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Dealing with Insomnia

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#21

Post by 34679 »

After decades of trouble falling asleep, I've found a simple technique that works for me. The goal of this technique is to replace words/monologue with images in your stream of consciousness. I do this by picturing three shapes, each engulfing the previous one. Start with a sphere. Just imagine a sphere and nothing else. Then picture a 5 sided pyramid that perfectly engulfs the sphere so that the sides are tangential. As this happens the sphere shrinks so the pyramid takes up the space of the sphere. Then repeat, but with a cube. So the cube encompasses the pyramid, with the bottom planes the same and the 4 upper edges intersecting with the 4 upper corners of the cube. Then shrink that and put it in a sphere, starting the process over.

I've found that when I'm really tired I have no trouble conjuring this imagery and sometimes within just a few cycles, vivid explosions of color will flood in and I go to sleep. Other times, I struggle to picture a sphere and start off with the 2d equivalents - circle, square, triangle. The whole thing is a bit like counting sheep, but that never worked for me.

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#22

Post by drpancake »

_qbxp wrote: post #16

I had bad insomnia during graduate school, tried just about everything under the sun (medication, sleep studies, lifestyle changes, herbs) and eventually did CBT-I with a therapist, and that was my ultimate solution. She had me start with going to bed at 3am and waking up at 7am for a week. I was absolutely exhausted, felt like my days were dreams. Then, we pulled forward he’s time to 2am. Checked how long it took me…

CBT-i more or less fixed me too. It should be noted that sleep restriction (the practice you're describing here) is only part of CBT-i but it seems to be the most important.

I also gave up coffee and I stop looking at screens 30-60 mins before my bed time. Before the therapy ~30% of my nights were sleepless.

This article helped a lot: http://ilya.sukhar.com/blog/an-algorithmic-solution-to-insom...

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#25

Post by masklinn »

kolp wrote: post #15
btam wrote: post #8

> After reading many reviews I kept on coming back to the same brand which I had sworn to never buy another item of due to their disrespect of users’ systems integrity, aka the ‘rootkit debacle’ Does Sony really have the best noise cancelling headphones? What brands/models have worked for people here? I've continuously struggled with distracting noises through my education.

Bose are very good. I've a pair of wireless over ear headphones and my girlfriend has the wireless in-ear ones. Noise cancellation is very good with both, especially for constant background noise. All over ear headphones will tend to cause your ears to warm up, so the in ear ones are more comfortable. But the integrated microphone with the in-ear headphones is surprisingly poor for phone calls.

How large are their OTA headphones? I've been wondering about OTA noise-cancelling headphones for a while for both music and cycling as I've bad ears and excess wind leads to repeated otitis on short order (making actual non-stationary cycling problematic). But I also have large ears, so most OTA would literally sit on the ear cartilage and pressing it against the ear, making wearing them for extended periods very uncomfortable. I remember AKG cans having large-enough pads that they'd fit properly.

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#26

Post by jacquesm »

masklinn wrote: post #25
kolp wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bose are very good. I've a pair of wireless over ear headphones and my girlfriend has the wireless in-ear ones. Noise cancellation is very good with both, especially for constant background noise. All over ear headphones will tend to cause your ears to warm up, so the in ear ones are more comfortable. But the integrated microphone with the in-ear headphones is surprisingly poor for phone calls.

How large are their OTA headphones? I've been wondering about OTA noise-cancelling headphones for a while for both music and cycling as I've bad ears and excess wind leads to repeated otitis on short order (making actual non-stationary cycling problematic). But I also have large ears, so most OTA would literally sit on the ear cartilage and pressing it against the ear, making wearing them for extended periods very un…

OTA -> OTE, I can't imagine 'over the air' headphones :)

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#27

Post by 6510 »

In my imagination it works something like: If melatonin levels have to exceed cortisol not challenging yourself physically would never require a lot of melatonin? You might still sleep but barely?

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#29

Post by caymanjim »

I think my biggest problem is that I don't exhaust myself physically. Humans are built for constant labor. We're the endurance-running champions of the animal kingdom. As recently as last century, almost all jobs were physically exhausting.

Mind work is exhausting as well, but in a different way. At the end of a strenuous day of coding, and endless meetings, I'm drained. Completely wiped out. I feel physically exhausted, but I'm not, at all.

On the rare occasions that I physically exhaust myself, be it home remodeling, yard work, or canoeing, I sleep like the dead. No insomnia, solid rest. I still have all the same things going on in my life; the same job, same bills, all the anxieties large and small that "keep me awake" other nights. Which is why I don't think any of it is psychological. My body just isn't worn out enough.

I'm not looking for advice. "You should exercise more! Have you tried X?" This is my observation. We aren't constructed for office work.

Re: Dealing with Insomnia

#30

Post by jakevoytko »

I've had a lifelong struggle with insomnia. Last year, I worked with a sleep therapist to help get things under control. I still have bad nights, and jet lag still messes me up. But I don't take nearly as much sick leave for insomnia as I used to.

I had tried individual "sleep hygiene" things over the years with little success. She helped me realize that I was running a system that lent itself to bad sleep. Single changes were unlikely to help. For me in particular, keeping a regular routine, getting sunlight exposure, and minimizing caffeine were important. It's amazing how much impact a few fundamentals have.

Normally, I would fall asleep anytime from 12 to 3 and wake up between 8 and 9. I committed to falling asleep at 11:00, waking up at 7:00 every day and immediately going for a walk. Ordinarily I would have resisted these measures, but I had been in a bout with insomnia for months at that point. I was willing to try anything. Over time, this helped set a regular rhythm.

I was also overcaffeinating myself. She gave me some helpful guidelines for determining when I've had too much coffee. This amounted to taking the half-life of caffeine, measuring how much will still be in your bloodstream at bedtime, and asking yourself, "Would you drink that much coffee at that time?" I also would use caffeine to fix bad nights of sleep. She suggested replacing extra caffeine with midday walks. This helped quite a bit.

I don't have problems falling asleep (just staying asleep), but she recommended wearing orange safety glasses that block blue light. I would feel sleepier before bedtime when I did this. I didn't keep this measure going, but I still have them in case I ever have trouble falling asleep. I also wear a sleep mask, which is the single-best change I've made.

This came with some sacrifices. I went on a beach vacation with some friends last year, and I went to bed at 11 while they all stayed up until 1. This created a weird dynamic. But I had just started to overcome my severe insomnia bout, so I didn't want to throw it all away. Now, I find myself continuing to stick with the schedule because I know that I get results. This means that I leave a lot of events earlier than other people. But it feels easier to say "no" now that I'm in my 30s.

It also had some benefits. I now have an hour and a half before work that I use for side projects. It turns out that despite my mental model of being a night owl, I'm actually very productive in the morning. I've maintained a regular writing schedule and have managed to do some side project work. Previously, I had struggled to fit time in for these things.

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