A future project: a sleep deadman switch

[rslaback]

I come from a family with sleep issues. Compound on top of that a night work schedule and a wife who left me and seems to want to just live separate lives while pretending it's healthy and I find myself trying to get back to sleep a lot after the initial 4 or 5 hours.
In talking with my doctor his suggestion was to try to do better to prevent myself from lying in bed for hours. If I can't fall back to sleep, get up, do something and try to go back to sleep later.
The problem I'm having is that I don't have a good way to make that decision to get up or stay in bed. I'm thinking I want to build a countdown timer that activates an alarm after 15 or 20 minutes. I'm thinking that the root of this should be a deadman switch so that if I fall asleep and let go, the timer stops and I stay asleep but if I'm just lying there it eventually goes off and I know to give up, get up and do something.

Peer review wanted. What am I missing?

 

[LeonardY]

What am I missing?

May sound a little weird. Meditation. Maybe consider guided sleep meditation with an app. It works for me.

Any kind of switch with a wire could be potentially a hazard if you fall a sleep.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Put the alarm on the other side of the room, so you have to get out of bed to shut it off.

 

[PCustoms]

...a wife who left me and seems to want to just live separate lives while pretending it's healthy

What am I missing?

Some sort of therapy. Not joking.

Or a younger GF to tire you out. Sort of joking.

 

[LXCam]

Better living thru chemistry- melatonin

 

[PCustoms]

Better living thru chemistry- melatonin

Mind the nightmares

Supposedly magnesium is better

 

[LXCam]

Mind the nightmares

Supposedly magnesium is better

No nightmares here but definitely a lot more vivid dreams. I wake up a lot as well but it seems like for just a few minutes and I’m back out. If I don’t take it I can sometimes sleep for 20-30 minutes and if I wake up - I’m fn up and then it’s a problem.

 

[larry_g]

Having heard of second sleep,
https://www.google.com/search?q=sec...bEJ4cu8QV5mQ-mxCeHLg&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I believe that it has some merit as I too have done of you have. I sleep for a few hours and then wake and have to get up and do something till I'm tired and go back to bed for a few hours. This pattern diminished a lot when I started using a CPAP machine.

lg

 

[walta]

Try setting a sleep timer on an alarm clock. If you fall asleep the radio turns off. If you are still awake and hear it turn off that is your signal to get up and do something else.

 

[Junkman]

I have had the same problem, and as you can see, I just read GJ until I am tired again, and then go back to bed. Sometimes I have to take a short nap in the afternoon, but that isn't the worst thing in my life.

 

[dave*99]

Count backwards from 750 or any large number. One of 2 things will happen.
1) You will fall back asleep.
2) you will get down to a low number and get out of bed.

The counting distracts me from the random thoughts that keep me awake.
Guided relaxation helps too. Listen to podcasts that train you to relax your entire body limb by limb.
You won't need the podcasts after you learn the technique.

When all this **** fails, I get up too.

 

[matt_i]

I read about this and it seems to help. Pick a word, let's just say S-A-L-E. Start with letter S and try to think of every word you can which also starts with S. Pause a moment to mentally visualize the object (etc) before continuing. Not a speed race, just slow pace. I haven't made it past A yet...

When I worked off shifts I used a basement bedroom so I could shut out light and it was cooler. I cut and fitted cardboard to the casement window to further block light. This did help.

 

[rharman]

If you're open to meds, talk to your doctor about magnesium and Trazodone. Trazodone is technically an antidepressant but commonly prescribed to help with sleep issues.