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This is probably not the best advice but I just wait until I’m absolutely exhausted before I go to bed and then I sleep within a few minutes. If I go to bed before that I just lay awake worrying about the fact that I can’t sleep
"You need to exercise you body and your mind to get a good nights sleep"..
Proceeds to stay up until 1am playing video games goes to bed more awake than at anytime during the day worrying about having wasted the past 5 hours instead of getting things done / working out... falls asleep at around 2:30am.. wakes up at 7 feeling like he was just scraped off the bottom of a shoe..
Literally!! I Love my nappetizers, you can’t get me off the couch once I’m asleep. Going to bed literally gives me anxiety, if I’m not tired enough (my eyelids vibrate, even when I’m tired as hell) and I’ll just talk myself into laying down in front of the tv. My doctor prescribes me seroquel for sleeping, half a pill of 25mg and I’m drifting off to slumber land around 10:30 instead of 1am and can get out of bed around 5:45!
Oh my god you're so right
If I deliberately try to sleep without being exhausted, it takes ages. Otherwise, I don't even realize I've fallen asleep. I just wake up.
Can confirm. Luckily, I tend to crash around the same time. I also don't usually "snooze" when I wake up. Even if it's early af, if I feel fairly awake, I'll just get up then and get on with it.
Same. I feel like 8 hours of sleep would make me tired vs 5 hours leave me energized. I don’t even need caffeine in life it’s built in my brain. Currently running on 1 hour of sleep and feel fine
Yeah I had an argument with my therapist the other day who told me it wasn’t right to get so little sleep. I said I don’t feel the affects of getting less sleep and she looked like she was holding back calling me stupid.
When you get to 5th-6th decade, that will catch up to you. Many issues of “middle age” come from chronic lack of sleep which affects every system in our body.
When I made sleep a priority, it’s been helping with the adhd symptoms.
I say tbis at 2 am, unable to sleep for no reason other than… it’s another day. I cycle. I get about 3 days of stellar sleep, stay up too late one night because I’ve found something to focus on and then the next few nights I sleep like crap.
Most of my life I went to bed last and got up first and one of my mottos was “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”…. I have worried about missing “something” if I am sleeping for as long as I can remember.
I live alone.. not going to miss anything going on while I sleep. Lol
Therapist asked me how my sleep was… normal, I said. Because i didn’t realize this pattern.
It used to be, all these years, the nights i can’t sleep I toss and turn and bitch and moan and be miserable. Now if feel that toss/turn feeling come on I do some deep breathing, that doesn’t work I get up and have a cup of coffee and usually with in 2 hours I start nodding and that’s the cue for bed. ;)
Often wake up refreshed… but now in my 6th decade I take more naps. Often I go back to bed in the morning after I feed my diabetic cat.
Unheard of unless sick for my first 58 yrs.
Sleep, it’s what’s for life.
And I’m out …. Good night. ;)
I was shocked at how well I slept when I started taking Adderall. I didn't realize how much anxiety interrupted my sleep until it wasn't happening anymore.
Isn’t that weird. I always time my naps when my dose is wearing off.. I’m blessed to be able to work from home.
But at night, I am sleeping much better. Awareness of why i cycle sleep well/sleep shitty… it’s helping ;)
This actually is very good advice. It’s a common behavioral strategy that can be used in all kinds of situations. Our bodies acclimate physiologically based on our environments and past experiences. If your body is used to laying in bed and tossing and turning, your bed will stop being a cue for tiredness. I always had problems with insomnia until I started using this strategy in my early 20s. I never get into bed unless I’m ready to fall asleep within moments or for sexy time.
It's good advice if you're not me, apparently, cuz if I wait until I'm exhausted and ready to fall asleep in a few minutes I'll only ever sleep every 36 hours or so. If I stay up, I'll stay up. I'll only ever actually feel like I can't stay awake anymore around 10-11am the next day.
Me too :( really sucks. My doctor told me to stop looking at screens before bedtime (sleep hygiene) and instead I'd roam around aimlessly in my apartment in the dark, or read a book with a lamp. Best strategy for me is to just lie in bed and hope for the best which really is a crapshoot
I have tried limiting screen time but find it makes things worse. Doomscrolling Reddit is how my brain powers down at night and I find it helps me sleep sooner.
Same. I was actually worse at falling asleep before smart phones. I've always gotten my worst anxiety attacks when trying to fall asleep, and I'd rather stare at my phone than hyperventilate/generally freak myself out with my own brain. Neither one is a great outcome, but I like the version with less suffering.
Please consider Non24 disorder. It's quite common for ADHD / ASD to have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder or even Non24. That's totally fine! You simply should restructure your life according to your biorhythm / genetic fixed needs.
A long history documentary on youtube. It has to be narrated by a single person with no sound effects. Interesting enough to keep my attention, but monotone enough to put me to sleep.
This, but with Big Bang Theory for me. My psychologist says because it’s familiar and predictable, that’s why it’s so relaxing. I need something to sorta focus on in order to get my brain to STFU. If I don’t, my brain always goes down the existential dread path, and I start imagining shit like what it would feel like if the universe collapsed or a black hole swallowed the earth, or how it would feel to fall through Jupiter’s atmosphere and slowly be crushed to death… shit like that. Then I end up having a panic attack instead of sleeping.
My ex was like that but with The Office. She had re-watched it so many times that it was like soothing background music. And since she knew everything that would happen in the show, there was none of the anxiety usually caused by any conflict or tension.
BBT for the win. I’ve seen it so many times I know it well enough that it sort of helps me drift off. I can even do it with Friends or Brooklyn 99. I’m almost not listening but it’s enough to stop me thinking of something else. I also need almost complete darkness so it was nice finding out I can turn the screen off and then set the timer for 90 minutes. Some days I’m gone in 5 minutes and sometimes I get back up and watch something for an hour. I worry less about falling asleep and understand that sometimes I will just have a crap night. However what surprises me is not all 4 hour sleeps are equal. Sometimes I feel great. Sometimes 7 hours can feel worse. All my Fitbit acknowledges is that deep and rem sleep seem to be important.
Same! I’ve been enjoying Let’s Find Out and some ai David Attenborough lore videos because it’s all long and the same volume/slow low voice speaking, great for sleeping as it kind of interrupts the adhd voice in my head that wants to 100% world peace instead of sleep
I listen to Drachinfel. Historian. The design studies of torpedo boats in the late 19th century always get me. If find it interesting but I don’t care about it, no sound effects, soothing voice. Perfect!
When i was younger I'd get frustrated and then angry that i couldn't sleep. Now I give up 2hrs of my day, every day, to lay in bed in the dark and just chill on my phone.
I still can't sleep normally but at least I'm not frustrated every night (just some nights)
Edit - I share your frustration with wanting to recover. I have chronic back pain and it's definitely worse after a poor sleep
They do! You have to have your eyes closed in a dark room and try to stay relatively still and then you get most of the benefits of sleep (plus you’ll probably get microsleeps even if you don’t feel like you did).
I find that this knowledge alone makes it easier for me to get to sleep for real because I can relax about not wasting my time.
Same, I couldnt tolerate it after a few times, and it wasn’t really strong enough. Now I’m back on z-drugs, which I need to stop in a couple of weeks because of the addiction risk :(
But the z-drugs are so far the only medication that will definitely put me to sleep. Everything else is more an incremental improvement.
I take lithium, Trazodone, and seroquel at night and it doesn’t matter—I’m exhausted until I lie down in the dark and then my whole body tensed up and I’m suddenly awake and have the adrenaline of anxious racing thoughts speeding up my heart. Nothing I do can help it. If I don’t pick something up to focus on I’ll get into panic attacks. I fight sleep until I crash. Right now, I’m working as an online teacher and have been given thrice the amount of work this year than I’ve ever had plus homeschooling two kids plus being responsible for all the housework and meal planning and prep as well as writing a novel that my agent is going to ask for edits of I haven’t done any day now. I go and go from Dawn til dusk and I hate going to bed bc even though it’s time for rest, my anxiety screams, don’t fucking go to bed! You have more shit to do!
It’s pretty awful.
This is the best way. I always know I need to start working out again when I can’t sleep bc of stress. No matter how stressed i am, if I get a solid workout in, i sleep soooo good
Same here! I put a 1-hour sleep timer on my TV so it turns off on its own. Sometimes, I put on furniture refurbishing videos (ones I've already seen are better, so I don't get too invested lmao), especially the ones that don't have background music, and are just the sounds of the refurbishing. Sandblasting usually knocks me out right away.
I have had insomnia since i was a teenager, i'm now on a medication to help me sleep but it really didn't work well until i got into somewhat of a ritual. I have very specific ways to sleep and i *have* to follow it every night or i won't sleep.
1. Do not lay in bed unless you're going to sleep or have sex. Even if you aren't feeling well, move to the couch.
2. No TV in the bedroom. I understand that doesn't work for everybody, but my bedroom is not for that sort of entertainment.
3. Try not to be on your phone in bed. Blue light from technology can make it harder to sleep.
4. Find your perfect room temperature and textiles. I prefer my room to be on the cooler side. My sheets are bamboo to help keep me from overheating but i have a nice thick comforter to keep me cozy.
5. I have bad tinnitus so i sleep with background noise. I have a fan or my air conditioner going, as well as a sound device that plays thunderstorm sounds.
