Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire insomnia ......

I gave up caffeine ~15 years ago and that helped a bunch,

I was waking up dozens of times a night and needed coffee to keep me going during the day and guess what, I slept badly the next night too.

The Dr set up a sleep study and It's not sleep-apnea, my brain just keeps churning all night but I sleep much better if I don't have caffeine giving me an extra zing.

Ambien may put you out but is being sedated the same as sleeping?

One drug to keep you going and another to put you out..... no thanks.

Change something and Good Luck!

You boys better stay off those sleeping meds and copious amounts of “natural” alternatives.

For me, Ambien doesn't cause me to feel sedated. If I wake up during the night for whatever reason, I feel like somebody who has just woken up.

It would be good if I didn't need it any longer. But I've not found a substitute.

After using that for awhile you'll not be able to sleep without it, and as time goes on, it takes more to put you to sleep.

Addictive.

Melatonin isn’t addictive but you will still need increasing quantities as well.

If you’re sleeping like schit there’s a reason.

Yeah.

Like getting older....

Yeah, it sucks. And many sleep meds tend to leave me feeling hung over the next day and that sucks worse.

I did and she prescribed a mild antidepressant called Tramazone or something. It made all the difference in the world for a couple months just takin one pill before going to bed. Then, I woke up one morning with the sheets soaked from night sweats. Changed the sheets. Next morning had the same thing.

I googled “ nightsweats” and found that in men it’s almost always caused by.....antidepressants.

I quit taking them and I do alright as long as I get SOME exercise during the day.

I'm getting older and the only thing causing me to get less sleep than I like is poor decision making.

Why in the world did I decide to get friggen chickens that need let out, fed, and watered at daylight?

It's especially bad at this time of year because......................HOCKEY!

I don't get control of the TV until the wife goes to bed, usually 2100-2130 or so, sometimes later. Then I can turn on the game on the DVR, even skipping commercials it's almost 2 hrs long, so no sleepy time for me until midnight usually. Then, since I have a hard time waking up if it's not an emergency, I have to set the alarm for an hour before I need to get up. Snooze alarms are a great invention.

I'm blessed in that I have an easy time sleeping, can sleep through most anything when I know what the noise is (but wake quickly for unknown or unwanted noises), and can sleep through the night without a pee break most times.

'flave has some good points. Look to kids and dogs for an example. Run around a bunch, don't drink stimulant liquids, realize if you ate today and have a roof over your head life ain't so bad, and take naps and sleep well.

Geno

PS, I'm also expert at procrastination.......................whatever is worrying me will be there tomorrow to worry about..................time to sleep now!

Best solutions for me --- daily exercise, NO alcohol, go to sleep by actively thinking about NOTHING.

I once saw a bit of sleep research where participant were asked what they were thinking about as they were trying to go to sleep. Those having trouble said "everything" and the sleepers said "nothing". Try to think about nothing, it's possible.


No coffee after lunch.

My ass is dragging this afternoon. I’ll sleep good tonight

I’m 67 and generally sleep well.
In my case, exercise make a big difference.
No exercise, far less sleep.

I generally have no trouble getting to sleep, sometimes nightmares wake me up. No evening snacks helps staying asleep. If I expect trouble sleeping becouse of something pending the next couple days that I might be thinking about, a low dose sleep pill, dyphenhydramine helps.

if you are taking melatonin , it might raise your blood pressure and having nightmares , adjust your dosage !

Ambien or other medication is its class (Sedative-Hypnotic)are meant to be taken only for a few weeks , please read :
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafet...ionforPatientsandProviders/ucm101557.htm

Ambien is not something you should take.

Ever.

I have taken one pill of Ambien ever. We were leaving Iraq, to Ireland, then Utah. I took it in Ireland and woke up landing in Utah...that stuff is no joke!

I know if you take testosterone or artificial steroids your testicles shrink because, regulated by the body, they no longer make near as much testosterone on account of you already have more than enough.

Likewise, the times I quit drinking coffee for a week I was falling asleep all the time like I had narcolepsy, because my brain had gotten used to making less of whatever the "wake up" chemical is in my brain because with the coffee I already had enough (went back to caffeine every single time because life with NO vices was boring).

Surely taking a supplemental "fall asleep" substance, melatonin or a mimic, would make me dependent on 'em for life.

Fuggn Ambien should go the way of Phen-Phen. Damn dangerous stuff that causes far more problems than it solves.

Things that make me sleep better.No caffeine after 2:00PM,no alcohol .I walk and lift weights and found out that when I did that later in the day,I had trouble sleeping.For some reason a glass of milk an hour before I go to bed makes me sleepy.When I was working when I was younger it was avery competitive environment.Your working companions would fugg you in a heart beat to make them selves look better.I would go weeks with out sleeping.I gave a few guys an attitude adjustment and things changed.Nothing is that important to have in your head at bedtime.JMHO ,Huntz