Insomnia

[Pancake]

Right now it's 3:21 AM. Do I qualify?

Yes. You can join the insomniac club.

 

[LesBaker]

Hey Sum1.........read Primes post with the article, I think you should try Tallulah Bankhead's solution.

 

[Sum1]

Hey Sum1.........read Primes post with the article, I think you should try Tallulah Bankhead's solution.

That would give me nightmares.

 

[Angry Ram]

Every damn day for the past few weeks.

 

[Prime Time]

I hate sushi and after more than 7 hours sleep I feel groggy upon awakening. So there...

World's oldest person celebrates her 116th birthday: 'Eat and sleep and you will live a long time'
Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman born in 1898, has told The Telegraph her recipe for longevity: eating lots of sushi and sleeping eight hours a night

Misao Okawa, the world's oldest person, will turn 116 on Wednesday (Getty)
By Julian Ryall, Tokyo

In the year in which Misao Okawa was born in Osaka, Queen Victoria was still on the British throne, the Spanish American War was raging and Horatio Kitchener triumphed in the Battle of Omdurman.

Already recognised as the oldest person in the world, Mrs Okawa will on March 5 reach the remarkable milestone of 116 - and attributes her longevity to eating well and sleeping at least eight hours every night, with the occasional nap thrown in for good measure. “Eat and sleep and you will live a long time,” she said in a message to The Telegraph. “You have to learn to relax.”

The daughter of a kimono-maker from Japan’s second city, Mrs Okawa assumed the title of the oldest person in the world after the death of 116-year-old Jireomon Kimura in June 2013.

Experts say it is no coincidence that both record-holders are from Japan, which was home to 54,397 centenarians on the last Respect for the Aged national holiday in September - including 282 super-centenarians, who have achieved the ripe old age of 110.

“Mrs Okawa eats three large meals a day and makes sure that she sleeps eight hours a night,” said Tomohito Okada, the head of the Kurenai retirement home where she has lived for the last 18 years.

“She insists that her favourite meal is sushi, particularly mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice, and she has it at least once every month,” he said.

Asked about the happiest moments of a life that has now spanned three centuries, Mrs. Okawa unhesitatingly recalls her marriage in 1919 to Yukio Okawa and the birth of their three children. Her surviving son and daughter have clearly inherited her genes and are now aged 94 and 92.

She also has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Equally, she says the saddest time of her life was the death of her husband in June 1931 - an almost unthinkable 83 years ago.

The average lifespan for a Japanese woman is now 85.9 years, with women also accounting for 87 percent of the nation’s centenarians. A Japanese man can expect to reach 79.6 years old.

Experts put Japanese longevity down to the nation’s comprehensive healthcare system, the support of the community, encouragement to remain physically active until they are quite elderly, a sense of being part of a family and a healthy diet that has traditionally been heavy in fish, rice, vegetables and fruit.

Additional research has suggested that people who were in middle-age during the years of food shortages during the Second World War have subsequently enjoyed better long-term health than people who never had to go without.

But Yasuyuki Gondo, an associate professor at Osaka University who specialises in geriatric psychology, says there is much more to longevity than merely a good diet and advanced medical care.

“When we surveyed centenarians, we found that the majority have enjoyed good mental health throughout their lives and have developed psychological adaptations to their situations as they have got older,” he told The Telegraph.

Professor Gondo is one of a number of scholars who have studied Mrs Okawa and other centenarians as they try to pin down more traits that identify those of us who will live the longest.

Those studies suggest that people with a strong will, are outgoing and a sense of curiosity live longer than average.

Mrs Okawa underlined the determined side of her character after suffering a fall at the age of 102 in which she broke her leg. After she returned to the nursing home from a stay in hospital, the staff found her doing leg squats as she held on to a hand rail in the hall.

When asked what she was doing, Mrs Okawa replied that she was making sure her body did not get out of shape.

On her birthday, TV crews and national media have been invited to the nursing home to record the birthday festivities.

“We will be having a cake, of course,” said Mr Okada. “But we will only be having three candles, one for each figure of her 116 years, because that many candles could be dangerous.”

 

[DR RAM]

I've had it my whole life, and it just gets worse with age. I'm taking a narcotic sleeping pill, at least the 6th or 7th I've tried, with little to no luck. It's rare if I'm down by 3 or 4 am, and I go through streaks where I get only abot a combined 12 hours sleep in a 7 day period. Just went through one of those. I hope I'm out of it. I rarely get more than 3 or 4 hours unbroken sleep.

 

[LesBaker]

I hate sushi and after more than 7 hours sleep I feel groggy upon awakening. So there...

World's oldest person celebrates her 116th birthday: 'Eat and sleep and you will live a long time'
Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman born in 1898, has told The Telegraph her recipe for longevity: eating lots of sushi and sleeping eight hours a night

Misao Okawa, the world's oldest person, will turn 116 on Wednesday (Getty)
By Julian Ryall, Tokyo

In the year in which Misao Okawa was born in Osaka, Queen Victoria was still on the British throne, the Spanish American War was raging and Horatio Kitchener triumphed in the Battle of Omdurman.

