Sleeping.

[0iD]

3 or 4 shots of absinthe & a copy of the Tory/Labour party manifesto is all I need some nights to have me in a stupour.

[format]

It's an evolutionary throw back to when we used to sleep in trees, to prevent falling out.

That's the current scientific thinking. It's only a theory though.

Interesting. Someone told me something it being your consciousness drifitng out of your body - not literally obviously... your theory makes a bit more sense.

[Salazaar]

I gave up drinking coffee a while back, not completely of course but I cut it down from many cups per day to one cup every once in a while. It was a wrench but it did have a noticible affect on my sleeping patterns.

3 or 4 shots of absinthe & a copy of the Tory/Labour party manifesto is all I need some nights to have me in a stupour.

There's a french drink which is basically absinthe watered down with brandy, guaranteed to send you straight to sleep!

[Tzarbo]

I was going to start a thread about tea, but as it would be another chance for people to say 'Do you drink tea watching Everton! LOL!' I'll put it in this one instead. Save the forums from the sheer comedic rush of it all.

My cup of tea is - no sugar, semi skimmed milk, tea bag.

Now, say I drink... 10 of these a day, is this, long term, good for me (plenty of water, no sugar, bit of milk, antioxidants) bad (caffeine, fat in milk) or no real effect?

I'm thinking as the combined milk total is only about a cup and it's semi-skimmed, there's no sugar in it, and the rest is just water infused with healthy tea, it's probably quite good overall.

Never been sure though.

What do we think?

[matty-hodgson]

a quick run and a solid wall could do the trick

[pollaxe]

I think the findings have been that your body wants water and doesn't really care in what form it comes in (coffee, tea) so longterm I don't think that's going to hurt but 10 cups of tea would seem to be a lot of caffeine to me (strictly layman opinion there though!) I remember being advised in the past that tea and coffee would dehydrate you but I think that's largely been proven to be cobblers in more recent times.

I like my tea and coffee to be black and strong. I don't like milk in either and when I have tea - including the decaff tea - then I tend to have one sugar which probably affects the flavour somewhat. I've a sneaking suspicion you'd probably notice the taste difference between regular and decaff tea but it's maybe worth a go, just on the offchance.

Light plays havoc with me, I need real darkness to sleep - I've got one of those 'do not disturb' eyemasks you get on flights which helps. In the winter I tend to wear a woolly hat and pull it down over my eyes. However, I also find if the room's too dark in the morning then it's a lot harder to wake up. Whatever I wear over my eyes tends to be off by morning so it's a bit of a trade-off on that one.

On that 10 things program they found dopamine levels dropped more rapidly when you sat in front of a sunlight-simulating lamp* for about 30 mins which let you feel more awake quickly.

*the kind you get for S.A.D.

[Tzarbo]

I think the findings have been that your body wants water and doesn't really care in what form it comes in (coffee, tea) so longterm I don't think that's going to hurt but 10 cups of tea would seem to be a lot of caffeine to me (strictly layman opinion there though!) I remember being advised in the past that tea and coffee would dehydrate you but I think that's largely been proven to be cobblers in more recent times.

I seen on QI that the idea that tea or coffee gives you a loss of fluids is wrong and you gain far more from the water. So yeah I think that's wrong.

I like my tea and coffee to be black and strong. I don't like milk in either and when I have tea - including the decaff tea - then I tend to have one sugar which probably affects the flavour somewhat. I've a sneaking suspicion you'd probably notice the taste difference between regular and decaff tea but it's maybe worth a go, just on the offchance.

Tea with no milk... it's a crime mate, a crime against humanity.

Light plays havoc with me, I need real darkness to sleep - I've got one of those 'do not disturb' eyemasks you get on flights which helps. In the winter I tend to wear a woolly hat and pull it down over my eyes. However, I also find if the room's too dark in the morning then it's a lot harder to wake up. Whatever I wear over my eyes tends to be off by morning so it's a bit of a trade-off on that one.

I find it gets darker if I close my eyes. I've seen those masks... thought you only wore them on a plane though, or in a film from 1938.

