I need to fix my sleep rhythm

in #blog7 years ago

Lately I've been having a lot of problems with my sleep, there's been many different things affecting it.

Today I woke up at 11 pm and started with my usual routine of what I do on Steem, but every day I've started feeling more and more tired and I'm pretty sure its due to my ever changing sleep rhythm.

I've had some weird sleeping patterns for a long time now, I remember back in highschool already I would sleep for a couple hours when I got home which lead me to not be able to fall asleep before 2-3 am at night and have to wake up in the morning again to go to school. At this point in time I also started experimenting a lot with lucid dreaming. The biggest reason to it was cause during the day time sleep it was the easiest for me to enter the lucid dream state. While practicing it for many months I started feeling as if I was able to do so much more during the 24 hours, even though I didn't remember much from the dreams it felt like I wasn't wasting as much time just "sleeping". Lucid dreaming doesn't really affect your REM sleep from what I've researched, but sleeping twice a day in shorter periods sure did.

Looking at this chart from the source here I knew that during my day time sleep I probably only got to the first REM cycle before I woke up, and the second time I slept during the night it probably only allowed me to get 2 of them before I had to wake up. Waking up wasn't so easy either, I had to make sure the alarm on my phone was turned on as loud as possible + it had to be further away from reach so I had to get up to shut it off, if it was too close I would just snooze or shut it off in my sleep and not wake up.

Getting into the military after highschool felt like a blessing for me, the physical strain during the day helped me fall asleep easy and sleep throughout the whole night. Only when I started studying again is when I started drifting back into my irregular sleep cycle. This went on for a couple more years and only got worse really when I was introduced to blockchain and trading.

Finally being done with school I spent so much time researching it and daytrading that it affected my sleep even more. I had to change my whole rhythm so that I was in tune with U.S timezones even though I was living in Europe, this alone had its own implications on the day to day life but it didn't feel of importance to me. The day trading and swings we've all been used to in crypto-land messed up my sleep even more, instead of placing an alarm to go to classes I found myself waking up when price of coin X had moved up or down with X %. Executing trades when you've just woken up wasn't the easiest thing either not to mention when prices started moving depending on news that were released and you had to keep up to date with everything relevant to the projects.

I've started to appreciate the way Steem works in many different ways over the years, the option of being vested has probably saved me so many times from dumping a big amount due to fear or fomo of other currencies. Not only is it easier to stay up to date with news within the currency through posts than when I was using Twitter and the spam that goes on there if you follow too many users but it also incentivizes you to hold cause of the post and curation rewards that enables. Which other currency out there does that? There's definitely too few of them either way.

Right now though, I feel as if I've been switching sleep rhythm so often from either waking up at normal hours and going to sleep at appropriate times, to a few days going to sleep later which results in an instant change of rhythm. It feels so hard lately to stay in one rhythm for longer than a week or two and it has made my sleep really unreliable. It's not just that I don't go to sleep in time, but some days I also just wake up earlier than I should and can't seem to get back to sleep.

Source

I'm not really sure how I should move forward from here on out, the winter here in the north only gives us a few hours of light during the day anyway so that doesn't help all that much with fixing my sleeping rhythm. I've been thinking of doing some more walking/jogging to make my body tired and use some help like Melatonin to fall asleep easier, but with everything going on in cryptoland lately it feels like I barely have time to eat and shower. I literally eat while browsing posts or subreddits for crypto content.

Oh well, just wanted to get this out there and rant a bit about my sleep, the tiredness has been getting to me lately a lot and I can sense how easily I get irritated at stuff lately due to it. My patience in being good at holding other currencies has also suffered from it and made me lose out on some nice pumps the last few months, would've been nice to have been able to take some profits out of those to increase my mvests.

I think I need to try and get this fixed so I can move on to have a healthier blogging/curating experience combined with crypto investments.

Any tips on how I could fix my sleep would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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I used to be much the same but a few years ago was able to change it quite quickly.

The thing I found was that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would start thinking about all of the things I hadn't done, needed to do or wanted to do. Even when this shut off, my sleep was very restless and no matter how much I got, I never felt rested.

What changed it was my awake hours which rather than avoid tasks and spend time in entertainment ( I used to game and watch a lot of shows/movies), I took care of what needed to be done, even if it was a mundane task. This had two effects, it stopped the thinking at night and it made me a lot more productive.

I don't really miss the entertainment aspect as what I find is that getting things done is much more rewarding and often, a lot more entertaining anyway. I think this is a big part of the reason I am able to produce so much content in a day, week or year.

