Insomnia, Day 3

[gurdonark]

I don't mind the bifocal lens in my glasses, as they are "invisible". I don't mind the loss of that fleeting first blush of youth, as my blush was mostly bashfulness anyway.
In general, record me as "on board" with aging.

But three out of the last four nights, that scourge of insomnia set in. Part of it, I know, is settling back into routine after a nine day business trip. But part of it, I strongly suspect, is this 40something thing. When I was 25 or 30, I got insomnia for the "right" reasons--adrenaline, broken heart, or a Friday night insomnia before a Saturday fun trip. But now? It's a part of my life. I don't think it's a sign of medical depression, which is, I suppose, the other option, but instead I think it's a judgment that:
a. when I work a sedentary life, I do not sleep as well as I should; and
b. I am over forty.

I also find two corollary rules here, through my special brand of poor deductive reasoning. They are:
a. I worry when I am tired that I offend everyone; and
b. I am much more open about what I think and feel when I am tired.

I notice, though, that lots of LJers are up all dawn, too. Does this mean that LJ ages us all?

Comments

[jackiemae.livejournal.com]

Drugs, Dude!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Caffeine ages me! I live twice as long--awake!

[cosmolinguist]

Everything ages us all.

I notice too that I don't sleep well when I'm lazy all day. Pretty soon it seems like I'm never really asleep because I was never really awake.

I enjoyed talking with you last night, and found it fun (and unoffensive). Hope I could be the same. :-)

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

You were grand, and I thank you for taking the time to IM with me.

[bluegreen17]

i don't know if insomnia is because of aging. i'm happy to say that most of the time,i fall asleep easily,and sleep well. occasionally,too much caffeine will keep me awake,but i stay away from it most of the time. and i'm 45.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

You know, that's a good point, and now I theorize that I am hiding my Diet Coke caffeine addiction behind a veil of aging :)

[cathla143.livejournal.com]

I don't think *my* diet Coke addiction (or my current coffee overload) contributes to my poor sleep (not really insomnia in my case). I could literally drink a large coffee before bed and fall right to sleep (of course, I'm severely sleep-deprived... ).

I think aging has a lot to do with poor quality sleep, among a plethora of other annoyances.

[woody77.livejournal.com]

Caffiene can stay active in your system for about 12 hours. If I haven't been physically highly active during the day, and drink any coffee/tea after noon or so, I have a hard time falling to sleep that night. Days without caffiene in the afternoons, but water instead, and also low-activity, I fall asleep fairly quickly, but not as quickly as I'd like.

I think that caffiene exacerbates an already bad situation when not getting enough exercise. I can drink a gallon of (strong) iced tea during a day when doing lots of yardwork, and I'll sleep very well that night. But without the exercise, i don't sleep as well, and then add caffiene, and it's really rough.

I'm currently testing 5HTP for a week, to see how it changes things. I'm sleeping like the dead, am a bit groggy in the morning for a few minutes, but then am wide awake (not exactly my norm). And I'm not exercising much this week (since I haven't been, recently). It's been an interesting test so far.

[cathla143.livejournal.com]

True... not getting enough exercise is a factor here. On days when I'm more sedentary, I'm also sleepier throughout the day, and sometimes take naps (if I'm at home), which cut into my sleep at night... It's a vicious cycle. BUT on my more active days, it doesn't seem to matter how much caffeine I consume, I still sleep fairly soundly (although I wake up groggy... ).

What's 5HTP?

[woody77.livejournal.com]

5htp is a precurser to seratonin. Some people use it to help with mild depression, as it provides similar benefits to seratonin reuptake inhibitors (lots of anti-depressants), but works in the opposite way. Instead of artificially increases seratonin levels, it provides the building blocks for seratonin so that the body can easily manufacture all that it needs.

If you take more 5htp than the body can convert to seratonin, it's flushed out of the system much in the same way as taking large doses of vitamin C does (what the body doesn't need is just filtered out, without causing harm).

After a couple of nights, it does make a difference, but only about as much as actually getting exercise does for me (which is what I expected, since I don't have a history of depression).

So I'll continue it for a bit, and then go off it, and then try to dig into a good exercise regiment, and see if I get the same results (I'm expecting to).

[bluegreen17]

aha!

[niyabinghi.livejournal.com]

And here I thought LJ was encouraging my immaturity! ;)

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

According to your son, I'm sure, LJ just makes you older and older! You seem spry to me, though, if your journal is any indication!

[niyabinghi.livejournal.com]

"Spry..." Thank you for putting it kindly, LOL!

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

i've had insomnia since i can remember. but i'm ADD, and i
have a definite 'cycle' like some who are manic/depressive.
all that aside, too little physical activity during your
'day' will definitely lead to inability to sleep soundly and
well.~paul

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I think maybe the demon caffeine is to blame here!

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

possibly. it doesn't help most people much.~paul

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

::yawn::

I can't sleep, yet I can't stay awake either. But I can lie on my bed for hours watching the pretty not-quite-dreams while I'm not-quite-sleeping.

