Sleepless in Villages
 

Wow!...Thanks everyone, you are Grrrrreeeeereaaat! Just love this place!

I know it's progressed a lot since WAY back in my younger days, but I imagine a man with a mustache moving a pocket watch back and forth saying "you are getting sleepy"....

When I first moved to The Villages I could not sleep at all. I was up each morning before dawn and out walking by 5:30 A.M. Throughout the night I would walk around the house and either get on the computer, read or watch TV. In the past few months this has all changed. For some reason lately all I want to do is sleep. I have been getting up entirely too late for early morning walks and I have been loving my afternoon naps way too much. I have never been this relaxed in my life so I think this has a lot to do with it.

TH, I had no idea you sold snake oil on the side. :laugh:

Nyquil before going to bed.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Oh Oh!

Sleepless in the Villages
 

Some great suggestions posted on this thread!

Don't:
1) Eat or drink anything close to bedtime.
2) Food will stimulate brain activity and liquids will wake you up with a full bladder at 2am. (Only Diabetics should have a bedtime snack).
3) Work on the computer too late at night. Light from the computer screen will keep some awake and "wired" up long after logging off.
4) Exercise in the evening. (Vigorous exercise)

Do:
1) Take Melatonin Sublingual tablets (they really do make you drowsy).
2) Take L-Tryptophan (500 mg) with evening meal. Promotes relaxation.
3) Try keeping a sound machine on your nightstand, choose a "sound"
that is relaxing and let it run all night or set it for whatever length you
wish.
4) Read something lite and pleasant in bed for relaxation.
5) Sleep on a high quality mattress and have an equally good one on the
guest room bed for the nights when hubby's snoring keeps you awake!

Annabelle

Thanks Annabelle. It is midnight, and I'm on the computer. But at least now I finally understand why I have insomnia.

Wired up Bare :Screen_of_Death: :mornincoffee:

Sleeping is best induced, and is most restorative (healing), when the sleeping area is completely pitch dark; that means no light from windows, nightlights, alarm clocks or electronic devices, etc. Even a single tiny, slight light in the room, or glow through your window shades, is a problem. The problem with inducing sleep through drugs is that it is not as restorative, and this, in time, contributes to health issues, since we were designed to, in part, heal from the day to day stresses of life during our sleep, and it must be natural, restorative sleep in order for this to occur.

Even with our eyes closed, the brain still perceives any light that is present in the area, which can not only hinder falling asleep, but, more importantly, will inhibit or decrease melatonin production, which is supposed to be increased when we are sleeping; and which is a hormone that is essential to getting restorative sleep (and which is also why a melatonin supplement, as indicated in one of the posts above, can help; although melatonin does not so much help falling asleep as it assists the restorative quality of our sleep, once we fall asleep). In other words, melatonin is your body's 'natural' Ambien. Also, as we age, we may produce less melatonin (this process, like all others, is mediated by how overall healthy we are), and so a melatonin supplement can be wise for us boomers and older.

Creating a totally pitch dark sleeping area, particularly when traveling, can be a difficult situation to create, so the most practical way to do this is to sleep with a sleep mask, totally blocking any light perception. These are available at drugstores and other retailers, and online. Different masks have a different 'fit' so you may have to experiment to find the one that fits you most comfortably and with complete light blocking. Eye masks are, for the same reasons mentioned above, helpful if you are wanting to take a nap on a plane, etc. This is why you see in some of the old movies the stars wearing sometimes glamorous eye masks when they took naps or were sleeping - (those were the days before the 'advances' in our being able to medicate ourselves to go to sleep!) It's also why we're given eye masks on many international flights; I notice that the Asian airlines are particularly savvy about the value of these.

(Some researchers also think that this is why instinctively humans often slept in caves during the 'caveman' days - not just for protection from animals and the environment, but for light avoidance).

Try using an eye mask, unless you can create a totally, perfectly pitch-dark bedroom, and you will having less problems falling asleep, and will also start noticing how much more refreshed you feel when you awake. You may even find that you don't need as much sleep. If you find that the eye mask feels uncomfortable at first, it is something that you will quickly get used to if you continue; and once you do, the eye mask becomes a 'trigger' to signal the brain to go to sleep. Also, for the same reason, try to avoid getting up during the night, or to limit, as much as possible, how much light you expose yourself to if you get up during the night, since then the brain then has to have time to go back into deep sleep. Restorative sleep is critical to having optimal health.

I agree with Freeda; darkness is important. My mother kept having terrible nightmares and they were so bad she finally saw a doctor about it. He guessed that it was light coming into her bedroom. Sure enough, once she lightproofed the room, the nightmares stopped completely!

I have slept with a light on, not a night light, a regular light,for all of my life. I know, Sweetie is a saint. He got used to it and has slept comfortably in a lighted room for plus 40 years.

I think insomnia comes with age to a certain degree. Using over the counter Melatonin can cause nightmares. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mel...ffects/an01717

I am not a supplement taker except for calcium and vitamin D3 prescribed by my MD.

I bought some sleep masks from Magellan's travel supplies catalog a couple of years ago. I love them because the eye part is rounded and does not smash your eyelids.

The one I am linking you to here must be their updated version because the nose part looks a little different. I had to take the scissors to the nose part of mine because it was too big. (not my nose -- the nose part of the mask.) When I bought mine, it came in only two colors. The product description tells you all about the design for the eyes.

Also, please note: This is not a swimsuit top. This is a sleep mask. Please do not get confused or you could get kicked out of the pool.

http://www.magellans.com/store/In_Fl...refchan=Search

Boomer