Oh the joys of insomnia...

Yes, folks...it happens to the best of us.

Oh, and it happens to me, too.

Here it is two hours before I have to be awake and I sat up bolt-upright and wide awake. I had a monster swim practice last night and want to swim a monster one this morning before I leave for Atlanta and I NEED MY SLEEP DAMMIT!

What can you do to help you sleep when you have to be up in 2 hours?

Oh? What was that? A YAWN!!!

Excuse me...I'm crawling back into bed. Anyone wanna join me?

You should know, youre the med student...

I like Ovaltine with Baileys in it... preferably with more Baileys than Ovaltine, but you cant have it all ways...

I read as well, usually im asleep after 5 pages,unless its a good book (I was up all night with Harry Potter 5)

I usually use 6 cans of stella

Hot milk with nutmeg does it for me. plus the normal stuff - no tea or coffee 4 hours before you want to sleep. Make sure you feet are cooler than the rest of your body (but not cold - donno why - but it works!)

the only true cure for my insomnia is to pick up a technical journal (say Journal of Geophysical Reviews: Space Sciences) and start reading something vaguely related to my work (e.g. "on the propagation of jovian electrons in the heliosphere").

anything less than such drastic measures are insufficient to force me to sleep...

Your subconscious is worried about your interviews. That's understandable. Maybe think positive thoughts about them before going to bed on the nights when you know you'll have one soon? Or do something to completely relax you about them.

Good luck by the way!

Often times when I'm chill and relaxed and still can't sleep I find that it's because I didn't really need the sleep.

And I spend all night panicing because I can't sleep but I turn out to be fine the next day.

But that's just me.

And besides, if you can't function on a poor night's sleep then perhaps you've picked the wrong profession.

Ok I dont know if this would work for anyone else...
If I cant slepp (every night just about) I get and I dance. And I dont mean normal dancing, I mean classical ballet. It doesn't put me to sleep, but it does tire me out enough to where I can (sometimes) fall asleep

Meet my friend, Mr Jack Daniels hehe. That usualy works for me...
ave a lil spin or try an tire yourself out sum how is another gd one.

What can you do to help you sleep when you have to be up in 2 hours?

Sleep goes in 90 minutes cycles, so you should get sleepy every 90 min or so; if you miss the bus, you have to wait for another 90 min to feel sleepy again.

Don’t fight the urge to sleep i.e.go the bed when you are tired, and get up at the same time every morning. Don’t stay in bed trying to sleep, get up after 30 min of so and read a boring book.

The monster swim practice may have hyped you up. Milk, Valarian, Horlicks etc. are meant to help you sleep. Contrary to popular opinion, alcohol is not always a good idea, especially if it is mixed with something fizzy containing caffeine.

I just lie flat on my bed and breathe deeply, visualizing that I'm lying in a grassy field. On each breath in, I imagine that the motion of my rib cage is pushing me down into the earth. Each breath out, that letting out my breath makes me sink deeper.

This is not logical, but the more I breathe, the deeper I sink. Works for me.

just lie there and close your eyes and think about nothing especailly falling asleep. this works good for me.

Well here we are again. I'm on call in 3.5 hours and I can't sleep.

I hate this.

i think doc would rather a nice big something else...

I meant a cup of cocoa - honest!!!

Did i do you a copy of Tiny Island Mike?

I use it to fall asleep anytime, anywhere- its a beautiful piece of music but it also helps me completely absorb myself in the music, clear my head of any other thoughts and slowly slip away

Pm me if you want details

take off the pressure and enjoy it it`s even a therapy for depression, a night without sleep, it works like "homemade" antidepressiva... in the moment you relax you will be able to sleep

I`m pretty much into being without sleep my bf has another sleep rythm so then we want to be together he stays awake all day or I stay awak all night even if I have to go to a test or something your brain will still work properly and as ex swimmer of the GDR I know could win contest still even without sleep I know everybody deals it different but just to take off the pressure...

read something, write down everything that comes out of your mind so that it will be empty or dring hot milk with cardamom seeds, squashed! run around your block!?

try to meditate!

find someone to cuddle!

you should get one of those cuddly phones we talked about. it might nothelp you sleep, it'll help you sleep better tho....

ah yes. the joys of insomnia.

the good thing [really] is that you don't think this is a good thing.
*explains*

a few years back saw me getting 2hrs a night continuously for about a year - but i thought hey, this is good.. more time for me!.. which made it harder to get out of. so don't give up and think it's a good thing, keep at it.

-music, meditation, reading, all of the above. i advise no hopping or chatting [].. this generally bypasses the sleep cycles altogether

most of all, goodluck and do tell what things work for you

making peace is a bit better than worrying ifyou can't fix it and it doesn't hurt tho...

don't know about when it does....

I didn't sleep for a week once........ shut myself in my room, didn't come out.... managed to drink still though...... started hallucinating, was very strange and scary, then kinda just collapsed and was out cold for a very long time..... now when I can't sleep, I just kinda lie there and empty my head...... I find that if I concentrate on nothing (that isn't not concentrating) I usually mange to drift off ok

theres a special cream you can get and its called something like badger sleeping cream...my flatmate swears by it-will find out its actual name...if that fails i don't mind coming to bed with you abd giving you head tickles till you get snoozy!

more tips are HERE ... you seemed to have a solution then, Doc!

Sorry can't help doc only got 2 hours in between thursday and monday. I know how to stay awake.... pick up a big stick with fire on both ends and spin like a dervish...

i find thinking about dreams i've had helps me go to sleep. just imagine yourself in a dream place again and you soon will be.

other than that a nice pure skunk spliff usually does the trick

I heard of hypnosis tapes that can give you a "full nights sleep" in 15 minutes. I don't know if they work but I have been thinking of getting them. I will let you know if they work. Of course that doesn't help tonight does it.

The old saying when you need to sleep just start to read the Bible and Satan is sure to put you to sleep. Now I don't know if Satan is really to blame, it might just be the writing style. You could also try reading that text book from school you know the big thick on from the class you took only becuase you had to.

Maybe you shouldn't listen to me since I am a sleep Depravation junkie. Or maybe you should since I go through this a lot. I would say if you have two or three hours then DON'T GO TO SLEEP!! You will not wake up. Just push on through. Eat light snacks of high energy (like raw fruits and veggies) foods though out the day to boost your energy. Clear your evening. Eat dinner early, drink some Camomile tea, pop some valarian, and lay down earlier than you would normally. Be careful of staying up though it is a mild halusnagen. You may have a little "trippy" feeling. Don't operate heavy machinery or sharp objects. Seriously it can be like taking a drug. Treat it like it is one. You can also try melatonin? or something like that. It doesn't put you to sleep, but taken over a period of time at the same time every day signals you body to sleep at that time. If this is cronic then you should invest in the long term with this.