The Warring States of NPF - View Single Post

pochercoaster · 07-16-2016, 01:03 PM

First of all, thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. I was in a really tough spot mentally yesterday.

I managed to get 4 hours of sleep -in my own bed- last night, which is progress. I realized since that the sleeping pills only work for a few hours at a time it's better to take them sooner to when I want to wake up, so after a few hours of tossing and turning I took one around 3:30, woke around 7:30 and then dozed a bit until 9am. I'm glad I was able to get some rest in my own bed; I needed to know it was possible to rest normally.

The tough part now is not having any coffee while feeling hungover from sleeping pills. Even though it's early in the morning and I could probably get away with it I am not going to have any caffeinne at all, nope. Also making sure that I don't build a tolerance to sleeping pills. :/

Mauve Mage: I'm kind of hoping that my blood work comes back saying "woah you have way too much thyroid hormone so let's cut your supplements down" because that would be an easy solution and I would feel less silly about the whole thing.

RPG: I came across ASMR as I looked up sleep hypnosis videos (they overlap); there are also some fetish videos for sleep hypnosis which I avoided, lol. Anyways, ASMR does nothing for me; to me it's just people whispering about things. In fact, I find whispering irritating because then I start struggling to understand what the person is saying, and that wakes me up more. Nonetheless, I appreciate the suggestion.

_phil: Thanks. No one actually minimized my problems like that except me, though. I am fortunate to be around nice people.

Bard: I do want to exercise but with the way my body is right now I can't. Well, some light exercise, like cleaning up my house, is probably beneficial and what I aim to do today, but anything that's beyond walking is a big nope. Also, I have this weird thing where sometimes exercise makes it harder for me to sleep, even though I only do vigorous exercise in the mornings. IDK?

Snake: I'm very similar to you. I need absolute darkness and silence, and even the tiniest noises or light will disrupt my sleep, but as long as I have those I can usually sleep 8-9 hours.

Not sure about scented candles- at the least, they'd have to be very high quality, because anything that smells even slightly perfumey/fake bothers me. I have a really sensitive nose and can't recall scents ever soothing me- except perhaps the smell of dryer sheets on freshly washed bedding. (I suppose that's an exception to the perfumey scents.)

White noise machines do sound like something worth looking into. Part of the reason I've preferred the couch over the last week is because it has an overhead fan that makes a pleasant whirring noise (though the cool breeze helps too.) However, it looks like they're $30-$40 which would be tough to spare right now.

I've had this weird thing in the last month where music gets REALLY stuck in my head. I mean REALLY stuck, and meditation or visualization techniques or listening to the song all the way through usually don't work at un-sticking it. It's gotten to the point where I avoid listening to music that is even slightly catchy because I'm afraid of it getting into my head for the next 12 hours, and it's most pronounced at bedtime. White noise helps with this a little bit, though, as do sleeping pills.

I'm not a fan of clutter in my bed, so usually a cuddly blanket does it for me. But, yes, dogs are awesome. Right now I'm a fan of the Shiba Inu, though I wouldn't own one because they are for more experienced dog owners/trainers. Erick and I are looking into getting a cat when we have the extra funds.

OT CUDDLY ANIMAL STORY TIME: So when I was a kid I had a cat named Mittens and I was her favourite family member to hang around. Then one day she gave birth (we didn't know she was pregnant) to 3 kittens. Anyways, after the initial newborn phase, at night she would pick her kittens up by the scruff of their necks and put them in my bed, by my feet, as I was sleeping. So the next day I'd wake up to a pile of kittens in my bed. Best way to wake up ever. (Though I wouldn't do that now for fear of injuring them, of course).

Hawk: I find reading stimulating, actually. When I've tried to read to relax I just end up absorbed in the book for hours. Admittedly, I don't read very much and maybe if I found some easy literature it might help. It's almost certainly better than a screen.

BTW, despite explaining why some things don't work for me I still appreciate everyone's suggestions/thoughts. Thank you.

I'm going to try and lead my days as normally as possible, because I'm getting stuck in a cycle of lying in bed/on the couch when I'm "sleeping" and then being too tired to stray far from them during the day. Right now I think that's my best shot, though it's kind of tough with how tired I am.

