sucks, i go 2-3 nights with only getting a couple hours sleep then crash for about 8 hours.... its getting old.

You, too?

It's been a rough month here. There's a big thing on the near horizon, & it's had me up way more than it should. Hopefully I'll get back to sleeping again this week.

I'm sure as hell looking forward to the March hog hunt. I sleep well there, for sure... even if my roommates don't. I'm lucky EdM + Poobs didn't smother me with a pillow.

Take Care,

FC.

Count me in.

yeah sometimes i don't sleep it gets old, looking forward to the hunt.

Been sick for a week and sinuses stopped up. Cant breathe when laying down, so I'm attempting to sleep in a recliner. It's ok for a nap, but trying to get a nights sleep in the recliner sucks.

Hope yall have a good time at the pig hunt.

Randy, I have had problems like that for a couple of years. Dr. gave me some spray medicine called Fluticasone Propionate, that helped a little, but did not get rid of it. Usually starts while deer hunting and is hard to shake. You think you are almost well and then it turns the other way. I noticed that Gene (curdog) had some of the same medicine at Quemado.

For about a year and half, my legs get to hurting so bad between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM that I have to get up and walk around for a while. Sometimes I can go back to sleep for a while, but most time not. Then about dark, I get sleepy as hell, but just doze, no good, hard sleep. Back problems causing it. miles

I think everyone has trouble like that as they get older (and heavier). Most guys I know in their 50’s on up are on CPap machines and swear by em.

What helps with me is if I’ve exercised that day, in my case on a bicycle.

Watching a long history Yourube with the set up that the phone will go on to the next one at the end.

Half a liter of inexpensive merlot red wine (Liberty Creek) tho that means I’ll be up to pee at 4am, but falling back to sleep is never a problem.

How come I can't sleep at midnight,
But sure as heck could sleep more at 430?

Lots of things contribute to not sleeping.

If you want to sleep sound there are a number of things you can do to help.

-Clean up the house. Clutter causes restlessness. It could be physical or mental. Knocking schit out that needs doing makes your brain relax. Yes it's a thing.

-PT. Burning calories and getting your heart rate into the danger zone once a day will drastically increase your chances of sleeping well.

-Avoid alcohol. Even small quantities.

If it's truly a problem you can troubleshoot it with a fitbit. They can be had for less than $100 these days and will show your sleep cycle each day. This allows you to dial in what your body does and doesn't like to achieve sleep.

Oh, and be sure you have a good mattress.

Back problems causing me misery here as well.

Get some melatonin (1) 10mg, and valerian root (4) 450mg.

Take them an hour before when you want to go to sleep. Settle in and get comfy, and you'll sleep. No side effects in the morning. Not addictive.

Melatonin is a blessing for jet lag too.

As you age your body produces less of it.

I slept about 2 hours last night, first bad night I’ve had in a while. No sleep sucks!

I've never had that problem. Nobody in my wife's family sleeps good. I tell them a clean conscience is a soft pillow.

I have the type of insomnia brought about by my inability to stop the brain from just rambling on while trying to go to sleep. I also have a number of osteoarthritis issues that cause a lot of pain which keeps me awake. My bad heart needs sleep.
I take a Tylenol 500 mg before going to bed, and a 15 mg Restoril cap at bed time. Almost always works like a charm. I don't want to take too much of a given aid though, and vary that with either Tylenol PM plus an additional tablet of Diphenhydramine, or I will take a regular Tylenol 500 mg tablet along with a single 20mg Doxylamine Succinate.
Some nights nothing is needed, but when I need a push, I take something.

AH-6 little birds from 160th spec ops come over about 3 mornings a week at 2am. Right over the tree tops.

Rattles my dale earnhardt mirror on the mantle. 😩

Is this Mrs. 'flave posting again?

I don’t doubt your word but red wine works like a charm for me, but then I ain’t been a recreational drinker for decades, it takes hardly any to get me drunk nowadays.

Rog, ask your wife if you snore, if you do that’s a textbook symptom of sleep apnea.

My wifey snores all the time, yet she sleeps well. Ain’t fair!

be happy you get the 8 hrs I never get more than 4 or 5

well slept almost 4 hrs, usually just have to much on my mind, i guess.

