your average insomnia problems.

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No surprise that my AS increases insomnia risk factors, but i've been insomniac quite often lately.

it's not that easy for me to determine what causes it. most of the time, it's due to late snacking or being so bored that you go to bed early. sometimes, going straight to bed after using the computer keeps me up, but that doesn't happen often. it's complicated to figure out what causes it, because i don't even have a sleep diary.

when i do go to bed, i don't really notice that i'm not sleepy enough. i may think i am sleepy, but it takes me 3-4 hours to notice that i'm not getting enough sleep. it also goes through a phase between mental and physical uncomforted. i can have a tired body in the beginning, but my mind is awake. then i can be finally tired, but my bed is suddenly the most uncomfortable thing in the world. my insomnia also has a weird pattern in which the next day i'll be home alone or that i go out of town, i can't sleep. i don't even dread about the next day.

i try to do various things to be relaxed enough to be sleepy in time with my bedtime, but my efforts were less than satisfactory. it's not as easy to keep myself relaxed either.

so yeah, my insomnia's more complex than i thought. O___o

I used to feel dog tired all evening but couldn't sleep at night.
I bought myself a mountain bike and I've never looked back.
I now feel fresh and awake in the evening but drop out like a light when I go to bed.
No need to overdo things; I started riding half a mile and built up to two miles.

Problem solved.

I wish the solution was so simple for us well-aged Aspie women. Physical exercise barely makes any noticable difference. I have spent decades of research on this topic. If someone is tempted to give advice, please be forewarned... there is almost nothing I haven't heard, read, or tried already for chronic insomnia. The advice given may work if the insomnia isn't too bad, but once it gets past a certain point... all that's left is learning how to live with it.

Please don't misunderstand me. I think physical exercise is the best hope for helping a person to get rid of insomnia. Being severely and chronically sleep deprived increases the odds of being accident prone to a level most people can't comprehend. Only each individual can judge for themselves.

I've found that accepting my condition actually makes my life easier. I don't give up hope, but I also stopped waiting for the days when I'd be less tired. I had to find a way to appreciate functioning at less productive levels I'd rather not be at.

I just noticed the name of this thread... "your average insomnia problems." The key word is "average." My kind of insomnia is FAR from average.

Im screwed then. I haven't slept a good nights sleep in a really long time. Maybe if i get the motivation to go to the gym during fall classes. Ill be an empirical data.

I have used it often, but it has no effect on helping me to sleep.

I get four hours every night, regardless of how tired I am, and I wake up at least once an hour while sleeping.

I exercise a lot but still generally have problems falling asleep, mostly related to the fact that my mind just refuses to shut down. I also have some problems with waking up rather early and being unable to get back to sleep. I usually do get about 6-7 hours in, even though that doesn't seem to be enough for me.

i didn't expect to get this many replies. xD but thank you all, perhaps i should consider my exercises on how vigorous they are. but i guess i better start turning off the computer for at least one hour before bed. for me, it can be hard to feel relaxed half of the time. but i learned that i definitely shouldn't be snacking late at night. i'm also playing a game that's quite stimulating for some reason, and it might be the problem. xD

What's your caffeine intake like? I can't sleep a wink if I have tea, coffee or chocolate less than about 5 hours before going to bed. I made the mistake of having a chocolate biscuit at about 10pm last night. I couldn't get off to sleep and it was made all the worse by my husband's twitching legs, which was going on through the night. Or are you on any medication? I can't sleep if I've taken any anti-allergy meds or pseudoephedrine (will never take this again).

hmmm, i don't know how many hours i should go without caffeine. but i do tend to have a craving for chocolate. i don't drink coffee nor do i like tea, though. and i hadn't took any medication, nor do i plan to. I just have a feeling i'm doing something wrong with my sleep hygiene. >_>

I just always had trouble falling alseep. As a kid, I just could not get tired. I would try to explain this to my parents. My father would simply yell, "Well GET TIRED!! !" at me. Even with a weighted blanket and sleep aids, I just had trouble sleeping at night. I became more alert and "wired up" at night. I''ve always found it easier to sleep in the daytime. I get more restfull sleep in the daytime. My mother has always tried to convince me this is wrong. I think some people are just geneticly programed to be night owls. The stupidest thing my mom said to try to convince me was that I needed to be alseep at night because night is when creepers come in and rob houses and rape women. They come at night because they expect their victims to be alseep. As I said, that was a stupid thing for her to say. But anway, I just find it easier to sleep in the daytime and I get a more restfull sleep in the day.

I had horrible panic attacks as a kid and most of them happened at night. I remember being in my bed and breaking out in cold sweats and being able to hear my own heart. The worst part was the horrible sinking feeling. I was afraid of the dark but I was more afraid of the panic attacks that would come. I had all kinds of weird phobias and my speech was mostly just scripts until I was a teenager so my parents often could not understand. My mom would get so frustrated because of my panic attacks that she would yell at me about how silly it was to be so afraid of what ever it was. I would be in tears, begging her to make them stop but she would just tell me she couldn't get inside me and stop them. I had to do it myself. I wish my mom would have taken me to a phycologist or at least told me that God could stop them. I didn't want to have them. I just couldn't help it. But anway, I often found it hard to sleep becuase of the horrible panic attacks.

people with ASD's often have low melitonin levels and there has been studies to prove that. Melitonin controls sleep and awake cycles. I take 2, 3mg tabs of melitonin 30 minutes before bed and it works like a charm. Others on this site have got great benifit from melitonin when we discused insomia before. It is a suppliment and can be found in the vitamin section of drug stores.

Also on sleep hygene
Yes computers can mess up your sleep cycles, so shut it off about an hour before bed
dim the lights an hour before bed because all this artifical light confuses your natrual sleep cycles into thinking it is still daytime.
get sunshine in the day time to activate your own melitonin
when you go to bed, lay down for 30 minutes, if you are not asleep within 30 minutes then get out of bed and read or do something that is calming to your mind. Then return to bed when you are tired.
This is important to train your mind to assocate your bed with sleep.
If you have too many sleepless nights, while in bed, then your mind assocates the bed with being awake. It is kind of a pavlov's dog thing. So dont go to bed unless you are tired and dont stay in bed if you cant sleep.
ALso while you are in bed, try breathing slow and deep to slow your heart rate which will help you sleep better.
And even if you have a bad night of cant sleep until late, dont sleep in, just get up before 7 o'clock and then go on with your day. This will reset your circadian ryhthm, and should help you sleep better the next night.
extersize towards the evening also helps with sleep hygene.

These tips were given to me by my sleep doctor when I had a bad case of insomia, that and the melitonin he put me on really helps.

I will find the study about autistics and low melitonin for you.

Jojo

Here is the article on the findings of low melitonin levels with those with autism

http://autismretort.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... on-in.html

hope that helps a number of you all as it has helped me

Jojo