Quote:
Originally Posted by StreetcarBlanche
Sounds like you have some environmental barriers to a good night's sleep (the noisy upstairs neighbors) as well as stress from your long commute to your work center (sounds like the U.S. equivalent of Workforce Centers or Temp Agencies).
First, complain to your landlord about your upstairs noisy neighbors. Hopefully they will be more considerate. If not, invest your money in some well-functioning ear plugs. Or...if you can afford to do it, move out to another apartment at another location.
Then, work on lowing your stress (cortisol) levels. Walk every day even if its just for ten minutes. Do something every day at the same time that relaxes you.
Also, stop eating dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime. No snacks, no alcohol, just decaf tea and water. This will make it easier for you to sleep (no acid reflux when you lay on your side, and no food for your body to work hard to digest which is what will keep you awake).
Force yourself to go to bed at the same time every night. Create a routine and follow it. Wake up at the same time every morning, even if you have a different schedule of what you're doing every day. You have to train your body clock to get drowsy and to wake up.
If you need a sleep aid, try Melatonin or Magnesium. Stay away from actual sleeping pills because those will prevent you from getting deep sleep; studies have shown that sleeping pills disrupt the body's sleep cycle - stage 3-4 sleep which is Delta sleep, the deepest sleep right before R.E.M. sleep which is the last stage where you dream right before you wake up.
It took me 3 weeks to retrain my body clock to fall asleep. I accidentally broke my sleep cycle last night, staying out late. Now, I will need another 4 or 5 days to reset it again. Having screwed up my sleep cycle a LOT over the years, I know that now it takes my body naturally about 5 days before it will reset again.
Hope you can figure out a safe way to get back to sleep again.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deejay14
Streetcar is 100% right. If you look upkeep hygiene on the internet you will find lots of tips for a better night's sleep. If it keeps you functioning better something g for sleep is not a terrible idea, but I would try all of the above suggestions first.
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First of all, as I said moving is not an option. And I have told the council and they said they weren't doing anything wrong and that I have to be more tolerant of people.
I have no actual problems falling asleep myself. I've always been able to fall asleep straight away until this started. And Some nights like last night, it was quiet and I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. The thing that is keeping me awake is the noise, and sometimes assuming that going to bed is a waste of time because they will come back.
Now that it's getting colder and darker, it's just too cold to stay up until 2am. Also I can barely keep my eyes open or even focus on whatever I'm doing, so it's pointless to stay up. So I've been going to bed at normal time and if its noisy then I just lie there and daydream and try to ignore the noise (which is really hard when there's a huge thud that makes me jump).
But I feel like the damage is done now and I have to accept it and deal with it, and not keep longing for the past where I was allowed to sleep and be healthy. Where I actually felt awake through the day. In my teens and early 20s I played a lot of video games, which requires good reaction times, and I easily finished most games. I can't imagine doing that now, I'd be dead before I knew what was happening, far too slow. It's just so hard to deteriorate like this.