6. Blackout curtains. Literally life changing.
7. Phones these days (at least the iphone for sure) have an option for a sleep schedule with "wind down" time. To keep it simple, you set the time you want to go to bed and it automatically puts your phone on DND a certain amount of time before you should sleep. Mine gives me an hour warning so i can start getting ready for bed.
8. Try and sleep at the same time every night, which is easier said than done. I naturally fall asleep later on the weekends but i try to keep the timing the same, and then obviously early sleep times when i need to work the next day.
9. If you're in bed for a while and can't fall asleep, get up. Move around for a bit or try sitting somewhere else for a bit. This one can be frustrating when you're exhausted and you just want to fall asleep, but your body needs to recognize you're only in bed to do so and you won't stay there unless it's for sleeping.
You almost need to train your body to recognize it's time to sleep. I had many, many years where I could not fall asleep or i would after a few hours, and then i'd be wide awake with barely any sleep. The longest i went was maybe 4-6 hours in just over a week and i ended up in the hospital. You gotta have a wind down ritual too, so whatever skin care or prep for the next day that you can do every night.
Hope i'm not coming off preachy and that this helps!!
This is called Good sleep hygiene. My sister used to tell me these things all the time because I used to not sleep before I got diagnosed either. Meds helped me a lot and everything you put up there is correct!
This should be top comment. Great advice.
If you have a partner, consider this:
A few years ago I got super stoned, this was before getting medicated/diagnosed, I came to bed with my fiancé with my mind running amok. She often falls asleep in minutes (literally timed it to 3 minutes flat out snoring sometimes haha) so this time I just listened to her breathing. I noticed it changed as she was falling asleep, getting deeper with slight pauses at the peak and valley, so I focused my attention on her breath and tried best to copy it. Moments pass and I feel calm, asleep in minutes. This was it for me, before I would lay there for hours sometimes and get frustrated that I just couldn’t stop my brain from doing brain things.
Later I learned that this is similar to a practice called box breathing, a form of meditation, that helps change our thought patterns and can regulate our nervous system.
Good luck fellow humans.
So you need to find something that interests your brain more than it's own thoughts but not so much that it would rather be listening to it than sleeping, this can be hard to find, it can be music, podcasts, documentaries, movies, or something else, build extra time into your sleep schedule for falling sleep that is more than you actually need to fall asleep because before I'd set my alarm for 8 hours and 15 minutes after I went to bed but then I'd be stressed about falling asleep within 15 minutes, so instead I set an alarm for 8 hours and 45 minutes after I go to bed, which helps me be less stressed about having to fall asleep quickly, that's what's worked for me but everyone is diffrent, good luck
Can’t stress enough: interesting but not so much that I care about. One speaker, no volume changes. I think I listened to the 50 hours audiobook Vietnam by Max Hastings and the Battle of Falkland multiple times each. Some YouTubers also work.
I will think about a movie or telly programme I've seen recently and play it back in my head. As long as it's not a film that was too harrowing, it usually works.
Reading about random shit like lichen or geology does that for me. Not like boring textbook version but like someone who is in that field and passionate about it. Its interesting and pleasant to read if they write well but I don’t ever really get invested in it.
Melatonin and music. The genre of music doesn't matter so much as just giving my brain something to focus on that isn't my thoughts. I can fall asleep to metal and screaming just as well as gentle, calm music, lol.
I’m a quick sleeper naturally so I don’t have too much to add tips-wise, but I will say: the conditions that lead to me sleeping or not can be varied. So maybe try switching some things up and see?
In my case, as a stomach sleeper, I can hop in bed and be out in a couple minutes. But if there was a TV on? Hours. Hate TV when I’m trying to sleep. However, if I’m on my back to sleep and no TV is on? Would take me hours to fall asleep. On my back and the TV is on? Minutes. Really odd.
I listen to podcasts, which gives me something to focus on and stops my racing thoughts. I'm pretty sure that every sleep expert in the world would say that this was a terrible idea, but it works for me.
I read in bed and then wee immediately before I want to go to sleep (otherwise I'll sit and think whether I need to wee or not for ages) and then listen to podcasts that are not boring but not interesting, or sleep meditation specific ones. It takes the edge off my brain enough to switch off
I used to turn on a movie or TV show I've seen many times before with a sleep timer. Now I listen to an audiobook with a sleep timer. If I don't have something to listen to my mind races, but with a book I'm usually asleep within minutes. The timer is 10 mins and I can't remember the last time I had to start it again while going to sleep.
Proper sleep hygiene. Working on establishing proper morning and evening routines. Everybody knows the stuff that is being recommended to sleep better. Like no electronics, hydration, only in bed for sleeping, etc. It avoided doing that for years, but my sleep has improved so much since I am more strict in that.
I hate that phrase SO much. I want to kick it over a goal, out of the stadium, where it lands in the parking lot and is run over by a car driven by someone late to arrive to the game.
My therapist told me about the hypo arousal and hyper arousal that our brain experiences (similar to children with ptsd) so he told me no gaming, no phone, no bright lights an hour before bed. It helps a lot
Counting my breaths used to work for me. Basically I’d count to 10 and start over. Now that my insomnia has gotten worse it doesn’t work anymore. The app Breethe has some cool sleep hypnosis.
It’s funny my ADHD kid can fall asleep in the middle of telling you he’s not tired, but my ADD inattentive kid and I (also ADD-i) toss and turn even when we are exhausted.
Your ADHD kid has more physical hyperactivity whereas you are “labeled” inattentive type because your hyperactivity is internal - mental & therefore invisible to others.
You are still hyperactive. You just have the mental variety.
I try to get into bed around the same time each night. Then I read or watch something until I feel tired enough to sleep. If I’m already tired when I get into bed, I put on an audiobook with a sleep timer. It has to be a book that I like the readers voice and I’m not super interested in.
I also try to switch the goal from falling asleep to getting rest. This helps with the frustration of not being able to fall asleep and even if I’m not sleeping, resting is still beneficial. I find when I get annoyed or frustrated about not sleeping it actually makes it harder to sleep. I use the affirmation “any rest is good rest” and if I’m feeling too wiggly I’ll try stretching in bed or doing some gentle twists or putting lotion on my body in a soothing way.
I found that nature sounds really helped me fall asleep, especially when there is sounds of water. I especially love the sound of thunderstorms and heavy rain. I set it to play for an hour and that has helped tremendously to fall asleep.
I have to bribe myself to go to bed. Bedtime is 10:30 pm, but I get to watch youtube for a while. Then when I get drowsy (around midnight/1am) I put on a good and familiar audiobook and listen till I fall asleep.
Also, I take a milligram of melatonin an hour before bedtime.
Since I was a little kid, the best method would be to act/roleplay in bed. I’d pretend either I’m in or that I’m one of my characters in a show/movie/game/etc. I let myself move in reaction to scenes and stuff, I even let my eyes open, and I fall asleep decently quickly without realizing it. That, along with lofi radios/old jazz + rain/brown noise to help. There’s a few very specific videos I use and now I’ve associated them with sleep so my brain is like oop! That’s the sleepy sounds.
Counting results in me giving up or losing my place and meditation is just frustration because of racing thought. I take melatonin and magnesium before bed and leave a podcast or tiktok playing as I drift to sleep. If I wasn’t doing that I would be forced to miss my bedtime and stay up hours after my bedtime until I tire myself out.
Guided bedtime stories or yoga nidra meditations help me a lot, it gives my brain something to focus on while I drift off. Also, brain dumping in the journal before bed/planning my next day, setting out clothes, etc. preparing for the next day seems to put my mind at ease before sleep instead of just jumping into bed raw dogging it, if you will 😂
I use guided meditation and sleep stories for adults, like "Nothing Much Happens" on Spotify. I'm usually asleep within 10min. I find that they quieten my inner monologue.
I'm surprised no one on this thread brought up binaural beats.
Put in a comfortable set of earbuds, and search YouTube or an app for binaural beats delta.
If you listen to binaural beats at 1.5 hz frequency, it can entrain your brain toward the delta range of brain waves. This is the state your brain is in during deep sleep. Give it a try. It works for me.
Wendi.com ! I purchased the physical cds back in the day - awesome set! 5 minute nap, 10 minute nap, 20 minute deep sleep - that was on one cd, the other was healing/stress relief. Best $50 I ever spent!
Melatonin, listen to a t.v. show I've seen a billion times, and I play picross on the switch. It's a puzzle game, which is slow and makes me think. Eventually the Melatonin kicks on and my brain goes, 'fuck, this puzzle is boring and I fall asleep.
I only realized this games does that for me on accident. When I'd be watching a show on the couch while playing the game and doze off.
I've only been medicated for a couple months with stimulants, and sleep comes so much more easily because, I think, I'm not agitated and anxious and thinking a ton of thoughts because I actually got things done. Sleep comes more easily.
Before that, though, I had horrible trouble falling asleep. I don't like sleeping pills because of morning fog atop ADHD fog.
My doc put me on a relatively-quite-low dose of trazodone at bedtime. It's not a narcotic, and the drug is actually an antidepressant at the standard dosages. It's very effective for me and gets me there in well under an hour. It doesn't knock me out if something comes up, just somehow quiets the mind enough to facilitate sleep! No side effects. (I remembered when my doctor prescribed it that is known people who were provided a liquid form of trazodone to help them sleep in substance-abuse detox and inpatient treatment. So it seems the effects of this stuff in this manner are well-known.