[stardances.livejournal.com]

Living ages us all. I have had a bit of a problem with insomnia myself lately. (Very unusual for me, usually as soon as I lay down I am instantly asleep) I attribute the insomnia to a mixture of caffeine, some family troubles, artistic delimma's and never completing the list of 'things to do'. (I have taken to making lists recently, before I never really needed 'daily lists' but somehow now I seem to need the reinforcement of checking each little thing off, it makes me feel much more accomplished. The down side is that I am much less spontaneous :/.)

I have not found you in the least offensive.
I think that perhaps some of our subconcious eeks out a bit when we are very tired, it also leaves those emotions/feelings very close to the surface.

I have noticed that LJ seems to age some people more than others. While I find some people very introspective, others just seem too busy living to reflect on life.

[woody77.livejournal.com]

I find that lack of sleep wears down my stress-handling abilities, and that patience is stressful.

Therefore, I'm not very patient when I'm tired.

My co-workers usually figure out quickly that until I'm looking perky in the mornings, or have a cup of coffee in front of me, to keep clear (which I feel bad about, but I'm really quite the bitch until I'm awake).

question

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Does this mean that LJ ages us all?
no, it means LJ is addictive. As is caffiene .... a Doc. will probably tell you to cut out the caffiene. Which is hard as hell--are you only having one cup in the morning? or do you have it in the afternoon? afternoon is no no. Welcome to the tired, the poor, the yearning to be free. :-) middleage.

Re: question

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I think being middle age is fun, so long as I find my glasses.

[robertstheology.livejournal.com]

I quit drinking coffee about 3 weeks ago. Must say, I am sleeping better than I have for many years. Before that, I was sleeping in 90 minute segments, 2 or 3 per night, and no more. Now I sleep midnight to six, like a log...dreams galore.

[nancyjane.livejournal.com]

i try really hard to keep regular sleep patterns. it aint easy but seems very important to my own good health. one thing i've been investigating at my doctor's advice, - since i seem to have to know everything technically before choosing a course of action - is the role of dopamine, which helps regulate sleep among other things, it's not usually cited as the primary sleep regulator

what i understand is, there are two things that change over time/and fluctuate for everyone... availability of dopamine and the number of receptors. many times our bodies produce more receptors, if the dopamine level suggests to the body that it might have more available but there just aren't adequate receptors - something else is competing with the dopamine for the receptors, usually a drug. i'm still looking into it but according to my doctor he doesn't see why caffeine can't be one of the drugs that helps fool the body this way.

well ok so if you are like me the damage is done lol. drastically cutting down on caffeine as a course of action won't solve the problem, as a certain level of caffeine is now expected. but if you're like me you might have been interested in all that scientific nonesense anyway.

lol one thing that is independent of the caffeine cycle, if indeed it's there -- i'm no scientist of course - are the benefits of exercise, including but not limited to sex. my doctor emphasizes doing something that feels good, because that creates/promotes dopamine availability, but also moderate exercise will do that... and increase the levels of other healthy sleep regulators as well. it seems with all the walks you do that you are already exercising... how good does it feel? is there a way to make it feel better - or do you want to do something else?

or you can cheat and eat bananas and turkey. which i also do lolol. both those (and reportedly broccoli too but i havent felt any effects from broccoli) have chemicals in them that help regulate a good nites sleep, my shrink says they help keep the levels straight that we screw up with indoor lighting and being inside all the time. banana with breakfast and turkey for lunch, has really been helping.

anyway good luck. oh and i believe lj keeps us young, i really do, but that's another matter. :)

Change of life

[wingedsandals.livejournal.com]

Don't rule out hormonal changes. Apparently they happen to men as well as women during these years. Your best bet, from what I've read, is to keep up with your recent exercise and diet improvements. And remember, some of us female LJers over forty consider men over forty endlessly fascinating and intriguingly attractive. And now, it's time for me to have a hot flash.l

Re: Change of life

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

being over 40 is not bad at all, but I'll hope to pass on the flashes!

Insomnia

[watashi.livejournal.com]

I've dealt with insomnia pretty much my whole life (it seems to run in my family...all the women have it)...so I don't think it's just aging. Your body needs a set schedule. When you deviate from that schedule, you throw your internal clock off and it's hard to find your way back again. It's probably true that we recover more easily from these deviations when we're young, but I don't know if that's actually true or if it's more because we had time to sleep all day to make up for long nights when we were younger :)

Avoid caffeine and sugar and try to keep the same schedule (or close to it) as often as possible..even when you're travelling. Hopefully the insomnia will pass. If it doesn't, see a doctor. People act like it's no big deal, but long term insomnia can be a sign that something much bigger is going on.

Yoga helps, too! Good luck!!

*throwing some zzzzzzzzzzz's your way*

Re: Insomnia

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Grea idea,s all! Thanks!