[Crook32]

Tonight since I have insomnia I have decided to sort through papers for shredding and some other general cleaning. Also putting laundry away. Found an Amazon gift card that I had forgotten about. Had a snack. Wish I could do more but I don’t want to wake the whole house up.

So when you have insomnia do you just toss and turn in bed and get frustrated or is there a point when you say screw it and get up? What do you typically do? Watch tv? Clean? Pay bills, etc?

[Polibeth]

I'm a big TV watcher when I have insomnia.

Nowadays I can usually combat insomnia either with "as needed" regular Seroquel (above my usual Seroquel XR) or Ativan, though my psychiatrist prefers I use the Seroquel. Sometimes I do choose the Ativan if my insomnia is caused by agitation and/or anxiety.

Other things that truly seem to have helped are eating yogurt and putting on my sound machine (usually rainfall mode).

[fern46]

I pray a lot when I am restless. It calms me and I usually fall asleep mid prayer. I also use guided meditation for sleep sometimes. There are a few free apps available that are decent.

[BastetsMuse]

When I have insomnia, I call my husband if he's driving for Uber and listen to his rides, which usually bores me to sleep. Or I try reading, or getting out of bed to play solitaire. Sometimes I'll have a cup of coffee because I'm ADD and it helps quiet my mind so I can fall asleep.

[speckofdust]

I get in front of insomnia with my buddy Ambien.

[Blue_Bird]

Had this happen last night, tossed and turned for an hour then said screw it, got up and started cleaning, I wrote in my journal for awhile too

[Blue_Bird]

I also watch Youtube videos of things I'm interested in

[Merlin]

I will take some Imovane and read. Sometimes I will watch videos even though the flickering screen isn’t very good for sleeping.

[Poiuytl]

Magnesium citrate in the evening - relatively high doses. It is healthy, relatively cheap, and you'll be amazed what a powerful relaxant it is. Also helps with depression.

[Sunflower123]

I watch TV and play on my phone or read when I have insomnia.

[Victoria'smom]

We have a rule that we HAVE to lay there for 8 hrs. Even if our minds aren't resting at least our bodies do.

[Unrigged64072835]

I usually keep my eyes shut and roll around until I can’t stand it. Then I get up and work on hobbies until it’s time to wake my husband up. Occasionally I’ll have a snack and go back to bed if it’s too early but most of the time I’m just up for the day.

[tecomsin]

I have olanzapine prn to take for any sleep difficulties and I keep track of my sleep with a fitness tracker, so I know when I am not getting enough.

[downandlonely]

I sometimes wake up hungry so I will get a snack. And I'll come on here even though looking at a computer isn't supposed to be good for sleep.

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by Merlin

I will take some Imovane and read. Sometimes I will watch videos even though the flickering screen isn’t very good for sleeping.

I put on a movie with lots of dialogue but not much sound effects or loud music- like stand up comedy.

[Naynay99]

Ah insomnia. My old friend. Lately I have been so tried I’ve had no problem falling asleep but when I do I have some weird shiit I do that probably doesn’t help at all now that I think of it! Haha
I try to distract my mind from whatever I can’t shut off. I sometimes try counting backwards but always mess up or lose count. Or name animals with each letter of the alphabet, sometimes I will make it only mammals or reptiles. I am ridiculously good at this now tho so it doesn’t put me to sleep. . Dumb stuff like that. Sing the alphabet backwards in my head. Roll onto my other side and say to myself “and now sleep!...”.
Sometimes playing music, especially loud ish music, helps drown out the sound of my thinking.
I used to live in the city and knew all the 24 hour stores as I would frequent them when not sleeping, but here in the burbs everything closes at 9 pm!
I do think after a certain amount of time trying, it’s best to abort mission and get out of bed. Tossing and turning and looking at the clock and telling myself “if I go to sleep now I have 4!hrs of sleep”...and the hours dropping each time I look at the clock is enough to make one loose their shiit.

I am guilty of going on my phone but I know using electronics before bad is supposed to make it harder to fall asleep. Reading my biochemistry textbook used to do the trick. I have highlight stained sheets to prove it. Lol

Good luck with getting to sleep tonite.

[~Christina]

I have had insomnia since age 6-7... I use to get all upset if I didn’t sleep, panic attacks at times. But what I have learned is eventually I will sleep maybe not tonight but most likely in the next few nights.

I mostly read or aimlessly scroll Facebook. Here to of course , but it’s been very slow lately. Just the nature of a forum either moves so fast you can’t keep up or so slow I can skip days and haven’t missed much, it comes in waves.

Let my thoughts run wild. Occasionally, I try to take notes in case something insightful emerges, but it's usually pretty incoherent.

[Tucson]

Lately I have been staying up until maybe 4 in the morning. I just have not been wanting to go to sleep. Energy. But it does catch up to me from time to time where I go to bed maybe at around 1 AM.

[VerMOZZica]

I usually watch tv or use my tablet and come here or write in a blog that I have.

Ah, insomnia. Ugh. I almost always stay in bed. If I get up, I'll never get to sleep for sure. Usually I just toss and turn. If I really need to get some sleep, xanax will knock me out. A lot of times I'll get on my phone and come here or look up totally random stuff that comes to mind, even though, as others have mentioned, screens aren't condusive to sleep. Usually when I get on my phone I've pretty well given up on getting to sleep, lol, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

I've got it quite often (especially the waking up ridiculously early variety, like 3 or 4 am) and it's been happening a lot lately.

[jmariah001]

I 've been fighting insomnia on and off for years. When it hits I usually read, listen to music or journal. That is the perfect time to journal at least for me. It seems to be when I can think the clearest. It can also get lonely because my husband is usually asleep. I just try to keep my mind occupied. It sure does make is hard to get stuff done during the day when you are so tired though. A lot of times eventually I just crash and sleep all day and all night because my body is so behind on sleep. I hate those days. Wow the hubby is actually awake right now. Maybe I should go visit. Till later.

[tecomsin]

I find a low dose of lyrica every night helps me stay asleep so I don't get the early morning awakenings where I can't fall back asleep. Otherwise if I am not falling asleep I just take a small dose of Olanzapine. It will knock me out if I take it infrequently.