this works!! (i think)

hello everyone. i'm new here.

when people ask, "why can't you sleep?" - there's no short answer, at least not for me. but one large factor for me, at this point in time, is that i've quit all drugs for the first time in seven years. it's been about a month. I've not always been a daily user, but needless to say I no longer have the stress-reliever I've relied on for so many years, and my brain and body feel like.. well i am reconfiguring from scratch.

my insomnia is at the worst it's been, and given my history with addiction i refuse to take any sleep medication with psychoactive properties. currently taking benadryl/mirtazapine, but they are hardly helping, if at all. so it's time to look at insomnia from the inside out.

here are two things i've started doing the past few days that seem to be helping. the first is fairly obvious - exercise. i've now committed to riding my bike at least 5K every other day. and this time i'm sticking with it; it's important to remember the benefits of exercise on sleep are not a quick fix and can take several weeks to fully sink in.

the other secret i've discovered, by reading the book *mod edit*, is cutting down time spent in bed. it sounds counterintuitive, and i know all too well how when you are so broken down from insomnia you want nothing more than to pass out as soon as you get home. but spending more time in bed than your body needs can really reduce the quality of your sleep. it's like taking a wad of butter (sleep) and spreading it very thinly over a huge piece of bread.

you have to only stay in bed for as long as you are sleeping. once you start tossing and turning, get up. if it's only four hours of decent sleep, then get up after four hours. last night i tried to sleep at 12:30am, and after an hour of sleep i was wide awake and miserable. stayed up till 6am and slept till about 11:30, but that was the first time i've slept half-decently in a while. when your sleep quality increases, you can gradually start to increase the time spent in bed, but make sure not to stay in bed longer than how long you slept before you had insomnia. for most people, i'd say that's around eight hours, give or take. and.. be patient with yourself.

hope that was helpful. good luck to everyone, including me.

custard9 wrote:here are two things i've started doing the past few days that seem to be helping. the first is fairly obvious - exercise

Sure, that should help.