Jump to content

Insomnia! Does Anyone Else Have This Problem?


Recommended Posts

I started having issues with sleeping while taking care of my mom. She had Alzheimer's and I was her primary caregiver. Brian would give me breaks and I would catch naps here and there but at the end I was awake more than I was asleep.

 

Now 1 1/2 years later I am still struggling with sleeping issues. I get so tired but sleep still evades me. My doc has tried me on all kinds of meds to get me to sleep right now I am taking 30 mgs of Pamelor at bedtime but I only average 3 1/2 - 4 hours of sleep on that. The doc wants me to up that dose to 40 mgs. but I am afraid to.

 

What do you do to help you sleep?

 

Thanks,

Skipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had luck with Valerian during the day, and take a Melatonin at night.. (I know it's not MM, but it's still natural, a big thumbs up)

 

Option A) good exercise regimen could be recommended. A lot of times insomnia can be from "a depression." I use that term loosely, as our bodies are like our beloved plants, you mess up the schedule it takes a while to get back on track. Exercise can help alleviate stressors and what not. Not saying train for a marathon, but a get a good program going where you feel it when your done. You know your limits better than anyone. Just stick to a strict schedule for a while.. Eat at the same times each day, exercise at the same time each day, when you lie down for bed (same time each day) refuse the urge to get back up. Still get up the same time and do your exercise. This will be rough the first few times with the possible lack of sleep, but you will eventually get what you are seeking after you basically retrain your ticker. :-)

 

Option B) A good indica and a fifth of Jack.. Good Night, Vietnam!!! lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would agree, a concentrate taken in the right way for you should do it, well, I should talk, have not found anything that would put me out guaranteed, other than anesthesia for minor surgery, still waiting to try a concentrate myself, hope it works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do Tai' Chi' 3 days a week and ride a bike for exercise. The Tai' Chi' I do for exercise not sport; it is really good for Fibromyalgia and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I have videos and do online courses at home.

 

Morhawk your option B sounds like a plan! Although I don't drink Jack.

 

I've never tried Hash oils, I think I will.

 

I have seen recipes to make it, that looks kind of dangerous to do.

 

Thanks,

Skipper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man I tell you what, we made a batch of some way strong brownies and for a week there my sleep was awesome.

 

Brownies are gone I don't sleep again, maybe give that a shot but make sure they are like 3x's the normal strength worked for my insomniac azz.

 

Good luck let me know if you find a remedy that works...:unsure:

 

Trix :bong2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Morhawks option A is one of the best all around natural suggestions. Hundreds of years ago when we used to work ten times harder in a day we would exert much more energy throughout the day, allowing us to get much needed rest at the end of that day. Now we live in a society where everything is so easy there is very little to tire us in the course of a day. An exhausting 15-20 exercise regiment in the late afternoon-evening 'should' help trigger your body toward exhaustion and a natural need to 'lay down' and sleep. I say all this because I had similar issues and a short burst of intense exercise helped. I found sometimes that I still fought the sleep urge but if you roll with the tired feeling soon as it starts to come on after some physical exertion I think you may find it will help.

Suggestions of Indica and Hash Oils are excellent also, combine the intense short exercise burst followed with a light snack and an Indica (in either order) and I think sleeping may become a little easier to obtain.

*Customize your intense session to whatever level is comfortable for you. Whatever makes you get exhausted and work up a quick strong sweat is fine. (stand up and sit down on the couch 100 times in a row w/o using your hands to assist or walk up and down a flight of stairs 20 times, lots of options w/o leaving your own home)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, hit the tread mill, or whatever.

Exhaust the body, and the mind will follow it into sleep.

Works great on kids and dogs, so you know it will work awesome on adults

 

Oh, and a nice heavy Indica will also pave the way to slumber land.

Set up a gram of Purple Wreck in an Extreme Q vaporizer, and enjoy prior to bed while watching Rachel Maddow and the Ed Show.

You'll be informed, enraged, and then every so sleepy.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/31847-trouble-sleeping/

 

I made this post awhile back and got some decent feedback. But I do gotta tell ya that nothing I have ever tried (and I have tried it ALL) has worked 100% of the time. I still struggle with this problem daily. Hell just last night I ate 2 Chemdog cookies, smoked a ton of expertly grown Lemon Cake, and puffed 3 pinheads of Lemon Cake BHO and was still up until dawn.

