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Hi Dan. I learned meditation by trial and error, watching a bunch of youtube videos. I’ve tried a variety of techniques and landed on transcendental meditation. My method won’t work for everyone. For meditation newbies I would recommend guided meditation using a phone App such as Headspace or Calm. I used Calm for a number of years and really liked it. Regarding caffeine, I remember a terse confrontation I had with my sleep doctor, who asked, “why are you asking for sleeping pills when you are still drinking caffeine” (and doing a bunch of other bad habits). After getting off this drug for 30 – 60 days, I noticed I was more alert and had more energy, and slept a little better (it didn’t fix everything, but helped). I hope this helps. I wish you the best.
Hi Matt. I used to wake up at almost 3am every evening due to hunger or thirst. One of the changes I made is to super hydrate before 5pm, usually drinking 100+ ounce of water (I’m 160#). I also quit eating around 6pm each night. Oftentimes our digestive processes wake us up at this hour and it’s important that you don’t eat too close to bedtime. After a few weeks your body gets used to this routine, but until then you may wake up hungry. Other things that can wake you up at this hour is caffeine. Caffeine can have a delayed effect that causes you to awaken. In terms of the quantity of sleep, I only sleep 7 hours each night, but like you I feel better with more sleep. After decades of insomnia, I’ve learned to focus on quality of sleep, which can be improved by a well-structured sleep routine that starts the moment you wake up until you go to bed again. I learned that as soon as you wake up, if you can’t fall asleep in 30 minutes, you get out of bed. Laying in bed and not sleeping teaches your brain that this behavior is ok, which can make insomnia worse. Sleep efficiency is really important to good sleep, and laying in bed not sleeping is very inefficient. You can improve sleep efficiency through Martin’s program. I find that 6 hours of efficient sleep with a good amount of REM and deep sleep is much better than 7 hours of light sleep. I hope this info helps.
Anastrazol has the side effects of insomnia and drug-induced hot flashes. Since your insomnia is probably made worse by this drug, you are probably right that meditation, your diet, exercise, and avoidance of electronics will probably not resolve the issue. It may help, but it might not address your biggest sleep problems. Feyza, the hard truth of it is that you may need to get off the anastrazol. I’ve tried certain medications in the past, and I was recently prescribed one that caused me insomnia. I told the doctor I wouldn’t take it and to look for other alternatives. Any drug that lists insomnia as a side effect that I’ve tried, always gives me insomnia. I’ve found that many drugs that are supposed to help with sleep, also cause me insomnia. I’d rather not treat the problem the drug is supposed to help than live with insomnia. These are just my thoughts. I’m sorry you are going through this.
Great question. I don’t sleep when I feel tired. I only sleep during my sleep window, which over time helps your brain understand when you are to be asleep and when to be awake. If I have insomnia and only get 4 hours of sleep, I will do everything I can to stay active and just struggle through the day. Sometimes it’s horrible. I avoid caffeine, since this is borrowed energy that makes you feel like crap a few hours later and then effects your sleep later that night. If I’m sitting around at night feeling ready to fall asleep before my bedtime, I’ll actually do some push ups or take a walk in the cold air. By the time my bedtime rolls around, I’ll usually sleep very well. I used to try to take naps and adjust my wake and bed times; however, this just made my insomnia much worse. I’ve learned as an insomniac that I need to have really good structure around my sleep habits. Anytime I break that structure, I suffer from insomnia. I hope this helps.
I think the most important thing to address this is going to bed and waking up the exact same time each day. Your mind gets used to the idea that bedtime is not the time for ideation and excitement, but the time for sleep.
I stay away from caffeine, take frequent breaks to walk around (usually up and down the stairwell), and stay hydrated. The reason to stay away from caffeine, is that it is borrowed energy that you pay back usually in the afternoon. I also find 20 minutes of meditation during the day can help restore some of my brain function. I also consume some extra healthy carbs. These are just my strategies. if you are getting next to zero sleep, it’s time to take effective action to fix the issue. I wish you the best of luck.
With caffeine, everyone is different. I have friends who drink coffee all day and sleep fine. Speaking only for me, I went from coffee many years ago, to black tea, then on to green tea, followed by white tea, and now I drink herbal, non-caffeinated tea. Where I’m at today, even 20 to 40 mg of caffeine a day is too much and effects my sleep. I’ve heard that people do well just by cutting out afternoon caffeine. However, I personally would recommend to anyone that they go caffeine free for several months just to see how their life changes. I hope this helps Whitelori. Best of luck to you.
Regarding mediation: I do Transcendental Meditation (aka mantra mediation). I was so bad at meditation and had such a desire to learn that I went to a TM teaching center to learn it. I tried meditation that focuses on breathing, but I find I breathe too much with this focus. When I do mantra meditation, my breathing slows way down and my heart rate drops. When I meditate, I sit in a super comfortable recliner with my feet up with a blanket and pillow behind my head. Yes, meditation is different when I’m tired. During the 8-week course, with a time-restricted sleep schedule, I would often fall asleep during meditation. This didn’t seem to hurt my sleep quality. My TM teacher didn’t recommend meditation close to bedtime, since he said it often energizes people. However, meditation doesn’t energize, but instead relaxes me.
Regarding sleep buffer: It’s at least 30 minutes, but often a full hour. Within that hour I’ll read or sit in a dark room for a while. I’ll also meditate for between 15 and 30 minutes. Sometimes I can’t make it a full 30 minutes and then I’ll watch my fish in my 110 gallon fish tank. I hope this helps.
