Last night I read in bed way too long and shut off the book at 2:30am. Then it took me another hour to get to sleep.

I woke up at 7am and then did some more reading for an hour, then went back to sleep until 2pm.

Not the best way to sleep, since I lose a lot of daylight with a routine like this. I need to work on getting to sleep earlier so i can wake up earlier.

How did you sleep?

Terribly. I went to bed around midnight - stayed up watching the Patriots game. When I went to bed I couldn't seem to warm up at all. My feet were cold - even with fuzzy socks on.

I think I slept about three hours last night. I did manage to grab a two hour nap today so I'm not a complete blithering idiot :-)

Jeanne, sorry to hear about your poor sleep.

I slept well again, if overlong. I don't remember what time i went to bed but i woke up after 1pm.

I have a lot of little lights in here from electronics. I need to figure out how to cover these up. The light from dan's alarm clock really bugs - it's big and glows green - but i can't do anything about that. there are lights in here from:

alarm clock
fan
heater
microwave
dan's toothbrush charger
power strip the fridge plugs into
powerstrip the tv plugs into
dan's various computer things

Peacefully, like always.
Jilly, I love it that you can sleep till late afternoon. I wish even I could.. :-( I usually sleep around till 10am or 11am on weekends and even that is not regular. Sometimes have to get up early at 8am or 9am.

Jodi, just stay up reading til 3am...you'll sleep all day long!

And i actually did stay up that late last night, but managed to get out of bed around 10:30 for once. Yay. Tomorrow I need to bring one of the cats somewhere in the morning - we will see if i can manage this. I will set an alarm in any case.

Oh yes, I'm sure about that if I sleep at 3am. Lol.

But I meant that I work and stuff, so have to get up early. If it was in my hands I would sleep at 12 midnight and yet get up at 12 or 1pm..!

Lol, Jodi.

I turned off the lights at 1am and hoped to get up earlier. I as not able to get to sleep until 2;30 i think...and then woke up a 1pm and had to rush to class.

At least I am trying. A 1am bedtime for me is pretty good.

Was ruminating til 4am. Took an ativan and am ambien. Have not ruminated in awhile, so it felt like a few steps back.

I slept pretty cr@ppy. I could not fall asleep, and then after I finally did go off I kept waking up. I felt so unrested today that I had to take a nap early this evening.

I have a hard time falling asleep and when I finally do I'm an extremely light sleeper. I've basically been this way since I was a teen. Last night was no different. I was up until 4, then woke up at 7. I decided to read a book since my kids weren't up and amazingly drifted back to sleep for 2 more hours, something I never do. I felt guilty because by then all my kids were up without me. They said they didn't wake me because they knew I never sleep. Little sweeties. One thing I've noticed the past few years is my feet go from hot to freezing cold all night long. I wear socks to help with the cold sensations but then within a short time they are too warm. So I kinda have this ongoing tug-of-war with my socks all night long. :P

Excellent!

I slept soundly last night but I often have restless nights when I have things on my mind or if I wake up and think of something that I need to do first thing in the morning. I will write myself a note on the pad by the bed so that I don't have to remember that something all night but sometimes it takes awhile to go back to sleep.

I am like you, Donna. A light sleeper. I hear every little thing going on, unfortunately. Having a fan on for some numbing noise does help a little bit. I can't sleep if it is too quiet.

I do sleep with a fan on (good) and kittens on my feet (sometimes good). For the really bad nights i do use ambien. or sometimes i just sigh and read on my laptop until dawn.

I usually take 2 benadryl to help me sleep and I use earplugs and a sound machine for white noise, but I still wake frequently. I read somewhere a study that was done about the color of light and its affect on sleep and they found that red lights don't interfere with sleep but others - white, yellow, blue and green lights do. We switched our alarm clocks to red lights - maybe that might help a little for you, Jilly. We have other lights that we just cover with something before we go to bed at night. Sometimes the moon shines through a really high window in our bedroom and that can keep me awake. I don't mind at times, because it's actually relaxing to look at through the tree branches. I used to use an eye mask, but it wasn't comfortable. Instead I keep a small handtowel towel bunched by my face to block out additional light. Whatever works, right?

