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Insomnia Sucks

Tezcatlipoca

23:37 / 04.10.02

Contrary to popular opinion, insomnia is not cool. It's only been a few days (nights?) and already I'm getting that strange feeling of discordance, as though I'm actually reviewing each minute after it's been used up and isn't needed any more. My brain knows it needs sleep and my body agrees with it. But can they actually get it together and shut down for a few hours? No. Clearly not.

Suggestions - besides counting electric sheep - are welcome...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

23:46 / 04.10.02

Those things-- that flit in and out of your vision-- the shadows--

I dunno, really. Can you get a vibrator where you are at this time of night?

Tezcatlipoca

23:57 / 04.10.02

And that's supposed to help me sleep? And please stop talking about the shadows...I know you're in league with them...

Persephone

00:04 / 05.10.02

Mordant, I thought the computer was in a box. Are you in the box??

Persephone

00:09 / 05.10.02

Oh, and sometimes it helps if I have trouble sleeping to deliberately think bizarre thoughts. Just try to think of something as far away from waking thought as possible, nothing logical at all. The method to this madness is that you're shaping your brainwaves into dream-logic & then it's just a half-step over into dreaming... and if you're dreaming, you're asleep! It does work sometimes...

Baz Auckland

03:28 / 05.10.02

My younger brother's had insomnia for years now, off and on. Some drugs worked at first, but the effects wore off. Prozac was the best for awhile.

Oddly enough, of course, he took a job landscaping and has been so exhausted the last few weeks that he's had no trouble sleeping. Different causes maybe, but try physically exhausting yourself through running or working?

Baz Auckland

03:29 / 05.10.02

I forgot. The drugs that did work for him were pot and alcohol too. If he has a beer and some pot, he has no trouble dropping out. Worth a shot and better than prozac?

Tezcatlipoca

06:05 / 05.10.02

Hmmm...good advice all round. Thanks guys. I'm still awake, but I shall begin smoking pot whilst landscape gardening and thinking illogical thoughts immediately.

Tom Coates

08:21 / 05.10.02

When I have trouble sleeping I have a ludicrous standby. I think of the composition of a crew for a new Star Trek series in a brand new ship. Would it be a male or a female captain. What species, what would the ship look like. I discovered that this worked about four years ago while watching TV. I genuinely find it fun to think about stuff like that, and I think it's just about finding something that you can hold in your head and contemplate that isn't about sleep itself for ten or twenty minutes.

w1rebaby

11:04 / 05.10.02

Somebody somewhere told me that if you can't sleep, don't lie in bed thinking "I can't sleep", or even stay in the bedroom. Go and do something else, because otherwise you stop associating bed with sleep. I don't know how true that is, though.

Some sort of exercise does help, not that I know much about exercise.

Seth

12:04 / 05.10.02

Persphone: your insomnia remedy is disturbingly close to how Simon Quinlan wound up in an asylum. Although all that lemon probably got to him, too.

Tez: try listening to Low with all the mid and treble turned way down and the bass way up (on pretty low volume), while forcing yourself to memorise the genealogies in the Bible using a very dim light.

Persephone

12:34 / 05.10.02

Why do you mention lemon???

*wild-eyed*

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:37 / 05.10.02

But it was only weak lemon...

I've tried various ways of sleeping since I've been working nights, and in the end I've had to admit defeat and go with booze, Nytol and earplugs.

The Apple-Picker

13:25 / 05.10.02

I spent an entire night trying to figure out how to go to sleep, and in the end, the very idea of mopping knocked me out.

First I went to a diner, thinking that perhaps lots of greasy food and a collection of short stories for teens could do the trick. Not so! I drove around, in my sleep deprived state, which is always very safe--thinking that perhaps the driving would put me to sleep. Not so.

Then! Then, I bought a mop. I brought the mop back to my apartment and fell immediately into bed at 6:30am. So after my night of sleep experiments, I figure that the very idea of mopping will induce sleep.