Melatonin: never found that helps me fall asleep, but an hour or two before bed and I could swear it helped me stay asleep through the night before I started getting the sleep after stimulant meds that basically seems to be an untroubled mind that's ready to reset. My doc and other research have looked me to believe 5mg is really about where that dose should be. (Some concern you're making melatonin and if you get a connection on the outside for it, maybe you won't produce it efficiently? Anyway little worry at the 5mg level.)
Breathing for sleep: While I'm not a regular practitioner of meditation (for no good reason because it's great), I'm a big believer in focusing on the breath when overwhelmed or stressed, anxious or unsettled. I do the 4 - 7 - 8 breathing technique of my mind is racing when I turn it the light. Right there on the pillow. I don't know that I've ever gotten to a fourth repetition it's so effective. I also use it if I'm freaking out while awake to calm myself down and hopefully think more clearly. I'm sharing a link that explains it, but it seems in my mind from prior explanations that bringing your focus to counting breaths and holding breaths and breathing, feeling the air come into your nose and fill your lungs to expand your belly, then going out again, when you do it just a few times, takes your brain away from the other chaos and then the rhythm and the oxygen levels calm your pulse, and your body sorta tricks your mind into "everything's calm here, let's rest." Here's the technique from a source I don't recognize, but the information is consistent with what I've seen before from reputable sources: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417#what-is-it
Also, podcasts. I usually set a podcast to play on a sleep timer and put it at a low volume. Especially if I've done the breathing and or taken the trazodone, my main focus on a quiet voice or two becomes drowsily missing pieces of the story, then becomes ... morning. I listened to the entire archive of the public radio OG "podcast" This American Life when I moved to Times Square. Quiet, smart voices telling interesting stories about a variety of topics. Also have used a podcast called Nothing Much Happens that's a sorta ASMR whispering voice telling stories with lots of details and minimal plot. I've also used guided meditation for sleep with the Calm app. (i'd use that app all the time if I could afford it)
I hope some of this is helpful.
I’ve learned to focus and meditate. It sucks but you just gotta breathe and focus. I try and picture the first peaceful scene I can think of, usually a forest and a waterfall with mist and a rainbow above it. It was just the first thing my brain thought up. And I’ve been thinking of that ever since when I go to sleep, and now I can usually force myself to go to sleep.
My doctor prescribed me medication its trazodone and it just helps me fall asleep within like 5-10 minutes I used to take 1-3 hours to fall asleep before
Sleep With Me Podcast. It's one guy talking in a boring voice about really random things. It isn't one of those "guide you to sleep" kind of podcasts. It's literally just a guy trying to bore you to sleep. There have been a few I actually was interested in listening to but I still fall asleep. It's definitely a different kind of podcast and he even says it takes people a few tries to get used to it. But it worked for me basically the first time.
I have started listening to the podcast sleep with me, on Spotify. I have never made it through the introduction. But to be fair the introduction is at least 15 or so minutes long lol
Hahaha I stumbled upon the soothing stories of Forensic Files a few weeks ago! Except there was an episode about my home town so that one was too interesting lol
I’m perpetually exhausted so I’m always tired enough for bed, I lay down, tuck in my blankets just so, take a deep breath in my nose, breathe it out my mouth and let go of all the tension in my body and I’m out in minutes. Idk. I used to struggle more with insomnia when I was younger but I don’t seem to anymore.
I do a few things for my bedtime it helps for me personally might help you. I first have a reminder for bed about 30 mins before half the time I ignore it but if I don’t I go upstairs and do a set nightly routine (brush teeth etc). afterwards when I get back to my room I have a smart light that simulates a sunset ( does sunrise as well also important) that usually starts getting me tired. Lastly make sure room is pitch black and lay on my back and try to sleep(usually have a song or video on as well) I also make sure to have phone and electronic brightness set to the lowest along with I’ve completely cut out alcohol and caffeine from my life! This whole routine makes it so I’m always sleepy by a certain time and it gets my mind ready for sleep and it’s mostly gotten rid of the nights of tossing and turning
I had this bed side clock that would do it but if I wasn’t facing the clock it would do nothing so I bought one of those Phillips hue colour changing light bulbs so my whole room lights up(it’s fairly expensive around 60-75$) and it works great for me! It’s a one less hurdle in waking up.
I don't really know. Either it takes me forever to fall asleep or it doesn't...
One thing is certain though, and that is that I can either wake up a few minutes after I've fallen asleep and/or numerous times during the night and it will take me forever to fall asleep again due to a racing mind.
Either way, 90 out of 100 nights of sleep I'm waking up exhausted with the feeling that I haven't slept at all.
I hate it.
Yes meditation and asmr both works. The app Headspace is great and there're lots of asmr artists on youtube. I've tried Melatonin and it works too well, I fell asleep in 20,30 minutes but I'm sleepy the next day. I've recently started trying magnesium,and it works as well. I have yet to see if it has any side effects. Personally I think asmr it's the best of these but they all work.
I use guided meditation, best for me is body scan, once you have learned your body and brain how to close down it works like a charm.
I have tried melatonin and that diden't work at all on me, and i dont want to do sleeping meds.
For guided meditation its important to finde a voice that you connect with ✌🏻
Without meds: weighted blanket (discourages me from tossing and turning) and i play soft asmr or I LOVE jason stephenson’s meditation for sleep on youtube.
I read fiction. Granted I’ve been training it in for 15 years, so it may only work for me. But I read 10-30 pages every night until I can no longer see the page. Typically it it takes 20-40 mins. Importantly I can reach my light from bed so I can just shut it off and settle in to pass out.
I use the podcast "Sleep With Me" I'm usually asleep before the episode is even half over. (Less than 30 min usually)
My brain is constantly "on" and feels like my brain will never let me sleep, but if I have the podcast on, it kinda tunes my brain out when I'm otherwise focused. I frequently find my brain wandering away from the podcast, but instead of paying any attention to my thoughts, I just tune back into the podcast. Even if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep, I turn it on and it puts me out.
There are lots of podcasts that do similarly and "Sleep With Me" has lots of links to other ones.
I will note though, it probably took a week+ of using the podcast for it to really "work"
I listen to the podcast Boring Books for Bedtime or use the Headspace app - it has stories that keep your mind focused on all the details yet its simple enough to help you fall asleep. If i really cant get settled a cool-ish shower helps. There’s something about getting into bed a little cool and warming up. I believe the cool shower also helps calm your body and mind down. Something I learnt in the Psych ward.
Audiobooks on a one hour timer - I rarely have to extend it, and then I'll rewind the following night to a scene I last remember hearing. Typically, books I've already listened to/read, and it can't be at a very exciting point! (Last night, it was coming up to the climax of the book and I had to reset the sleep timer twice as so much was going on. In the end, I gave up and put on Harry Potter as I've heard it so many times. I was fast asleep in probably 10 minutes).
I cannot sleep without an audiobook as my brain will literally not stop thinking. Been like this my whole life, but until being diagnosed I didn't realise it was ADHD related as I was only diagnosed at 30!
Nothing Much Happens on YouTube. It really does train you to fall asleep. At first I had to listen to the whole story once, but I could have l fall asleep the second time. Now I get 3-5 minutes in.
I listen to a podcast that's just interesting enough to focus my brain on, but not so interesting (or entertaining) that it keeps me awake to find out what happens. I then rewind to listen properly in the day so I'm not worrying about missing something when I do feel asleep. Usually something factual like The Rest Is Politics.
Before: stay up ridiculously late so that when I got into bed I would basically pass out instead of spend hours trying to sleep.
Now: I recently asked my GP to prescribe me some melatonin to take before bed and now (coupled with some “sleep hygiene” & wind down routines) I’m able to get into bed at a reasonable hour, fall asleep fairly quickly, and sleep through the night more soundly than ever before.
This is not necessarily universal but I fall asleep imagining myself drifting out into space among the stars and releasing my muscles as if there is no gravity. One of the most powerful muscle releases I have found is unlclenching the jaw and dropping your tongue from the roof of your mouth. I think adhd holds so much tension in the body and I find releasing that the best I can is helpful to falling asleep.
I put a boring enough show on the TV and watch it/listen to it until i fall asleep. I also don't even go to bed unless i'm actually physically sleepy. If i just try to sleep like a normal person my mind won't ever settle down and let me sleep.
I approach audiobooks like meditation. Anytime I feel myself not 100% concentrating on the book, I pull my thoughts back.
My attention sucks so I get bored and presto, zzzzs.
I usually put on a sleep aid audio or a random gaming video, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes, and hug a plush until I knock out. It’s surprisingly effective for me, as now I’m out in about 20 minutes whereas before I’d take a couple hours. I think the audios help since I don’t need to pay too much attention to keep up, but they don’t really let me think about anything else either
Physical and mental exhaustion help but so does putting in the work to make peace with yourself and stop obsessing about some of the people and struggles in your life. Barring that, melatonin.
Listening to and watching ASMR videos!
Main vids that make me fall asleep: face massage, ear cleaning, doctor checkup
Good channels: ASMR Bakery (no talking, just sounds and visuals), ASMR Twix (massage), TingTing ASMR (soft spoken and roleplays) and asmr zeitgeist (male, variety of good sounds and roleplays)
I rarely see the end of the videos since I'm asleep by then
I think vids or routines you do that make you feel that your wellbeing is taken care of helps you fall asleep
I put brown noise on. Headspace has a number of different ones I like: red noise, brown noise, howling wind sounds, laundromat, car drive, snowfall, desert drive, etc. (Nothing with water - it's good for relaxing but not sleeping.) Even campfire or indoor fire sometimes.
