13 ms·

I tried to hack my insomnia

104 points by uhhyeahdude 7y ago

macando 7y ago
Just googled to see if 'sleeptech' is a thing. And yes, it is. This is where we spend 1/3 of our lives after all.
jokowueu 7y ago
I recommend people look into oleamide for insomnia
renaudg 7y ago
I've been using the Dreem headband for a year and a half and there are enough factual errors about it in this piece to make me distrust the rest of it. Firstly, it doesn't require leaving your smartphone on all night as she writes. Once started, it's autonomous (it even reportedly shuts down its onboard WiFi/BT, probably for power saving reasons but also to alleviate any fears about having an RF emitter so close to your head for 8 hours) Secondly, getting an accurate hypnogram (detailed sleep phases) on a consumer EEG device is a huge deal in itself (she doesn't seem to understand the point), but this one goes even further by promising to actively enhance slow wave/deep sleep through precisely timed audio stimulations (white noise pulses). The research in this area is apparently the starting point of the company. Thirdly, the app does include the kind of CBT program she praises at the end of the article. I find the combination of this with a device that provides an accurate sleep log to be a potentially more efficient combination than CBT alone. One area where I do have reservations with this class of devices is privacy : not only do you have your exact sleep/wake times + hundreds of MBs of your EEG data uploaded to their servers every morning, the latest version apparently has a built-in microphone ! It's reserved for future use (an obvious application is snoring / sleep apnea detection) and reportedly not activated yet, but of course it's closed source firmware and you have to take their word for it, and even if you trust their intentions (I do, and there's always GDPR), you also have to trust their security as well. Disclaimer : I have no stake or direct interest in Dreem, but I'm very familiar with their product and even interviewed with them at one point.
- henryaj 7y ago
  Can you write a bit more about your experience using it? Has it helped you sleep better, and would you say it's worth the investment?
- magashna 7y ago
  I use sleep for android which has my sleep/wake times, heart rate, and I use the mic to record sleep talking. Doesn't really bother my privacy. If they want my insane ramblings from when I'm asleep that's fine with me. I sleep talk a lot and none of it makes any sense but it's good for a laugh. One of my favorites was talking about "the most beautiful sweater" for about 30 seconds
  - climb_stealth 7y ago
    What is the app called you are using? Is it Sleep as Android? Thanks!
mapcars 7y ago
Life is not a computer you can hack. I bet we barely understand 1% of how our system works and trying to hack it means one is not even aware of their ignorance.
- taneq 7y ago
  We have all sorts of hacks. You just need to be careful and may get unintended side effects. (Steroid creams to fix skin conditions, caffeine for energy, alcohol for relaxation and fun, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, the list goes on.)
  - mapcars 7y ago
    >may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)
    - taneq 7y ago
      They do work, though!
    - monsieurbanana 7y ago
      And I like how you passed up the other examples. Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? They fit the "hack your body" description to a tee.
      - taneq 7y ago
        Vaccines are another great example, thanks!
      - mapcars 7y ago
        I used the ones which have clear undesirable side effects, others might have it as well just that we don't know about them. >Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? I am only advocating about being conscious of how much we don't know. If medical drug or vaccine saves lives - I have no problem with it, still most likely we don't know all the side effects.
koheripbal 7y ago
During a stressful part of my life recently I struggled with getting to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on. until one night I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and it occurred to me that I could just modify this behaviour to bed. So I put a handful of old Star Trek episodes on my phone. Each night I put me earphones on (so as not to disturb my wife), turn on an episode of Star Trek, and I am asleep within the first five minutes. ... I can even repeat episodes... it doesnt even matter since Im asleep within literally 5mins. At first the earphones were annoying, but after a week you dont even notice them. The stress at work continues, but I sleep like a baby. I think the familiarity of Star Trek (which I watched a lot as a kid) gives me a subconsious sense of security.
- tomhoward 7y ago
  I find the standard-issue Apple EarPods as good as anything for sleeping. And yes I also find listening to something familiar helps me get to sleep quickly if I’m overstimulated and/or anxious, which is often the case. I also find it helpful to play binaural beats in the background, which you can do with an iOS app called BrainWave (Dream Inducer).
- ollysb 7y ago
  lol, I'm using Star Trek Enterprise for exactly the same thing at the moment. According to my Oura ring my sleep latency (as they call it - time to fall asleep) is about 5-10mins. I just put an earbud in one ear and sleep on the other side.
  - Angostura 7y ago
    I listen Bizzleberry stream League of Legends games https://www.twitch.tv/bizzleberry https://www.twitch.tv/bizzleberry
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- workthrowaway12 7y ago
  this trick works. my twist on it is to watch people play old video games on youtube. however, it doesn't work when i need a clear mind, especially when i am exhausted. it is frustrating that no amount of movies, songs, video games will help clear your mind -- at least not mine -- which in turn makes you stay awake... i used to know how meditate in college, but i have somehow lost that ability it seems (yes, one can lose it lol)
Funes- 7y ago
Meditating right before going to bed, given that you haven't stared at any screen for an hour prior, can help tremendously with insomnia. That and intense and regular exercise, a clean diet, hydration... Healthy habits, to cut it short. Also, make sure your bedroom is dark and its temperature is cool.
amelius 7y ago
Not really on topic, but I'm trying to find some way to get EMG (muscle) readings preferably without using glue (which I suspect can become messy) or disposable electrodes (which can become costly). What is the best way to do this?
arbitel 7y ago
Or you know, you could go to the gym and start exercising? Try to stay awake after a heavy day of lifting.
- albi_lander 7y ago