07-16-2016, 01:03 PM	#8
pochercoaster rollerpocher tycoon Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,808	First of all, thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. I was in a really tough spot mentally yesterday. I managed to get 4 hours of sleep -in my own bed- last night, which is progress. I realized since that the sleeping pills only work for a few hours at a time it's better to take them sooner to when I want to wake up, so after a few hours of tossing and turning I took one around 3:30, woke around 7:30 and then dozed a bit until 9am. I'm glad I was able to get some rest in my own bed; I needed to know it was possible to rest normally. The tough part now is not having any coffee while feeling hungover from sleeping pills. Even though it's early in the morning and I could probably get away with it I am not going to have any caffeinne at all, nope. Also making sure that I don't build a tolerance to sleeping pills. :/ Mauve Mage: I'm kind of hoping that my blood work comes back saying "woah you have way too much thyroid hormone so let's cut your supplements down" because that would be an easy solution and I would feel less silly about the whole thing. RPG: I came across ASMR as I looked up sleep hypnosis videos (they overlap); there are also some fetish videos for sleep hypnosis which I avoided, lol. Anyways, ASMR does nothing for me; to me it's just people whispering about things. In fact, I find whispering irritating because then I start struggling to understand what the person is saying, and that wakes me up more. Nonetheless, I appreciate the suggestion. _phil: Thanks. No one actually minimized my problems like that except me, though. I am fortunate to be around nice people. Bard: I do want to exercise but with the way my body is right now I can't. Well, some light exercise, like cleaning up my house, is probably beneficial and what I aim to do today, but anything that's beyond walking is a big nope. Also, I have this weird thing where sometimes exercise makes it harder for me to sleep, even though I only do vigorous exercise in the mornings. IDK? Snake: I'm very similar to you. I need absolute darkness and silence, and even the tiniest noises or light will disrupt my sleep, but as long as I have those I can usually sleep 8-9 hours. Not sure about scented candles- at the least, they'd have to be very high quality, because anything that smells even slightly perfumey/fake bothers me. I have a really sensitive nose and can't recall scents ever soothing me- except perhaps the smell of dryer sheets on freshly washed bedding. (I suppose that's an exception to the perfumey scents.) White noise machines do sound like something worth looking into. Part of the reason I've preferred the couch over the last week is because it has an overhead fan that makes a pleasant whirring noise (though the cool breeze helps too.) However, it looks like they're $30-$40 which would be tough to spare right now. I've had this weird thing in the last month where music gets REALLY stuck in my head. I mean REALLY stuck, and meditation or visualization techniques or listening to the song all the way through usually don't work at un-sticking it. It's gotten to the point where I avoid listening to music that is even slightly catchy because I'm afraid of it getting into my head for the next 12 hours, and it's most pronounced at bedtime. White noise helps with this a little bit, though, as do sleeping pills. I'm not a fan of clutter in my bed, so usually a cuddly blanket does it for me. But, yes, dogs are awesome. Right now I'm a fan of the Shiba Inu, though I wouldn't own one because they are for more experienced dog owners/trainers. Erick and I are looking into getting a cat when we have the extra funds. OT CUDDLY ANIMAL STORY TIME: So when I was a kid I had a cat named Mittens and I was her favourite family member to hang around. Then one day she gave birth (we didn't know she was pregnant) to 3 kittens. Anyways, after the initial newborn phase, at night she would pick her kittens up by the scruff of their necks and put them in my bed, by my feet, as I was sleeping. So the next day I'd wake up to a pile of kittens in my bed. Best way to wake up ever. (Though I wouldn't do that now for fear of injuring them, of course). Hawk: I find reading stimulating, actually. When I've tried to read to relax I just end up absorbed in the book for hours. Admittedly, I don't read very much and maybe if I found some easy literature it might help. It's almost certainly better than a screen. BTW, despite explaining why some things don't work for me I still appreciate everyone's suggestions/thoughts. Thank you. I'm going to try and lead my days as normally as possible, because I'm getting stuck in a cycle of lying in bed/on the couch when I'm "sleeping" and then being too tired to stray far from them during the day. Right now I think that's my best shot, though it's kind of tough with how tired I am. Last edited by pochercoaster; 07-16-2016 at 01:07 PM.