 

I have cut out caffeine past 2 pm, I work all the time so I am active, and it seems to have helped a little.

 

I would not recommend any of the pills out there either. They just plain don;t work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/31847-trouble-sleeping/

 

I made this post awhile back and got some decent feedback. But I do gotta tell ya that nothing I have ever tried (and I have tried it ALL) has worked 100% of the time. I still struggle with this problem daily. Hell just last night I ate 2 Chemdog cookies, smoked a ton of expertly grown Lemon Cake, and puffed 3 pinheads of Lemon Cake BHO and was still up until dawn.

 

I have cut out caffeine past 2 pm, I work all the time so I am active, and it seems to have helped a little.

 

I would not recommend any of the pills out there either. They just plain don;t work.

I would also recommend acupuncture.

I didn't think much of it, until my wife had major improvements using it to manage her chronic pain.

 

I've just started for my own pain issues, with noticeable success :thumbsu:

 

Per the brochure Insomnia is a treated condition.

 

Can't speak first or even second hand for acupuncture effectiveness with insomnia, but based on my personal, skeptical, experience it is a real therapy, and not just a bunch of hooey.

 

Based on your avatar perhaps you've already tried it ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned overtime for me its best to get up and stop the stress of tossing and turning if I haven't been able to fall asleep in about 30 minutes . Then try again in a hour or so . I also try to never sleep during the day fighting to stay on a 24 / 7 schedule with the rest of the world though I can be more efficient if I do not keep myself contracted in this manner . However it doesn't work well when attempting to function in society .It is a disabling situation when you cannot sleep and keep a schedule do to injury or illness that creates terrible stress and weariness . Anyone ever do the sniff a onion out of a mason jar routine ? It didn't work for me but is a old home remedy . Your suppose to use a certain onion I believe . If someone is interested it can be found in a internet search .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any Cannabis makes me sleep, but of course the Sativa's take longer to make me tired. I also LOVE these grape drinks called Drank. They have melatonin,rose hip(I think) and valerian root. These things work great for me make me real sleepy and I can usually sleep good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've also dealt with insomnia for the past 30+ years. It's actually what makes cannabis seem like a miracle drug to me. With the right tincture dose I sleep perfectly and wake up ready to attack the day.

 

Exercise is a great idea, but didn't really work for me. I spent years running marathons and longer races, and still couldn't sleep well.

 

As always of course, Your Mileage Will Vary, but I really think everybody taking medication for insomnia should try edible cannabis preparations. Shame it's not a qualifying condition, as it certainly has fewer side effects than a lot of prescription drugs...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've also dealt with insomnia for the past 30+ years. It's actually what makes cannabis seem like a miracle drug to me. With the right tincture dose I sleep perfectly and wake up ready to attack the day.

 

Exercise is a great idea, but didn't really work for me. I spent years running marathons and longer races, and still couldn't sleep well.

 

As always of course, Your Mileage Will Vary, but I really think everybody taking medication for insomnia should try edible cannabis preparations. Shame it's not a qualifying condition, as it certainly has fewer side effects than a lot of prescription drugs...

 

If the state would get off its lazy good for nothing dead arse and implement the qualifying condition review panel (two years + no panel yet) maybe it would. Along with several anxiety disorders covered by other MM states.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the state would get off its lazy good for nothing dead arse and implement the qualifying condition review panel (two years + no panel yet) maybe it would. Along with several anxiety disorders covered by other MM states.

 

I've found that this is one of the best ways to convince regular people that cannabis has real medical uses. Many people have had, or know somebody who has had some sort of sleepy experience with cannabis. Also, many people have heard horror stories around Ambien use (sleepwalking, sleep-driving, memory loss, etc.).

 

Put the two together, point out the near-total lack of serious side effects with cannabis, and you may be closer to winning another convert.

