrankypants]

Thanks for the suggestions, y'all. Let's see if I have a little bit less trouble getting to sleep tonight...

[Der Cute]

Meditation.

Not the Ohmmmmmm cross legged kind.

More like empty the head of any thoughts running around, and find a peaceful quiet thought/pic that you know. And just hold that in your head.

Like a beach scene, warm beach sunshine, peaceful quiet beach, slow but good breeze...waves crashing rhythmically.

Tylenol PM is also good.

No caffiene within 3 or 4 hours of trying to sleep, and if you can't sleep within a half hour of laying down, get up and do something else. For a short time, then go lay back down. And empty the head.

I catch myself thinking all the time, the gerbil in my head keeps running....I have to whack him over the head with a virtual frying pan to shut him up.

Cutenoob

[Mr. Rager!]

Drugs. Legal.

[Parrothead]

Valerian root. (get it as a pill, it tastes like ass) Target has some. take 1-5 (depending) about 30 min. before bed.

[NightAngel]

Valerian is (or was- everything is chemicals these days) what they make Valium out of. It does taste really awful, which is good, as it should be used sparingly and treated like a medication.

[MsCrankypants]

Hmmm...valerian does sound like a good idea, in fact.

[Taboo]

I keep a notepad and pen on the floor next to my bed. If I can't sleep because of something on my mind, I jot it down. Not fancy like a journal entry, just something simple to get it out of my head and onto the paper so I don't have to worry about it.

You can also try reading something boring. Textbooks work well for this.

[Food Lady]

Melatonin. It's the only thing that helps me. I have this thing where I don't know when to be tired. I was up late last night due to worry over bills. I had to be up at 7:00. I got maybe 5 hrs sleep. I've been exhausted all day but got an energy rush around 9:00 (I'm naturally a night person.) So now I'm up at 1:00 am. Gonna go take a melatonin now.

[MsCrankypants]

Oddly, melatonin causes me to have really freaky nightmares, so I stay away from it, for the most part.

Last time I took melatonin, I had this dream I was being driven around an old Victorian town in a horse-drawn carriage...it was all very pretty and very Victorian-y - and then I realized the driver and horse were both skeletons (the driver in a purple velvet top hat), and I was not just in any horse-drawn carriage, but in a hearse. And next thing I knew, I was the one inside the coffin.

So...yeah. Not really in a hurry to repeat those dreams.