  In my experience, it depends on which sport you do and when you do it during the day. I used to play squash during the evening around 8pm and on these days I would fall asleep very late, like around 2am. This was mostly due, I think, to my heart rate still being quite high (I could feel it), and slowing down very slowly until it reached a reasonable level at which I could get asleep. This is something that other friends playing squash in the evening reported as well.
- magashna 7y ago
  I spent 30-45 minutes deadlifting yesterday and still had trouble falling asleep. It's not the perfect answer.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  Strength athlete here, I train in the evenings and my quality of sleep is always garbage when I'm peaking from all of the stress on my CNS. The end of cycles are hands down my worst sleep weeks, I'll be dog ass tired and have trouble staying asleep. For one person a heavy day might be a few sets of deadlifts at 80-90% 1rm, for some of us that might mean 2-2.5 hours of training where are warm up alone moves considerably more mass than your entire training and then we also tack on multiple accessory movements and conditioning and if you aren't doing that in the morning it's almost certainly going to mess with your sleep quality that night. I have a training-induced insomnia blog post that is years old and gets hits every single day without fail. It's probably 1/4 of the total traffic on my personal blog and probably more like 60-65% of Google-referred traffic despite the fact I have 18 years of blog posts.
om3n 7y ago
I'm in a particularly stressful time in my life (just moved, intense new job) where I've been struggling to sleep. There will be some nights where I simply don't sleep at all; just lay awake in bed all night. Of course I'm aware of all the health/safety/productivity issues associated with no sleep, and the anxiety of not sleeping just furthers my inability to fall asleep. This is what I've been attempting to do to help with my sleep problems, with reasonable success: 1. Lift heavy each week day. I'm using a PPL routine with at least one big lift each day. I also trying to burn a significant amount of calories each day in the gym. 2. Strict evening routine. I try to go to bed within the same hour each night if I can help it. 3. Reduce responsibilities. One of the biggest issues for me is missing my routine. I now try to keep my weekday schedule the same (don't go out at night) so I can have plenty of wind-down time at home before bed. 4. Wind down time. I try to do something relaxing before going to bed that will distract my mind (like play a low intensity videogame, read about non work-related topics, etc.) 5. Supplements. I drink a cup of chamomile tea and take 5 mg of melatonin before I go to bed, and this seems to help (or might be a placebo) 6. Listen to something calming and familiar while I fall asleep. Unlike others in this thread, no Star Trek for me; I like to listen to twitch streamer ZFG speedrun Ocarina of Time. I turn the volume on my phone to the lowest setting, put the phone face-down on the bed next to me, and the audio commentary seems to be helpful background noise.
- balfirevic 7y ago
  > I drink a cup of chamomile tea and take 5 mg of melatonin before I go to bed, and this seems to help (or might be a placebo) That is way too much and possibly not timed properly. Correct dosage is closer to 0.3 mg - 1 mg. See here for more details about dosage and timing: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... Edit: I incorrectly written grams instead of milligrams previously, thanks aneidon for catching it.
  - aneidon 7y ago
    I think you mean 0.3 mg, based on your source.
forgotmypw 7y ago
Insomnia is a fake idea invented to promote the industrial work cycle. If you go to sleep when you're so tired, as opposed to when the societal clock says you should, you won't have any trouble sleeping.
- klyrs 7y ago
  > If you go to sleep when you're so tired, as opposed to when the societal clock says you should, you won't have any trouble sleeping. Great PMA, but you're absolutely wrong. I did that last night, got tired and went to bed around 10pm. And then I woke up at 1am. Now that it's approaching 6, I'm getting tired. But this happens to me occasionally and I know from past experience that my two options are: 1) Go back to bed at around 7, wake up at 8 or 9, and feel awful all day 2) Power through, and feel awful all day. Maybe I'll be tired enough tonight that I'll catch up on this morning's loss. But given past experience, I'll probably get 2-4 hours of sleep a night for the next week. When I say "wake up" I mean that I'm alert and can't get sleepy -- I can stay in bed and be bored for hours, and sleep won't come no matter how tired I feel.
  - iikoolpp 7y ago
    > I did that last night, got tired and went to bed around 10pm. And then I woke up at 1am. Now that it's approaching 6, I'm getting tired. But this happens to me occasionally and I know from past experience that my two options are: This is how your sleep schedule is naturally designed to work. Sleep for a bit, wake up, sleep again.
    - klyrs 7y ago
      Nope. I typically wake up for a few minutes at a time and get a full night's sleep. Every few months, I have a bout of insomnia that reduces me to a couple of hours of sleep for a while. Believe it or not, I know what my normal is better than you.
  - anonuser123456 7y ago
    This happens to me. It's a nasty feedback loop where lack of sleep makes me hyper and too alert to sleep. I suspect the cause is high cortisol levels. Remeron/mirtazapine works really well for me as a reset to baseline. Talk to your Physician about it.
EEor 7y ago
How has no one mentioned medical marijuana?
- throwaway1777 7y ago
  It’s well established that cannabis interferes with rem sleep, so it’s an option, but not a good one.
  - sharadov 7y ago
    That's only with the high THC strains, you need a low THC and high CBD strain.
    - chaostheory 7y ago
      This is the only thing that works for me and I’m not drowsy when I wake up
osrec 7y ago
Unlike many members of my family who can fall asleep regardless of the circumstances, I need to feel sleepy/tired to sleep. I'm fairly fit, so getting to that state with a job that involves me sitting at a desk can be a challenge. When I do sleep, I sleep pretty well, but getting to that state can be tough. I simply have to do some physical work each day to tire my body - otherwise, sleeping is near impossible. The gym is often not enough (and if I go in the evening, it actually wakes me up). I find I need to do something moderately strenuous and mundane, like carrying a few groceries for a mile or two, or maybe sweeping + mopping a few floors round the house or perhaps some DIY. Also, if I'm unable to sleep, rather than trying to sleep, I find it's better to get up and do some work, even if means being in front of a screen. That knocks me out eventually!