I still do not get very much sleep but when I sleep, I fall asleep fast and I sleep very well.

Hehe, I'm pretty good at postponing boring stuff I need to get done and I think it results in me thinking about them while trying to fall asleep so maybe I should try your suggestion out, at least for a week or two. :P

I think proper sleep is important to be creative and productive, reduce stress and improve health.

I believe physical activities are the easiest way to go from here. Like you sad walking and jogging is a good start. However, you may want to look into doing a sport that you like. This is something that takes more effort and also has a learning curve which will keep you motivated over a longer time.

Besides that there is mediation which is also really nice to create some rest in the mind to be able to sleep better. Start by looking into guided meditations, you can find many on the internet. And do this maybe 15-30 min every night before you want to sleep.

Also do not underestimate a good basic diet, eating healthy will make life a lot easier for your body and regulate things. Cutting down on sugars and caffeine, drinking lots of water etc

Good luck!

That's a big Comment I appreciate this Comment @juliank 👍

Thanks :)

You are mentally occupied that is a reason that the anxiety obstructs your normal course. One of the easiest way which i follow is to channelise your mind into something which relaxes you an hour before sleep. Like you can watch some really light fun show before you go to bed. As your mind is engrossed in it, the daily anxiety reduces. I watch friends or modern family. Never consciously try to sleep, that doesn't help. But a lil diversion of mind helps.

I am at a loss with your issue as I have the short sleepers gene and the more I sleep the worse I feel. I thought I told you about Valerian Root in chat but guess I did not. It helps with anxiety as well as sleep and it is anxiety that you are feeling about the crypto swings. Check out this site it may explain more to you. https://draxe.com/valerian-root/

Looks like I need to try some of this hippy root ;)

Thanks I'll take a look, hope its not some pseudo-science. :P

No has an established use in history for sleeping. Documented more than any current prescriptions.

Valerian root leaves me feeling like my brain is shut off for days! Lol. I can’t take that stuff.

Sounds like you were having very high stress, that's the only time I have heard anyone say that. As always start small and find what works. I can only take before sleep, I know people who take it in the AM in place of xanax.

I was going to say it was quite a while ago during “normal” life... but normal life has been high stress for longer than that. 😉 Is there something to that? High stress and it leaving you feeling that way?

I’m a lightweight too though. Anything knocks me out and seems to last twice as long as usual.

You could always try making a tea with about 1/4 of what the recommended dosage is. Work your way up till you sleep and feel normal. Less is better.

I’ll try that because I have a full box of the tea that I don’t dare use. Maybe let it steep for only a minute. See what that does.

What’s the correlation to stress though? I have a very curious mind and this peaks my interest.

As every human is different I would not be able to answer that question. There is nothing that will work the same or for the same reason for everyone. There are some things that mimic the same response more or less in a broad group of people but there are no two effects the same. Sorry.

I need this very much... go to bed anywhere from 10pm - 1 am and wake up multiple times and have trouble actually going back to sleep after waking up. I feel like I don’t really sleep and am constantly tired thru the day...

Good evening @acidyo,
Sleep is also a problem for me and its true that steemit and crypto didn't help!
However, I am very fatigued because I have twin baby but I don't sleep....
If you find a solution, I'll take it :-)

You should make a post at some point about your time in the military, could be interesting getting some perspective on a foreign countries military service :)

Also, I think you're going in the right direction with the jogging/walking and melatonin. Another suggestion I could make is maybe taking some benadryl after you've tired your body out with the jogging. I've been using it to help me retain some semblance of normal sleeping hours for the past month or two. I just take 50MG's before bed and it usually helps me stay down for at least 6 hours.

You know, besides your issues and my own, there's quite a few people I've met on here that don't seem to be able to get much sleep, or they just have odd schedules all together. I really wouldn't be shocked if it ever came out that a large percentage of Steemit users have sleep disorders of some kind, lol.

I really wouldn't be shocked if it ever came out that a large percentage of Steemit users have sleep disorders of some kind, lol.

caused by Steemit, lol.

the physical strain during the day helped me fall asleep easy and sleep throughout the whole night.

pumps will always be there my man, don't wreck yourself over it, fuck the money, keep going with your stuff, make sure you have a chill night before bed and you will sleep like a king, don't overdo it, I have :) no worries, you probably are way deeper in it than I was :) still I was pulling a few all nighters on steem :)

Speaking of which I'm going to bed right now since it's quite early :D

I can leave you with a nice YT channel I'm following for a while :) good content there, as well as some videos on sleep in general https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqYPhGiB9tkShZorfgcL2lA

here is the flagship video on the topic

good luck mate, good luck

GREAT POST AS ALWAYS @acidyo - I've had my share of sleep pattern/sleep issues and I feel ya man!