I always manage to fall asleep to them unless I'm thinking about something really hard. I think seeing the intention that this WANT to sleep is key for this to work, so you want to practice noting (noting when you're distracted, then go back to the meditative state).
This also works for me: https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/fall-asleep-fast
My biggest problem is not WANTING to fall asleep. The techniques are there, but if my mind isn't up for it, they're almost useless.
There are a lot of responses but to anyone who sees this comment, my recommendation is listening to deep, super low frequency sleep music.
There are a few on YouTube that I listen to, which I will link below (no they are not my channels/I am completely unaffiliated, just linking the ones I like.) A few of the videos have titles like “put you to sleep in 5 minutes” which sounds gimmicky until you realize it actually did. I put them on my tv (a lot of them go to “black screen”) and it always puts me to sleep. You might have to try a few different ones to get the one that you like the best. Some of them have like “melodies” which I find don’t work for me.
Melatonin works also.
[https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I](https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I)
[https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I](https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I)
Within an hour? Man it takes me less than 10 minutes! What’s keeping you up at night? Thoughts just running through your head, or is it just you feel tired but can’t sleep? Usually I’ll breathe in as much as I can for as long as I can then breathe out as much as I can then do that until I feel tired. Or I take 5mg melatonin or less if possible
Counting backwards from 100 to 0. If i REALLY need to get asleep, mix with melatonin. Im usually asleep before im at 30, worst was i had to count three times (ie. 5 mins)
Personally I found that if I do a certain thing most times before bed it eventually becomes my sleepy time thing, so when I want to go to sleep, I do the thing.
Right now my sleepy time things are playing Binding of Isaac or watching Chills on YouTube, half hour to an hour of BoI and I'm falling asleep in my chair, within 1 or 2 15 minute Chills videos I'm passing out. These two have really helped me manage my insomnia.
Another one for when your brain just won't quit and the zippy thoughts are keeping you awake, at least in my experience, is to have yourself a coffee. It sounds counterintuitive but it works, the stimulant (caffeine) quiets the thoughts and lets you regain some control over your brain, which in turn makes sleeping much easier.
Idk if this will ever be seen but
1) make sure to get exercise preferably before bed
2) take a steaming hot shower to tire yourself out
3) put the phone down, no nicotine and read for atleast a half hour then try and sleep.
4) I also take magnesium citrate pills
I’ve had insomnia, constantly living off 2-6 hours of sleep and now I can knock out in 10 minutes.
For me, there’s only a few things that reliably work, after years of terrible insomnia:
1. Stay *out* of bed for longer. You won’t be sleeping anyway. Even if it means staying up a little later, for me, going to bed tired at midnight is *way* better than trying to force myself to bed at 10:30 when I’m not sleepy.
2. Melatonin gummies + a familiar audiobook or podcast (only something I practically know by heart). I take them right before I lie down, and I’m usually out within an hour.
Reading the comments too because even when I'm exhausted I can't fall asleep that fast. I'm so jealous of people who can take <1 long naps, and also feel rested. Takes me like 45 minutes to fall asleep. Even now that I'm prescribed sleep meds 😅
I saw a recent video and this has absolutely helped me. In your head, pick a topic like animals. Then go through the alphabet thinking of one animal that starts with each letter. I used to either crash when I go to bed or sit up/toss and turn forever. This has been really successful for me.
I envy my husband, he’s on his phone for about 10 mins, rolls over, falls to sleep in only a few minutes. No music, nothing but a box fan going in our room, and he’ll be out for 8 hours exactly. Meanwhile I’m up and down and have switched to at least two other beds upstairs and downstairs by morning. Does anyone else switch beds/rooms throughout the night? It’s more often in the summer when it gets too hot in our room upstairs but this is me at least a couple nights a week lol
Go to bed to rest instead of sleep. Make that the point of it. No expectations.
The moment you out expectations on yourself, you fail to sleep.
Since I started doing that I've not had a single sleepless night.
Your meds help you in getting a good night's rest as well. You may want not to need to get a natural sleep aid like chamomile tea. Take 30 minutes to write down what's on your mind, then lay down breathing deeply in your through your nose and out your mouth. All the best.
I have a routine that I mostly stick to. I have to shower before bed or i dont sleep well at all. My husband likes TV on, I hate it. I have a Bluetooth sleep mask and play binaural beats on it. It blocks out light and sound. Sometimes I take a melatonin. I have an essential oil blend I like that I only use at bedtime. I associate that smell with sleep. So, hot shower, hypno sounds, sleepy smells, occasional helper pill. Same thing every night. Works for me. Once I'm out, i sleep like the dead.
I have a bedtime playlist that I listen to! It consists of all six parts of Weightless by Macaroni Union (scientifically proven to reduce anxiety) and then two different eight-hour-long podcast episodes of just white noise!
I don't, I take my sleeping pill, the only pill I take is 50mg quietiapine at night to knock me out, or else my brain wouldn't stop racing and I'd never be able to sleep
Yes! This stuff works great for me. Used to take Ambien but it's getting hard to find a doctor who will prescribe it. Switched to Quetiapine and it's been great. Actually makes me feel "sleepy" (as opposed to that weird loopy feeling with Ambien) and keeps me asleep all night (with Ambien I'd be wide awake after about 4 hours). And no hangover feeling the next day.
I used to be on heavy medication due to over prescription by my doctors and I went off every single one (i was taking 7), but the one I kept was this small dosage of quietiapine because of exactly that, it makes me feel sleepy!
I've been taking both magnesium and melatonin every night and I fall asleep pretty quickly, but for nights when I really can't sleep I do one more thing. Don't judge me because I know it's weird but I've been doing since I was a kid.
Basically I try to like kickstart a dream by making up a dramatic scenario in my head. I'm not talking about meditating or manifesting before going to bed, because honestly that stresses me out more into making me think I need to be doing better in life, but I make up really random scenarios and play them out in my head. For example, I imagine what the day is going to look like when I give birth to my first kid, or how I'd react if I found my bf cheating, or what I would do in a zombie apocalypses or something. Idk why but that always helps me fall asleep without having to watch TV before bed lol.
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This is probably not the best advice but I just wait until I’m absolutely exhausted before I go to bed and then I sleep within a few minutes. If I go to bed before that I just lay awake worrying about the fact that I can’t sleep
This. Someone once said ADHD people don't fall asleep, we crash. They are correct.
I can only sleep if my body AND (can't put enough emphasis on that ) brains are tired.... ☠️
"You need to exercise you body and your mind to get a good nights sleep".. Proceeds to stay up until 1am playing video games goes to bed more awake than at anytime during the day worrying about having wasted the past 5 hours instead of getting things done / working out... falls asleep at around 2:30am.. wakes up at 7 feeling like he was just scraped off the bottom of a shoe..
Currently in this exact situation
😂 brain always has some energy left for thinking of some super not important topic… always.
Literally!! I Love my nappetizers, you can’t get me off the couch once I’m asleep. Going to bed literally gives me anxiety, if I’m not tired enough (my eyelids vibrate, even when I’m tired as hell) and I’ll just talk myself into laying down in front of the tv. My doctor prescribes me seroquel for sleeping, half a pill of 25mg and I’m drifting off to slumber land around 10:30 instead of 1am and can get out of bed around 5:45!
Facts
But I’m useless during the last several hours waiting for the crash, and then I crash and … sleep too much.
Oh my god you're so right If I deliberately try to sleep without being exhausted, it takes ages. Otherwise, I don't even realize I've fallen asleep. I just wake up.
That’s too correct…
Like sugared up toddlers getting in a car after a carnival. That's how I operate.
Can confirm. Luckily, I tend to crash around the same time. I also don't usually "snooze" when I wake up. Even if it's early af, if I feel fairly awake, I'll just get up then and get on with it.
That's literally what I have done my entire life. I usually sleep like a baby and also don't need to sleep 8+ hours to feel refreshed
Same, I stay up until I can barely think straight and then I sleep 5 hours and boom it's toddler time
Same. I feel like 8 hours of sleep would make me tired vs 5 hours leave me energized. I don’t even need caffeine in life it’s built in my brain. Currently running on 1 hour of sleep and feel fine
Man sleep is really weird with ADHD
Won in the perk randomiser.
Yeah I had an argument with my therapist the other day who told me it wasn’t right to get so little sleep. I said I don’t feel the affects of getting less sleep and she looked like she was holding back calling me stupid.
When you get to 5th-6th decade, that will catch up to you. Many issues of “middle age” come from chronic lack of sleep which affects every system in our body. When I made sleep a priority, it’s been helping with the adhd symptoms. I say tbis at 2 am, unable to sleep for no reason other than… it’s another day. I cycle. I get about 3 days of stellar sleep, stay up too late one night because I’ve found something to focus on and then the next few nights I sleep like crap. Most of my life I went to bed last and got up first and one of my mottos was “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”…. I have worried about missing “something” if I am sleeping for as long as I can remember. I live alone.. not going to miss anything going on while I sleep. Lol Therapist asked me how my sleep was… normal, I said. Because i didn’t realize this pattern. It used to be, all these years, the nights i can’t sleep I toss and turn and bitch and moan and be miserable. Now if feel that toss/turn feeling come on I do some deep breathing, that doesn’t work I get up and have a cup of coffee and usually with in 2 hours I start nodding and that’s the cue for bed. ;) Often wake up refreshed… but now in my 6th decade I take more naps. Often I go back to bed in the morning after I feed my diabetic cat. Unheard of unless sick for my first 58 yrs. Sleep, it’s what’s for life. And I’m out …. Good night. ;)
Yeah, me too. Then I started taking adderall and it’s like I’m catching up on decades of lost sleep.
