First off if you are young and you have trouble sleeping and nothing is physically wrong with you, no sleep apnea and no other problems get off your ass exercise, come home have sex with whomever you are having sex with, go to a dark (completely dark room) and you should be able to sleep.
If you are not so young and are having sleep problems with no real known physical ailments I might have some good news. I have had problems sleeping for a long time. But, never when I was young. But, I do everything wrong when it comes to sleep. I usually watch TV in the bedroom, mess around on a laptop, read and do everything you should not do before sleep. Because of this I have used every trick in the book in an effort to sleep well including pharmaceuticals and over the counter crap. All of those products are problematic, every single one of them. Yes, many work especially Ambien but that one can present huge problems. I don't want to get into detail about those problems but do some research and you will discover them. I sometimes, actually often depended on over the counter Diphenhydramine an antihistamine that is dirt cheap when bought stand alone. It is often the active ingredient in many over the counter sleep preparations that cost 5 or 6 times as much. It works. But it has its own set of problems especially if you are a male of a certain age. It has a tendency to make benign prostate much more severe the next day, and it has a drying effect on mucous membranes which can be annoying.
Science, (I know that is a dirty word for some of you) so if you are one you can stop reading now. Science has gotten into the sleep game and not just recently. Light entering through your eyes is of vital importance in sleep, wakefulness and overall well being. Sleep is so very important that many scientists are claiming that great sleep and the correct amount could actually clear your brain of material they call plaque thus giving you a better chance of not someday fighting Alzheimer's.
I don't want to get off into unrelated topics so let me get back to my maybe good news. Back in the 80's or 90's infomercials came around calling some new type of glasses blue blockers. You remember that, well basically these same glasses are now being used in sleep studies with some very real success. The theory is that blue light which is prevalent in tv watching, computer games and surfing, most normal lights used for reading,has a tendency to discourage the build up of melatonin a substance necessary for good sleep. (BTW, I also tried melatonin for sleep with some success but that is a hormone and not sure you should screw with hormones).
So these blue blocker glasses are on the market again and they are relatively cheap. A decent pair can be had at Amazon for less than $20. So naturally I tried them. Instructions are to wear them for at least 1.5 hours before bed. To make my experiment as unbiased as possible I did not change any of my sleeping habits except for wearing these glasses for up to two hours. I watched TV, surfed and read while in bed with lights on and wearing these glasses. Guess what, after about an hour I started to get sleepy. This is highly unusual as I usually need to toss and turn for hours before sleep especially if I didn't use one of my helpers So I slept that night, slept decently and thought maybe a coincidence. But, I knew it was not.
I did the same procedure again for the next four or five days, same results. I slept well without any help. But now I sleep in a completely dark room but still watch TV, read and surf. I get sleepy turn off everything and fall asleep. These glasses may help you, they didn't so far help my brother but he suffers from sleep apnea which may be the reason. You might want to give them a try. Just a suggestion.
Oh one caveat, although I did sleep well I noticed the next day that I felt a little hung over, just a tad bit tired and thought I might be getting a cold. Not until the third or fourth day did I realize that since I usually don't go outside right after breakfast I probably need full spectrum light to balance out. Now I need the blue light? So I ventured outside for 20 minutes and immediately felt well again. If you are working and must leave the house this will not be a problem, thought I should mention it if you are retired and find it happening to you.
Maybe you might want to give it a try. Blue blocker glasses. If you are like me you might want to research first which is always a good idea.
If you are not so young and are having sleep problems with no real known physical ailments I might have some good news. I have had problems sleeping for a long time. But, never when I was young. But, I do everything wrong when it comes to sleep. I usually watch TV in the bedroom, mess around on a laptop, read and do everything you should not do before sleep. Because of this I have used every trick in the book in an effort to sleep well including pharmaceuticals and over the counter crap. All of those products are problematic, every single one of them. Yes, many work especially Ambien but that one can present huge problems. I don't want to get into detail about those problems but do some research and you will discover them. I sometimes, actually often depended on over the counter Diphenhydramine an antihistamine that is dirt cheap when bought stand alone. It is often the active ingredient in many over the counter sleep preparations that cost 5 or 6 times as much. It works. But it has its own set of problems especially if you are a male of a certain age. It has a tendency to make benign prostate much more severe the next day, and it has a drying effect on mucous membranes which can be annoying.
Science, (I know that is a dirty word for some of you) so if you are one you can stop reading now. Science has gotten into the sleep game and not just recently. Light entering through your eyes is of vital importance in sleep, wakefulness and overall well being. Sleep is so very important that many scientists are claiming that great sleep and the correct amount could actually clear your brain of material they call plaque thus giving you a better chance of not someday fighting Alzheimer's.
I don't want to get off into unrelated topics so let me get back to my maybe good news. Back in the 80's or 90's infomercials came around calling some new type of glasses blue blockers. You remember that, well basically these same glasses are now being used in sleep studies with some very real success. The theory is that blue light which is prevalent in tv watching, computer games and surfing, most normal lights used for reading,has a tendency to discourage the build up of melatonin a substance necessary for good sleep. (BTW, I also tried melatonin for sleep with some success but that is a hormone and not sure you should screw with hormones).
So these blue blocker glasses are on the market again and they are relatively cheap. A decent pair can be had at Amazon for less than $20. So naturally I tried them. Instructions are to wear them for at least 1.5 hours before bed. To make my experiment as unbiased as possible I did not change any of my sleeping habits except for wearing these glasses for up to two hours. I watched TV, surfed and read while in bed with lights on and wearing these glasses. Guess what, after about an hour I started to get sleepy. This is highly unusual as I usually need to toss and turn for hours before sleep especially if I didn't use one of my helpers So I slept that night, slept decently and thought maybe a coincidence. But, I knew it was not.
I did the same procedure again for the next four or five days, same results. I slept well without any help. But now I sleep in a completely dark room but still watch TV, read and surf. I get sleepy turn off everything and fall asleep. These glasses may help you, they didn't so far help my brother but he suffers from sleep apnea which may be the reason. You might want to give them a try. Just a suggestion.
Oh one caveat, although I did sleep well I noticed the next day that I felt a little hung over, just a tad bit tired and thought I might be getting a cold. Not until the third or fourth day did I realize that since I usually don't go outside right after breakfast I probably need full spectrum light to balance out. Now I need the blue light? So I ventured outside for 20 minutes and immediately felt well again. If you are working and must leave the house this will not be a problem, thought I should mention it if you are retired and find it happening to you.
Maybe you might want to give it a try. Blue blocker glasses. If you are like me you might want to research first which is always a good idea.