Already recognised as the oldest person in the world, Mrs Okawa will on March 5 reach the remarkable milestone of 116 - and attributes her longevity to eating well and sleeping at least eight hours every night, with the occasional nap thrown in for good measure. “Eat and sleep and you will live a long time,” she said in a message to The Telegraph. “You have to learn to relax.”

The daughter of a kimono-maker from Japan’s second city, Mrs Okawa assumed the title of the oldest person in the world after the death of 116-year-old Jireomon Kimura in June 2013.

Experts say it is no coincidence that both record-holders are from Japan, which was home to 54,397 centenarians on the last Respect for the Aged national holiday in September - including 282 super-centenarians, who have achieved the ripe old age of 110.

“Mrs Okawa eats three large meals a day and makes sure that she sleeps eight hours a night,” said Tomohito Okada, the head of the Kurenai retirement home where she has lived for the last 18 years.

“She insists that her favourite meal is sushi, particularly mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice, and she has it at least once every month,” he said.

Asked about the happiest moments of a life that has now spanned three centuries, Mrs. Okawa unhesitatingly recalls her marriage in 1919 to Yukio Okawa and the birth of their three children. Her surviving son and daughter have clearly inherited her genes and are now aged 94 and 92.

She also has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Equally, she says the saddest time of her life was the death of her husband in June 1931 - an almost unthinkable 83 years ago.

The average lifespan for a Japanese woman is now 85.9 years, with women also accounting for 87 percent of the nation’s centenarians. A Japanese man can expect to reach 79.6 years old.

Experts put Japanese longevity down to the nation’s comprehensive healthcare system, the support of the community, encouragement to remain physically active until they are quite elderly, a sense of being part of a family and a healthy diet that has traditionally been heavy in fish, rice, vegetables and fruit.

Additional research has suggested that people who were in middle-age during the years of food shortages during the Second World War have subsequently enjoyed better long-term health than people who never had to go without.

But Yasuyuki Gondo, an associate professor at Osaka University who specialises in geriatric psychology, says there is much more to longevity than merely a good diet and advanced medical care.

“When we surveyed centenarians, we found that the majority have enjoyed good mental health throughout their lives and have developed psychological adaptations to their situations as they have got older,” he told The Telegraph.

Professor Gondo is one of a number of scholars who have studied Mrs Okawa and other centenarians as they try to pin down more traits that identify those of us who will live the longest.

Those studies suggest that people with a strong will, are outgoing and a sense of curiosity live longer than average.

Mrs Okawa underlined the determined side of her character after suffering a fall at the age of 102 in which she broke her leg. After she returned to the nursing home from a stay in hospital, the staff found her doing leg squats as she held on to a hand rail in the hall.

When asked what she was doing, Mrs Okawa replied that she was making sure her body did not get out of shape.

On her birthday, TV crews and national media have been invited to the nursing home to record the birthday festivities.

“We will be having a cake, of course,” said Mr Okada. “But we will only be having three candles, one for each figure of her 116 years, because that many candles could be dangerous.”

I think I am going to add visiting her to my bucket list.

 

[Prime Time]

I've had it my whole life, and it just gets worse with age. I'm taking a narcotic sleeping pill, at least the 6th or 7th I've tried, with little to no luck. It's rare if I'm down by 3 or 4 am, and I go through streaks where I get only abot a combined 12 hours sleep in a 7 day period. Just went through one of those. I hope I'm out of it. I rarely get more than 3 or 4 hours unbroken sleep.

That's terrible! Have you been to a sleep clinic to spend the night and get checked out, especially for sleep apnea or some other physical problem that could be causing this?

 

[Ramhusker]

You should try rotating shifts, seven days of each with varying days off. And then they throw you a curveball like tomorrow with my schedule. I'll get off at 7am and have to be back at 5am the next morning to work 16+ hrs. This is where murder/suicides come from I think.

 

[Sum1]

You should try rotating shifts, seven days of each with varying days off. And then they throw you a curveball like tomorrow with my schedule. I'll get off at 7am and have to be back at 5am the next morning to work 16+ hrs. This is where murder/suicides come from I think.

In the summer time it is not uncommon for me to work 60-70 hours any given week...16-19 hour days are very much the norm in the concert industry.

In the winter time it's closer to the standard 40 hours a week, Monday-Friday...but not a guarantee.

The nights I struggle with sleep the most is before I know I have a long day coming up...and have a big crew working that I need to to be there.

 

[Thordaddy]

I've had it my whole life, and it just gets worse with age. I'm taking a narcotic sleeping pill, at least the 6th or 7th I've tried, with little to no luck. It's rare if I'm down by 3 or 4 am, and I go through streaks where I get only abot a combined 12 hours sleep in a 7 day period. Just went through one of those. I hope I'm out of it. I rarely get more than 3 or 4 hours unbroken sleep.