Tezcatlipoca

13:40 / 05.10.02

Typical. Finally crashed out at about 9 this morning and have just woken up feeling reasonably refreshed but definately in need of more sleep. Now I need to force myself to stay awake until tonight or I'll totally screw up my body clock. Much coffee is required...

nutella23

15:27 / 05.10.02

Zoning out to mellow music always helps. Also might want to try regulating your breathing (gradually slow it down until you feel completely relaxed). Or try tensing and relaxing each muscle group in your body, starting with your toes and working your way up (sounds dumb but it works). I think there are some herbal sleep remedies out there that are worth checking out, probably better for you than that over-the-counter stuff or cough medicine.

Puzimandias

16:47 / 05.10.02

Suffocate the girlfriend to stop her snoring?

Jack The Bodiless

18:51 / 05.10.02

Try writing another novel. Or would that be too easy, you smug bastard? Go on, fuck off away with your insomnia bleating, Mr. 'I've written a novel'.

Seth

23:26 / 05.10.02

All those complaints about the Barbeinterview, yet in one post you show that you're not above our dumb questions. You preening shit.

Persephone: These are my hobbies... I will not be usurped.

Spatula Clarke

23:45 / 05.10.02

Just discovered the (my) perfect cure - snooker on the telly. The occasional whispered commentary, the gentle click of ball hitting ball. Record the current championship and keep the tape for particularly bad nights.

Goodness Gracious Meme

23:48 / 05.10.02

gawd. and now he's found something else to geek about.

wait for (r)andy's 'top ten best shots' compilation

sorry hun, just grumping as i'm being kciked out of netcaff.
nnight all...

tez - if it'll help, you can try doing non-solo insomnia with me at some point?

Jack The Bodiless

00:58 / 06.10.02

Hey, I just think Flyboy would make for a better interview. Especially given the nature of little brother's 'put Jack through foolish in-joke hoops' questions. Who wants to read that shit? I certainly don't want to write it.

that

06:37 / 06.10.02

Herbal remedies are probably worth a shot - even teas, like Dr. Stuart's 'Tranquillity', or just camomile. I think milk (esp. hot) has something in it that helps you sleep, but I could be wrong. Aromatherapy oils (try clary sage and lavender), self-hypnosis, or relaxation techniques of various sorts (for instance the one nutella mentions) are helpful. Avoid caffeinated drinks, and don't eat too late. Tom's idea sounds great, almost makes me wish I liked Star Trek more.

Of course, I have two different prescription pills to help me sleep, so I should just shut the hell up, probably.

Tezcatlipoca

08:41 / 06.10.02

Jack - Your incessant whinging always seems to send me to sleep. Can I call you if the insomnia stays? Don't worry if I don't answer, you just keep talking away...

Tried herbal teas, and Nutella's relaxation tips (thanks) with the result of broken sleep - which is better than no sleep. My body clock *seems* to be shifting slowly back into its proper rhythm now, but it could just all be a cruel trick...

Nietzsch E. Coyote

22:01 / 06.10.02

Try reading Civilation and its Discontents by Freud. Used to work for me.

RadJose

07:10 / 07.10.02

i too have fallen in this state of non sleepyness... it makes me long for the time when i went to skool and would pass out in my chair reading a text book! WHY DON'T I HAVE ANYTHING THAT DULL IN MY HOUSE ANYMORE!.. damn... i hope i fall asleep before 6am tongiht... i have things to do before work!

Tryphena Absent

12:47 / 07.10.02

I used to smoke skunk to get myself to sleep when I lived in halls - it really knocked me out - but now I write. The smell of someone else's dope makes me feel paranoid now, that's how bad it got. I write pages and pages of complete crap but it exercises my brain and I just carry on until there's nothing left to say and the words don't make sense and the quality of my work makes me shudder. That's when it's time to sleep, of course I generally don't sleep until at least 3am, even if I wake up at 7 so maybe my advice isn't so sound.

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