Yup sound machines are great helps. I have an air filter that runs so it's dual purpose - it makes sound and it cleans allergens out of the air. I definitely cover all glowing lights in the room with socks or other items. I aim for pitch black. I have double shades plus heavy curtains on all our windows.

Donna - is there no way to get a curtain up there, on rails?

last night I counted and there are 14 tiny colored light sources in here. Most of the lights are green and blue. Two of them are red.

The alarm clock is one of those huge sized digital readouts in green.

When Dan leaves, many of these light sources will go with him, but not all. The clock, though, is his. I won't miss that one.

I took an ambien to get to sleep, since I was a little worked up emotionally. I was buzzing like a bee. But the ambien worked nicely.

I got to bed way too late. I have too much on my mind lately. Then I overslept "big time" this morning. I have not slept until after 11am in a very long time. I am just tired and worn out.

OK i need to have a night where i don't take ambien to get to sleep. my head has been racing too much and now it's too many days in a row i;ve had to use the meds.

I did not sleep well at all and my stomach was very upset. I had a situation on my mind, a betrayal from a loved one, and it kept me up almost all night. I only got an hour of sleep and I had to go back to bed late morning for a few more hours. I was not right all day. The betrayal is a situation I can do nothing about, so I have to work on accepting it. Feeling peaceful before bed is key to a good nights sleep.

Sorry to hear your woes, Cassie. I hope you feel better today.

Slept horribly last night! I kept waking up. Finally took some meds at 7am and and slept in til 3pm.

Thanks, Jilly. I do feel better today. I slept better last night too. I worked on forgiveness today and that has brought me peace. I should sleep well tonight.

You have so much going on right now, cassie. It sounds like forgiveness is the best way to bring you peace, so that's a smart choice. Bitterness will only hurt you in the long run.

hmm, not good once more. I keep having to take an ambien. I am going to try to get to bed by midnite and see if i can manage to sleep through the night this time.

Once again i took an ambien to sleep, plus two ativans to calm down enough to let the ativan work. I went to bed at 1pm and woke up at noon-thirty.

Had interesting dreams. Will try to get to bed earlier tonite. Will probably need to use meds. I really would like to be out of bed at 10am.

I slept decently last night.

My problem generally right now is just getting myself all wound down for the night. It seems I am keyed up later at night than I want to be, and then I can't relax for sleep. Once I am asleep I am usually ok unless I am under a lot of stress.

I went to bed a little later than I wanted to but I did not sleep too badly. I feel rested enough.

I am sleeping better this week than last week. I think it's because I made some important decisions. Uncertainty makes me ruminate at night.

Great news, Jilly

Thanks, Cassie.

Sleeping better these days and not needing to take the ambien much. If I can keep it down to taking once or twice a week i am happy with that.

I am not sleeping well these days because my husband is out of city and i am extreamly missing him. any idea how to overcome this situation?

last night i was jumpy and could NOT relax. I had to take an ambien to settle down physically and it took about an hour for it to finally kick in.

I think i should not have eaten dinner so late last night.

AnnaPeter, I would try sleeping with lots of pillows pressed against your body. It's soothing and gives the sense someone is there. It's helped me. Also, the pressing weight of heavy blankets helps.

I used to have trouble sleeping sometimes even with the totally dark room and noise machine. However for the past few weeks I have been dancing daily with my wii and really pushing myself in it. I have been sleeping like a log. I highly recommend hard physical exercise as an easy antidote to sleep issues.

Lisa

I decided to watch my 2 week old grandson so my daughter could get some much needed rest. What a flashback! But I did enjoy it, bonding with my grandson!!!

I didn't even really notice the missing hour!

Tonight...sleep..

Dianne -

That is lovely, that you helped out! That really is why it takes a village to raise a child

Hopefully you're sleeping well now!

I definitely am finding a strong link between exercise and good sleep.

Thanks, Lisa!

How late do you exercise in the evening? I need to get back up off the couch.

Not sleeping the greatest the last few nights. Time changes always mess me up for about 2 weeks. I am all out of whack and really tired!

Been at a vegas thing with family and dropping into bed exhausted each night. No trouble sleeping!

