I can't sleep!! :blank: This all started back on Thursday when i pulled an all nighter working on website design...and now I am really messed up. tried to sleep...got back up again...

It's rather funny to see Chris (UK) and Al (South Africa) log on...at about 3am my time...and then see them log off....and then the east cost folks start waking up. sigh...been here for it all! Anyone want me to put the coffee on?

I know, I am having the same problem, I am normally a night owl, but I have to get up to answer calls during the day. Since I work at home, luckily I can sometimes sneak in a nap. I try so hard to keep a regular schedule and I did okay sleeping last night.... :(

I am an imsomniac of the old brigade, I understand your plight but feel there is little apart from medication that can get you back on track. I can tell you what NOT to do though. Whatever happens don't stay awake thinking that you will eventually fall asleep, you wont! My best advice is to goto bed at some horribly early time and force yourself not to move.:)

Failing that make mine an expresso:D

I'm really sorry to hear about all the insomniacs out there. My wife claims I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow. :)

One thing that helps is elevating your legs, like putting a pillow under your knees. I cannot sleep like that but it helps me to doze off, then I roll over and toss the pillow from under my legs.

If that doesn't work, I take benedryl.

Its obviously caused by the blood of your Transylvanian ancestors Greg !
I'm afraid I cant suggest a palliative as I'm gone as soon as I hit the pillow.

I've heard good reports about melatonin (should be available at any vitamin store).

If I remember right, you're a beer drinker. In case you haven't tried it, drink a case of beer. That ought to do it! :D

Ed

Greg, I feel for you. Sure hope you don't loose any sleep over it. :D
Hey, bad jokes like that should put you to sleep. :D
DJ

wow...everyone is in a goofy mood today! :D

gland - I used to be like that....

chiquitita, Mike, Doug, sjm - thanks for the advice...I'll probably avoid any type of medicine or vitamin since this has only being going on for about a week. I did manage to get a about 3 hours of sleep last night...more of a nap than anything.

Chris - No Transylvanians in the family tree...as far as I know! My wife on the other hand comes from an old German family, the Rabensteins, and I do believe one of the distant ancestors was forcibly removed from his castle by the local peasants...some business about extreme cruelty and depravity.

Ed - At my size (5'7")...If I drank a case of beer I would be beyond sleep...more like in an alcohol induced coma!

DJ - Thanks for the laugh...everyone needs a few bad jokes during the day! :D

Greg:

That is fairly common with me - as many can tell that see the times of my posts here and elsewhere.

It does me no good whatsover to try to fall asleep. What sometimes works for me is to "trick" my body into falling asleep.

When I can't sleep, I lie down on the sofa, and watch TV. That usually will put me away in less than half an hour. Another thing I do is read a book. By not trying to sleep, I forget about what is going through my brain, and pass out quickly.

An antihistamene, asprin, or other "harmless" sleep inducing drugs also works a little.

Toad

Ah the Von Rabensteins I remember them well..........

Greg: Reading usually does it for me but it must be a technical book. Any of the Photoshop books will do. Dont try this with an interesting novel though. I was reading the Red Dragon last thursday and found it was 3:00 am when I finished.

Greg,
I have a sure fire way to fall asleep.
1. lay on the couch
2 turn tv on
3 wiat for that once only show you really want to see.

I always fall asleep before it starts and wake up for the credits. Never fails. :tired:

Well its 0830 here (GMT: 0630) and no Greg, so he must finally have dropped off :D

spoke too soon! :D I am like an ever present spirit....

oh dear me :(

I'm one that believes in Ed's remedy :ditsy:

Wine would work better with me...(or a good strong margarita!)
2 glasses and I'm out...that bottle of Petite Sirah is starting to look tempting!;)

Wine would work better with me...
ah yes I remember (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2315).

A nice vegetable curry (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2556) (no meat - bad for insomnia) with a decent wine sounds like the way to go :knockedou

forgot about the wine thread...It seems I am still drinking the same stuff. Might be time to try something new!