One thing that has helped me out at times is meditation and deep breathing. Especially the deep breathing - it forces most of your bodies muscles to contract then relax providing a nice relaxing body high almost and relaxation. Of your entire body.

Namaste

Thanks yeah I've been trying to do a few minutes of deep breathing before going to sleep. It seems to have helped but can't say for sure yet.

Stay at it man - Fill those lungs up with air and release slowly... Sometimes I'll take 45-60 seconds during the day to just - be - and relax my body, mind, and regroup..

Breathing is really an incredible aid to relaxation, stress relief, meditation, calling anxiety, and on and on...

The craziest thing to me is that most human beings in general probably never really pay it any mind during the course if their life since we all breathe every moment of our existence and it's just one of those things that become natural oversight...

What I would suggest is to just focus your priority to your health... since you are already aware of implications of lack of sleep. Might as well just decide to make sleeping a priority in your schedule... A good exercise to tire your body may also help.

Sounds like you have different priorities, with crypto being #1, everything else follows it. If you decide that health/sleep is more important, it will all fall into place, since you know more about sleep already than some doctors from a sleep disorders clinic : )

I totally relate to that, my sleeping cycle is messed up beyond repair...I just make sure that I sleep in complete darkness, for melatonin production...A glass of milk before going to bed also helps

I have had bouts with insomnia throughout most of my life. I feel like having a routine and physical activity, like you mentioned, has positively impacted my sleep quality. I am off my schedule now as well and am trying to get back into a good pattern. It is hard when the pattern has to come from your want not a need from a job or in your case military. Hope you find some rest :)

That sleeping MEW is adorable... <3 <3 <3 I hope you'll be able to fix your sleeping pattern and rhythm... It takes time to adjust. I experience the same thing, too... But nowadays, I get better sleep at night, however, I can wake up a couple of times at dawn... So, my sleep isn't straight... but yeah, as long as I can feel relaxed... As they say, quality over quantity... ^^

generally the most obvious is the answer

I'll go rough on you........you need it. lol

I'm not really sure how I should move forward from here on out

Getting into the military after highschool felt like a blessing for me, the physical strain during the day helped me fall asleep easy and sleep throughout the whole night.

less sit more movement - eat non processed foods.

Thinking about it, wont help...doing something will, immesauarably.

sorry for the proverbial slap, but sometimes people need it!

You're welcome !

since joining steemit I often stay up late at night, it's hard to sleep because I'm used to this, but because it's a rainy season so I can sleep earlier than usual

hopefully you can adjust your sleep patterns! @acidyo

yandot,,,,fallowe me,,,,, @mizanur

@acidyo: Magnesium can be a great help with sleeping problems. More than 75% of all people in the western world lack magnesium. In fact: if you only eat white flour products, white rice or pasta once a month, you can be pretty sure you're deficient. Solution: Magnesium oil for the skin (make sure you get Zechstein, but the one that says 'genuine' is not...It should say: Zechstein inside...) and there is someone here selling it on Amazon in the US, I would have to find him). To get magnesium levels back to normal faster, you can also take a bath with magnesium flakes a few times a week...The skin absorbs the oil and flakes fast and makes it a better solution than supplements (which can take months..) I hope this helps.

I’ve heard this before. Even bought a bottle of magnesium oil. It did help with sleep some. I’ve forgotten about that. I’m going to start using mine again. 😊

Since joining Steemit my sleep pattern has changed drastically. Like you, I seem to be tuned in to US timezones to some degree, as this seems to me to be busier than UK time. Luckily my family life is not affected that much as they understand what I am trying to do here.

I hope you get your sleep sorted.

I have the same problem, lately been staying up till 1:30-2:30 am. Playing on steemit, running faucets for coins, and watching random things on tv. But i have to get up around 7-8 am. (5 kids, 3 need to get ready for school) then i spend all day playing on my phone while watching my twins.

I dont think my sleep will get better till i get to go back to work within the next few weeks. Hard though isn't it?

I need to stop to be in front of pc right before sleep time, or i can't sleep well..

I have had problems with my sleep rhythm as well. But I advice you not to take Melatonin.

Sleeping problems is like a vicious cycle because the more we realize we have it the more severe the problem gets, in other words it's very psychological.

