Racing mind at night

[Emamino88]

Anyone have occasional restless nights when you're trying to fall asleep? What tips and tricks do you use to "clear" your mind??

[kaneohegirl]

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@Emamino88wrote:

Anyone have occasional restless nights when you're trying to fall asleep? What tips and tricks do you use to "clear" your mind??

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sadly this is something I battle all the time as it is anxiety related... it has started getting better as I have lost weight but there are times I cannot let it go then I have to take my scripts to relax and sleep meds to go to sleep.

there is a great song that my husband found called weightless that he looped and plays on his tablet in the bedroom that helps a lot... be aware DONT PLAY THIS IN YOUR CAR... it has been linked to ppl relaxing so much they have crashed listening to it
https://youtu.be/UfcAVejslrU

[Heather-S]

This happens to me on occasion and I don't really know how to fix it when it starts to happen.  I'll take last night as an example.

I mistakenly fell asleep in bed at 7pm watching TV.  Woke up somewhere around 7:45pm, I had to let my dogs out, get water for them and myself, lock all the doors, and then take out my contacts.  So I got back in bed around 8:15 or 8:30pm.  But now I'm not tired because my body thinks I had a 45 minute nap!  UGH.

I turn on the TV, hoping I can fall asleep to it again.  Doesn't work.  I finally turn off the TV and spend the whole night tossing and turning.  The dogs could tell I was uncomfortable too. They needed to go out, I was too hot and had to turn the A/C down a few degrees, go to the bathroom.  And then my mind was racing because I was stressed out that I wasn't getting enough sleep.

Then my alarm goes off at 4:15am for the gym and I know that I can't go because I didn't get enough sleep, so I set my alarm for 6:15am instead, hoping for another 2 hours of sleep.  Well, my dog wakes me up at 5:30am and I eventually succumb to being awake.  

After reading this thread, I'm wondering now if two things would've helped:

1) A walk around the block
2) A hot shower

Has anyone tried getting up and walking around for 10-15 minutes when they can't sleep?  I know that showers relax me.  I should've gotten up and done one of those things (or both), but I was so irritated I couldn't sleep, I just kept lying there hoping I'd eventually pass out.  

[bjstring]

Quite often I will fall asleep in my recliner while reading and when I wake
up a little while later and go to bed, I'm suddenly wide awake! I have
repeated the process sometimes 2 or 3 times. Also, a lot of times when I
fall asleep while watching tv, I find myself wide awake when I get up and
go to bed, especially if I do things like putting dishes in the dishwasher,
etc. on the way to bed.Then I go back to my recliner, kick back and read,
hoping to "get my sleepy on" again. So I try to get everything done before
I go to my chair. I also have a couple of documentaries that I have DVR-ed
and, while interesting enough, usually lull me to sleep due to the monotone
of the narrator. In any event, I usually sing in my head - hymns,
alphabetically - in order to get to sleep.,

[SunshineCeecee]

I’ve noticed the older i become the less sleep I’m getting. Tried relaxing music, even have a water fall fountain that’s extremely helpful. I close friend suggested meditation. Try to get the mind to focus & get control of your thoughts in a productive manner.

[blu-steel]

Make sure you workout as much as you can and also make sure you eat good and also eat before going to bed. Dont eat carbs just eat protein and fat before bed. Also take magnesium tabs. They help relax the nervous system and also help with cramps. 

[jerunamuck]

Interesting, I have a completely different perspective on meditation. For me it's training my mind to let go of distraction. Just because a thought flits through my mind does not mean I have to focus on it or let it affect my physiology. In meditation I practice letting go until it becomes automatic. I don't try to control my subconscious or the PTSD mayhem found there. I'm still aware of it but not controlled by it either cognitively or physiologically. That frees me to be in the moment cognitively, at peace, relaxed. 

It's like relaxing in a busy urban park. I'm aware of the mayhem of traffic and horns and people around me but I'm not paying any attention to them. In stead, I'm just sitting quietly enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. The more I train myself to just sit quietly and enjoy the warmth of the sun on my face the more automatic that behavior becomes and the less anxious I feel when I hear a siren or squealing tires on the streets around me.

[fitbabe777]

I've done a lot of research on sleep and have learned that the blue light emitted from TVs, phones, computers, etc. can disturb the production of melatonin which is a hormone we excrete at night before we sleep.  Consequently, I've trained myself to shut off the TV about an hour to an hour and a half before sleeping.  If I need to use/check my phone, I've installed a blue light dimmer app so that it does not emit the blue light.  I also bought a "somni-light" on Amazon which I use to just read quietly for a bit before going to sleep.  Hot showers/baths help because, while the heat relaxes our muscles, when you get out your body temperature drops and this, too, helps the body prepare for sleep.  My sleep is not yet where it should be but has been a lot better since I started paying attention to my "sleep hygiene".  My husband has become a convert as well!

[Nancy81]

I use and app called "Calm".  You can try it for free for a little while.  The voice leads the listener through progressive relaxation.  It has really helped me.   There are other meditations for many other reasons and I sometimes use them also, but the sleep ones are valuable. 

[Cerizas]

Oddly, I've found that doing math problems in my head helps. Nothing too complicated, usually Ill just pick a number with 4 or 5 digits  and identify all the divisors. 

[kmendoza]

I have awful GAD, so I take medication for it. So far so good, calms me down enough, sometimes too much to the point where I would take 2-3 hour naps, and have early mornings.