Cannot sleep. Cannot fucking sleep.

Ironically, if i sit down in my recliner and start to read, in the middle of the afternoon,I nod off after a couple of pages and sleep for a half hour or so. Yet lying in bed, in the dark, I'm wide awake. I'd sit up and start reading if I was alone, but the wife wouldn't appreciate it.

I've come to learn to be able to work without sleeping.

Problem solved!

that's how I am with late night TV viewing! It's frustrating that's for sure. I fall asleep easier with background noise and lights on. In the army I could fall asleep at the M-16 range waiting for my turn to shoot. But for some reason people unconscious on the grass where bullets are flying concerns people, so it's best to find an ammo trailer or vehicle out of eyesight to catch a quick nap.

Perfect example this weekend - sat down with a magazine around 3 in the afternoon Sunday, and woke up after 4. But last night? Woke up at 3:30 to pee, and never got back to sleep. Mainly because the next morning was the first day back to work after a week off and I had to get up at 6. Last week when I was home? Slept fine (with pee breaks during the night), until 8AM.

It sounds like you have a stressful job with long hours (and I'm guessing it's mostly sitting in an office?). Your sleep deficit is going to make things worse, even if you're able to manage it now (mood swings, reduced cognition, etc.).

This might be difficult to do, but try to incorporate walks into your work day (even for 5-10 minutes at a time). I had a similarly stressful job several years ago with lots of overtime, and incorporating walks into my routine helped. Any movement will help you later in the evening with being able to relax. And try going for a long walk or going to the gym once you're done with work for the day. More exercise leads to the brain releasing endorphins to help cope with stress. It also helps you practice mindfulness (e.g. focusing on your body's movements in the present, rather than worrying about the tasks you have ahead of you the following day).

Tons overdue, but no, I'm an industrial worker and technician. I walk all the time. I often lift eight to ten metric tons of steel a day.

I'm convinced that's a 'gettin' old' thing. I've noticed the past couple years that if I get by just fine on less sleep than I used to- usually 6-7 hours versus 8-9, and if something wakes me up between about 0130-0430, I'm pretty much not getting back to sleep for a few hours, if at all. I'm finding it harder to get to sleep, and harder to stay asleep at night. I also get dopey in the afternoon if I'm sitting and reading- I call it the "I need my old guy nap" syndrome. Fortunately, I'm not yet at a place where my prostrate/bladder is calling me to the can every few hours at night, or I'd be a flat insomniac.

Welp, never mind then!

Maybe try the opposite: meditation or something where you concentrate on staying still for extended periods of time.

I have trouble sleeping, the only thing that seems to help is taking melatonin. I’m afraid to try actual sleeping pills because I’m afraid I’ll grow dependent on them and need more until it becomes a problem.

"where you concentrate on staying still for extended periods of time" - I already have that covered....it's called a job!
Seriously bizarroent is smart to stay away from sleeping pills! Melatonin though is a harmless natural hormone - my very sensitive to drugs/medications wife takes it with no problems, and it works for her.
As for me it doesn't work, and anything with doxylamine succinate doesn't work very well. Diphenhydramine hydrochloride works very fast for me, and I take it nightly. But yes it is addicting to the point of without it I will wake up several times throughout the night, or even wake up hours before my alarm clock warning and thus I will crash mentally around 2:00 PM.
But I have to function at work & in traffic so needing to take sleeping pills is the lesser of two evils.

Have concerta, wild turkey, cigar and red bull.

maybe as an appetizer ya lightweight!

I just drank some wine, that helps. But I can’t do that every single night or I become an alcoholic.

Well, that ship already sailed for me.

Still doesn't help tho. Had 2 hours sleep last night, 3 hours the night before, and 10 hour workday.

3:23 AM

Medical panic
Save my soul

Very . very bad now

110% attack

Desperately nauseated

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY W VENGEANCE

MIND MELTING

GETTING TOO GOOD. FEARFUL OF SUCCESS

NO OFFSWITCH ON BRAIN

AT ROADS END. ROHYPNOL + TEMESTA.

NO OFFSWITCH ON BRAIN

NO SICK DAYS FOR A YEAR. SYNDROME IS BACK. TO STAY PROBABLY NOT

COMPANY DEPENDS ON ME. SOLIDARITY,

OUTPUT 9PM - 1AM AFTER WORK 5AM-1700PM

MACRO TEST PLATFORM HALF COMPATIBLE

Code:

