What do you do when you can't sleep?

[red]

I count sheeps

[red]

Lots of crazy stuff i did when i cant sleep... but i found praying heartily asking God for good sleep always works. Good sleep is a gift from God and I believe that. Also i found this stresstab that helps me sleeps...amazing even on trips when i take it i can get good naps.

[Edwin]

Yes, I have heard about counting sheep. I have never tried it, but I will bet that it would work. When Carol can't sleep, and she has more trouble that way than I do, so gets up and eats a bowl of cereal. She was thinking that might affect her blood sugar, but the doctor told her if she needs to get up and eat cereal, do it. One of our daughters got her started taking tylanol pm, or something like that. I guess it is helping here. I don't have much trouble that way myself. If I am stressing and worrying about something it will rob me of my sleep, but usually about 5 minutes or less on the pillow, and I am off for the night. Sometimes I have wonderful dreams, sometimes I have weird dreams, but rarely do I have bad dreams.

[red]

I wish i get more sleep and nap during the day but that two monsters over there lol they wont let me nap rarely i get nap at home during daytime.

[Edwin]

Yes, Red, I remember those days. We didn't always get a lot of sleep also. Our identical twins did more crying than you can imagine. I don't know what the reason was, but they would sure howl sometimes, and we didn't even know the reason. Then yes they do keep you up, we had 2 at once to deal with. It is funny because they are grown, married, gone, and have their own families, and now of their kids there is only one 17 year old left at home out of their 5 kids; one twin had 2 and the other had 3 kids. In those days when the kids were little we would sleep whenever we could.

[Edwin]

It is a rare occasion when I can not sleep. I have always slept well, with few exceptions. I think everyone has times that they are worried about something that robs them of their sleep and that has happened to me, but normally it takes me just a few minutes to fall asleep, and I sleep all night except for a minute or 2 to wake up and use the bathroom momentarily, then I usually go back to sleep quickly. If I go to bed too early sometimes I will wake up during the middle of the night, and it will seem like I should be up for the day, but no the night is not gone yet. On the rare occasion that happens to me I just get up, get on the internet for a few minutes, and then I get sleepy, and back to bed I go. When I went to the Philippines for the first few days I would wake up at 1:30 a.m., and it seemed like it was time to start the day. All the time we were in the Philippines we got up at 3:30 a.m. and went to bed just after it got dark. Sometimes the brownout, or blackout with the electricity shut down would happen about the time we were going to bed which was fine. Then sometimes we would forget and leave the light switches turned on, and after we had been in bed for about an hour all the lights would come on. I had not trouble turning my hours around going to the Philippines, but I had trouble readusting to our time after returning home, falling asleep uncontrolably usually a few hours before bedtime. I actually went to sleep driving, ran off the road, the tall grasses swishing past the car windows woke me up, and I was lucky, no rocks, and level ground, so I just drove right back on the road, and we were on our way. Then the next day I was okay from that time on.

[crisipicada]

I pray when I cannot sleep. If i wake up at 2am or 3pm, I cannot sleep anymore. So i pray to the Lord. that He will give me sleep.

[Edwin]

Yes, Crisi, I have prayed at times also when I could not sleep. We had our granddaughter living with us last year, now this year we are having her mother, our daughter live with us. We love her, and are glad to help her anytime and in any way that we can. Before she came to live with us I could be on the piano or the internet, one or the other any time I wanted. She started a facebook account, so now she is on the computer part of the time, as well as Carol being on it part of the time. Now I have to be more selective when I play the piano, because if she is in the same room the piano music hurts her bones near hear ears because of the facial damage that she got, but I think that will heal and get better, so I try not to play the piano unless she is in another room, and then I play it as softly as possible. We had her birthday party this weekend, and we had her 2 kids here, cousins, aunts, an uncle, another friend, and Carol and I. They watched a steady string of movies; in fact too many movies to suit us, or their mother, but it was so good for all of us to be together, that it was okay that they were watching lots of movies. With that many around and watching movies I didn't get to play the piano much, but that is okay as I will make up for it later. The thought just occured to me, has anyone changed their hours around before going to the Philippines? It would be really easy for me to do that as I turn my hours around very easily, and I have to work not to turn my hours around; it just happens naturally with me.

I have heard that people figure the Lord woke them up in the middle of the night because He wanted them to pray. When you can't sleep praying is a great thing to do, whether you are praying for sleep, or praying for someone else. When Jesus took his disciples with him to pray with him, they slept instead of praying, so I guess praying put them to sleep. Jesus understood them, but He wanted them to pray with Him!

[jadegil6]

I pray when I cannot sleep. If i wake up at 2am or 3pm, I cannot sleep anymore. So i pray to the Lord. that He will give me sleep.

I saw the Dr. Oz show last week, and he said that taking a daily dose of 600 mg of calcium and 400 mg of magnesium will help to calm the body, and promotes sleep.

Melatonin also is a good supplement that will help to promote sleep.

Excercise helps, too....eases stress and tires you out.

Also drinking any tea that will ease stress will help. He mentioned valerian root tea. No caffinated drinks, like sodas or coffee or teas...only decaf drinks. Eating chocolate or drinking hot chocolate could keep you awake.

Also many people suffer from acid reflex, and that interferes with their sleep. So people can experiment by eating chewable antacids like Rolaids about 90 minutes before bedtime. Do it for a week, and see if that helps.

[Edwin]

Camimeal tea is supposed to be relaxing. We have so much of that plant growing here that we use it like many people use grass, that is until the ground dries until it doesn't grow any more. There are several herbal teas that help to relax a person. We joke at Thanksgiving and Christmas time about eating turkey. There is supposed to be something in the turkey that will put you to sleep, and that is why many times after a holiday dinner you see people sitting around sleeping.

Walking is good in many ways. I walk 6.5 miles with my doggies almost every day. Lately I have missed several because of cold temperatures and wind, but today was warm enough with no wind, so it was a very good walk, and I will sleep tonght. Carol's brother told her that walking is a lot better than taking pills! Well, sometimes you have to take pills, but walking is still good. It is good for your blood, bones, muscles, immune system, and other body parts. Walking has the effect of making you feel happy. Then while walking you will burn a few calories as well. The conditioning for your body that you get from walking is great whether that helps you to lose weight or not. I am not heavy enough to be concerned about my weight, but the walking helps tone my body muscles, so I am in great shape as a result of the walking. The doggies love to walk also.