A follow up to my previous post. I skipped the Lunesta on the second night since I became drowsy on my own.

I had taken the Lunesta due to having run out of the gummy Melatonin. For the past several nights I haven't taken anything and managed to sleep like a rock!

If this continues, I'm not gonna buy any more Melatonin.

"If you are tired - just go to bed!"

every now and then I'll sleep for 2 or 3 days. might wake a few times for a drink or some food but then out again. your body will start to sort a lot of things out. and I can always really tell afterwards.

My sleep isn't to great, possibly due to the abundance of caffeine I consume during the day (drinking coffee as I type this) I am always sleepy until I finish work and then suddenly... I am wide awake until 1-2am leaving me with around 5-6 hours sleep a night.

Any tips? (apart from laying off the caffeine, which I am going to try)

Valerian (considered Gods valium) talk about reverse engineering - I have seen people quit alcohol/ice/etc in 2 or 3 days... and ancient cure... or crutch. Cayce said even exhaustion is best for sleep. Getting a good balance of physical/mental/emotional/spiritual exhaustion is the key. I love lucid dreaming - since there is no a-typical space time continuum in lucid rest - there is no time... so I just go to sleep in my lucid dream sleep and can get 8 hours sleep in a few minutes. The body was meant to keep moving... even in sleep. LOL

I usually take Melatonin, it works wonders. Some companies are adding an additional ingredient called Theanine. In combination, it works quite well too.

Can you get Melatonin in the UK?

(I thought it was something that brits in the know bought in the US)

In the UK Nytol is sold - its an antihistamine that makes you drowsy... Not sure that's a good thing...

Lucid dreaming is pretty cool. But even better for integrating your sleep time into the rest of your life to get access to that extra 30 years AND start getting deep and restful sleep......is the ancient discipline of Tibetan dream and sleep yoga.

Just sayin'.......

You may be able to get it via Amazon for folks living in the UK if it's not sold there.

I read a book a couple months ago called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. It's basically a summary of all the known research and facts about sleep. Aside from covering the history and purposes of human sleep, there are also some cool things in there, like how dolphins and other water creatures sleep literally with half their brains at a time because they're suspended in water around other creatures. They basically need to stay semi-awake while they move around, and they rest one brain hemisphere and then switch to the other. Birds do a similar thing but not to the same extent, and they sleep in lines and take turns getting deeper sleep (the birds on the ends will be the most awake and "watch guard", and then they'll eventually move down the line).

Anyway, the main thing I wanted to say is that a minority percentage of people are night owls (late to sleep, late to rise), myself included. Their circadian rhythms (the body's rhythms that dictate when we're awake and asleep) are phase shifted to later times than others. The book talks about why there are evolutionary advantages to this (good to have some people awake while others are sleeping for safety), and also how night owls face potential health drawbacks because of work culture (wake up early and work during the day), and also how they face negative perceptions (I've been cast with "lazy" label too many times ...).

Yeah, interesting book. It's very well written and accessible if you're interested in sleep research.

I,m a night owl (2am-10am) suits me although i need work at it in the winter to get more daylight...damn clock adjustment.
In the past (pre industrial age) we only slept for 4hours and got up for a couple hours (maybe cooked a little or a little reading or chores) then went back for another 4hours.
A while ago, i read that a banana is one of the best things to eat prior to bedtime. Works for me, also at least 8 hours coffee free before sleep.
Oh and a really good mattress is so important.

I remember that the Why We Sleep author said the middle-of-the-night brief wake up was a likely a cultural thing or just some quirk about a certain people as it seemed to happen in a certain place only for a certain period of time. I think it happened in or around the UK. That's all iirc.

Another interesting thing he said is that afternoon naps are totally natural and part of the sleep/wake cycle, but modern culture has gotten away from it. Those cultures who still take the naps are healthier than non-nappers in a multitude of ways, though whether that's because the majority of culture that doesn't take naps is spending that time doing unhealthy things is up for debate.

I remember reading about a person who had neck and back problems and traced the source back to using too many pillows. When they switch to a single good memory foam pillow, it all went away. Makes sense that the right position and amount of support are important like that ....

I havent read up the reasoning behind the the two 4 hours shifts period but it could have been due to waking up to milk the cows etc...pre industrial.
I cant stand taking naps as it messes up my day.I know in hotter climates like Spain its a cultural thing because of the heat.In Madrid apparently they dont go out to socialise until around 10pm (when its cooler) and i can understand why the siesta is important. When we have a hot spell (UK) i tend to sleep at 3 or 4 am and those are times when a siesta is part of my routine but i dislike those days. I,m planning on taking breaks to cooler parts in the future. I grew up in a cooler part of the Country.