Chazprime 7y ago
My insomnia is a little different than the author's; I fall asleep easily but wake up three or four hours later. And when I'm up, I'm wide awake. I tried just about everything discussed here....meditation, podcasts, watching television, reading before bed but nothing really helped me consistently. I even bought a treadmill and started running every day which does help, but the thing that actually did the trick best was a few puffs of marijuana about an hour before bedtime. It was sufficient to take me "out of my head" enough to get a better night's sleep without feeling foggy the next day.
- 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
  One of the problems with insomnia as a construct is that it lumps a bunch of problems together that probably don't have the same mechanisms. The vast majority of insomnia treatment and advice is focused on "initial insomnia", i.e. inability to fall asleep when you first go to bed.
- jcpsimmons 7y ago
  I deal with this occasionally (seems to crop up for me every couple of years depending on life circumstances). Look into sleep restriction therapy. It's been the "silver bullet" for me. You essentially limit yourself to a 5 hour sleep window every night. Once you can sleep 5 sound hours for a week you're allowed to add 30 minutes and repeat the cycle. It sucks for the first few days, but the exhaustion will eventually win out.
- nestorherre 7y ago
  Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I. Check it out I'm sure it will help you.
- yummypaint 7y ago
  If it can be compatible with your schedule, try splitting your sleep into two 4 hour chunks. They dont have to be 12 hours apart. The mosy productive and energetic ive ever felt was while doing this. That being said it sounds like you already have a good system figured out. Aything that doesnt involve a prescription sleep aid is a big win
not_a_moth 7y ago
things that definitely made a difference for me: a) only dim lights after sunset (reflect for a moment on how unnatural it is, after million or years of modern human evolution, that we all of a sudden have light after sundown. (especially blue light screens, seriously, use apps) ; this disrupts your circadian rhythms and melatonin cycles, so it's a big deal. b) black out shades. don't underestimate - I've monitored my sleep +2 years with multiple fitness trackers, and noticed a clear positive difference in restlessness levels. it also cured my problem of waking up in the middle of the night to pee believe it or not. c) air tight wax ear plugs ; sounds will wake you up and you often won't know why. a motorcycle, someone closes a door etc. d) chilly room. I find ~70F is great. again going back to evo history, it's always been chillier at night. e) habit x 10. go to bed at the same time, wake up at the same time. be unplugged for at least an hour before sleep and relax for a bit when you wake up. follow point a) after sundown. your sleep drive will take over. this might take months to get there, especially if you're a high cortisol individual, but biology will take over if you let it.
sharadov 7y ago
What about marijuana? An indica strain should put you on your back in no time.
- csommers 7y ago
  just because it lays you out...doesn't mean it provides proper (read: good) sleep.
  - tartoran 7y ago
    It has the opposite effect on me whatever the strain. It gets me energized and personally I would totally avoid id before sleep. However, seems to do wonders for some.
hiccuphippo 7y ago
I've heard a couple of times of this technique by the US Army in which you relax your body starting by the face, then arms, torso, legs. Finally you picture yourself in a canoe in the middle of a lake or something similar to avoid thinking of anything. Anyone knows how effective is this? https://medium.com/s/story/combat-tested-training-unwind-and-sleep-anywhere-in-120-seconds-27d5307b7606 https://medium.com/s/story/combat-tested-training-unwind-and...
- goostavos 7y ago
  I find its not that effective if not paired with the 8 hours of marching in heavy gear :|
nestorherre 7y ago
Great tips overall, thank you all. I might add getting familiar with CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia). I was struggling for months with sleep and this was a life saviour.
aivosha 7y ago
vitamin D deficiency. https://youtu.be/74F22bjBmqE https://youtu.be/74F22bjBmqE
- aug_aug 7y ago
  also magnesium supplements - I had some nervous system/restless leg issues and finally diagnosed as deficient in it, cured insomnia that was ongoing for months - just wanted to throw this out there
  - Ftuuky 7y ago
    Thanks for the heads up. I do have restless legs and insomnia, let's try that magnesium. Is there a recommended dosage?
    - psalminen 7y ago
      I take 800mg Magnesium Glycinate to sleep. Works really well and I wake up with no fog.
- moltar 7y ago
  Thank you so much. This is the info I was looking for for 10 years!
humble_engineer 7y ago
Man I just realized that the "Read the whole story" button can save so much bandwidth. Imagine how many people click on your site but don't actually read the article or potentially click any ads, they just scan for 2-3 seconds and hit the back button. If you only show 5% of the content, you only send so much bandwidth. If you ask them to read more, because they have confirmed they are interested, and then yous end the rest of the 95% content, you can save so much bandwidth bills.
Eric_WVGG 7y ago
I picked up very serious sleep problems (and seemingly permanent bags under my eyes) right around puberty and lived with it for about twenty years. Tried most of the "hacks" on this page (yes, including exercise) to no avail. It all unexpectedly went away when I moved into my current apartment. I have huge, unblocked, east-facing windows, and every morning I’m bathed in sunlight. No more sleeping in; I’m wide awake, no arguments. Consequently, by midnight I am dead to the world. All of this makes me a bit worried for the future, as "big unblocked east window in the bedroom" seems like a big ask for a rental. But yeah, it worked, my sleep is solved for the time being. Except for chunks of February.
- Eric_WVGG 7y ago
  “Huh, so maybe one of those seasonal-affect-disorder lamps would blah blah…” I’ve never been willing to try one as every one on the market is so ungodly ugly. There’s an opportunity out there for either a SAD bulb that could be added-on to a normal lamp, or an entire SAD lamp designed by an actual interior designer/artist.
  - 1123581321 7y ago