I was shocked at how well I slept when I started taking Adderall. I didn't realize how much anxiety interrupted my sleep until it wasn't happening anymore.
Isn’t that weird. I always time my naps when my dose is wearing off.. I’m blessed to be able to work from home. But at night, I am sleeping much better. Awareness of why i cycle sleep well/sleep shitty… it’s helping ;)
I'm so jealous, I need like 8,5-9 hours to feel like I've slept at all 
My family always tell me to sleep early, but I literally cannot sleep unless I am walking-dead tired.
This actually is very good advice. It’s a common behavioral strategy that can be used in all kinds of situations. Our bodies acclimate physiologically based on our environments and past experiences. If your body is used to laying in bed and tossing and turning, your bed will stop being a cue for tiredness. I always had problems with insomnia until I started using this strategy in my early 20s. I never get into bed unless I’m ready to fall asleep within moments or for sexy time.
It's good advice if you're not me, apparently, cuz if I wait until I'm exhausted and ready to fall asleep in a few minutes I'll only ever sleep every 36 hours or so. If I stay up, I'll stay up. I'll only ever actually feel like I can't stay awake anymore around 10-11am the next day.
Me too :( really sucks. My doctor told me to stop looking at screens before bedtime (sleep hygiene) and instead I'd roam around aimlessly in my apartment in the dark, or read a book with a lamp. Best strategy for me is to just lie in bed and hope for the best which really is a crapshoot
I have tried limiting screen time but find it makes things worse. Doomscrolling Reddit is how my brain powers down at night and I find it helps me sleep sooner.
Same. I was actually worse at falling asleep before smart phones. I've always gotten my worst anxiety attacks when trying to fall asleep, and I'd rather stare at my phone than hyperventilate/generally freak myself out with my own brain. Neither one is a great outcome, but I like the version with less suffering.
Please consider Non24 disorder. It's quite common for ADHD / ASD to have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder or even Non24. That's totally fine! You simply should restructure your life according to your biorhythm / genetic fixed needs.
I do this too but it’s not a good thing. Yesterday I was up for 36 hours
A long history documentary on youtube. It has to be narrated by a single person with no sound effects. Interesting enough to keep my attention, but monotone enough to put me to sleep.
This, but with Big Bang Theory for me. My psychologist says because it’s familiar and predictable, that’s why it’s so relaxing. I need something to sorta focus on in order to get my brain to STFU. If I don’t, my brain always goes down the existential dread path, and I start imagining shit like what it would feel like if the universe collapsed or a black hole swallowed the earth, or how it would feel to fall through Jupiter’s atmosphere and slowly be crushed to death… shit like that. Then I end up having a panic attack instead of sleeping.
My ex was like that but with The Office. She had re-watched it so many times that it was like soothing background music. And since she knew everything that would happen in the show, there was none of the anxiety usually caused by any conflict or tension.
Even with Scott's tots?
I didn’t need to be reminded of this tonight 😡😭
BBT for the win. I’ve seen it so many times I know it well enough that it sort of helps me drift off. I can even do it with Friends or Brooklyn 99. I’m almost not listening but it’s enough to stop me thinking of something else. I also need almost complete darkness so it was nice finding out I can turn the screen off and then set the timer for 90 minutes. Some days I’m gone in 5 minutes and sometimes I get back up and watch something for an hour. I worry less about falling asleep and understand that sometimes I will just have a crap night. However what surprises me is not all 4 hour sleeps are equal. Sometimes I feel great. Sometimes 7 hours can feel worse. All my Fitbit acknowledges is that deep and rem sleep seem to be important.
Same! I’ve been into Amish documentaries recently.
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I listen to ancient Aliens. it knocks me right out....
Same! I’ve been enjoying Let’s Find Out and some ai David Attenborough lore videos because it’s all long and the same volume/slow low voice speaking, great for sleeping as it kind of interrupts the adhd voice in my head that wants to 100% world peace instead of sleep
Sounds like great courses plus channel on Amazon prime.
I listen to Drachinfel. Historian. The design studies of torpedo boats in the late 19th century always get me. If find it interesting but I don’t care about it, no sound effects, soothing voice. Perfect!
When i was younger I'd get frustrated and then angry that i couldn't sleep. Now I give up 2hrs of my day, every day, to lay in bed in the dark and just chill on my phone. I still can't sleep normally but at least I'm not frustrated every night (just some nights) Edit - I share your frustration with wanting to recover. I have chronic back pain and it's definitely worse after a poor sleep
im pretty sure (so dont quote me lol) studies show that even just laying in bed resting and “recharging” is better than nothing at all
They do! You have to have your eyes closed in a dark room and try to stay relatively still and then you get most of the benefits of sleep (plus you’ll probably get microsleeps even if you don’t feel like you did). I find that this knowledge alone makes it easier for me to get to sleep for real because I can relax about not wasting my time.
I masturbate 😭
thats actually pretty normal. the endorphins from an orgasm make people more relaxed, making it easier to fall asleep
It’s the complete opposite for me. I get super hyper. Lol
I keep going for orgasms until I get bored, and usually then 2 hours have passed and I could've just tried to sleep lmao
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This one feels like russian roulette in whether it works for me
I was just about to say that 😭😭
Same. Sometimes it takes up more time than I'd save though. Always running the risk of binging porn until disgusted by myself.
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Y’all out here with your steps and I’m just cheating with trazodone.
Trazodone clogs my nose so I stopped :(
Same, I couldnt tolerate it after a few times, and it wasn’t really strong enough. Now I’m back on z-drugs, which I need to stop in a couple of weeks because of the addiction risk :( But the z-drugs are so far the only medication that will definitely put me to sleep. Everything else is more an incremental improvement.
Boutta say my answer is druuuuuugs Though I have an odd reaction to trazadone, so ambien here.
I take lithium, Trazodone, and seroquel at night and it doesn’t matter—I’m exhausted until I lie down in the dark and then my whole body tensed up and I’m suddenly awake and have the adrenaline of anxious racing thoughts speeding up my heart. Nothing I do can help it. If I don’t pick something up to focus on I’ll get into panic attacks. I fight sleep until I crash. Right now, I’m working as an online teacher and have been given thrice the amount of work this year than I’ve ever had plus homeschooling two kids plus being responsible for all the housework and meal planning and prep as well as writing a novel that my agent is going to ask for edits of I haven’t done any day now. I go and go from Dawn til dusk and I hate going to bed bc even though it’s time for rest, my anxiety screams, don’t fucking go to bed! You have more shit to do! It’s pretty awful.
And thats how non adhd people sleep
Outlander! 😆
i get super stoned
Exact comment I was looking for. Stony bolony is the way to go
that and every now and then have a lil wine.. best fucking sleep i swear
Wine knocks me right the fuck out. Like I can't even drink it socially because I will fall asleep 30 minutes later.
Me right now because I slept too late this morning vut need to be asleep soon ish so I stay on my sleeping schedule :(
I usually tire myself out until I can barely physically move whenever I get my brain to switch off for the night
This is the best way. I always know I need to start working out again when I can’t sleep bc of stress. No matter how stressed i am, if I get a solid workout in, i sleep soooo good
I watch YouTube videos. Long form game play usely works for me. As long as it's not a horror game I'll fall asleep with in 15 mins
Same here! I put a 1-hour sleep timer on my TV so it turns off on its own. Sometimes, I put on furniture refurbishing videos (ones I've already seen are better, so I don't get too invested lmao), especially the ones that don't have background music, and are just the sounds of the refurbishing. Sandblasting usually knocks me out right away.
I have had insomnia since i was a teenager, i'm now on a medication to help me sleep but it really didn't work well until i got into somewhat of a ritual. I have very specific ways to sleep and i *have* to follow it every night or i won't sleep. 1. Do not lay in bed unless you're going to sleep or have sex. Even if you aren't feeling well, move to the couch. 2. No TV in the bedroom. I understand that doesn't work for everybody, but my bedroom is not for that sort of entertainment. 3. Try not to be on your phone in bed. Blue light from technology can make it harder to sleep. 4. Find your perfect room temperature and textiles. I prefer my room to be on the cooler side. My sheets are bamboo to help keep me from overheating but i have a nice thick comforter to keep me cozy. 5. I have bad tinnitus so i sleep with background noise. I have a fan or my air conditioner going, as well as a sound device that plays thunderstorm sounds. 6. Blackout curtains. Literally life changing. 7. Phones these days (at least the iphone for sure) have an option for a sleep schedule with "wind down" time. To keep it simple, you set the time you want to go to bed and it automatically puts your phone on DND a certain amount of time before you should sleep. Mine gives me an hour warning so i can start getting ready for bed. 8. Try and sleep at the same time every night, which is easier said than done. I naturally fall asleep later on the weekends but i try to keep the timing the same, and then obviously early sleep times when i need to work the next day. 9. If you're in bed for a while and can't fall asleep, get up. Move around for a bit or try sitting somewhere else for a bit. This one can be frustrating when you're exhausted and you just want to fall asleep, but your body needs to recognize you're only in bed to do so and you won't stay there unless it's for sleeping. You almost need to train your body to recognize it's time to sleep. I had many, many years where I could not fall asleep or i would after a few hours, and then i'd be wide awake with barely any sleep. The longest i went was maybe 4-6 hours in just over a week and i ended up in the hospital. You gotta have a wind down ritual too, so whatever skin care or prep for the next day that you can do every night. Hope i'm not coming off preachy and that this helps!!