Jilly,

Vegas?! WOW! Enjoy it, you deserve it! Have fun!

Dianne -

I've been waking up full of energy, and wanting to dance. So usually I have my morning shake and then an hour or two later I go dance for an hour or so. It's nice to have the whole day full of energy - and not to waste any time when I lay down.

Jilly -

That is awesome that you're having fun in Vegas and sleeping well too!

Lisa,

It's so hard for me to wake up early to do ANYTHING during the winter...LOL... but once spring hits - I jump out of bed early every day. I need to add some productivity to my morning, exercise would be a great thing to add - and if it helps me sleep, great deal!!!

I did not sleep well last night. After only 4 1/2 hours of sleep I was awake and tossing and turning. Not sure why that happened but today I am not feeling rested.

Thanks Jilly i try this and really its very effective, i am happy that now i am sleeping well. Thanks again [quote=Jilly]AnnaPeter, I would try sleeping with lots of pillows pressed against your body. It's soothing and gives the sense someone is there. It's helped me. Also, the pressing weight of heavy blankets helps. [/quote]

Finally home after vegas time with family and camping time in the desert alone. Slept great in both places, for different reasons, exhaustion for the former and serenity for the latter.

Now back home and we will see how that goes.

thanks for the nice comments, diane and lisa!

AnnaPeter, I am so happy to hear that has helped you! Good luck to you.

I love this thread

I finished reading the last hunger games book last night at midnite and then took an ambien to help me sleep. I was a little wound up. Usually fiction makes me sleepy, but this really did have a bleak ending.

I slept great last night. But after the night before I was really tired. In fact I slept a little later than I normally do.

Every since I started practicing tai chi and yoga regularly, I never seem to have trouble sleeping.

I slept well last night.

last night i had to take an ambien to get my mind to calm down.

Last night it took me an hour after the lights went out to get to sleep. I was having an emotional time because nights are tough for me since my boyfriend died. It is hard to stop crying sometimes. When I finally got to sleep I did sleep enough, but I still have circles under my eyes today.

Cassie, my heart goes out to you for your terrible loss.

I was emotional this evening and took an ativan for anxiety, but i think and hope i will be tired enough to sleep well.

Thanks, Jilly. I appreciate your kindness. I hope with time this all gets easier and less intense, but for now his passing is sometimes surreal to me. I miss him so much.

I slept very poorly last night and was awake and looking at the clock at almost every hour.

Another situation cropped up earlier in the evening yesterday that has me very stressed out, and it kept me up almost all night with an upset stomach, which I still have. It has to do with my horses and of course me not working but looking for a job. I hope I don't lose them both. I am trying to sell the younger one with a very heavy heart, but with this economy I have had no luck finding her a new home.

The losses for me keep coming, but of course I have to try to stay strong and keep moving. After a while I just get tired of trying to act the way I'm "supposed to" in order to survive life. I am totally burned out and I can't take much more.

I slept well last night and did not need any meds. I did have bad dreams, but i don't remember them.

Cassie, I hope you can work out a decent situation with your horses. It seems like bad stuff keeps coming at you.

I don't try to act the way i am supposed to most of the time. I think it's overrated. How do you feel like you are supposed to act?

Jilly.....mentally and emotionally I am burned out. I don't have the energy to get things done, look for jobs, or even think straight to figure out solutions to my problems. With the situation with my horses becoming dire in the past few days, I am on overload now and my mind is heavy and numb.

I know that others around me think I need to be more proactive, but I can't manage a lot right now. I am almost paralyzed by my stress and emotional strain, and I can't find the inner strength to aggressively seek out employment. I am too exhausted to even think about working. I think I am depressed again, and I just had it kicked last December.

I have often been told what a strong person I am, but the last few years with all that has happened has worn me down to where I just don't know how to feel strong anymore. Every time I try to give myself a break to get back on my feet, something else comes along to kick me back down. I am not crying "victim", but a little more time between blows would help me to be able to weather the storms better.

I had a hard time going to sleep last night..

I slept better last night.

My horse situation has settled down for the time being and I can relax, but I need to find a long term solution for their care. At least for now they are safe and well cared for. I have bought myself more time.....literally.