:O010
T10M6S1000M3
G90G0X0Y0Z0G43H10
F200
G65 P11 X40 Y10 D20 Q5
G90 G0 Z50
M30
O011
#24=80
#25=0
#17=10 (ADVANCE)
#7=10
(CALCULATE DISTANCE: SQ [X2+Y2] )
#150=[SQRT[[#24*#24]+[#25*#25]]] (SQ 100^2 + -20^2 = SQ 10400 = 101.980)
(PART X=#124=X/DISTANCE)
(PART Y=#125=X/DISTANCE)
#124=[[#24/#150]*#17] (100/101.980*1=0.980)
#125=[[#25/#150]*#17] (-20/101.980*1=0.196)
(COMMENT: CODE "ADVANCE" FROM CURRENT POINT IN G91)
(IOW CURRENT POINT TREATED AS ORIGO)
(IOW EACH LOOP: G1 X0.980 Y-0.196)
T10M6S1000M3
G90G0X-20Y0Z0G43H10
F200
#126=-[[#125*#7]/2]  (EXIT POINT X1, R. CIRCLE CENTER)
#127=[[#124*#7]/2]  (EXIT POINT Y1, R. CIRCLE CENTER)
#128=-#126          (ENTRY POINT X2)
#129=-#127          (ENTRY POINT Y2)
(OPERATION 1: ENTRY VECTOR)
G91 G3 X#128 Y#129 I-[#128/2] J-[#129/2]
G3 I#126 J#127
(OPERATION 2: SINGLE LOOP)
#130=0 (CURRENT DISTANCE)
WHILE[#130LT#150]DO1
G1 X#124 Y#125
G3 I#126 J#127
#130=[#130+#17]
END1
(EXIT POINT)
G3 X#126 Y#127 I[#126/2] J[#127/2]
M99
DEBUG TO DO. RADIUS+>=RADIUS->-. DETECT LOGIC BOMB AND FREEZE.  

MAKING DEEP NOISE. MAYBE SLEEPING DRUGS WEAR OFF.

BRAIN NUMBER CRUNCHER + CREATIVE SOLVER ON CONSTANT 80%+ PERCENT. -50% SLEEP ALL WORKDaYS 60 DAYS. UNSUSTAINABLE.
IT'S BACK. I FEAR FOR MY LIFE AS A PRODUCTIVE FORCE.

well according to my expert analysis of post #46 you seem to have a good grip on solving your problem!
(CALCULATE DISTANCE: SQ [X2+Y2] ) #150=[SQRT[[#24*#24]+[#25*#25]]] (SQ 100^2 + -20^2 = SQ 10400 = 101.980) (PART X=#124=X/DISTANCE) (PART Y=#125=X/DISTANCE) #124=[[#24/#150]*#17] (100/101.980*1=0.980) #125=[[#25/#150]*#17] (-20/101.980*1=0.196)
is taking the words right out of my mouth!

Either that or you are living an episode of The Outer Limits that us mere mortal humans can only dream of!

That was my first full blown panic attack in over a year. Sorry for the rambling.

Edited the post above to correct wrong words, don't believe in redacting.

I'll ask the obvious that I would ask... tried weed?
Seriously... I'm looking at the list of narcotics the rest of this thread takes and thinking "what a bunch of junkies they'd be if not for having a note".
I've found over the last 30some years that it not only helps me relax but also to maintain focus. There's also a lot less risk of losing a sense of responsibility from double checking my work for errors to realizing when driving is no longer appropriate for a few more hours...

Yes, it landed me in psychiatric ICU.

Not too good a match for my brain.

Damn... that sucks
But I really wanna meet your local weed guy

​

Interesting. I know people who react much differently to weed than others do. It is a body chemistry thing.

So you are normally pretty mentally active so to speak. How is your thyroid? Are you seeing a doctor in regards to this? I am also wondering if you have seen a psychologist about this? It sounds like you have a true neurochemical imbalance.

do you get warping or segmenting of time where you feel like you have spent years in a song? Do you feel like you can see some things as big and small at the same time, or have a perception like that? or do you get things more like seeing sounds or hearing smells?

Feel free to ignore these questions if they make you uncomfortable.

@Tererun

According to what's referred to as a "major neuropsychiatric investigation" here in Sweden performed at a clinic, I'm diagnosed as high functioning autistic ADHD with a genius level IQ. Not sure how much I give for either of that, but yes, there seems to be some sort of neurochemical imbalance. My first diagnosis was "pseudo-neurotic schizophrenia", I'll leave that to others to interpret... (No, I know what it "means", I just found the term pretty funny.) My EEG when last tested was "slightly abnormal but nothing to worry about." Heh.

I've had psychiatric contact for most of my life. Psychologists too.

"Time warp", so to speak, only really occurs within panic attacks, which have been historically so strong they manifest as what you'd call psychosis. In the past, they could fell me in a split second, from normal to just dropping to the floor shaking. An attack that lasts an hour can feel like a whole day. I tried to explain it when I was young as "being a train on a track, the track is reality, and you're just slightly off it and gnawing against it at the rails."

Another typical thing is drifting out of contact with the world for a few seconds, several times a day. (Actually strike that, several times an hour.) I've learned to mask it and interpolate what someone actually said if it happens in a conversation. My medication also helps in this regard, amphetamines.

All my blood work is good to excellent, I'm in remarkably good shape for my age and especially for my lifestyle.

Have whiffle bat filled with beach sand, will travel.

Mister Sandman, bring me a dream, make it the sweetest, that I've ever seen . . .

... and... 3:06AM, awake since 2AM.

Heh.

Try a low to no-THC strand with high CBD. Either that, or some powerful medicine prescribe by a doctor or psychiatrist, because there might be some chemical imbalances.

I've been prescribed virtually every form of sleeping pill known to man.

It's not the case that I can't find a drug that can knock me out, the problem is knocking myself out while not being zombiefied the morning after. It's also about getting good quality sleep.

is narcolepsy in your list?
a couple of friends have been getting prescribe Ghb to help with developing a regular sleep ratio.