My wife got me a weighted blanket for Christmas. I have been getting the best sleep I have seen in years! I don't know what it is about the blanket, but it seems to help me. Best of luck in your quest of good sleep.

Yep, Melatonin helped me a lot.

Slept 3-4 hours a night for 27 years straight. Much better now but still have about one night a week like that.

Wife says its the product of a troubled mind.

Closer to the truth than she knows....

Lots of Melatonin fans out there and its worth a try. Most common side effect is weird dreams...

Mine are weird enough and melatonin put them over the top. I took it once and will NEVER take it again....

I have struggled with insomnia since we had our first child. I guess the weight of the added responsibility has something to do with it? I have found three things that can help. Vigorous exercise in the early afternoon, an evening beer or glass of wine, or to sit and read a while, tends to help me a bit. Once asleep I’m good and can sleep for quite a while. My problem is winding down. My brother and my Mom deal with this as well.

I went from 10 cups a coffee a day, down to one, first thing in the morning. Made a big difference for me.

Roger may not be interested in a c-pap when he finds out you have to shave your mustache.

Least that's what my Dr. told me when she suggested a sleep test to see if a c-pap might help with my blood pressure.

I told her to figure something else out because I wasn't interested in shaving off a mustache I've had since i was 17 for another one of her never ending tests that lead to nowhere. Not in those exact words mind you.

diphenhydramine tablets work well.... it's the sleep aid in aleve PM's. You can get a bottle from walmart for around $4. 1 or 2 before bed works well.

I've been using a cpap machine with a flexible nose piece for 9 months. No issues with my mustache. Sleep better no more snoring according to my wife.

Google Belsomra. It’s a sleep aid, designed to turn the wake signal in the brain down. Ain’t cheap but it works.




P

Just telling ya what she said.

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and have been on a C-pap for about a year and a half now. I have a mustache and it doesn't affect it but it's not a huge mustache either. Roger looks like he has a dead cat on his lip. lol

Ask your Doc form some meds, they can change your life.

Nothing but Ambien works for me anymore. I got a bad batch from the pharmacy once and didn't sleep for 6 days.

Not fun.

+1. That is me! I tell them I sleep the sleep of the innocent. I usually can't get through my prayers before I'm asleep. On the other side of that though, I usually only sleep 6 - 7 hours a night, with at least one pee break about 2:30 AM.

Chronic Ambien use is directly linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. Google Ambien Alzheimer’s.





P

" Dr. gave me some spray medicine called Fluticasone Propionate, that helped a little, but did not get rid of it."

Flonase right? It's a steroid so it only works if you use it every day when you're stopped up. I use another nose spray (also a steroid) called Nascort that works much for me that Flonase. You can get a 3 month supply at Costco for around $30, my grocery store also has it.

Sex works better than drugs..

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

Ambien is my very occasional solution when I absolutely gotta get a full night's sleep... Being tired is tough. And tough on those around me.

I have to give a 30 minute presentation in front of 30-40 people tomorrow for work. The worst thing you can do to me is make me speak in front of a crowd. Let's just say I haven't slept in a week. Can't wait until it's over with.

That stuff leaves me feeling chitty in the morning. I use it though. I prefer the liquid form, Walmart's version, alcohol free.

What kinds of problems?

I got an RX for that from a ENT specialist. 3 months into it I visited my Opthamologist for a yearly checkup. She said my vision had changed and that particular RX will aggravate cataracts and make them larger.

DUI's, texting/calling people saying crazy stuff with no recollection, hallucinations, wandering around the neighborhood nude/partially nude, eating odd stuff such as sticks of butter, all kinds of weird behaviors. And most people require increasing doses in order to get the same effect over time and have a hell of time getting off of it. Yeah, they say it's non habit forming, but try going off of it and see how that works out.

I've heard of those things, but I've never experienced anything like that.

Pills do work, but being on call 24/7 doesn't much allow them. Never know when the pager goes off.... hopefully the reward for that volunteer work is in heaven.

Not sleeping sucks.

Finally falling asleep at 430 am sucks almost as bad.

didn't read the whole thread, but in case nobody mentioned it, get some melatonin. between that and raising the head of the bed about 6 inches made a world of difference in my sleep. i also cut down on the coffee which sucked for a week or so but also helps i think. i drink about 32 oz in the morning vs at least twice that amount before.

