things are in fact going extremely badly but we’ll see if they pick up starting tomorrow night for reasons that will preclude me being here for about a week (seeing my SO)

    • Elise@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      It’s great you’re visiting a professional. Perhaps it might be nacrolepsy? Also try sleeping without light and sound by using the proper curtains and ear plugs. No alcohol or caffeine. Try sleeping a multiple of 1.5 hours, there’s apps for that. Look into other kinds of sleep hygiene.

      • neutron@thelemmy.clubEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        Thanks for the advice. I saw a doctor today and he suggested doing some exams to narrow down the possibilities. Also got a prescription for a drug “in case I really needed”, but I suppose I should try with improving my sleep quality first.

        • interolivary@beehaw.orgEnglish
          0·
          1 year ago

          Which drug did you get prescribed, if you don’t mind me asking?

          As someone with years and years of, err, experience with sleep issues, I’ve learned a thing or two about sleep aid medication. Most of the ones that fool with your GABA receptors tend to be pretty terrible for sleep quality and cause dependence and all sorts of other issues. Pretty much one of the only sleep aid medications that won’t fuck you up with longer term use is mirtazapine, which is an antidepressant but also inhibits your histamine H1 receptors (like older-type antihistamine drugs) so it’ll make you very sleepy. Used in super low doses (something like 3.5mg, where the lowest used for depression is usually 15mg) its SSRI effects don’t really kick in and it can actually increase sleep quality, and for most people at these low doses its only downside is that if you take it too late in the evening you’ll have a hell of a time wrenching yourself out of bed. It can lead to the H1 receptors getting desensitized in longer term use, meaning you can build up tolerance to the sleep aid effects, but that’s solved by taking a few weeks off of it if you do notice it getting less effective.

        • Elise@beehaw.orgEnglish
          0·
          1 year ago

          That’s great. Yes as I mentioned look up sleep hygiene. People underestimate it and often ignore my advice. I had to learn it due to some meds I took a long time ago that kept we super awake.

          Ear plugs require some practice, and there’s many different kinds. I prefer wax. And if you have curtains that let any light through it is really worth the investment. IKEA has good ones for like 50 eur.

          If you must drink coffee, just take a single cup in the morning. You can also replace it with decaf like I did. Tea you can replace with ginger and mint. And like I said avoid alcohol. Like even a beer before bed will have negative effects.

          Of course your tech usage matters too. At least start using the blue filter setting on your phone and pc.

          Then regularity goes without question.

          There’s a bunch of other things that help if you look it up. It’s really a matter of trying everything out.

          Finally you might want to look into meditation. Stress means bad sleep. Even a simple body scan can help here.