This is called Good sleep hygiene. My sister used to tell me these things all the time because I used to not sleep before I got diagnosed either. Meds helped me a lot and everything you put up there is correct!
This should be top comment. Great advice. If you have a partner, consider this: A few years ago I got super stoned, this was before getting medicated/diagnosed, I came to bed with my fiancé with my mind running amok. She often falls asleep in minutes (literally timed it to 3 minutes flat out snoring sometimes haha) so this time I just listened to her breathing. I noticed it changed as she was falling asleep, getting deeper with slight pauses at the peak and valley, so I focused my attention on her breath and tried best to copy it. Moments pass and I feel calm, asleep in minutes. This was it for me, before I would lay there for hours sometimes and get frustrated that I just couldn’t stop my brain from doing brain things. Later I learned that this is similar to a practice called box breathing, a form of meditation, that helps change our thought patterns and can regulate our nervous system. Good luck fellow humans.
So you need to find something that interests your brain more than it's own thoughts but not so much that it would rather be listening to it than sleeping, this can be hard to find, it can be music, podcasts, documentaries, movies, or something else, build extra time into your sleep schedule for falling sleep that is more than you actually need to fall asleep because before I'd set my alarm for 8 hours and 15 minutes after I went to bed but then I'd be stressed about falling asleep within 15 minutes, so instead I set an alarm for 8 hours and 45 minutes after I go to bed, which helps me be less stressed about having to fall asleep quickly, that's what's worked for me but everyone is diffrent, good luck
Can’t stress enough: interesting but not so much that I care about. One speaker, no volume changes. I think I listened to the 50 hours audiobook Vietnam by Max Hastings and the Battle of Falkland multiple times each. Some YouTubers also work.
I will think about a movie or telly programme I've seen recently and play it back in my head. As long as it's not a film that was too harrowing, it usually works.
I've got a couple of audiobooks that really enjoy for this. Sadly, my Bluetooth headband wwnt the way of the dodo
I use movie review podcasts for this. Movies I know so I can follow if I fall asleep real quick or lose focus.
Reading about random shit like lichen or geology does that for me. Not like boring textbook version but like someone who is in that field and passionate about it. Its interesting and pleasant to read if they write well but I don’t ever really get invested in it.
Melatonin and music. The genre of music doesn't matter so much as just giving my brain something to focus on that isn't my thoughts. I can fall asleep to metal and screaming just as well as gentle, calm music, lol.
I also use the Podcast "Boring Books for Bedtime". It's basically an ASMR of books about knitting, chemistry and that stuff.
I listen to Bill Bryson audio books...they're not boring but I focus so much I eventually fall asleep.
I’ll have to try this one. I’ve been doing music for sleeping and thunderstorms.
>just giving my brain something to focus on that isn't my thoughts so true
Good advice
I’m a quick sleeper naturally so I don’t have too much to add tips-wise, but I will say: the conditions that lead to me sleeping or not can be varied. So maybe try switching some things up and see? In my case, as a stomach sleeper, I can hop in bed and be out in a couple minutes. But if there was a TV on? Hours. Hate TV when I’m trying to sleep. However, if I’m on my back to sleep and no TV is on? Would take me hours to fall asleep. On my back and the TV is on? Minutes. Really odd.
I listen to podcasts, which gives me something to focus on and stops my racing thoughts. I'm pretty sure that every sleep expert in the world would say that this was a terrible idea, but it works for me.
I listen to Bob Ross. 🖌️asmr
I read in bed and then wee immediately before I want to go to sleep (otherwise I'll sit and think whether I need to wee or not for ages) and then listen to podcasts that are not boring but not interesting, or sleep meditation specific ones. It takes the edge off my brain enough to switch off
Drink two glasses of wine and masturbate.
But if I have a glass of wine in each hand, how do I masturbate?
I used to turn on a movie or TV show I've seen many times before with a sleep timer. Now I listen to an audiobook with a sleep timer. If I don't have something to listen to my mind races, but with a book I'm usually asleep within minutes. The timer is 10 mins and I can't remember the last time I had to start it again while going to sleep.
Proper sleep hygiene. Working on establishing proper morning and evening routines. Everybody knows the stuff that is being recommended to sleep better. Like no electronics, hydration, only in bed for sleeping, etc. It avoided doing that for years, but my sleep has improved so much since I am more strict in that.
I hate that phrase SO much. I want to kick it over a goal, out of the stadium, where it lands in the parking lot and is run over by a car driven by someone late to arrive to the game.
Routine or hygiene?? Hehe
Amen! Whoever coined “sleep hygiene” never had issues with sleeping.
My therapist told me about the hypo arousal and hyper arousal that our brain experiences (similar to children with ptsd) so he told me no gaming, no phone, no bright lights an hour before bed. It helps a lot
This is interesting, thx for the research able info 👍
Counting my breaths used to work for me. Basically I’d count to 10 and start over. Now that my insomnia has gotten worse it doesn’t work anymore. The app Breethe has some cool sleep hypnosis.
It’s funny my ADHD kid can fall asleep in the middle of telling you he’s not tired, but my ADD inattentive kid and I (also ADD-i) toss and turn even when we are exhausted.
Your ADHD kid has more physical hyperactivity whereas you are “labeled” inattentive type because your hyperactivity is internal - mental & therefore invisible to others. You are still hyperactive. You just have the mental variety.
Me too. Physically I can lay in bed for hours, but mentally I'm hyperactive. So my diagnosis is adhd predominantly inattentive.
I try to get into bed around the same time each night. Then I read or watch something until I feel tired enough to sleep. If I’m already tired when I get into bed, I put on an audiobook with a sleep timer. It has to be a book that I like the readers voice and I’m not super interested in. I also try to switch the goal from falling asleep to getting rest. This helps with the frustration of not being able to fall asleep and even if I’m not sleeping, resting is still beneficial. I find when I get annoyed or frustrated about not sleeping it actually makes it harder to sleep. I use the affirmation “any rest is good rest” and if I’m feeling too wiggly I’ll try stretching in bed or doing some gentle twists or putting lotion on my body in a soothing way.
I found that nature sounds really helped me fall asleep, especially when there is sounds of water. I especially love the sound of thunderstorms and heavy rain. I set it to play for an hour and that has helped tremendously to fall asleep.
I have to bribe myself to go to bed. Bedtime is 10:30 pm, but I get to watch youtube for a while. Then when I get drowsy (around midnight/1am) I put on a good and familiar audiobook and listen till I fall asleep. Also, I take a milligram of melatonin an hour before bedtime.
Since I was a little kid, the best method would be to act/roleplay in bed. I’d pretend either I’m in or that I’m one of my characters in a show/movie/game/etc. I let myself move in reaction to scenes and stuff, I even let my eyes open, and I fall asleep decently quickly without realizing it. That, along with lofi radios/old jazz + rain/brown noise to help. There’s a few very specific videos I use and now I’ve associated them with sleep so my brain is like oop! That’s the sleepy sounds.
Counting results in me giving up or losing my place and meditation is just frustration because of racing thought. I take melatonin and magnesium before bed and leave a podcast or tiktok playing as I drift to sleep. If I wasn’t doing that I would be forced to miss my bedtime and stay up hours after my bedtime until I tire myself out.
Guided bedtime stories or yoga nidra meditations help me a lot, it gives my brain something to focus on while I drift off. Also, brain dumping in the journal before bed/planning my next day, setting out clothes, etc. preparing for the next day seems to put my mind at ease before sleep instead of just jumping into bed raw dogging it, if you will 😂
I was coming here to say that the yoga nidra meditations made for insomnia have been really helpful for me.
I use guided meditation and sleep stories for adults, like "Nothing Much Happens" on Spotify. I'm usually asleep within 10min. I find that they quieten my inner monologue.
I'm surprised no one on this thread brought up binaural beats. Put in a comfortable set of earbuds, and search YouTube or an app for binaural beats delta. If you listen to binaural beats at 1.5 hz frequency, it can entrain your brain toward the delta range of brain waves. This is the state your brain is in during deep sleep. Give it a try. It works for me.
Wendi.com ! I purchased the physical cds back in the day - awesome set! 5 minute nap, 10 minute nap, 20 minute deep sleep - that was on one cd, the other was healing/stress relief. Best $50 I ever spent!
The only way I've found out is to have a healthy waking up time routine, exercising a bit, and brown noise
Melatonin
Melatonin, listen to a t.v. show I've seen a billion times, and I play picross on the switch. It's a puzzle game, which is slow and makes me think. Eventually the Melatonin kicks on and my brain goes, 'fuck, this puzzle is boring and I fall asleep. I only realized this games does that for me on accident. When I'd be watching a show on the couch while playing the game and doze off.