Sleeping in a woolly hat and drinking black tea... I'm being given sleeping advice from a loon! Stay away from my cats.

[format]

The Science of Sleep is good film for this kind of stuff... plus it's got Penelope Cruz in it

[pollaxe]

Well, I wasn't able to stop having milk in drinks for years, or sugar. Then I went to college; no fridges, no milk so every tea/coffee was black from that time on. I used to run out of sugar too so eventually I got used to black tea and coffee and now if I have milk in either it tastes way too greasy!

The only coffee I can stand with milk and sugar is a Cappucino.

As for the mask/hat combo, well what can I say? Some would call it style?

I've suffered from sleep problems for years so actually getting a good night's kip is something of a revelation for me. My room gets a fair bit of sunlight and I find if the light levels wake me up then that's me for the day, I can't get back to sleep which is severely dischuffing around 5:30 a.m. I also find a full moon will keep me awake.. (that's light levels too, not waking up naked with chunks of flesh in my teeth and no memory of the previous evening, btw.)

mmm Penelope Cruz. That would keep me awake though (in a good way!)

[sammyc]

Sometimes when you are just drifting off, does you ever get a sort of body shock? Your whole body just sort of jumps a wee bit, except sometimes you don't even notice it? Sometimes I don't notice I've done it, someone else has to point it out to me, then I'm aware of it... it's pretty weird.

Hypnic jerk (no offence )

[Vetro]

Sometimes reading before you sleep helps, something about calming the mind down. Its especially effective if you've been watching too much TV or playing games before hand.

[burrellhead]

just go to sleep when your tired

[Will404]

My cup of tea is - no sugar, semi skimmed milk, tea bag.

no water..?, and whats wrong with normal blue milk

With sleep I find that even the smallest bit of light stops me from sleeping, even have to unplug computer so that the led inside goes off, and I sleep with my head under the pillow so that no light gets through.
This makes me think that the LED in computer thing may be mental, because of the pillow stopping all the light, but I cant sleep knowing that it is alight.

Also if you have anything on your mind I find that you cant sleep, need to clear it - reading helps.

[samcross]

I find whenever I have trouble finding sleep it's best to keep of the PC/Games consoles for a good couple of hours before going to bed, and replace them with a good book and maybe some music.

And as Jonnster mentioned, it's probably a good idea to get back into a sleeping pattern, but obviously you don't want to try and force sleep too much, or you'll just make it harder for yourself.

You should also think about if there are any other factors that may be affecting your sleep. For example if you're under a lot of stress from work (or football ) it might be subconsiously (or conciously) distracting your mind, making drifting off harder.

Anyway, time for sleep

Edit: 1,500th post!

[Jiff Lemon]

Another insomniac reporting in. One tip I've not seen mentioned:

If you can't get to sleep, get out of your bed and go someplace else. Sit downstairs, read a book, do the washing up, do in fact, anything except TRY to get to sleep. Otherwise, you'll start associating your bed with the place you can't actually get to sleep.

[Brucelles]

All good advice. I can only add that you might consider using a light sleeping medication to help you get back into your routine. I use something I can't remember the name of that I bought in Tanzania when I can't sleep. I usually suffer for one night and take a pill the next night, or I wake up knackered if I take a pill at 3:00am.

With me the sleeplessness is erratic because of my travel-a-lot life, but I still think a light sleep aid is a good place to start, even if you have a normal life.

I don't know if it would help you but I also swear by earplugs. I travel a lot and sleep on trains, planes and in taxis, but only if I have my earplugs in. They are magic.

They also help when I leave the window open. It's easier to sleep if your room is a little chilly, but if there's traffic you need ear plugs.

Also, if you are worried about something, try to resolve that. Maybe format is winding you up, or you have a real worry, but stress is a major cause of sleeplessness.

Anyway it's 12:15 here, so I should leave Hexus and get some kip, insha'allah. I have already taken one of my Tanzanian pills and I have my earplugs ready, and the window open so shouldn't take long.