Long term alcohol use is a killer for the sleep pattern. I gave up about 15 years ago, it became relentless and at the time of giving it up, i did not sleep for 6 days. It was harrowing and it shows what effect the alcohol is really having,even though most experience a wonderful nodding off while imbibing, its actually having the opposite effect.
We are all different and we are different at different times of our lives. Need an adapt and survive strategy. Thats been my experience, might seem a bit heavy but whatever gets you through the night eh

Yeah.......segmented sleep was pretty much how we slept up until the 17th century or so. 50,000 years or so. Get up in the night to feed the fire and change the guard in the cave....a lot of procreation happened then I bet. I think the electric light really changed all that.....never mind TV, computers and phones before bed.

I'm an older guy now and I still get up at 4:00AM to start my day with yoga and exercise. I work 50 hours a week in an office. Then I have a couple of cold beers while making dinner...every night.

I'm asleep by 8:30 every night...no TV or computer before bed.......maybe some acoustic guitar.

I slip home for lunch every day and take a 15 minute nap on the studio couch. My days are filled with clarity and presence. My health is as good as it has ever been.

Works for me......not for everyone, though.

^^ opposite ends of the spectrum. Something to be said for an early rise and meditating though.
I just read a recent interview with Keith Richards. He was asked what his Morning consisted of. He said, " I get up and then i erm....sit down"

A tempurpedic pillow is a godsend! I used to get neck pain- sometimes quite severe- but not since using one of those things.

I hit the sack at 11:00 p.m. ish and get up for work at 4:45 a.m. Ugh. Short nap after work and I'm good. Can't drink tea in the evenings as it screws me up. Sleep in til 5:30 on weekends. Naps involved too. I love them and come from a family of nappers.

A family member was waxing lyrical about this product. Never tried it as i dont really have a sleep problem these days. Its a lavender pillow spray
Could be worth a shot...shop around.

https://www.thisworks.com/us/sleep.html

Some people are allergic to lavender. I almost killed a colleague with cupcakes with lavender icing.

What happened, did they turn blue?

She was about to eat it then noticed the smell and asked what's in it.

Magnesium bath salts?

I've started reading this! Picked it up the other month Another thing I've tried is a chilled pillow, you stick it in the refrigerator for an hour or so and it's ready to go!

Great!

I'm gonna take Jules's advice and just got to sleep! I woke up at 4am this morning and barely slept after that. I got up at 7am.

Time for a well deserved nap! rockout

Any idea for those who can't sleep? even when they are tired.

Valerian works great for many people - it is a natural root called 'God's Valium' you can get it at drugstores and grocery stores...http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com...a%20edulis.htm it is a member of the Honeysuckle fanily

I am trying to add a (2nd) 15 min meditation before I go to bed.

I use a Muse Headband device to meditate. It has neurofeedback.

Seems to wind me down

Look into this phenomenon - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_procrastination

That sounds pretty good. Sometimes I like to have those old fashion device shut-offs, you know the ones you plug in and adjust the 2 dials... that way I can listen to boring TV or streaming - then it clicks off for the night and I don't even hear it go off... http://www.hometips.com/wp-content/u...Intermatic.jpg

Do you mean melatonin?

As a lifelong insomniac with bipolar disorder, I have to vary what I take each night. Sometimes I need to take melatonin... sometimes I need to take GABA.. sometimes both.. depending on my dopamine/noradrenaline levels.

If you're in the UK, you can get these from Biovea (not a shill in any way)... they ship from (I think) Switzerland to the UK.

If you're really struggling, 5-htp will serve as a melatonin replacement if taken before bed; magnesium (with calcium) will do a good job of increasing your GABA levels. These are both readily available in the UK.

Oh god yes, sleep is so darn important. If I don’t sleep enough I really notice it, I can barely function. But then it gets into a cycle because I try to get stuff done but can’t I just get into the location but catch myself basically zoning out, but it takes up more time with nothing getting done and then I end up going to bed even later and then losing even more sleep.

You have to take the pressure off in order to be productive.

So I’d add - don’t just go to sleep when you need to. But take a break when you need to too. If you’re shattered take a day off, get to bed early, don’t try to work if you aren’t going to, reap the reward the next day.