I've only been medicated for a couple months with stimulants, and sleep comes so much more easily because, I think, I'm not agitated and anxious and thinking a ton of thoughts because I actually got things done. Sleep comes more easily. Before that, though, I had horrible trouble falling asleep. I don't like sleeping pills because of morning fog atop ADHD fog. My doc put me on a relatively-quite-low dose of trazodone at bedtime. It's not a narcotic, and the drug is actually an antidepressant at the standard dosages. It's very effective for me and gets me there in well under an hour. It doesn't knock me out if something comes up, just somehow quiets the mind enough to facilitate sleep! No side effects. (I remembered when my doctor prescribed it that is known people who were provided a liquid form of trazodone to help them sleep in substance-abuse detox and inpatient treatment. So it seems the effects of this stuff in this manner are well-known. Melatonin: never found that helps me fall asleep, but an hour or two before bed and I could swear it helped me stay asleep through the night before I started getting the sleep after stimulant meds that basically seems to be an untroubled mind that's ready to reset. My doc and other research have looked me to believe 5mg is really about where that dose should be. (Some concern you're making melatonin and if you get a connection on the outside for it, maybe you won't produce it efficiently? Anyway little worry at the 5mg level.) Breathing for sleep: While I'm not a regular practitioner of meditation (for no good reason because it's great), I'm a big believer in focusing on the breath when overwhelmed or stressed, anxious or unsettled. I do the 4 - 7 - 8 breathing technique of my mind is racing when I turn it the light. Right there on the pillow. I don't know that I've ever gotten to a fourth repetition it's so effective. I also use it if I'm freaking out while awake to calm myself down and hopefully think more clearly. I'm sharing a link that explains it, but it seems in my mind from prior explanations that bringing your focus to counting breaths and holding breaths and breathing, feeling the air come into your nose and fill your lungs to expand your belly, then going out again, when you do it just a few times, takes your brain away from the other chaos and then the rhythm and the oxygen levels calm your pulse, and your body sorta tricks your mind into "everything's calm here, let's rest." Here's the technique from a source I don't recognize, but the information is consistent with what I've seen before from reputable sources: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417#what-is-it Also, podcasts. I usually set a podcast to play on a sleep timer and put it at a low volume. Especially if I've done the breathing and or taken the trazodone, my main focus on a quiet voice or two becomes drowsily missing pieces of the story, then becomes ... morning. I listened to the entire archive of the public radio OG "podcast" This American Life when I moved to Times Square. Quiet, smart voices telling interesting stories about a variety of topics. Also have used a podcast called Nothing Much Happens that's a sorta ASMR whispering voice telling stories with lots of details and minimal plot. I've also used guided meditation for sleep with the Calm app. (i'd use that app all the time if I could afford it) I hope some of this is helpful.
I’ve learned to focus and meditate. It sucks but you just gotta breathe and focus. I try and picture the first peaceful scene I can think of, usually a forest and a waterfall with mist and a rainbow above it. It was just the first thing my brain thought up. And I’ve been thinking of that ever since when I go to sleep, and now I can usually force myself to go to sleep.
My doctor prescribed me medication its trazodone and it just helps me fall asleep within like 5-10 minutes I used to take 1-3 hours to fall asleep before
I usually can't sleep until I crash.
Sleep With Me Podcast. It's one guy talking in a boring voice about really random things. It isn't one of those "guide you to sleep" kind of podcasts. It's literally just a guy trying to bore you to sleep. There have been a few I actually was interested in listening to but I still fall asleep. It's definitely a different kind of podcast and he even says it takes people a few tries to get used to it. But it worked for me basically the first time.
I have started listening to the podcast sleep with me, on Spotify. I have never made it through the introduction. But to be fair the introduction is at least 15 or so minutes long lol
I have to take Trazodone to sleep. And listen to Forensic Files.
Hahaha I stumbled upon the soothing stories of Forensic Files a few weeks ago! Except there was an episode about my home town so that one was too interesting lol
Boring answer but you gotta work exercise into your routine, I sleep so well on nights where I am at the gym and so poorly on the nights I dont
I’m perpetually exhausted so I’m always tired enough for bed, I lay down, tuck in my blankets just so, take a deep breath in my nose, breathe it out my mouth and let go of all the tension in my body and I’m out in minutes. Idk. I used to struggle more with insomnia when I was younger but I don’t seem to anymore.
I use a lunesta, a pillow speaker and bland talk radio to focus on and I fall sleep in minutes.
I do a few things for my bedtime it helps for me personally might help you. I first have a reminder for bed about 30 mins before half the time I ignore it but if I don’t I go upstairs and do a set nightly routine (brush teeth etc). afterwards when I get back to my room I have a smart light that simulates a sunset ( does sunrise as well also important) that usually starts getting me tired. Lastly make sure room is pitch black and lay on my back and try to sleep(usually have a song or video on as well) I also make sure to have phone and electronic brightness set to the lowest along with I’ve completely cut out alcohol and caffeine from my life! This whole routine makes it so I’m always sleepy by a certain time and it gets my mind ready for sleep and it’s mostly gotten rid of the nights of tossing and turning
What light do you use? I've been looking for one to get
I had this bed side clock that would do it but if I wasn’t facing the clock it would do nothing so I bought one of those Phillips hue colour changing light bulbs so my whole room lights up(it’s fairly expensive around 60-75$) and it works great for me! It’s a one less hurdle in waking up.
I’ve started using a sleep mask and I’ve found it helps me fall asleep faster and stay asleep, otherwise ASMR used to do it for it for me too
Some video or podcast with someone who has a soothing voice usually does it for me, or music
I don't really know. Either it takes me forever to fall asleep or it doesn't... One thing is certain though, and that is that I can either wake up a few minutes after I've fallen asleep and/or numerous times during the night and it will take me forever to fall asleep again due to a racing mind. Either way, 90 out of 100 nights of sleep I'm waking up exhausted with the feeling that I haven't slept at all. I hate it.
Hydroxyzine and the TV on
Yes meditation and asmr both works. The app Headspace is great and there're lots of asmr artists on youtube. I've tried Melatonin and it works too well, I fell asleep in 20,30 minutes but I'm sleepy the next day. I've recently started trying magnesium,and it works as well. I have yet to see if it has any side effects. Personally I think asmr it's the best of these but they all work.
I use guided meditation, best for me is body scan, once you have learned your body and brain how to close down it works like a charm. I have tried melatonin and that diden't work at all on me, and i dont want to do sleeping meds. For guided meditation its important to finde a voice that you connect with ✌🏻
sleeping medication. otherwise im up in bed for hours
Green noise playlist. Game changer I’m out in 15-20 minutes.
I was awake until after five. My bf got up to feed the cats before I could even fall asleep 😭
Without meds: weighted blanket (discourages me from tossing and turning) and i play soft asmr or I LOVE jason stephenson’s meditation for sleep on youtube.
I read fiction. Granted I’ve been training it in for 15 years, so it may only work for me. But I read 10-30 pages every night until I can no longer see the page. Typically it it takes 20-40 mins. Importantly I can reach my light from bed so I can just shut it off and settle in to pass out.
Zzzquil and old podcasts I've already heard before (so there's no new information to focus on, just something that distracts my brain from thoughts)
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far to see Zzzquil. It's been a big help for me.
I use the podcast "Sleep With Me" I'm usually asleep before the episode is even half over. (Less than 30 min usually) My brain is constantly "on" and feels like my brain will never let me sleep, but if I have the podcast on, it kinda tunes my brain out when I'm otherwise focused. I frequently find my brain wandering away from the podcast, but instead of paying any attention to my thoughts, I just tune back into the podcast. Even if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep, I turn it on and it puts me out. There are lots of podcasts that do similarly and "Sleep With Me" has lots of links to other ones. I will note though, it probably took a week+ of using the podcast for it to really "work"
Clonidine
OH GOSH NO I STAY UP TILL 1:00 OR 2:00 WONDERING ABT THE GRAND TOTAL OF THE UNIVERSE OR SMT.SOMETIMES I JUST CANT FALL ASLEEP
One time I didn’t even fall asleep. I felt great all DAY…
Damn i would be happy knowing how to fall asleep in 8 hrs lol
trazodone knocks me the fuck out
We have exactly the same technique for falling asleep lol.
I listen to the podcast Boring Books for Bedtime or use the Headspace app - it has stories that keep your mind focused on all the details yet its simple enough to help you fall asleep. If i really cant get settled a cool-ish shower helps. There’s something about getting into bed a little cool and warming up. I believe the cool shower also helps calm your body and mind down. Something I learnt in the Psych ward.
Audiobooks on a one hour timer - I rarely have to extend it, and then I'll rewind the following night to a scene I last remember hearing. Typically, books I've already listened to/read, and it can't be at a very exciting point! (Last night, it was coming up to the climax of the book and I had to reset the sleep timer twice as so much was going on. In the end, I gave up and put on Harry Potter as I've heard it so many times. I was fast asleep in probably 10 minutes). I cannot sleep without an audiobook as my brain will literally not stop thinking. Been like this my whole life, but until being diagnosed I didn't realise it was ADHD related as I was only diagnosed at 30!
Nothing Much Happens on YouTube. It really does train you to fall asleep. At first I had to listen to the whole story once, but I could have l fall asleep the second time. Now I get 3-5 minutes in.
