Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
On a regular week, I get about 21 hours of sleep total. I've tried just closing my eyes (suggested by my mom every day), I've tried raw honey, I've tried forcing myself into a sugar crash. No matter what, I can't get sleep. My mom thinks that sending me to bed earlier will help, but she just doesn't seem to understand. No matter how early she sends me to bed, I still sleep 3 hours a day unless I've been crying.
Most insomniacs underestimate how much sleep they get by an hour or more (emphasis on more) each night. This is known as sleep state misperception and it is very common. That suggests you probably are getting more -- a lot more -- sleep than you think you are.
Also wanted to comment on 'forcing a sugar crash'. I know what you mean but that's probably not a good idea, ever. For more reasons than just your sleep.
Then there's the mistaken idea that you 'can't get sleep'. Of course you can. Maybe you really mean you don't sleep as well as you'd like, and if so, then welcome to the club. But beware that feeding the negativity is like pouring gas on a fire for bad sleep.
There's a number of things you can do to help yourself. Key is a consistent sleep-wake schedule, especially a wake time. Do not allow yourself to sleep in and avoid napping. That ensures the next night will be better.
Be sure to get some good exercise most every day.
And if this continues, then talk to your Mom about seeing a doctor.
I’m so sorry to hear about your insomnia. I had the same thing as you for years but have recently discovered sage pills which seem to have completely cured me! Forgive me for posting a copied and pasted blurb below - it’s literally changed my life so much I’m just posting about it everywhere because I know how destructive lack of sleep is. If the sage doesn’t work, I’d also recommend checking your vitamin d and calcium levels - lack of sleep is often related to a deficiency in these, but definitely try the sage first! Pasting all I have below:
I’ve had terrible trouble sleeping for 15 years (average 4-6 hrs broken sleep a night, at one point it was 2 hrs... horrific) but recently seemed to have been cured using sage tablets! For the last 5 weeks I’ve now had 8-12 (yes TWELVE!!) hours sleep.
What I did: the tablets I bought were SAGE LEAF by a company called SOUL NUTRIENTS on amazon uk. I don’t know if you can get them internationally, I’m sure any sage leaf will work, but try and get the Soul Nutrients ones if you can as (a) I know they work and (b) I’ve since contacted the seller who is lovely and explained they’re a small batch company that make sure everything they produce is very pure and potent. The tablets come in 500mg dosage. I took 2 tabs (1g) before switching the light out and I was out in about 5-10 mins. I woke to go to the loo twice but went straight back to sleep. Woke the next morning having slept 8 hrs, deep, healthy natural sleep. No hangover the next morning, a slight sleepiness but nothing more.
I repeated this every night for 14 nights until I noticed I started to feel a bit dizzy, so I stopped, but to my amazement I’ve continued sleeping perfectly, 7-10 hours a night and last night I had my first 12 hour sleep in.. probably my life! It’s been 3 weeks now since I took a sage pill and I haven’t needed it at all.
I’ve tried everything else before this, from valerian, to dopamine to melatonin, but have found that they’re all unreliable (ie you’re never guaranteed a good sleep) and I wake feeling like I’ve been hit with a sledge hammer. Really can’t recommend the sage leaf pills more - they’ve changed my life! I’ve since given them to family members and friends (one who has night terrors and usually only gets 3 hours if that) and they’ve all reported the same results!
Only precaution is not to take while breastfeeding as sage dries up milk, conceiving/pregnant as there are links with miscarriage, and also to be careful if you’re epileptic as there is a link with causing spasms, or diabetic as it lowers blood sugar (though this is a good thing, so just make sure you’re ready for it!).
Good luck and please do try this - like I said it’s genuinely changed my life!! Xx
P.S. the pills are listed as helping reduce symptoms of menopause but don’t let that put you off - I’m 30 so nowhere near menopause (hopefully), I just saw them and had an overwhelming craving for sage, so bought them, and now I sleep! Literal magic. I hope they work for you too.