    The only really nice-looking one I’ve found is Casper Glow: https://casper.com/glow-light/ https://casper.com/glow-light/ However, I don’t know if it counts, medically speaking, and the marketing page is careful not to make any actual claims.
- tanin 7y ago
  I unscientifically believe that we shouldn't use an alarm clock or any kind of trigger to wake up. My rational is: if your body has enough sleep, it'll wake up on its own. On the flip side: it's actually very hard to sleep when your body doesn't need sleep. On another flip side: it's easy to stay awake even though your body needs sleep. With this, we should all sleep in a completely dark (blocked) room with no sound and etc. The "big unblocked east window in the bedroom" (unless the curtain blocks the light effectively) is a no for me. I've read "why we sleep", and I get this conflict where: 1. The author believes in the no-trigger-to-wake-up as well. 2. Somehow I also get the impression that the author also believes that we should use sunlight as a trigger for waking up. We'd feel fresher. But wouldn't that cut off our sleep?
deleted 7y ago
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akeck 7y ago
Everyone is different, but for me strength training wakes me up, while cardio helps me sleep. What surprises me sometimes is how much cardio I need for good sleep. In one particularly high pressure week, I had to row (erg) 7-10km per a day to sleep well.
- steve_adams_86 7y ago
  I'm similar. Without intense exercise, my brain is at high revs all day and I can't keep it under control to fall asleep. I need to knock myself out with exhaustion. I used to run 50km per week or so and still feel like I could use more. Restless legs, active mind, fidgeting, etc. These days I'm running much less, but I'm lost without it.
tartoran 7y ago
2 new tricks to add here (that work magic for me at least) - child pose for about 10 minutes with the head/forehead resting on a pillow - forced yawning, but without needing to actually make a sound, (and without needing to open the mouth wide). Hard to explain, there's some oral/neck musculature that is not triggered voluntarily that I've been experimenting on which becomes somewhat easier to control with exercise. I'd start with lots of yawning first
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
mikelyons 7y ago
I find that I have always have trouble sleeping, but then when I took up a practice of strong-determination-sitting (meditation+) I would fall asleep during the meditation! and I would also notice that my mind-activity was several noticeable clicks lower after a 20 minute sit. It has to be tried to be believed (IMO)
oarabbus_ 7y ago
>ctrl+F "exercise" >0 results None of the stuff they talk about in the article helped me kick my insomnia/DSPS. Only exercise helped.
- jm__87 7y ago
  Exercise doesn't really work for everyone. I found when I used to have trouble sleeping, heavy lifting made my sleep 10x worse (and still messes with my sleep now when I try it every now and then). Light to moderate exercise tended to improve my sleep, but the improvement was fairly minor. CBT-I and getting some bright light in the morning, on the other hand, were complete game changers for me. I've gone from sleeping maybe 5 - 6.5 hours of poor sleep a night (waking up multiple times, early waking), to normally 7 - 8 hours of good quality sleep and the improvement has been consistent for the past few years now.
bradlys 7y ago
Yeah, I suffered from insomnia for most of my life. I didn't really realize it was an issue until I was about 20-21. I think it took falling asleep at the wheel and rear ending someone, crashing on my bicycle multiple times from not being able to stay awake (going downhill at 20+mph btw), and a plethora of other stupid events for me to realize maybe I should seek help finally. I think it's pretty amazing to see what I accomplished on so little but, ultimately, it's sad because I know I could've done way more with better sleep. And it was 100% stress related. Taking pills, trying breathing exercises, and everything else didn't fix it. It could make me slightly better than doing nothing but it was never fixed. I have a rhythm now I follow that works better. But, really, I never found a "solution". I just got into a less stressful life. (Finally having a girlfriend, high(er) paying job, etc. was the "trick" - aka solve what causes my stressors)
RedBeetDeadpool 7y ago
I had so much trouble with insomnia a few years back - I remember not being able to get sleep for at least 3-5 days straight on multiple different occasions. I thought I was going to die at least two of those times it happened. These days my ability to fall asleep feels like a superpower (because - 1. I know just how absurdly many people out there are functioning on less than optimal sleep on a daily basis, and 2. I know I'm not the only one who has had trouble with falling asleep). These are the bits of advice I have: 1. I've woken or havent been able to fall asleep because I was hungry. Always try to have eaten at least one satiating meal a day. Also make sure you're not dehydrated or have to pee. 2. Don't ever worry or intentionally think that you have to fall asleep. The stress, the cortisol, and the excitement(when you start falling asleep) will keep you awake. Going one night without sleep is not the end of the world. At worst you were really really relaxed in a nice cozy bed for 8 hours, so take comfort in that time. 3. This one is the most important: think about your brain like its some sort of muscle. If it's engaged its sort of 'flexing', and its very hard to fall asleep if its flexing. If I just 'unflex' my mind the way I would let go of my grip, the next thing I usually notice is that its morning and my alarm clock is waking me up. Other than these things, everything else I've seen had little affect on my abilities to sleep when I had insomnia - working out until exhaustion out didn't work, neither did weed, neither did alcohol, and neither did induced food coma, reading a book, watching tv, counting sheep. And when I learned again how to fall asleep, I haven't had a problem with blue light, I haven't had a problem with caffeine, I didn't even have a problem with a lot of noise. These things help or hurt your ability to sleep but it doesn't ultimately determine whether or not you do.
sfgweilr4f 7y ago
You can't sleep when there are enemies nearby. Didn't you play Skyrim, Minecraft, Fallout... Or more seriously you have messed up bloodwork. Get your blood checked. Vitamin D is necessary during day. Seeing the morning light and end of day sun set can actually help. Or you didn't exercise enough. Various military organisations have sorted out sleep: they can get you tired enough to sleep vertical. Often while still marching.