No issues either. Some lively dreams. It would be foolish to use it on a regular basis and not expect problems as it's a narcotic. One of my doctors didn't think it was funny - that I thought it was funny - about the sleep sex warning. LOL Like I'd care.

took a 2 hr nap this afternoon. i've found taking a couple benadrel helps.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/search/search-results?q=ambien

Ambien is a hypnotic not a sedative so it's not addictive but it has some BAD side effects. I tried one prescription of Ambien years ago when I was having trouble with insomnia but I hated it. I would take it at bedtime and wake up 8 hours with no memory of anything but when took the Ambien at bedtime. I usually dream a lot but never had a dream when I took Ambien. I would wake up in the morning about to piss my pants because I always wake up at least once a night needing to pee. One of the BAD side effects is:

"some people who take zolpidem (Ambien) or similar medications, such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), do things while asleep that they don't remember — such as driving, or preparing and eating food. Because you're not awake, these are dangerous behaviors."

I witnessed a friend named Bob who was taking Ambien sleep walk on a South Padre Island fishing trip. We went to bed about 10:00 got up about 5;30 to eat breakfast and we couldn't find Bob. We finally found him standing in a walk in closet. He was awake but didn't know where he was or how he ended up in the closet. A few nights later he disappeared again but we couldn't find him in the condo. We went outside to search and found that his truck and boat were gone. We got a call later that morning from Bob who was in a hospital in Laredo being checked out. He had crossed the center line on the highway south of Laredo and hit a car head on. Amazingly no one was injured. Bob had no memory of leaving the condo or having the crash. He did stop taking Ambien though.

"I've heard of those things, but I've never experienced anything like that."

If you did any weird things you wouldn't remember doing them.

You need to go back and look at some of your late night posts.

I believe your reward for being a selfless servant to your neighbors will find you my friend. Been there and done that and if I don’t get to meet you in our northern dreams I will after we’re called home, I hope. 😁.....probably could swap stories for eternity.

I'm quite sure that my wife, who is a light sleeper, would inform me if I did.

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is what I recommend. A bottle of 500 is about $5 at Costco, if you don’t need the NSAID just take straight Benadryl. In my non in depth research I found that it’s <virtually> impossible to OD from diphenhydramine and is usually not contraindicated with other meds. Never used melatonin and have heard how great it is for some and how it doesn’t affect others. You might eventually develop a tolerance to the amount you’re taking so over time you might have to increase your dose by 25mg at a time. For most people 50mg (2 tablets) is enough to get a decent nights sleep but if not increase it by 1 tablet per night until you find the magic number.

Working out really helps with sleeping. Good luck.

My brother in law took Ambien. He had to take more and more for it to work. He would see Jesus on the ceiling of the bunkhouse, ghosts floating outside, he eventually blew his head off with a 12 gauge. I think the Ambien had a lot to do with that. He was going to work zombied out on that crap, lost his job, cshit went south after that. The only time I ever saw wifey cry was when the detective called to ask her if she wanted that shotgun back.

I’m in a similar boat. A guy i work with takes zzzzquil every morning after shift and says he sleeps soundly. It’s supposedly non habit forming.

Yep, me too, works sometimes when you don't want it to. If I put in 90 min - 2 hrs cycling/weight lifting before work, sometimes by the afternoon I'll be literally falling asleep on my feet. Not a good thing when ya got a classroom of savages to control

But yeah, exercise is the most potent sleep promoting agent I know.

Good one... We can always use the Ambien defense....

This place requires a good shake every now and then to keep it from turning into a combination of Graybeard Outdoors and the Drudge Report.

Enjoy it while you can. As an Ambien user I'm due to go bungie jumping off the barn at 2:AM any day now.

I will be humping the neighbor's fir tree tonight.... I gotta get some sleep.

LMAO. 😂.....

I hope you have the awareness to film it and the presence of mind to wear long John’s to bed each night.

Old ancient Chinese proverb.

Diet can play a role as well, also no tv in the bedroom.. I was told yrs ago bedroom meant for two things sleeping and screwing. When we were in Afghanistan seemed like the whole cav sqdn was on ambien, lunesta or Seroquel. I was on all 3 at different times. Seroquel is no joke, when you take it you better be looking for a bed within 30 minutes. It will knock you out..

No beer ....zzzzzzzz