Money makes the world go round, and yet it is the root of all evil.....

Definitely I can't read tense stories or watch tense movies before I sleep They wind me up. Sometimes it's hard to know what a book or movie will be like, though!

This dancing is helping me sleep quite a lot. I highly recommend exercise as a way to get a body ready to sleep! I slept well last night.

I woke up early this morning and I could not sleep for a while. It seems to happen every few days. It does not matter what time I go to bed, even if it is late. I wake up between 4:30am and 5am and I can't sleep. It messes me all up.

I've been sleeping pretty well, and having surprisingly non-sad dreams. I was having terrible dreams for the last few months leading to dan's departure and am now having cool dreams. WTF?

To all,

I have been having terror nitemares,yes terror nightmares every nite for the last 10 years,side effect of beta blockers for the heart.Some are very heavy.But hey if it were not for the beta blockers,I would have died 16 years ago, small price to pay,
for still being alive.

Sweet dreams to all.

loong

Loong, that is kind of fascinating about the beta blockers. That is rather a difficult side effect, since dreams seem like reality when you have them. And every night? I hope you can use some lucid dreaming practices to make them easier on your mind.

Medications can have all sorts of side effects, and different effects for different people. As much as medications can help keep us alive, there is almost always a negative aspect too, hopefully one that we can live with.

I wish you sweet dreams, Loong.

Jilly.....a lot of things may not make sense for a while, even your dreams. You are going through a life changing event and you have a lot on your mind. At least the dreams are not bad ones.

I am not sleeping well at all. I can't find a decent pillow.

I slept a little better than I have been lately.

Jim, it is tough to find the right pillow. Sometimes I want a firmer one and sometimes I want a soft, squishy one. I keep both on the bed and that way I am covered.

I am sleeping better lately. It took me a while to get my sleep cycle back on track. I started going up to bed earlier, and even if I watched tv for an hour or so afterwards it was easier to wind down earlier than if I had stayed in the livingroom on the sofa.

Not good. I needed an ambien to slow down the brainz. Been staying up til dawn lately reading and then sleeping til 1.

Not well! I kept tossing and turning...so much so that I managed to accidentally turn on my touch-sensitive lamp which stands next to our bed. I must have stretched my hand while turning.

Lol, Encore! Move that lamp away!

I've been sleeping very nicely this week.

I love my alarm clock, I can dim the display so I don't know what time it is if I wake up. All my brain knows is that I don't have to get up until I hear it.

I've been tired lately so not sure if it is the summer air, close to summer activities with school ending last week or what. I just want to sleep at night.

When I use the white noise machine, it helps. I've been dreaming about next school year, and I think it's making me tired already!

Not well. I absolutely can NOT sleep in the heat!

Dianne, are you finding ways to keep cool at night?

My doctor just prescribed Trazodone as a sleep aide; I'd mentioned that I had trouble staying asleep. (No problem getting to sleep--I'm out the second my head hits the pillow--but I wake up around 2 a.m. stressing about everything!) I'm worried about trying something, though, since I hardly ever take anything at all. Has anyone tried this or other sleeping pills and had success without dependence? Jilly, she also (alternatively) gave me a prescription for Ambien, but I'm worried that I'd have some odd reaction that I've read about, such as eating everything in the fridge and having no recollection of it!

Jilly,
Not really. It's funny when I was in Atlanta earlier this week, my hotel room was freezing cold, but when I turned the air off the room became quite muggy - yuck...

I forgot about the trick of placing a wet face cloth on my forehead or around my neck at night. That used to do the trick. I need to try it again.

I used to sleep early in the nights, but my sleep quality is really bad, so I have to sleep more than other so that I can keep myself in good spirit.

SWK, I love my ambien and never do anything odd when i take it. I just sleep quickly and well. I do make sure to only take it when i really need it. If i take it too many times in a row it stops working.

I guess i react to it quite well. So see how your body handles it. I want to marry my ambien.

My dose is 10 mg.

Diane, is the wet cloth helping?