104 points by uhhyeahdude 7y ago

macando 7y ago

Just googled to see if 'sleeptech' is a thing. And yes, it is. This is where we spend 1/3 of our lives after all.

jokowueu 7y ago

I recommend people look into oleamide for insomnia

renaudg 7y ago

I've been using the Dreem headband for a year and a half and there are enough factual errors about it in this piece to make me distrust the rest of it. Firstly, it doesn't require leaving your smartphone on all night as she writes. Once started, it's autonomous (it even reportedly shuts down its onboard WiFi/BT, probably for power saving reasons but also to alleviate any fears about having an RF emitter so close to your head for 8 hours) Secondly, getting an accurate hypnogram (detailed sleep phases) on a consumer EEG device is a huge deal in itself (she doesn't seem to understand the point), but this one goes even further by promising to actively enhance slow wave/deep sleep through precisely timed audio stimulations (white noise pulses). The research in this area is apparently the starting point of the company. Thirdly, the app does include the kind of CBT program she praises at the end of the article. I find the combination of this with a device that provides an accurate sleep log to be a potentially more efficient combination than CBT alone. One area where I do have reservations with this class of devices is privacy : not only do you have your exact sleep/wake times + hundreds of MBs of your EEG data uploaded to their servers every morning, the latest version apparently has a built-in microphone ! It's reserved for future use (an obvious application is snoring / sleep apnea detection) and reportedly not activated yet, but of course it's closed source firmware and you have to take their word for it, and even if you trust their intentions (I do, and there's always GDPR), you also have to trust their security as well. Disclaimer : I have no stake or direct interest in Dreem, but I'm very familiar with their product and even interviewed with them at one point.

henryaj 7y ago
Can you write a bit more about your experience using it? Has it helped you sleep better, and would you say it's worth the investment?
magashna 7y ago
I use sleep for android which has my sleep/wake times, heart rate, and I use the mic to record sleep talking. Doesn't really bother my privacy. If they want my insane ramblings from when I'm asleep that's fine with me. I sleep talk a lot and none of it makes any sense but it's good for a laugh. One of my favorites was talking about "the most beautiful sweater" for about 30 seconds
- climb_stealth 7y ago
  What is the app called you are using? Is it Sleep as Android? Thanks!

mapcars 7y ago

Life is not a computer you can hack. I bet we barely understand 1% of how our system works and trying to hack it means one is not even aware of their ignorance.

taneq 7y ago
We have all sorts of hacks. You just need to be careful and may get unintended side effects. (Steroid creams to fix skin conditions, caffeine for energy, alcohol for relaxation and fun, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, the list goes on.)
- mapcars 7y ago
  >may get unintended side effects. Oh, if one sees the enormity of complexity body & mind has - one can be sure he can not foresee all side effects. I like that you gave examples like caffeine which messes up your nervous system or alcohol which destroys your conscious attention and lever, among other things :)
  - taneq 7y ago
    They do work, though!
  - monsieurbanana 7y ago
    And I like how you passed up the other examples. Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? They fit the "hack your body" description to a tee.
    - taneq 7y ago
      Vaccines are another great example, thanks!
    - mapcars 7y ago
      I used the ones which have clear undesirable side effects, others might have it as well just that we don't know about them. >Are you also advocating against medical drugs or vaccines? I am only advocating about being conscious of how much we don't know. If medical drug or vaccine saves lives - I have no problem with it, still most likely we don't know all the side effects.

koheripbal 7y ago

During a stressful part of my life recently I struggled with getting to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on. until one night I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and it occurred to me that I could just modify this behaviour to bed. So I put a handful of old Star Trek episodes on my phone. Each night I put me earphones on (so as not to disturb my wife), turn on an episode of Star Trek, and I am asleep within the first five minutes. ... I can even repeat episodes... it doesnt even matter since Im asleep within literally 5mins. At first the earphones were annoying, but after a week you dont even notice them. The stress at work continues, but I sleep like a baby. I think the familiarity of Star Trek (which I watched a lot as a kid) gives me a subconsious sense of security.

tomhoward 7y ago
I find the standard-issue Apple EarPods as good as anything for sleeping. And yes I also find listening to something familiar helps me get to sleep quickly if I’m overstimulated and/or anxious, which is often the case. I also find it helpful to play binaural beats in the background, which you can do with an iOS app called BrainWave (Dream Inducer).
ollysb 7y ago
lol, I'm using Star Trek Enterprise for exactly the same thing at the moment. According to my Oura ring my sleep latency (as they call it - time to fall asleep) is about 5-10mins. I just put an earbud in one ear and sleep on the other side.
- Angostura 7y ago
  I listen Bizzleberry stream League of Legends games https://www.twitch.tv/bizzleberry https://www.twitch.tv/bizzleberry
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workthrowaway12 7y ago
this trick works. my twist on it is to watch people play old video games on youtube. however, it doesn't work when i need a clear mind, especially when i am exhausted. it is frustrating that no amount of movies, songs, video games will help clear your mind -- at least not mine -- which in turn makes you stay awake... i used to know how meditate in college, but i have somehow lost that ability it seems (yes, one can lose it lol)

Funes- 7y ago

Meditating right before going to bed, given that you haven't stared at any screen for an hour prior, can help tremendously with insomnia. That and intense and regular exercise, a clean diet, hydration... Healthy habits, to cut it short. Also, make sure your bedroom is dark and its temperature is cool.

amelius 7y ago

Not really on topic, but I'm trying to find some way to get EMG (muscle) readings preferably without using glue (which I suspect can become messy) or disposable electrodes (which can become costly). What is the best way to do this?

arbitel 7y ago

Or you know, you could go to the gym and start exercising? Try to stay awake after a heavy day of lifting.

