My Sleep Hygiene - Helpful to Others?

I have been plagued with sleep problems for as long as I can remember. No matter how tired I get, I cannot fall asleep on my own, so I am reliant on prescription medication. I’ve actually gone as long as five days without sleep, trying to get to sleep on my own, but by then I am so exhausted I can’t take it anymore so I give in and take the pills. Right now I’m on Seroquel and Amitriptyline for sleep and depression. I take 800MG of Seroquel and 100MG of Amitriptyline. Even with the medication, I sometimes have trouble falling asleep.

Because of my sleep issues, I had previously never gotten into a good sleep routine. I was going to bed and waking up at different times, sleep was restless and sporadic. I had also developed some poor sleeping habits, such as falling to sleep with the television on, etc. Getting good sleep was a nightly battle which I continuously lost .

I was browsing the internet looking for some help or advice and I came across a site selling a SleepTracker® watch. I’m not really sure HOW the watch works, but I can tell you that it’s changed my life. I am now going to bed at the same time every night and waking up on a regular schedule. The SleepTracker watch has been a true godsend.

One of the things I like most about the watch is that you can set an alarm time for when you want to get up and set a time window, such as 30 minute or so. The watch waits until the right time, within the window you set, to wake you up and the results are feeling refreshed and well rested. The watch also keeps track of your sleep via a software program, which is something helpful when discussing your sleep issues with your doctor – although you need to keep track of your sleep and almost awake times in a notebook because one of the flaws of the software is that you can’t print out any of the information or reports. Again, this watch has changed my life and has helped me to develop better sleep habits.

In addition to the watch, I have completely changed my sleep routines. I no longer eat heavy meals before bed, the television stays off, and I play a variety of relaxing CD’s meant to aid sleeping. My favorite CD thus far is called H2O. It’s a mixture of water sounds with very relaxing music. I set the disc to repeat and enjoy a full night of restful sleep.

Despite all the good things that the watch and new habits have had on my sleep, I’m still dependant on medication to get me to sleep. I hope that someday I’ll be able to break free from this cycle, but it’s possible that I’ll never be able to go off the medications.

I wanted to post this here for others that may be having similar problems. The watch isn’t perfect, and if you’re a sound sleeper you might not hear or feel the alarm (it beeps and vibrates). I am in no way affiliated with the company that makes the watches, I’m just a satisfied customer.

I hope this information is useful for others and I’d love to hear back from people regarding their sleep routine. Also, if anyone else either has, or gets, the SleepTracker watch, I’d like to get some feedback on that as well. I also HIGHLY recommend the CD “H2O” which is available from the solitudes website, and possibly in some stores. I know that Bed Bath and Beyond sell the CD as well.

Thanks for listening, and hopefully this post will help others.
Well Rested Sean

[KatEyes]

Yes, sleep hygiene can make a big difference for those needing to help themselves sleep. Sometimes there's many pieces to the sleep puzzle and the more pieces we have in place the better environment we provide for sleep to happen.

I have heard of the type watch you mention. It is not uncommon for people with poor sleep to have a hard time waking up, especially if it's time to get up but you're in a deep phase of sleep.We normally cycle thru the sleep stages a few times each night. Some of these watches monitor your movment and when it detects you are moving around more and it's within say a half hour of your desired wake up time, it will begin to wake you up while you are in that lighter stage of sleep.

Thank you for sharing what is helping you. When people have insomnia, they are generally evaluated for a cause such as medication side effect, thyroid problems, mood disorders, and sleep disorders. Ideally one could find a cause, treat it, and sleep normally and wake up refreshed. Till then we do what we've gotta do. I am a big proponent of sleep studies because insomnia is sometimes a symptom of a treatable sleep disorder.