 

The last time this came up I got a PM from a prominent member here saying not to worry, they haven't forgotten about the need for a review panel on this type of thing, but are first dealing with bigger issues like proper card issuing, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it is possible for you to do this, you need to sleep when you feel like sleeping stay up when you fell like staying up. Meaning dont fight it or take anything for it just let it be. That really is the best, every persons circadian rhythm is different, so by fighting against it your fighting against your natural sleep pattern.. I was told that by my doctor, I'm a CG and I work on my own schedule so its pretty easy for me. Sense I just stopped fighting it and caring I have been totally good with it. Im on 26/27 hour days, meaning Im up 18/19 and sleep 7/8. Its great!, I get 2 to 3 hours more a day to accomplish things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had lifelong insomnia, and I've found that letting my sleep cycle drift around leads to feeling anxious (when you're awake all night) and fatigued. The key is to be very strict about going to bed on time, and having things taken care of well before bed so you can just slow down. No TV, no computers (I need to follow my own advice), just read something relaxing or listen to music. And then the most important part, and the hardest one: get up at the exact same time every day no matter what. If you can do this for 2-3 weeks you should fare much better.

 

Avoid the sleeping pills. Ambien is addictive beyond belief and if you fail to go to bed immediately after taking it, you're left so messed up that you lose your mind entirely. I used to have conversations with my furniture thanks to that crap - I literally would think my empty apartment was a party, debating philosophy with my talking couch, scrawling fragments of insanity onto whatever loose scraps of paper I could find. Powerful hallucinations, total loss of inhibitions and near complete blackouts (and I never black out from anything). It didn't take too long to figure out why I was waking up so tired, sometimes on the floor (even though I'd gone to bed) and finding all kinds of crazy half sentences written on every random object in the apartment. Not good at all, though I'm glad I wasn't one of the ones that wandered out the door. If you take it two nights in a row and skip the third, count on being awake all night. I find I get anxiety and racing thoughts if I go to bed heavily medicated, so I try to lay off for an hour or two before it's lights out. The over the counter sleeping pills aren't even useful for one night. If I take Benadryl, I'll be more tired with 8 hours of sleep than if I'd abstained and been left with 4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had lifelong insomnia, and I've found that letting my sleep cycle drift around leads to feeling anxious (when you're awake all night) and fatigued. The key is to be very strict about going to bed on time, and having things taken care of well before bed so you can just slow down. No TV, no computers (I need to follow my own advice), just read something relaxing or listen to music. And then the most important part, and the hardest one: get up at the exact same time every day no matter what. If you can do this for 2-3 weeks you should fare much better.

 

Avoid the sleeping pills. Ambien is addictive beyond belief and if you fail to go to bed immediately after taking it, you're left so messed up that you lose your mind entirely. I used to have conversations with my furniture thanks to that crap - I literally would think my empty apartment was a party, debating philosophy with my talking couch, scrawling fragments of insanity onto whatever loose scraps of paper I could find. Powerful hallucinations, total loss of inhibitions and near complete blackouts (and I never black out from anything). It didn't take too long to figure out why I was waking up so tired, sometimes on the floor (even though I'd gone to bed) and finding all kinds of crazy half sentences written on every random object in the apartment. Not good at all, though I'm glad I wasn't one of the ones that wandered out the door. If you take it two nights in a row and skip the third, count on being awake all night. I find I get anxiety and racing thoughts if I go to bed heavily medicated, so I try to lay off for an hour or two before it's lights out. The over the counter sleeping pills aren't even useful for one night. If I take Benadryl, I'll be more tired with 8 hours of sleep than if I'd abstained and been left with 4.

 

Not trying to start a debate, but thats not really insomnia. ( Thats choosing to stay up late. ) Insomnia is when you try and try and try to go to sleep but end up laying in bed wide awake for 4-8 hours. Being on a schedule is not what fix's the problem. The problem is that persons circadian rhythm is different than most people. If you have a schedule for sleeping that revolves around a 24 hour day you do not suffer from insomnia. If you felt anxious from staying up all night thats because your circadian rhythm was not meant for you to be awake at night time. A lot of people think insomnia is staying up late and sleeping in the day its NOT! Thats being a vampire. LOL. Insomnia is being awake more time than most people and sleeping the same or less. When I am tired after staying awake for 18 + hours, I have no problem falling asleep and only sleeping 5-8 hours. Anything else makes me crazy. The only problem I have is the Shift from day weeks to night weeks. Towards the end of the night weeks I start to long for the daylight, and vice versa with the night weeks for the darkness. YIN & YANG, My circadian rhythm needs both day and night.

 

So to the original poster, do some research and self exploring, and do what makes you feel best. GOOD LUCK!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...