The veg. curry does sound good...and I have all the ingredients except the jam and chutney.

Greg,

I'm typing this at 1:15 am... so I'm not sure you're going to take my advise seriously!

First... what's happened is, you've conditioned your body. You've thrown your bodies internal time clock off. Much like people who travel and are jet lagged. Melatonin is not such a bad idea for starters.

Taking a nap is probably the worst thing you could do. Fight the temptation to do so, or you're going to throw your cycle off even further.

It's a good idea to avoid any caffeine late in the day.

It's important that you try to go to sleep at relatively the same time every night. Helps to develop a good pattern.

Try to exercise throughout the day.

Try reading a book... as long as it's not overly stimulating.

Are you under any stress? That may play a bigger role in your sleep pattern then you think.

Finally - don't listen to people who give you advise after 1:00 am.... they're closest insomniacs!

Lisa
:D

Originally posted by G. Couch
At my size (5'7")...If I drank a case of beer I would be beyond sleep...more like in an alcohol induced coma!
:D glad to hear I'm not the only short one here (I'm also 5'7")

- David :)

Originally posted by OhThatGirl2001
Finally - don't listen to people who give you advise after 1:00 am.... they're closest insomniacs!





:D hehehe...well I am not doing so good by your advice...had coffee tonight, took a nap this afternoon and am rather stressed of late! oh well...I am getting lots of work done! :D

Oooo... David you're up at this hour? Hey, I'm 5.7 too.

Lisa

David - ...getting picked on at an early age for being a scrawny kid built character in me...plus I had a big brother to protect me! :) Actually I grew up playing basketball with much, much taller people and learned to adapt pretty well. Nothing is really a handicap if you learn to use it too your advantage...if you are small, they never see you coming! Later in life I used to play pick up basketball in college every day and was always one of the first picked because I had learned how to pass the ball better than anyone else...so all the big tall guys knew they would get easy shots if I was on the team! :D

Originally posted by OhThatGirl2001
Oooo... David you're up at this hour? Hey, I'm 5.7 too.

Lisa

oops, just looked at the time - it's 3:09am :D

Originally posted by Greg Couch
getting picked on at an early age for being a scrawny kid built character in me heheh.. sounds just like my situation


- David

Don't worry David...you sound like an exceptionally intelligent person and in the long run that's worth more than anything!

I've just gotten back from a meeting, and find you guys are still here. Amazing ... :dizzy:

Al- I'm actually working...typing an artist's statement (blah...), scanning slides, etc... I think i have 15 windows open! Might as well get some use out of this insomnia! ;)

He's not trying hard enough!

It's only 3:30am...

Originally posted by G. Couch
Don't worry David...you sound like an exceptionally intelligent person and in the long run that's worth more than anything!
thanks greg! anyway.. I really should make myself go to sleep now:tired:

- David :)

I am truly amazed. It must now be close to 0400 your time now, and you're both still here (Lisa seems to have nodded off :D).

Don't you have to work later today David? (Greg's doing his work now :vampire: )

(I've always wanted to use that smiley :lmao: )

I am also a night owl and have the added pressure of a partner who does out of hours shift work - so depending on there shift pattern for the week its either up at 7 - 8 - 11am and with the evening shifts not getting home till 12pm/am I never know where I am with sleep or eating.

I have heard that Turkey is a good meat to eat if you want to turn your brain off! It contains some kind of chemical that is not present in other meats and I've read you shouldn't eat it before studing. But I think 4 am is a little bit late for a snack!

