Thursday, March 15, 2007

Insomnia Tips for Lemmings

First my homework:
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Alberto Gonzalez is the A.G.
Happy now Rex? =P

It seems many of the Lemmings are suffering from insomnia. I think that would make it time for the Helpful Lemming Sleep Tips. These are the usual recommended practices one should engage in before going to bed so that you can achieve those ever elusive "Z's."

1. Avoid caffeine six hours before you plan to go to bed. Caffeine has an incredibly long active time and that soda you have at lunch possibly can keep you awake that night.

2. The bed should be used for sleeping and sex only! Do not watch TV in bed, do work, blog, or any other activity in bed. Condition yourself to realize that when you get in bed you are going to sleep.

3. Keep the same sleep/wake routine on weekends that you keep during the week. We are all tempted to stay up later and sleep in on weekends, but those two days of sleeping late disrupts our pattern and it contributes to those horrid Monday's.

4. Consider having a sleep study performed. Many patients come to our lab claiming they never fall asleep, but once hooked up we find they are getting to sleep, but not getting rest. This could be caused by Restless Leg Syndrome, Sleep Apena, any other of the 80 known sleeping disorders, or can simply be stress related.

5. Make sure the room you sleep in is dark and the temperature is comfortable. Being too cold or too hot disrupts a person's sleep.

6. Don't worry about those cliffs. They will still be there when you wake up.

Most people suffer from bouts of insomnia at some point in their lives. The more stress we are under the less sleep we feel we are getting and with the myriad of sleeping pill commericals on television it is easy to self-diagnose ourselves with Insomnia, but Insomnia is a specific disorder and not simply a lack of falling to sleep. Try these tips if you are not sure if you are suffering from Insomnia and, if you beleive you are, seek medical help. There is no reason for you to be missing sleep in today's world and sleep is just too important to be placed aside.

6 comments:

Serena said...

Well, in light of #2, I'm screwed. And I don't mean literally. I read, write, cruise the Internet, eat, watch TV/DVDs, smoke, and paint my toenails in bed.:)

And I stay up too late every night. On the weekends, I don't even worry about it.

Scary Monster said...

You can use bed for humpy, humpy bonking???
Woooo Hoooooo me got new fun place to do it. Me be getting tired of falling alseep in parks and stairwells.

Camille Alexa said...

I cut the caffeine last year, and the insomnia got much worse after I quit, though I started feeling much more awake during the day (the coffee used to make me feel sleepy in weird cycles during daytime hours--and I never touch soda).

How many hours a day do YOU sleep, Kanrei; or would divulging that information compromise your job?

Unknown said...

I break a few of those rules personally. I sleep 7 1/2 hours a night during the week and 12 on weekends. On Saturday I probably sleep only 8 and then lay in bed listening to the radio for a few hours. I drink diet coke up until I turn my lights out.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Actually, I recommend bringing work to bed. Puts me to sleep right away, every time!

Rex Zeitgeist said...

ahahahahha....I am happy now Kan....

Remember Hariret Meirs was the 'dear' in the headlights....Gonzalez is the real deal....

Thank you for all the tips...I have suffered from insomnia since I was a small child......

I have been over it for a long time maybe a year or more, but its back with a vengence.....I think because I am getting a new job and I am nervous about it....

Its like a fever and untit the fever breaks, there is little I can do but ride it out.....I think I will sleep good tonight....