albi_lander 7y ago
In my experience, it depends on which sport you do and when you do it during the day. I used to play squash during the evening around 8pm and on these days I would fall asleep very late, like around 2am. This was mostly due, I think, to my heart rate still being quite high (I could feel it), and slowing down very slowly until it reached a reasonable level at which I could get asleep. This is something that other friends playing squash in the evening reported as well.
magashna 7y ago
I spent 30-45 minutes deadlifting yesterday and still had trouble falling asleep. It's not the perfect answer.
ryanmercer 7y ago
Strength athlete here, I train in the evenings and my quality of sleep is always garbage when I'm peaking from all of the stress on my CNS. The end of cycles are hands down my worst sleep weeks, I'll be dog ass tired and have trouble staying asleep. For one person a heavy day might be a few sets of deadlifts at 80-90% 1rm, for some of us that might mean 2-2.5 hours of training where are warm up alone moves considerably more mass than your entire training and then we also tack on multiple accessory movements and conditioning and if you aren't doing that in the morning it's almost certainly going to mess with your sleep quality that night. I have a training-induced insomnia blog post that is years old and gets hits every single day without fail. It's probably 1/4 of the total traffic on my personal blog and probably more like 60-65% of Google-referred traffic despite the fact I have 18 years of blog posts.

om3n 7y ago

I'm in a particularly stressful time in my life (just moved, intense new job) where I've been struggling to sleep. There will be some nights where I simply don't sleep at all; just lay awake in bed all night. Of course I'm aware of all the health/safety/productivity issues associated with no sleep, and the anxiety of not sleeping just furthers my inability to fall asleep. This is what I've been attempting to do to help with my sleep problems, with reasonable success: 1. Lift heavy each week day. I'm using a PPL routine with at least one big lift each day. I also trying to burn a significant amount of calories each day in the gym. 2. Strict evening routine. I try to go to bed within the same hour each night if I can help it. 3. Reduce responsibilities. One of the biggest issues for me is missing my routine. I now try to keep my weekday schedule the same (don't go out at night) so I can have plenty of wind-down time at home before bed. 4. Wind down time. I try to do something relaxing before going to bed that will distract my mind (like play a low intensity videogame, read about non work-related topics, etc.) 5. Supplements. I drink a cup of chamomile tea and take 5 mg of melatonin before I go to bed, and this seems to help (or might be a placebo) 6. Listen to something calming and familiar while I fall asleep. Unlike others in this thread, no Star Trek for me; I like to listen to twitch streamer ZFG speedrun Ocarina of Time. I turn the volume on my phone to the lowest setting, put the phone face-down on the bed next to me, and the audio commentary seems to be helpful background noise.

balfirevic 7y ago
> I drink a cup of chamomile tea and take 5 mg of melatonin before I go to bed, and this seems to help (or might be a placebo) That is way too much and possibly not timed properly. Correct dosage is closer to 0.3 mg - 1 mg. See here for more details about dosage and timing: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-than-you-wanted-to-know/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th... Edit: I incorrectly written grams instead of milligrams previously, thanks aneidon for catching it.
- aneidon 7y ago
  I think you mean 0.3 mg, based on your source.

forgotmypw 7y ago

Insomnia is a fake idea invented to promote the industrial work cycle. If you go to sleep when you're so tired, as opposed to when the societal clock says you should, you won't have any trouble sleeping.

klyrs 7y ago
> If you go to sleep when you're so tired, as opposed to when the societal clock says you should, you won't have any trouble sleeping. Great PMA, but you're absolutely wrong. I did that last night, got tired and went to bed around 10pm. And then I woke up at 1am. Now that it's approaching 6, I'm getting tired. But this happens to me occasionally and I know from past experience that my two options are: 1) Go back to bed at around 7, wake up at 8 or 9, and feel awful all day 2) Power through, and feel awful all day. Maybe I'll be tired enough tonight that I'll catch up on this morning's loss. But given past experience, I'll probably get 2-4 hours of sleep a night for the next week. When I say "wake up" I mean that I'm alert and can't get sleepy -- I can stay in bed and be bored for hours, and sleep won't come no matter how tired I feel.
- iikoolpp 7y ago
  > I did that last night, got tired and went to bed around 10pm. And then I woke up at 1am. Now that it's approaching 6, I'm getting tired. But this happens to me occasionally and I know from past experience that my two options are: This is how your sleep schedule is naturally designed to work. Sleep for a bit, wake up, sleep again.
  - klyrs 7y ago
    Nope. I typically wake up for a few minutes at a time and get a full night's sleep. Every few months, I have a bout of insomnia that reduces me to a couple of hours of sleep for a while. Believe it or not, I know what my normal is better than you.
- anonuser123456 7y ago
  This happens to me. It's a nasty feedback loop where lack of sleep makes me hyper and too alert to sleep. I suspect the cause is high cortisol levels. Remeron/mirtazapine works really well for me as a reset to baseline. Talk to your Physician about it.

EEor 7y ago

How has no one mentioned medical marijuana?

throwaway1777 7y ago
It’s well established that cannabis interferes with rem sleep, so it’s an option, but not a good one.
- sharadov 7y ago
  That's only with the high THC strains, you need a low THC and high CBD strain.
  - chaostheory 7y ago
    This is the only thing that works for me and I’m not drowsy when I wake up

osrec 7y ago

Unlike many members of my family who can fall asleep regardless of the circumstances, I need to feel sleepy/tired to sleep. I'm fairly fit, so getting to that state with a job that involves me sitting at a desk can be a challenge. When I do sleep, I sleep pretty well, but getting to that state can be tough. I simply have to do some physical work each day to tire my body - otherwise, sleeping is near impossible. The gym is often not enough (and if I go in the evening, it actually wakes me up). I find I need to do something moderately strenuous and mundane, like carrying a few groceries for a mile or two, or maybe sweeping + mopping a few floors round the house or perhaps some DIY. Also, if I'm unable to sleep, rather than trying to sleep, I find it's better to get up and do some work, even if means being in front of a screen. That knocks me out eventually!

