Why Can’t We Fall Asleep? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#61

Post by aroch » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:40 PM UTC

mistermann wrote: post #59

kristofferR wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try getting the Uvex S1933X glasses. They work for everything in your view (obviously) without messing around with software, and probably works better too. I have them, and they're amazing. I have pretty cool LED lighting in my apartment and can make my whole living room any color I want at night. If I set in to pure blue and put on the glasses, it's like being in pitch blackness (except a couple of items glow bright…

> I have pretty cool LED lighting in my apartment and can make my whole living room any color I want at night. This sounds very cool, any chance you could post a picture of your living room with some different colors?

Sounds like GP is using Phillips Hue or similar bulbs, which can be programmed (via a phone or computer) to automatically change colors by individual light or groups (i.e. the lights in your bedroom change to warm hues at night and cool hues prior to wakeup)

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#62

Post by riledhel » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:48 PM UTC

henryV wrote: post #58

My problem is the opposite. I can fall asleep very easily. Over 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening, if I'm doing something that doesn't require too much attention (like watching a film or something like that) I start to feel asleep and it's very hard not to. The funny thing is that, if I let myself sleep for a few minutes (5-15), then I wake up fresh and ready to be awake a bunch of hours more (and it doesn't prevent me f…

This is (sort of like) humans used to sleep until the industrial revolution. Couple of links http://www.livescience.com/12891-natural-sleep.html http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#63

Post by dhimes » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:49 PM UTC

spuz wrote: post #18

It's interesting that the article mentions the importance of not disrupting the body's natural ability to produce melatonin but does not mention melatonin when talking about sleep medication. As far as I understand artifial melatonin actually increases REM sleep, does not trigger sleep walking and can be taken for longer than a week. In my experience it does increase the intensity of dreams which could be a negative…

I find that taking melatonin for a few nights in a row sort of corrects me for a while. Then I would go off of it until I had a few days of poor sleep (usually off for several weeks).

I started having nightmares/anxiety dreams so I stopped. At first I thought maybe there was something about different formulations (brands) of melatonin but then the 'good' brand also started giving me anxiety dreams. Did they change their formulation to cut costs? Or is it me? I can't be sure.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#64

Post by jamesfe » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:54 PM UTC

m_fayer wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

Ah yes, I tried f.lux for some time. I was annoyed sometimes late at night that it would battle me, forcing me to recognize that I should be going to bed...but I guess what's best for you isn't always what you want.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#65

Post by thebouv » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:54 PM UTC

I can't fall asleep because I can't get my brain to STFU.

When I can lay down, regardless of hour of night, with a quiet brain, I fall right asleep.

95% of the time though, my brain won't stop. I stay away from screens after a certain hour, I try not to think about work (not always successful). But still, sometimes my brain just won't quit. It's super frustrating.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#66

Post by provemewrong » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 1:59 PM UTC

marak830 wrote: post #21

spuz wrote: post #18

It's interesting that the article mentions the importance of not disrupting the body's natural ability to produce melatonin but does not mention melatonin when talking about sleep medication. As far as I understand artifial melatonin actually increases REM sleep, does not trigger sleep walking and can be taken for longer than a week. In my experience it does increase the intensity of dreams which could be a negative…

Im on melatonin at the moment. Its nice to hear about someone else, id nnever heard of it before the doctor recommended it before sleeping tablets.

I hadn't heard about melatonin until a thread on reddit where everyone was raving about it and sharing stories about how it knocks them right out. Now I ocassionally take a pill, but I don't really feel any effects and I'm still not entirelly sure if it is putting me to sleep faster or not. I still take it at least for the placebo effect and because it's fairly cheap.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#67

Post by erikb » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:01 PM UTC

thebouv wrote: post #65

I can't fall asleep because I can't get my brain to STFU. When I can lay down, regardless of hour of night, with a quiet brain, I fall right asleep. 95% of the time though, my brain won't stop. I stay away from screens after a certain hour, I try not to think about work (not always successful). But still, sometimes my brain just won't quit. It's super frustrating.

For me it helps to play computer games after work/school which take me away from my real world problems and don't challenge me too much. Basically something that gives me a good feeling of no fear and maybe even success without doing much for it. That helped me a lot to fight this brain-STFU problem.

Good tv shows also work, because watching tv basically is no challenge but is able to transfer your thoughts from your problems to problems that aren't yours which is less stressful.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#68

Post by knodi123 » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:01 PM UTC

thebouv wrote: post #65

I can't fall asleep because I can't get my brain to STFU. When I can lay down, regardless of hour of night, with a quiet brain, I fall right asleep. 95% of the time though, my brain won't stop. I stay away from screens after a certain hour, I try not to think about work (not always successful). But still, sometimes my brain just won't quit. It's super frustrating.

I've heard practicing zazen can help with the STFU aspect. Presumably it's something they have techniques to deal with. I know several people who do it, and they assure me it's taught them a lot about how to control their minds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#69

Post by AC__ » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:02 PM UTC

Smoke some weed and ground yourself, literally ground yourself(run a wire from the ground plug of a wall outlet), while you sleep. Humans are fucking retarded, we have way too much HF radio waves and EMF in our environment now.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#70

Post by JustSomeNobody » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:04 PM UTC

thebouv wrote: post #65

I can't fall asleep because I can't get my brain to STFU. When I can lay down, regardless of hour of night, with a quiet brain, I fall right asleep. 95% of the time though, my brain won't stop. I stay away from screens after a certain hour, I try not to think about work (not always successful). But still, sometimes my brain just won't quit. It's super frustrating.

I have this same problem. I have found that if, right before bed, I find some single simple puzzle or problem to think about I can mute the other stuff and just focus on that. I feel like it helps me fall asleep faster.