Ambien messed up my boyfriend pretty badly when he was in the hospital a year and a half ago. He was having trouble sleeping and I think they gave him 15mg. I was spending the night with him in his room and he hallucinated like you would not believe. He was seeing things, hearing things, tried climbing out of bed, tried ripping his wires off, and tried ripping the bandage off of his incision from his open heart surgery. He had no idea what he was doing and remembered none of it when the ambien wore off. It was a horrible night for me, trying like heck with the nurse to keep him safe.

I guess people have different reactions with it.

I slept decently enough last night. I was pretty tired. It was nice not to have to get up early for work today. ....

Slept very nicely last night! I am having interesting dreams.

i slept well. Body physical exercise may helps for a quality sleep. It helps me.

how many hours sleep for a night is a quality sleep for you? For me it's 10 hours at night and 1 hour non sleep.

I need 8-9 hours of good sleep. Anything less and I feel it all day.

last night i slept earlier because in the morning i have to go for shopping ..

I slept well. I really do have my sleeping area optimized for comfortable rest: dark, quiet with white noise, smooth cotton sheets, water by the bed, lavender linen spray, a cool temperature. I also make sure to not read anything too engaging before trying to sleep, as i will stay awake thinking too long.

Oh, and i sleep with cats on my feet. That helps.

Jilly, that sounds exactly perfect!

I actually slept well last night too compared to the night before. Yesterday I held my first strategic planning meeting as president of DCSHRM. I was up from nerves the night before, but it was a great meeting so I slept like a baby last night.

Sweet!!!

Congratulations, Dianne! It sounds like it went well?

Slept poorly....a lot of stress and things on my mind. I hope tonight is better. I have some issues resolved and I am exhausted from an emotional day.

Jilly - it went fantastic! Thank you!

Debbie, how did you do last night?

I did a little better, but I woke up very early with a migraine and I had to get up to take something for it. I thought I could sleep a few more hours after that like I had intended, but I just couldn't sleep any more. My headache is better now, but I am very tired with a busy work day ahead. I just have to grin and bear it....

Thanks for asking.

Oh, I had a bad sleep last night,and I feel ache in my head.

Ice land - I hope you feel better!

Debbie, Migraines are really hard, I like your positve attitude about it, sometimes that helps with the battle. Feel better soon!

debbie, i am so glad you found a solution to house your horses. it hurts to not be able to care for your pets. It must be a huge relief to have that off your shoulders. That should help you sleep.

debbie, i am so glad you found a solution to house your horses. it hurts to not be able to care for your pets. It must be a huge relief to have that off your shoulders. That should help you sleep.

The horse situation is up in the air right now, Jilly. The farm owner is holding my horses hostage at the moment. Long story, and by Friday there had better be resolution or I will have to get the authorities involved.

I did not sleep well a few nights ago. I woke up at 2:30am and I was awake for two hours because my brain would not shut off. I was so tired yesterday because of it.

I slept better last night, but I never feel truly rested anymore even when I sleep enough. I just have a lot going on.

I was unable to sleep at all last night. I feel as though it has a direct relation to allowing my meditation practice to become irregular and infrequent over the past two weeks. I'm also in the first trimester of a pregnancy, and experiencing all of the aches that come through growing pains. It seems likely that decreased relaxation and increased stress play chaotic circles with each other creating a web with the propensity to delay or eradicate sleep.

Tonight I plan on meditating, taking a hot bath, and putting on some lavender oil to help relax me and bring sweet dreams.

i always sleep well when I take an ambien, so i don't know if that counts as 'sleeping well'. Does it?

I Always Have time to sleep as Very Punctual . Last night I go to bed at 11 pm and have good Sleep .

Jilly, if it's getting you the rest you need...just be careful - we love you!

For me, the last 2 nights I have totally passed out around 10:30 which is unusual for me. Not only that, I slept straight through until I woke up at 6:15. The first night, I still had the television remote in my hand when I woke up. I was in the exact same position as to when I went to sleep which was unusual, usually I'm at the total opposite side of the bed.

Hello, i am glad to talk with you here, it's so bad that i can't sleep well at night , because the big pressure,and i must get up early in the morning , to go to work. So recently , i felt so tired...wuwu....

Definitely I find if I exercise during the day, wind down with a hot bath and soothing aromas, and then journal away any looping thoughts, that I sleep more easily. So for me a routine does help.