Trouble Sleeping – Join the Club! But there are Solutions!

We all suffer at times with restlessness, irritability, and discontentment! Those who have problems sleeping at night tend to get more of their fair share of the above though. So debilitating can lack of sleep be that it affects how we operate as human beings. Friends, family members, and work colleagues are often only trying to help with their suggestions, but unless they have experience of problematic sleeping, they don’t really understand. Not all doctors can help outside of conventional medicine either, as they pass on the same old advice as other well meaning folks.

The causes for sleeplessness are not always cut and dry. It can hit anyone at any time and the reasons are not always obvious. Many a time people say “I never had trouble sleeping at night until now!”, and even if they eat well, get plenty of regular exercise, and are not prone to stress or anxiety, does not mean they are immune from sleep problems. If the reasons for insomnia, wakefulness, restlessness, call it what you will, can vary greatly and affect all of us, what are the solutions?

Identifying a problem specifically is the best foundation for finding a solution quickly. It’s ok to read books and articles on how to sleep well, but if you can put your finger on the reason or reasons why you can’t sleep, then you’re already onto a short cut when it comes to finding a resolve. I eventually found my own solutions which are remarkably simple.

IT ALL BEGAN WITH THE BEDROOM.

I'm somewhat ashamed to say that in the past, my bedroom was always a bit of a dumping ground. You know the kind of thing, piles of laundry waiting for the iron, the ironing board up in the corner waiting for the laundry, a scattering of books and magazines strewn around, and often used as a temporary cloakroom. In other words, the bedroom was a bit busy compared to other rooms in the house.

I set to work one day to give my bedroom a minimalistic feel to it. When I’d finished, it was completely clutter free, closet doors were shut and so were drawers. Carpets were clean, and all those fluffy bed toys, and bedroom trinkets that my wife loves to collect were packed out of site.

The second major change (and perhaps the most beneficial) was to invest in some decent bedding items. No more cheap sheets, synthetic comforters or pillows anymore. After all, sleep deprivation is a huge problem, and as far as I was concerned it had gone on long enough for me to not care about the expense of quality bedding. After all, we’re talking about taking care of ones personal wellbeing here.

I got a feather mattress to lie on, and a quality down comforter to cover with. My head now rests on feather pillows too. The bedroom is always aired well, and there is a constant sweet fragrance in the air. Now although Id created a simple, orderly room with quality bedding items, I still needed to form a regular sleep pattern and this bit was tough. Keep reading...

It's a strange fact that some people have problems getting off at night despite being dog tired. Feeling sleepy does not mean the problem sleeper will nod off. Many can and do lay awake for hours and hours before eventually drifting off. Those of us that experience sleeplessness on a regular basis know only too well how frustrating this can be and how irritable it can make us during the daytime hours.

Then there are those of us who have no problems nodding off at night, but we wake up a few hours before we’ve had sufficient sleep and are unable to get back into a state of slumber again, so the result is the same in that we’re often walking around the following day like the living dead and can only operate at half steam as a consequence.



HERE’S WHAT I DID

I am aware that a regular sleeping pattern is more important to those of us who have sleep problems. Some folks can have a full 8 hours sleep, go back to bed on a Sunday afternoon for well earned nap, get up some 2 or 3 hours later, enjoy their evening, and still get off without any difficulty when it’s time for bed. Not so with many of us with insomnia. We have to form a regular bedtime schedule and stick with it.

So, now I had the perfect bedroom. It was simple, clean, uncluttered, had a pleasant aroma, and some real quality bedding. Now I had to create a pattern, but I couldn’t do this by just being tired, I had to force myself, or deprive myself, for almost 24 hours. Sure, I catnapped a couple of times trying, but for the best part, I got very little sleep for a full 24 hour cycle.

When the time came for bed (I chose 11:30 PM), I was fit to drop. I had a shower then tucked myself into bed with lights out by my designated time. Honestly folks, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. For the first time in a very long time, I slept through the night and woke up feeling indescribably wonderful. Fresh, alert, revitalised, and oh so happy to be awake.

IT TAKES DISCIPLINE

Like most things that require effort to change, to form new habits, it’s all too easy to break back into the old routines which became so familiar with us over the months or years. Once a new healthier sleeping habit has been formed, it takes discipline to enforce it and stay with it. Distractions are tempting such as late TV shows, parties or other late night rendezvous, but if you are serious about getting quality sleep back into your life, then you will need to stick with your chosen routines until such times as they become new habits.

SUMMARY

For me, it wasn’t a question of where I slept, but how that sleeping space was organised. Being a snug as a bug in a rug could only come about by using the best in bed linens, comforters, and pillows. And kick starting a healthy sleep pattern could not be achieved by just being tired, but had to be induced by forced sleep depravation. And in order to maintain this newly acquired healthy sleep routine, I had to set a time for bed each night and stick with it regardless, even at weekends.

I never thought I’d be able to enjoy a decent night’s sleep ever again, and what I’ve written here for this site might not be the answer for everyone. What I can say is that after years of fatigue brought about by lack of sleep, I am now one happy camper at the time of writing, and it’s been like this for 5 consecutive months now. Good luck and I hope there is something in this piece which may help you too.