So what do you do ? It's simple. Always wake up at the same time in the morning. That means it's going to be painful in the beginning as you have started falling asleep later and later. But trust me using the morning to adjust it is the best as you will then have to adjust the time you go to bed accordingly.

Remember that laying and just relaxing in the bed ( when you can't fall asleep) also helps you to recharge, so don't feel stress about having to fall asleep right away. It is this stress that messes it up in the first place.

A very important things is also the routine before going to sleep. I think one of you major problems is that you are so connected to the internet that it takes a long time before your body is able to unplug. Have a no internet free zone atleast 1 hour before Sleep it does wonders. Read a book and relax instead.

Final tip. Using your mind to relax your body takes time. A better way is to relax your body and then you mind will follow. I have a practice I used before where I tighten muscles starting from the feet and work upwards to the face. I first tighten my feet and I do that when I breath in. I hold my breath for a bit and then release my breath in the same time as I relax the body.

Hope this can be useful

My new Fitbit tells you (not sure how) this info too. Quite neat... I still need to explore a bit more of it, before doing a review post about it.

I am not sure how you can solve your sleep problem, but I am also a hard sleeper, and I find that sometimes it pays off more, to make one 10-12 hours sleep a week, then actually trying to sleep 7 hours every day... on which almost sure 2 will go away, because I can't start sleeping.

Anyway, just steem a bit more. Then the rest will do the job =)

Dear I have something to share with you. It will definitely help you, I have also listening to it every day for 30 minutes and the results are wonderful.
https://steemit.com/life/@rocksg/this-song-will-reduce-your-anxiety-level-by-up-to-65

Before going to bed, solve few algebraic problems of mathematics it will act as soporific agent.

It wouldn't hurt to look into the Uberman Sleep Schedule. Seems like your have an easy time adjusting to it. 2 hrs of sleep, which are FULL REM cycles. Along with 20 min naps throughout the day. Technically you get 30 mins more of REM sleep/night, while sleeping close to 6hrs less/night.

What I would suggest is to just focus your priority to your health... since you are already aware of implications of lack of sleep. Might as well just decide to make sleeping a priority in your schedule... A good exercise to tire your body may also help.

good research
but less sleep is bad for health

good research..
So very useful to me. Thanks brother

nice post,,,,thanks for the sharing....

Its hard to fall asleep with stress, I always think about where I want to be someday and It helps me fall asleep. Plus I put my phone to the side 30 min before bed

.......I might just add - natural body rhythms help also -
It is rare I go to sleep later than 10;30 nowadays.

I get out of bed _really_refreshed... and never later then 6a.m

( I led a night life - literally - for 25 years - I can tell the difference in an overall well being feeling - big time)

Good luck mate.

fallowe me,,,, lucylin,,, @mizanur

So it seems like when you are physically active you sleep better, but when you are mentally active it alters your sleep patterns?

Do you meditate? Maybe doing something 'mindless' for a while, like coloring mandalas, or 3D images, or just listening to some sort of soothing music with just a candle on, or regular meditation...just something to let your mind relax before sleeping might help alot. Over-stimulation will disrupt sleeping for sure...

This is it, i get you feel a rensponsibility to curation which is understandable. Any sleep advice wont work unless you to decide and feel the need to sleep,
The thing is, do not change your sleeping pattern, just try to remember that you are human.
takes like two days off in the middle of your curation responsibilities and others. Just read and read, read a boring book and let your body relax you will sleep. Do this often every two days u choose

I had sleeping problem here and there but I found if you stick with same routine everyday, especially around bed time, the sleeping comes easy. I do this with my kids as well. Dinner, bath, story time and bed...everyday, so even if some day we can't follow the routine and skip some of them, they head to bed and fall asleep. Other trick is to use the light that mimic sun light. I have one. We get less sun light in the winter in Canada. Some get effected by it. Hope you get good sleep soon.

Hey @acidyo thanks for your Info 👍👍

I think he only way to get a better sleep is to choosing to sleep at a regular time. I am not a professional in this matter. But in my experience keeping a regular time for sleep really helps in achieving a good sleep. Also I'm surprised that you are practicing lucid dreaming. I myself is also researching it. Would love to have some tips if you can spare any. Thanks

Amazing post really nice.....I like it.thx for share😍

Hello, I would recommend you the binaural meditation videos, the body get tuned with that vibrations, and you will experiment a higher feeling of relaxation.

It is very important too that you take off your bedroom all the electronic artifacts and gadgets, like mobile phone, tv, tablet.. the bedroom should be exactly that, the room of the bed, a space where to sleep in a bed, nothing more.

