During my 20s I developed a severe insomnia, probably due to not knowing how to handle stress. It was so bad that I had to go to the ER because I haven't had any sleep in days and didn't know what else to do. They gave me ambien and it helped at the time, but I knew that it was not something to take long term. I then started to experiment with various methods to help me fall asleep and sleep hygene such as hot/cold showers, warm baths, relaxing exercises and meditation, lowering the room temperature, removing sources of light (especially those blue LEDs). In my 40s now and am happy to report that I no longer have any insomniac episodes and I rarely have a hard time falling asleep. Out of all the techniques I found that forcefully yawning for a couple of minutes is the most efficent way for me to induce sleep.
How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
71–80 of 93 posts
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
My mom always told me to do this as a child. I’ve never understood this nor any other visualization technique. I have never found this to be possible. At best I actively think about not thinking which is counterproductive but even then within about 10 seconds my mind has already wandered. And if I’m not actively trying I’ll always have some other thoughts popping in no matter what
Something that works for me is count from 10 to 1 slowly. Concentrate getting to 1. If another thought enters, start the count again. Repeat. This is like counting the proverbial sheep.
That's in the same category of techniques that will only work for a very brief time for me. At some point I realize I have background thoughts, and then those take over.
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
My mom always told me to do this as a child. I’ve never understood this nor any other visualization technique. I have never found this to be possible. At best I actively think about not thinking which is counterproductive but even then within about 10 seconds my mind has already wandered. And if I’m not actively trying I’ll always have some other thoughts popping in no matter what
It might be because it wasn’t a technique as such. I don’t visualise not thinking, I just stop thinking about things, but I also don’t have a constant inner voice talking to/with me as I understand many people do.
" I just stop thinking about things" is the part that I can't comprehend. I've never been able to do this. If I try, I immediately start thinking about things w/o intending to do so.
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#74Taking melatonin has been mentioned several times in different threads here, and I just wanted to add my experience... I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on…
You emphasized the word "minimal" but it cannot be emphasized enough. I think melatonin is one of those things that quickly backfires if you take too much.
I can confirm that anecdotally, taking those big 10mg pills did help me get to sleep, but also gave me some of the most fucked up dreams I've ever had the mispleasure of experiencing.
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Something that works for me is count from 10 to 1 slowly. Concentrate getting to 1. If another thought enters, start the count again. Repeat. This is like counting the proverbial sheep.
That's in the same category of techniques that will only work for a very brief time for me. At some point I realize I have background thoughts, and then those take over.
This happens to me as well, but when I become aware of other non welcome thoughts, I just start counting again. /shrug
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#76Taking melatonin has been mentioned several times in different threads here, and I just wanted to add my experience... I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on…
Just make sure you're getting it as medicine and not supplement, taking it for for my insomia!
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you please elaborate on 1. ?
Personally, I am very alert throughout the day if I sleep between 6-7 hours. Past the 7 hours threshold I am get into a worse headspace (brainfog) throughout the day proportionally to the amount of extera sleep.
Sleeping for longer than 8 hours frequently gives me hypnic headaches and terrible migraines.
I recently had a baby and the lack of sleep has reduced my headache frequency dramatically!
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#78Taking melatonin has been mentioned several times in different threads here, and I just wanted to add my experience... I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on…
What time do you take them? An hour before going to sleep or right before?
Not the same guy but, when I took them it was as I was laying down to try to sleep, so maybe 10 minutes before I was actually asleep.
In my experience you don't want to take them and not try to go to sleep right afterwards or you can ruin the effect, and trying to take more trying to sleep afterwards merely results in addiction and needing it to sleep at all.
I can also confirm you want a very low dosage. Higher dosages didn't help at all, just merely built tolerance to it. The ones I got were 3-5mg and I broke them up into tiny little pieces and took partial mgs at most. You want to nudge yourself towards sleep with it, not try to drug yourself with it.
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#79Taking melatonin has been mentioned several times in different threads here, and I just wanted to add my experience... I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on…
Half milligram pills are available online. Wish Costco sold them.
Re: How the brain's activity, energy use and blood flow change as people fall asleep
#80Only slightly related, but I often try to find ways to fall asleep faster. One thing that seems to work in some situations is trying to imagine a void (like a white or gray plane) for a while. However, often enough this does not work and I wonder if anyone knows of tricks that work for her/him (without using Melantonin or other drugs).
What works best for me is to take a book, on paper, preferably on a boring topic (depends on you, obviously) and just start reading. Usually my eyes drop in a matter of minutes. Once I wake up, startled by the book falling over, I kill the lights and go to sleep. Works every time, any time. If I lie in bed and just think stuff, it takes much longer.
I do this with audiobooks/podcasts and then can start with the lights off and lying down. (important part I find is making sure the dynamics are low -- no high-volume ads or flashy punctuated sound effects)
Not sure if any other buds work like this but the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds seem to auto-pause based on some kind of fitbit/sleep indicator which help even more with staying asleep.