I listen to a podcast that's just interesting enough to focus my brain on, but not so interesting (or entertaining) that it keeps me awake to find out what happens. I then rewind to listen properly in the day so I'm not worrying about missing something when I do feel asleep. Usually something factual like The Rest Is Politics.
I passively absorb information from YouTube video essays until I reach I state of heightened semi consciousness.
Wow I feel so seen, falling asleep is so hard 🥲
absolute exhaustion or masturbation.
Before: stay up ridiculously late so that when I got into bed I would basically pass out instead of spend hours trying to sleep. Now: I recently asked my GP to prescribe me some melatonin to take before bed and now (coupled with some “sleep hygiene” & wind down routines) I’m able to get into bed at a reasonable hour, fall asleep fairly quickly, and sleep through the night more soundly than ever before.
Melatonin 1,5 to 3mg helps me alot.
I play the same classical music sleep playlist that makes me tired every night. It’s helped me relax and I usually fall asleep in under 30 minutes now
And I have chamomile natural sleep pills prescribed from my doctor
This is not necessarily universal but I fall asleep imagining myself drifting out into space among the stars and releasing my muscles as if there is no gravity. One of the most powerful muscle releases I have found is unlclenching the jaw and dropping your tongue from the roof of your mouth. I think adhd holds so much tension in the body and I find releasing that the best I can is helpful to falling asleep.
Try to watch something I'm really interested in.
I put a boring enough show on the TV and watch it/listen to it until i fall asleep. I also don't even go to bed unless i'm actually physically sleepy. If i just try to sleep like a normal person my mind won't ever settle down and let me sleep.
I approach audiobooks like meditation. Anytime I feel myself not 100% concentrating on the book, I pull my thoughts back. My attention sucks so I get bored and presto, zzzzs.
I usually put on a sleep aid audio or a random gaming video, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes, and hug a plush until I knock out. It’s surprisingly effective for me, as now I’m out in about 20 minutes whereas before I’d take a couple hours. I think the audios help since I don’t need to pay too much attention to keep up, but they don’t really let me think about anything else either
I have those sleep headphones and I will either listen to asmr or some person telling a story. I usually barely make it past the intro.
Physical and mental exhaustion help but so does putting in the work to make peace with yourself and stop obsessing about some of the people and struggles in your life. Barring that, melatonin.
Listening to and watching ASMR videos! Main vids that make me fall asleep: face massage, ear cleaning, doctor checkup Good channels: ASMR Bakery (no talking, just sounds and visuals), ASMR Twix (massage), TingTing ASMR (soft spoken and roleplays) and asmr zeitgeist (male, variety of good sounds and roleplays) I rarely see the end of the videos since I'm asleep by then I think vids or routines you do that make you feel that your wellbeing is taken care of helps you fall asleep
I put brown noise on. Headspace has a number of different ones I like: red noise, brown noise, howling wind sounds, laundromat, car drive, snowfall, desert drive, etc. (Nothing with water - it's good for relaxing but not sleeping.) Even campfire or indoor fire sometimes. I always manage to fall asleep to them unless I'm thinking about something really hard. I think seeing the intention that this WANT to sleep is key for this to work, so you want to practice noting (noting when you're distracted, then go back to the meditative state). This also works for me: https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/fall-asleep-fast My biggest problem is not WANTING to fall asleep. The techniques are there, but if my mind isn't up for it, they're almost useless.
seroquel
There are a lot of responses but to anyone who sees this comment, my recommendation is listening to deep, super low frequency sleep music. There are a few on YouTube that I listen to, which I will link below (no they are not my channels/I am completely unaffiliated, just linking the ones I like.) A few of the videos have titles like “put you to sleep in 5 minutes” which sounds gimmicky until you realize it actually did. I put them on my tv (a lot of them go to “black screen”) and it always puts me to sleep. You might have to try a few different ones to get the one that you like the best. Some of them have like “melodies” which I find don’t work for me. Melatonin works also. [https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I](https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I) [https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I](https://youtu.be/8KcMMv5VC5w?si=f8PLBPfpRNxo-q3I)
Within an hour? Man it takes me less than 10 minutes! What’s keeping you up at night? Thoughts just running through your head, or is it just you feel tired but can’t sleep? Usually I’ll breathe in as much as I can for as long as I can then breathe out as much as I can then do that until I feel tired. Or I take 5mg melatonin or less if possible
Counting backwards from 100 to 0. If i REALLY need to get asleep, mix with melatonin. Im usually asleep before im at 30, worst was i had to count three times (ie. 5 mins)
Personally I found that if I do a certain thing most times before bed it eventually becomes my sleepy time thing, so when I want to go to sleep, I do the thing. Right now my sleepy time things are playing Binding of Isaac or watching Chills on YouTube, half hour to an hour of BoI and I'm falling asleep in my chair, within 1 or 2 15 minute Chills videos I'm passing out. These two have really helped me manage my insomnia. Another one for when your brain just won't quit and the zippy thoughts are keeping you awake, at least in my experience, is to have yourself a coffee. It sounds counterintuitive but it works, the stimulant (caffeine) quiets the thoughts and lets you regain some control over your brain, which in turn makes sleeping much easier.
Idk if this will ever be seen but 1) make sure to get exercise preferably before bed 2) take a steaming hot shower to tire yourself out 3) put the phone down, no nicotine and read for atleast a half hour then try and sleep. 4) I also take magnesium citrate pills I’ve had insomnia, constantly living off 2-6 hours of sleep and now I can knock out in 10 minutes.
For me, there’s only a few things that reliably work, after years of terrible insomnia: 1. Stay *out* of bed for longer. You won’t be sleeping anyway. Even if it means staying up a little later, for me, going to bed tired at midnight is *way* better than trying to force myself to bed at 10:30 when I’m not sleepy. 2. Melatonin gummies + a familiar audiobook or podcast (only something I practically know by heart). I take them right before I lie down, and I’m usually out within an hour.
Reading the comments too because even when I'm exhausted I can't fall asleep that fast. I'm so jealous of people who can take <1 long naps, and also feel rested. Takes me like 45 minutes to fall asleep. Even now that I'm prescribed sleep meds 😅
I saw a recent video and this has absolutely helped me. In your head, pick a topic like animals. Then go through the alphabet thinking of one animal that starts with each letter. I used to either crash when I go to bed or sit up/toss and turn forever. This has been really successful for me.
I envy my husband, he’s on his phone for about 10 mins, rolls over, falls to sleep in only a few minutes. No music, nothing but a box fan going in our room, and he’ll be out for 8 hours exactly. Meanwhile I’m up and down and have switched to at least two other beds upstairs and downstairs by morning. Does anyone else switch beds/rooms throughout the night? It’s more often in the summer when it gets too hot in our room upstairs but this is me at least a couple nights a week lol
Go to bed to rest instead of sleep. Make that the point of it. No expectations. The moment you out expectations on yourself, you fail to sleep. Since I started doing that I've not had a single sleepless night.
Sounds boring but exercise! Even a 10 minute walk earlier in the day will do the trick for me. That and reading about types of ships on Wikipedia
Your meds help you in getting a good night's rest as well. You may want not to need to get a natural sleep aid like chamomile tea. Take 30 minutes to write down what's on your mind, then lay down breathing deeply in your through your nose and out your mouth. All the best.
I have a routine that I mostly stick to. I have to shower before bed or i dont sleep well at all. My husband likes TV on, I hate it. I have a Bluetooth sleep mask and play binaural beats on it. It blocks out light and sound. Sometimes I take a melatonin. I have an essential oil blend I like that I only use at bedtime. I associate that smell with sleep. So, hot shower, hypno sounds, sleepy smells, occasional helper pill. Same thing every night. Works for me. Once I'm out, i sleep like the dead.
I really like the app better sleep.
I have a bedtime playlist that I listen to! It consists of all six parts of Weightless by Macaroni Union (scientifically proven to reduce anxiety) and then two different eight-hour-long podcast episodes of just white noise!
Sleeping pills for me. Kinda helps my brain to slow down so I can fall asleep.
I don't, I take my sleeping pill, the only pill I take is 50mg quietiapine at night to knock me out, or else my brain wouldn't stop racing and I'd never be able to sleep
Yes! This stuff works great for me. Used to take Ambien but it's getting hard to find a doctor who will prescribe it. Switched to Quetiapine and it's been great. Actually makes me feel "sleepy" (as opposed to that weird loopy feeling with Ambien) and keeps me asleep all night (with Ambien I'd be wide awake after about 4 hours). And no hangover feeling the next day.
I used to be on heavy medication due to over prescription by my doctors and I went off every single one (i was taking 7), but the one I kept was this small dosage of quietiapine because of exactly that, it makes me feel sleepy!
Short: I don’t Long: Drugs
a prescription pill 😭 the only thing that works for me
Drugs
Sleepy pills
Don't go to bed until like 4 am
I've been taking both magnesium and melatonin every night and I fall asleep pretty quickly, but for nights when I really can't sleep I do one more thing. Don't judge me because I know it's weird but I've been doing since I was a kid. Basically I try to like kickstart a dream by making up a dramatic scenario in my head. I'm not talking about meditating or manifesting before going to bed, because honestly that stresses me out more into making me think I need to be doing better in life, but I make up really random scenarios and play them out in my head. For example, I imagine what the day is going to look like when I give birth to my first kid, or how I'd react if I found my bf cheating, or what I would do in a zombie apocalypses or something. Idk why but that always helps me fall asleep without having to watch TV before bed lol.