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Beating Insomnia
Having pretty much beaten the insomnia now, I'll list things that helped in order to help others.
I won't put everything in one post, as I don't think that's helpful. (We can only absorb a few pieces of data at once).
Firstly, find out the causes. (Stress is an obvious one and was a big factor for me, but a lot of the tips I'll go through will help even in this case.)
I had two causes, possibly three.
The first was salmeterol. It's a medication I take for asthma. It helps me breathe at night, so I can't do without it totally. However, I decided that I needed to reduce the dose. The only way to reduce your dosage of asthma medication is to improve your lung function, so I doubled the number of visits that I made to the gym. Sure enough, within three weeks my peak flow had improved by 50 points and I was able to halve my dosage.
Conveniently, that leads us onto the fact that exercise (preferably in the morning or afternoon and not last thing at night) is also helpful in reducing insomnia.
Even better, exercise also reduces stress levels, which will also help that part of the insomnia that is due to stress.
My third likely cause (after salmeterol and stress) was that I was staying up late working on the computer. Post-Odyssey, I no longer need to do that amount of computer work, so I'm turning off the computer one or two hours before I want to go to bed. This is effective on two scores. Firstly, it means I do something else that is more relaxing and conducive to sleep. Secondly, I am removed from the temptation to just answer one more email/check LJ just once more/just complete this last task.
So, to summarise:
The first three steps to dealing with insomnia are:
1. Check to see if the insomnia could be a side-effect of any medication that you take. Look for alternatives or ways in which you can reduce the dose.
2. Exercise, every day if possible, helps you sleep better.
3. Turn off the computer at least an hour, preferably two, before you want to go to bed. (and do NOT have a TV set in your bedroom).
More tomorrow, because I am now going to follow my own advice and turn the computer off.
I won't put everything in one post, as I don't think that's helpful. (We can only absorb a few pieces of data at once).
Firstly, find out the causes. (Stress is an obvious one and was a big factor for me, but a lot of the tips I'll go through will help even in this case.)
I had two causes, possibly three.
The first was salmeterol. It's a medication I take for asthma. It helps me breathe at night, so I can't do without it totally. However, I decided that I needed to reduce the dose. The only way to reduce your dosage of asthma medication is to improve your lung function, so I doubled the number of visits that I made to the gym. Sure enough, within three weeks my peak flow had improved by 50 points and I was able to halve my dosage.
Conveniently, that leads us onto the fact that exercise (preferably in the morning or afternoon and not last thing at night) is also helpful in reducing insomnia.
Even better, exercise also reduces stress levels, which will also help that part of the insomnia that is due to stress.
My third likely cause (after salmeterol and stress) was that I was staying up late working on the computer. Post-Odyssey, I no longer need to do that amount of computer work, so I'm turning off the computer one or two hours before I want to go to bed. This is effective on two scores. Firstly, it means I do something else that is more relaxing and conducive to sleep. Secondly, I am removed from the temptation to just answer one more email/check LJ just once more/just complete this last task.
So, to summarise:
The first three steps to dealing with insomnia are:
1. Check to see if the insomnia could be a side-effect of any medication that you take. Look for alternatives or ways in which you can reduce the dose.
2. Exercise, every day if possible, helps you sleep better.
3. Turn off the computer at least an hour, preferably two, before you want to go to bed. (and do NOT have a TV set in your bedroom).
More tomorrow, because I am now going to follow my own advice and turn the computer off.
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I sometimes try yoga-style exercises too which I find relaxing.
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Drugs
I had a lousy night's sleep before the marathon, presumably worrying about getting there (and making the distance). Then a worse one after! Went to bed too early, full of food, not enough wine, ok, so my legs were hurting constantly but that's no excuse. Actually my head was really stinging from the sunburn too
I have (or had) a chronic fear of insomnia, rather than the insomnia itself, for many years, thanks to late nights and self-medication. It's only when I go to bed early for a special occasion and lay off the wine that I still have serious problems. But a long stint in bed can be as good as a shorter sleep, so long as one is sufficiently relaxed about the experience.
Losing sleep, getting stressed about not sleeping, it's a tedious nightly vicious cycle.
Re: Drugs
the best tip for worrying about insomnia is one I'll cover tomorrow. I got this tip off a website and was amazed how much difference it made.
Don't have a visible clock in the bedroom. Once I couldn't see it was 4am, I stopped worrying about being briefly awake at 4am, and as far as I can tell, I've stopped waking at 4am.