Hope you are able to sleep soon
Clare

Originally posted by BigAl
Don't you have to work later today David?
Thankfully, I'm not scheduled to work today :)

- David

Chase the Turkey for 3 miles and you collapse in a coma!

clare - i have heard the turkey theory as well...might have to go get a turkey sandwich tonight! :)

chris - No turkeys to chase around here...a few coyotes maybe! :D ...ever chased Haggis? :tongue:

hey Greg,

I noticed you're on at a fairly late hour once again so I'm assuming you haven't had any luck solving your insomnia problem? (did you try the turkey sandwich method yet :D ) one suggestion - there's various homeopathic insomnia remedies out there which you could try. my parents are really into homeopathics and I've had succes with lots of the kinds of them I've tried - echinacea, stuff for hay fever etc. the nice thing about them is that its natural stuff so you don't get side effects like you get from a lot of prescription drugs.

- David :)

hey David! I tried a couple of herbal teas a while back...did not do much good. I stopped worrying about it after last night...I saw how much work I got done! I slept about 4 hours from 4 am to 8. Then a nap later in the afternoon. I think Thomas Edison worked on that schedule...so if it worked for him why should I fight it? :D

:sad: I wish i could work on that schedule too (I usually work best at night anyway) but unfortunately I'm always so crazily busy that I never have time to take a nap break in the afternoon. I guess I'm just gonna have to stop being a night owl and go to sleep earlier.

- David :)

It's funny how creative some people are at night compared to day...must be that vampire blood after all! :D

:D hmm.. I'm not sure if any of my relatives were transylvanian, they were mostly germans as far as I know anyway

- David :)

German's can be vampires...see earlier post about my wife's ancestors! :D ...It's not just beer some Bavarian's enjoy drinking! :tongue:

Greg, See any Hammer production of Dracula to get tips on vampire sleeping arrangements. Just make sure Van Helsing doesn't call during the day!

I joined the ranks this morning, only being able to drop off at 0500. I'm rather tired now :tired:

I saw Chris H floating around at 0230 as well. Dunno what the state of UK time saving is at the mo.

Al- I stayed up the whole night...skipped any coffee today and never took a nap..I am about to crash! BUT...I'll be back on a normal schedule! Off to bed I go...hope no one else catches the insomnia bug...:depressed

Sleep well Greg. :)
DJ

I've had a lot of nights like that Greg. Not fun! It's been 9 hours since you went to bed. Hopefully, you'll be waking up before the end of today. :)

Ed

I am awake...alive (and working..blah!) I seem to be back on a normal schedule...but with a splitting headache! ...must have been the skipping of coffee. :D

I am a suffer of migrane headaches and some wise person told me a few years ago that I should give up coffee.... Worst two weeks of my life. I am now back on the coffee and although still get about 5 migrane's a month I could not live without the evil bean.

Drinking coffee is good- but not after about 3pm expecially if you have insomnia!

Greg, glad to hear your awake, did you sleep well, I notice that you were not here first thing this morning. I hope the headache fades soon

Clare

Clare - Sorry about the migranes...I know how nasty that can be. My headache is fading...the coffee is helping! :D Nothing wrong with the "evil bean"....as long as it's drunk in moderation. Actually, that little dose of caffeine is probably good for you. My grandparents are still going strong in their mid 80's and they drink coffee...and a little whiskey every night as well! You need these things to keep the motor running! :)

Greg, hopefully, getting back on your normal schedule will keep the insomnia away. The headache could be from sleep deprivation and/or lack of caffeine. I'm a caffeine addict -- coca-cola, not coffee -- and I get a headache if I don't drink it (a RARE day) ;). Caffeine has NO affect on my sleeping, however, as I can go to sleep right after finishing a large Coke.

Hope you feel "bright and bushy-tailed" today (wonder where THAT phrase got it's meaning?), and get a good night's sleep tonight, AND get a lot of beautiful artwork done!
:)

Originally posted by CJ Swartz
Caffeine has NO affect on my sleeping, however, as I can go to sleep right after finishing a large Coke.
I'm lucky, I have the same thing, I can drink things with caffeine not long before i go to bed and it doesn't keep me awake.

- David :)