Once while in the hospital I was given Ambien, two nights of that and I said whoa, forget that, the dreams I had were awful. Not the little butterfly they show on TV,scary stuff.

Last night I woke up at 3:30 came to my computer for about 20 minutes ,went back to bed started to pray the rosary got half way through and went back to sleep until 8 AM.

 

[DR RAM]

That's terrible! Have you been to a sleep clinic to spend the night and get checked out, especially for sleep apnea or some other physical problem that could be causing this?

Yeah, done that whole thing a couple of times. Funny that they expect you to sleep in a place you've never slept, all hooked up with wires.

 

[DR RAM]

In the summer time it is not uncommon for me to work 60-70 hours any given week...16-19 hour days are very much the norm in the concert industry.

In the winter time it's closer to the standard 40 hours a week, Monday-Friday...but not a guarantee.

The nights I struggle with sleep the most is before I know I have a long day coming up...and have a big crew working that I need to to be there.

Sleep anxiety....hate that too.

 

[Prime Time]

Did they find anything specific that was causing your sleep problems?

Been to a sleep clinic once but didn't have to spend the night. No way I could have slept while being wired up. I'd been experiencing seizure-like symptoms as I was drifting off to sleep. I would gasp for air and then have fits of trembling. Once I quit playing video games in the dark those symptoms ended.

 

[DR RAM]

Did they find anything specific that was causing your sleep problems?

Been to a sleep clinic once but didn't have to spend the night. No way I could have slept while being wired up. I'd been experiencing seizure-like symptoms as I was drifting off to sleep. I would gasp for air and then have fits of trembling. Once I quit playing video games in the dark those symptoms ended.

They couldn't find anything, but sometimes right after I fall asleep, I'll wake up really hot, and sweaty. And i have waken in a panic minutes after being asleep.
They pretty much just told me that I have both main kinds of insomnia, the hard to get to sleep part, and the staying asleep part.

 

[Prime Time]

Hope this eventually subsides and you can get into a regular sleep pattern. Don't give up hope or trying different things and meds. It took me until I was into my late 50's before sleeping well became normal.

The doc at the sleep clinic told me I was experiencing hypnagogic jerk or maybe he was calling me a jerk.

Definition of Hypnagogic Jerk
By Brandon Peters, M.D.

Definition: A hypnagogic jerk is an involuntary myoclonic twitch, or muscle contraction, that occurs while an individual is beginning to fall asleep. There may be a sensation of falling followed by a physical jerk back into wakefulness. It usually occurs during stage 1 sleep which is the lightest stage of sleep.

Also Known As: Hypnic jerk, Sleep starts

Examples:
When I fall asleep, I startle myself back awake with a hypnagogic jerk.

 

[bluecoconuts]

You may also roll around and slap the bed or something that is enough to bring you up to to Stage 1 or 2 but not fully wake-up, so that when you do wake up in the morning you don't feel rested. I know that's an issue that I have, as well as other different types of insomnia. Started after my first deployment, so the doctors think it's likely a PTSD related issue. I have Ambien to help me sleep, for a while I was on a really high dosage and needed to take 2 pills to sleep, but I've since cut down to half a pill, trying to ween myself off of them.

 

[Ramhusker]

So this thread has jinxed me. I got off at 7am, stayed up all day so I could sleep tonight to wake up a 4am. Now, it's 11:30 and can't sleep. I think the fact that my wife informed me at 9pm that we have no water kinda set me off. Now, haven't slept for going on 27 hours now and need to be at work in 5 and 1/2 hours to work that 16+. :eek::coffeen)

 

[grease]

I definitely benefitted from losing weight, eating right, and exercising. I used to get terrible sleep when I was 300+.

Exercising does usually help...still have issues at times though. I've gotten some good sleep the past few nights. My fiancee is going on her bachelorette party this weekend, which means I get the bed to myself...probably sleep like a baby.

Finish strenuous exercising at least 5 hours before you want to go to sleep. Stop drinking alcohol at least 2 hours before you want to sleep.

 

[DR RAM]

Hope this eventually subsides and you can get into a regular sleep pattern. Don't give up hope or trying different things and meds. It took me until I was into my late 50's before sleeping well became normal.

The doc at the sleep clinic told me I was experiencing hypnagogic jerk or maybe he was calling me a jerk.

Definition of Hypnagogic Jerk
By Brandon Peters, M.D.

Definition: A hypnagogic jerk is an involuntary myoclonic twitch, or muscle contraction, that occurs while an individual is beginning to fall asleep. There may be a sensation of falling followed by a physical jerk back into wakefulness. It usually occurs during stage 1 sleep which is the lightest stage of sleep.

Also Known As: Hypnic jerk, Sleep starts

Examples:
When I fall asleep, I startle myself back awake with a hypnagogic jerk.

I've tried jerking before sleep, didn't work as well as it sounds...