Try to use too blue light filters in your pc and mobile phone to avoid the blue light that our brain sees a day light and then it can not enter in the "night mode", and relax to sleep.

The light of your bedroom should be warm, or at least not exceed 3500 -
4000 ºK.

For me doing some fisic activity at night is quite relaxing and fall sleep very fast.

And the most important, keep your mind calm, if you are worried about something, accept it as it is good for you and you will learn from that, and soon will be ok.

Good luck, and good dreams!

Honestly, reading about your past really resonated with me. Back in high school I also got really into lucid dreaming. Me and my childhood best friend tried all these different techniques to help us lucid dream, some of which worked better than others. One summer in particular we took it very seriously, spending a week of our vacation on an island practicing lucid dreaming. That was probably one of the best summers of my childhood.

I have also had issues sleeping on and off in my life. Lately, my go-to solution when my sleep cycle starts going wonky is to have some chamomile tea before bed (roughly an hour before, as I calm down) to try and help me go to sleep, and then wake up earlier than usual to go for a morning run. Maybe that will help reset your sleep cycle.

Lately? Ha.. I know you just for some months and you are a Night Owl! But true..! the REM stages must be taken in considerationn and is a very serious fact. There is hiddend the real rest. And also a have an eye on diet always helps too.

I’m right there with you. I started using a fit bit just to track my sleep and it’s bad. I know some of the reasons but when those factors are absent it’s not always better.

Melatonin gives me crazy dreams that wake me up at night. I’ve tried cbd capsules and the dreams are even more intense.

The thing that’s worked the best for me is ZzzQuil. But it’s not always a guarantee.

I think it’s just healthy habits and routine which I feel like I can rarely do and it sounds like that would be hard for you too with your schedule.

Yoga helps you relax and get ready for sleep too. There are sleep routines too. I need to try that.

I can relate with your insomnia issues, and I've had a couple of breakthroughs, in case you're interested. In fact, I'm a dream reader, and so I have a bit of expertise in the area. The first thing that helped me is routine–assigning myself a general bedtime and wake time each day (even on weekends). The second thing is to create a trial period to test the routine, and then subtract 15 minutes from the routine each day until a certain "balance" can be felt. It might feel like "rise and shine" attitude, being well-rested. I've read that 7 hours is ideal for males, but some body types favor more, or less. Personally, my ideal is 6.5 hours. I have three young kids, and many passion projects, so I don't always keep the routine going, but a little routine can do a lot of good. I also believe there are visualization techniques (e.g. seeing stars fly by like Star Wars warp speed) that may help, and certain polished stones (e.g. jasper) that can work well. Hope this helps.

People don't realize how important sleep patterns are. I do have some advice though. Check out some of the sleep music on YouTube. It will usually help you to stop thinking and put you to sleep pretty quickly.

jeezzle fallowe me plz,,,,,, @mizanur

I'm new to steemit, haven't been on here that much...made a few posts in the space of about a week and I've been soooo tired. Normaly around 4pm I literaly just pass out for an hour! Yet i can still sleep at night thank god!

Deep breathing excersises help before sleeping. Try to sleep at the same time and doing the deep breathing 30 minutes before lying down. Try setting an alarm for waking up the same time everyday. Slowly cultivating the habit of letting your body wake up at the same time without an alarm blaring into your ears. After 2 weeks you would realize your body clock and sleep cycle will start to take shape. :)

I agree, goes thru NREM/n4 (Sleep well). have nice sleep bro.

i was born in estonia near you and had same problem, so here is few solutions what i found: 1. we have a lack of sun in our countries so its better to move to other country , for example i lived in Spain,thailand for 4 years and there is a lot of sun so you gain energy and sleep also well there :) 2. If you cant move from your country , try to maintain forced 30 days period of sleep. Lets say you want to wake up in 8 am then you ask wife/mother/father to help you and maintain 30 days, after 30 days body will remember it and you will join this routine easily.
3.Add some gym,swimming pool , its same as military you will be exhausted and sleep easy.

plz brother fallowe me,,,,,,

@mizanur

Recently, I'm sleeping only 3 to 4 hour per day, and it makes me such a lifeless man. And at some point​, Everyone told me to get some sleep or take rest a while.

This post and replies contain lots of tips or advice​ for sleepless man. Thank you for writing this post. I'll try to fix my sleep rhythm from tonight.

I feel you...i sleep-deprived myself for months when I took the bar exam and now that it's over I can barely get a decent nap. My doctor said sleep is a matter of discipline but it's almost a week now and I still can't get back to my normal bio clock

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