<p>I’ve been experiencing some major insomnia for about 6 months now and I really don’t know why. During school, I thought it was cause of stress (junior year, AP/IB, SATs, AP exams, GPA, ECs, etc…) but now that it’s summer and I’m not stressed at all, the insomnia has actually gotten worse. I find myself staying up for 30-36 hours at times and having a tough time falling asleep even then. As I’m typing this, it’s 2:37 AM and I can’t fall asleep. I play basketball every day and do push ups every other day so it’s not like I don’t exercise enough. I also try showering before I sleep and drinking warm milk and doing pretty much everything that is supposed to help you sleep. But nothing works. </p>
<p>I’m also fasting this month for religious purposes so I consume much fewer calories than I would normally, which in theory is supposed to mean I have less energy. But still, I can’t sleep. Even during school, I’d get around 4 hours of sleep every night because of this. </p>
<p>I had dark circles under my eyes during school and I always told myself that during summer I’d get more sleep and get rid of 'em but they’ve gotten even darker and it’s so frustrating. Can anyone help me with this? It would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Why don’t you research this a bit…start with the wikipedia page or other people’s experiences or something.</p>
<p>You said you had dark circles under your eyes. Does this mean you are you in some sense tired or exhausted (?), or is the only problem the problem of not being able to sleep normally.</p>
<p>I’ve researched this to the point where I’ve tried everything that is supposed to help me sleep: Here’s what I’ve attempted…</p>
<p>People say showering and drinking milk as I stated previously.</p>
<p>Not playing video games or staying on the computer (this has something to do with excitatory neurotransmitters turned on in your brain preventing you from sleeping, if I remember correctly from a psychological study).</p>
<p>Having a cold environment, comfortable clothing and sleeping conditions. </p>
<p>Avoiding laborious tasks before sleep.</p>
<p>None of these have helped. And no, I normally don’t get tired and even when I do, it’s tough to fall asleep. The problem is not being able to sleep normally. I’ve tried to start up a rhythm where I go to sleep around midnight and wake up at 9 AM every day, but it didn’t work after the 1st day because I couldn’t fall asleep at midnight. I don’t know what to do, and it’s concerning because sleeping is supposed to help get through the fast and avoid hunger.</p>
<p>Well dark circles under the eyes can also be a result of lack of iron in ones diet.
But still, your body may have become accustomed to the stress-related shortage of sleep which occurred during the school year.</p>
<p>You may want to make sure you’re removing any caffeine from your diet, and you can cut down on sugar too. Going to sleep at the same time every night helps, as does waking up at the same time. </p>
<p>I don’t think showering is necessarily a good idea, at least not right before you sleep. Also try to make sure you’re doing the same thing every night. If part of the problem is that you can’t stop thinking about things, it may be worth sitting down for 15-20 minutes before you sleep and writing about something. It could be how your day went, some pressing issue, stream of consciousness, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah my diet has little to no caffeine in it.</p>
<p>And yeah sometimes I find myself just thinking about whatever comes to mind and I can’t fall asleep so I’m definitely gonna try this writing thing before I sleep. But the majority of the time it’s just not getting tired at all.</p>
<p>I feel ya. No matter how exhausted I am, it takes me literally hours to fall asleep. Even during the summer when I am ~relatively~ stress free… It has basically gotten to the point where I dread going to sleep because I know I am going to have to lie in bed for ages before waves of sleep will wash me back onto the shores of dreamland <3</p>
<p>It’s funny you say that because my insomnia is always worse over the summer than it is in school. My insomnia being “not sleeping until like 2 or 3 at night” though.
“Chronic insomnia lasts for longer than a month. It can be caused by another disorder, or it can be a primary disorder. Its effects can vary according to its causes. They might include muscular fatigue, hallucinations, and/or mental fatigue. Some people that live with this disorder see things as if they are happening in slow motion, wherein moving objects seem to blend together. Can cause double vision”</p>
<p>That sounds like a real condition that needs medical attention. 30-36 hours awake at a time especially. There are plenty of medications for such conditions.</p>
<p>Also, you may or may not have heard this, but people actually gain weight and have bizarre body patterns during Ramadan because of the instinctive mass food intake at night and the eating so early in the morning. Forgive me if this isn’t the correct religious reason for fasting this month.</p>
Try natural supplements- sleepytime tea and Melitonin can help a lot!! Also, calcium, magnesium and zinc are all good PM supplements to help you relax.
Talk to your doc about it. You may need to have blood work done to rule out other things that need to be treated like thyroid imbalance, anemia, or other metabolic imbalance.
Good luck!</p>
<p>My advice would probably be to take shore 1-2 hour naps whenever you get the time. You might not be stressed physically, but you might be psychologically. To relax my mind when I’m this way I usually do meditation.</p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be that “uuuuuummmmmmmmm” kind of meditation, but just find a way to clear your mind of some, if not, all thoughts and toils for a period of time just calm yourself.</p>
<p>Hope this helps and I hope your insomnia gets alleviates over the year! I know just how insomnia feels so I can relate. Just find a way to relax your self in some way.</p>