BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb How Many Hours of Sleep

Vance - lots of people have trouble sleeping during the day - the sunlight actually goes in through your eyelids and triggers you to wake up.

Have you tried super thick shades or double shades? They do *wonders* for me

Maybe a sleep mask could help to filter out sun light, or any other kind of light

Right I would go with a sleep mask second, after you try to do the "room darkening" technique. A lot of people have trouble sleeping with something actually on their face If you get thick shades and thick curtains you can get a room REALLY dark even during the day.

I prefer getting up on my own vs. having an alarm clock wake me. Unfortunately, at this stage in my life, it is no longer possible. I'll just have to sneak sleep in wherever I can!

Alice - I'm testing out a sunrise clock right now, it's a clock with a lamp and music in it that start out very soft and quiet and slowly over time they brighten and the music gets more loud. So it wakes you very gradually which is healthy for you. Maybe you should look into one of those? Usually the light wakes you up and the music helps too. That way you're not jarred awake.

Piggybacking onto Lisa's response, when you don't get enough sleep at night, your cortisol hormone levels elevate. When those elevate your body gets stressed. When your body is stressed it hangs onto the weight. So, it's important to relax so the cortisol stays at normal levels. Cortisol is one of those hormones that kicks in during "fight or flight" situations and is a healthy response that way. But, it backfires when you go night after night without sleep and thus you can end up with the weight gain. This is also true if you have trouble destressing in other areas of your life - cortisol goes up and stays up.

Donna

My whole family is a nest of night owls. lol But I also have trouble sleeping and don't get enough. I use a sound machine that helps a lot. I also have read that the darker your room the better - even small things like the light coming from your digital clock can stimulate the brain to stay awake, so I try to place something in front of those to keep the room darker.

Other things I've tried to help sleep is taking a powder magnesium bec it relaxes muscles & it gets into the bloodstream faster than a pill; 20 min hot bath about 2 hours before bed - this also can relax the muscles; not eating in the evenings (digestion can interfere with sleep); back rubs; reading something that is not overly stimulating, avoiding caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime, etc.

If I'm really desperate I will try taking melatonin or benadryl.

I've read that if you really can't sleep at all, sometimes it's better just to get up and do something else for a while rather than trying to force yourself to sleep. I do that, too, and it does work for me sometimes.

I also try to always get up at the same time every day, even if I didn't get enough sleep, just to try and keep my body clock on an even keel as much as possible.

Donna

Yes I have had to turn the clock some nights so that the room is pitch black, it really does help me sleep.

Funny - I have an air filter that runs which I really like as a noise machine, but my boyfriend turns it off because the noise bothers him. So we all have different thresholds.

Yes a hot bath or shower is great for me to get me relaxed

yes, we cover the alarm clock each night with a hand towel - that light is really annoying. We also run a fan for noise masking.

I always just get out of bed if I cannot sleep and find something to do. I also keep many books in my room and will start reading, that helps me to become sleepy. A cup of herbal tea with cammomile, sweetened with a little honey almost always works for me.