Chazprime 7y ago

My insomnia is a little different than the author's; I fall asleep easily but wake up three or four hours later. And when I'm up, I'm wide awake. I tried just about everything discussed here....meditation, podcasts, watching television, reading before bed but nothing really helped me consistently. I even bought a treadmill and started running every day which does help, but the thing that actually did the trick best was a few puffs of marijuana about an hour before bedtime. It was sufficient to take me "out of my head" enough to get a better night's sleep without feeling foggy the next day.

0xcde4c3db 7y ago
One of the problems with insomnia as a construct is that it lumps a bunch of problems together that probably don't have the same mechanisms. The vast majority of insomnia treatment and advice is focused on "initial insomnia", i.e. inability to fall asleep when you first go to bed.
jcpsimmons 7y ago
I deal with this occasionally (seems to crop up for me every couple of years depending on life circumstances). Look into sleep restriction therapy. It's been the "silver bullet" for me. You essentially limit yourself to a 5 hour sleep window every night. Once you can sleep 5 sound hours for a week you're allowed to add 30 minutes and repeat the cycle. It sucks for the first few days, but the exhaustion will eventually win out.
nestorherre 7y ago
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I. Check it out I'm sure it will help you.
yummypaint 7y ago
If it can be compatible with your schedule, try splitting your sleep into two 4 hour chunks. They dont have to be 12 hours apart. The mosy productive and energetic ive ever felt was while doing this. That being said it sounds like you already have a good system figured out. Aything that doesnt involve a prescription sleep aid is a big win

not_a_moth 7y ago

things that definitely made a difference for me: a) only dim lights after sunset (reflect for a moment on how unnatural it is, after million or years of modern human evolution, that we all of a sudden have light after sundown. (especially blue light screens, seriously, use apps) ; this disrupts your circadian rhythms and melatonin cycles, so it's a big deal. b) black out shades. don't underestimate - I've monitored my sleep +2 years with multiple fitness trackers, and noticed a clear positive difference in restlessness levels. it also cured my problem of waking up in the middle of the night to pee believe it or not. c) air tight wax ear plugs ; sounds will wake you up and you often won't know why. a motorcycle, someone closes a door etc. d) chilly room. I find ~70F is great. again going back to evo history, it's always been chillier at night. e) habit x 10. go to bed at the same time, wake up at the same time. be unplugged for at least an hour before sleep and relax for a bit when you wake up. follow point a) after sundown. your sleep drive will take over. this might take months to get there, especially if you're a high cortisol individual, but biology will take over if you let it.

sharadov 7y ago

What about marijuana? An indica strain should put you on your back in no time.

csommers 7y ago
just because it lays you out...doesn't mean it provides proper (read: good) sleep.
- tartoran 7y ago
  It has the opposite effect on me whatever the strain. It gets me energized and personally I would totally avoid id before sleep. However, seems to do wonders for some.

hiccuphippo 7y ago

I've heard a couple of times of this technique by the US Army in which you relax your body starting by the face, then arms, torso, legs. Finally you picture yourself in a canoe in the middle of a lake or something similar to avoid thinking of anything. Anyone knows how effective is this? https://medium.com/s/story/combat-tested-training-unwind-and-sleep-anywhere-in-120-seconds-27d5307b7606 https://medium.com/s/story/combat-tested-training-unwind-and...

goostavos 7y ago
I find its not that effective if not paired with the 8 hours of marching in heavy gear :|

nestorherre 7y ago

Great tips overall, thank you all. I might add getting familiar with CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia). I was struggling for months with sleep and this was a life saviour.

aivosha 7y ago

vitamin D deficiency. https://youtu.be/74F22bjBmqE https://youtu.be/74F22bjBmqE

aug_aug 7y ago
also magnesium supplements - I had some nervous system/restless leg issues and finally diagnosed as deficient in it, cured insomnia that was ongoing for months - just wanted to throw this out there
- Ftuuky 7y ago
  Thanks for the heads up. I do have restless legs and insomnia, let's try that magnesium. Is there a recommended dosage?
  - psalminen 7y ago
    I take 800mg Magnesium Glycinate to sleep. Works really well and I wake up with no fog.
moltar 7y ago
Thank you so much. This is the info I was looking for for 10 years!

humble_engineer 7y ago

Man I just realized that the "Read the whole story" button can save so much bandwidth. Imagine how many people click on your site but don't actually read the article or potentially click any ads, they just scan for 2-3 seconds and hit the back button. If you only show 5% of the content, you only send so much bandwidth. If you ask them to read more, because they have confirmed they are interested, and then yous end the rest of the 95% content, you can save so much bandwidth bills.

Eric_WVGG 7y ago

I picked up very serious sleep problems (and seemingly permanent bags under my eyes) right around puberty and lived with it for about twenty years. Tried most of the "hacks" on this page (yes, including exercise) to no avail. It all unexpectedly went away when I moved into my current apartment. I have huge, unblocked, east-facing windows, and every morning I’m bathed in sunlight. No more sleeping in; I’m wide awake, no arguments. Consequently, by midnight I am dead to the world. All of this makes me a bit worried for the future, as "big unblocked east window in the bedroom" seems like a big ask for a rental. But yeah, it worked, my sleep is solved for the time being. Except for chunks of February.

Eric_WVGG 7y ago
“Huh, so maybe one of those seasonal-affect-disorder lamps would blah blah…” I’ve never been willing to try one as every one on the market is so ungodly ugly. There’s an opportunity out there for either a SAD bulb that could be added-on to a normal lamp, or an entire SAD lamp designed by an actual interior designer/artist.
- 1123581321 7y ago
  The only really nice-looking one I’ve found is Casper Glow: https://casper.com/glow-light/ https://casper.com/glow-light/ However, I don’t know if it counts, medically speaking, and the marketing page is careful not to make any actual claims.
tanin 7y ago
I unscientifically believe that we shouldn't use an alarm clock or any kind of trigger to wake up. My rational is: if your body has enough sleep, it'll wake up on its own. On the flip side: it's actually very hard to sleep when your body doesn't need sleep. On another flip side: it's easy to stay awake even though your body needs sleep. With this, we should all sleep in a completely dark (blocked) room with no sound and etc. The "big unblocked east window in the bedroom" (unless the curtain blocks the light effectively) is a no for me. I've read "why we sleep", and I get this conflict where: 1. The author believes in the no-trigger-to-wake-up as well. 2. Somehow I also get the impression that the author also believes that we should use sunlight as a trigger for waking up. We'd feel fresher. But wouldn't that cut off our sleep?

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akeck 7y ago

Everyone is different, but for me strength training wakes me up, while cardio helps me sleep. What surprises me sometimes is how much cardio I need for good sleep. In one particularly high pressure week, I had to row (erg) 7-10km per a day to sleep well.

steve_adams_86 7y ago
I'm similar. Without intense exercise, my brain is at high revs all day and I can't keep it under control to fall asleep. I need to knock myself out with exhaustion. I used to run 50km per week or so and still feel like I could use more. Restless legs, active mind, fidgeting, etc. These days I'm running much less, but I'm lost without it.

tartoran 7y ago

2 new tricks to add here (that work magic for me at least) - child pose for about 10 minutes with the head/forehead resting on a pillow - forced yawning, but without needing to actually make a sound, (and without needing to open the mouth wide). Hard to explain, there's some oral/neck musculature that is not triggered voluntarily that I've been experimenting on which becomes somewhat easier to control with exercise. I'd start with lots of yawning first

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mikelyons 7y ago

I find that I have always have trouble sleeping, but then when I took up a practice of strong-determination-sitting (meditation+) I would fall asleep during the meditation! and I would also notice that my mind-activity was several noticeable clicks lower after a 20 minute sit. It has to be tried to be believed (IMO)

oarabbus_ 7y ago

>ctrl+F "exercise" >0 results None of the stuff they talk about in the article helped me kick my insomnia/DSPS. Only exercise helped.

jm__87 7y ago
Exercise doesn't really work for everyone. I found when I used to have trouble sleeping, heavy lifting made my sleep 10x worse (and still messes with my sleep now when I try it every now and then). Light to moderate exercise tended to improve my sleep, but the improvement was fairly minor. CBT-I and getting some bright light in the morning, on the other hand, were complete game changers for me. I've gone from sleeping maybe 5 - 6.5 hours of poor sleep a night (waking up multiple times, early waking), to normally 7 - 8 hours of good quality sleep and the improvement has been consistent for the past few years now.

bradlys 7y ago

Yeah, I suffered from insomnia for most of my life. I didn't really realize it was an issue until I was about 20-21. I think it took falling asleep at the wheel and rear ending someone, crashing on my bicycle multiple times from not being able to stay awake (going downhill at 20+mph btw), and a plethora of other stupid events for me to realize maybe I should seek help finally. I think it's pretty amazing to see what I accomplished on so little but, ultimately, it's sad because I know I could've done way more with better sleep. And it was 100% stress related. Taking pills, trying breathing exercises, and everything else didn't fix it. It could make me slightly better than doing nothing but it was never fixed. I have a rhythm now I follow that works better. But, really, I never found a "solution". I just got into a less stressful life. (Finally having a girlfriend, high(er) paying job, etc. was the "trick" - aka solve what causes my stressors)

RedBeetDeadpool 7y ago

I had so much trouble with insomnia a few years back - I remember not being able to get sleep for at least 3-5 days straight on multiple different occasions. I thought I was going to die at least two of those times it happened. These days my ability to fall asleep feels like a superpower (because - 1. I know just how absurdly many people out there are functioning on less than optimal sleep on a daily basis, and 2. I know I'm not the only one who has had trouble with falling asleep). These are the bits of advice I have: 1. I've woken or havent been able to fall asleep because I was hungry. Always try to have eaten at least one satiating meal a day. Also make sure you're not dehydrated or have to pee. 2. Don't ever worry or intentionally think that you have to fall asleep. The stress, the cortisol, and the excitement(when you start falling asleep) will keep you awake. Going one night without sleep is not the end of the world. At worst you were really really relaxed in a nice cozy bed for 8 hours, so take comfort in that time. 3. This one is the most important: think about your brain like its some sort of muscle. If it's engaged its sort of 'flexing', and its very hard to fall asleep if its flexing. If I just 'unflex' my mind the way I would let go of my grip, the next thing I usually notice is that its morning and my alarm clock is waking me up. Other than these things, everything else I've seen had little affect on my abilities to sleep when I had insomnia - working out until exhaustion out didn't work, neither did weed, neither did alcohol, and neither did induced food coma, reading a book, watching tv, counting sheep. And when I learned again how to fall asleep, I haven't had a problem with blue light, I haven't had a problem with caffeine, I didn't even have a problem with a lot of noise. These things help or hurt your ability to sleep but it doesn't ultimately determine whether or not you do.

sfgweilr4f 7y ago

You can't sleep when there are enemies nearby. Didn't you play Skyrim, Minecraft, Fallout... Or more seriously you have messed up bloodwork. Get your blood checked. Vitamin D is necessary during day. Seeing the morning light and end of day sun set can actually help. Or you didn't exercise enough. Various military organisations have sorted out sleep: they can get you tired enough to sleep vertical. Often while still marching.