Autism, Sensory Seeking, and Sleeping

[halbashes]

I'm twenty-four, and I have PDD-NOS, SID, and ADHD.  I often have trouble falling asleep because I will only feel calm enough to sleep if I feel vibrations.  For example if I'm rocking, shaking, banging, tapping, etc.  I usually tire myself out, and then fall asleep.  (I "stim" constantly...  Vibrations feel more like a "life-sustaining requirement" than a "desire"...)  Though sometimes I tire myself out before I fall asleep, then I end up getting out of bed again.  Does anyone have a suggestion?

[888mom]

Oh, another thing I just thought of... if the sensory vest things like the pressure vest induce deeper breathing, I wonder if yoga breathing practicing would help you out.  I can't do yoga well at all (I just got a Wii fit and it has yoga on it and boy do I stink up a storm), but the breathing exercises are more manageable.

[888mom]

In addition to weighted blankets, there are weighted vests that you can wear, though I think I would find a weighted vest a little uncomfortable to sleep in at night.  Blanket sounds nicer.  Another type of vest that is supposed to be relaxing is called a pressure vest.  It velcros around your chest and gives you some firm pressure on your rib cage and so forth.  Tried one with my daughter awhile back but she hated it with a passion.  I think when you have pressure on your chest in certain areas that it forces you to breathe deeply which will relax you which will put you to sleep if you are tired.  Again, not sure if a pressure vest would be comfortable to sleep in either.  The weighted blanket, in my opinion, seems like a winner.  You can have someone make it for you if it's too expensive to buy.  There are cheaper sites to buy therapy stuff from.... moms of kids with autism who started making things themselves since the official therapy sites were so expensive.  

My daughter fights sleep with a passion, even when she is tired.  She just does not want to go to sleep.  Mmm.. I wonder where she gets that from... as I'm typing at 2:45AM.  Again up late.  Again on teh computer when I know computer stimulates your brain instead of relaxes it.

Maybe I should follow some of my own advice about the sleep thing.  I really need to look into the weighted blanket thing for myself.  The weight of the blanket depends on the age, size, and weight of the person.  So an adult would have a heavier blanket than a child would.  I'm an overweight adult, so I wonder if I need a heavier blanket and then I wonder if it would affect my asthma if it was too heavy.  Maybe I should just go for a normal adult weight person?  

[halbashes]

Thank you so much for your response.  I have an air cleaner in my room that makes a sound that is probably similar to a humidifier.  I like sounds in my room, but it still doesn't give me the same feeling vibrations and movement.

I've never tried a weighted blanket though.  Perhaps I will try something like that to see if it helps me to be more interested in staying still.  Thank you again!

[888mom]

Have you tried music?  there are also these wierd dream tapes that have rhythms or something like that.  One of my friends in college was into Carlos Casteneda and trying to have lucid dreams and also he had problems falling asleep.  So he tried these wierd audio tapes and he'd wear head phones.  he said it all worked and all that.  

Occasionally I find humidifiers calming and comforting.  They make a gentle noise and the room feels great.  I find that they are great in the winter when it is low humidity, but I can not use them in the spring/summer/fall when the humidity is higher.  And sometimes the noise is too loud and bothers me instead of comforting me.

I have trouble falling asleep too (uh, it's 2AM here... and my 3 year old usually wakes up at 7:30AM...)... I used to do the quiet music thing.  Unfortunately if it's too loud hubby won't sleep and neither will little girl... and I have sensory issues and can not wear head phones on my ears.  I hate anything on my head, ears included.  Sometimes music is kind of vibration like.  And there are some interesting things to fall asleep to.  Enya usually puts me to sleep actually.  I have to program the CD player to skip certain songs that would wake me up and only play the ones that are sleepy like... and then I have it programmed to repeat.  

If you have problems staying asleep, getting something that is "white noise" can be helpful.  I have a hubby who snores.  Actually he doesn't sleep in the same room anymore because even having white noise in the background didn't block out his snoring enough.  And he doesn't even snore that loudly... I just have really hyper sensitive hearing... I even hate hearing people breathe when I'm trying to sleep. Oh, and then I hear the fridge running a lot... sometimes I hear electronics.  Like if it's that time of the month my hearing really goes hyper sensitive, and I can hear the electricity going through computers (which are off at night) and even things like clocks, TV sets, lamps, etc.  I don't sleep well when it is that time of the month.

Have you asked a family member for a massage?  Sometimes that helps when I get one.  Though it is rare when I do.  

I have heard that melatonin can help people fall asleep, but if you are on any medication, you woudl have to check with your doctor to make sure it doesn't interact with any meds you take.  Sometimes meds can cause insomnia, too.  I was on cymbalta awhile back and that really messed up my sleep cycle.  Uh, anyways, I also heard that melatonin can really help people with autism sleep better.  But then there is the med problem if it reacts with anything.  So you could check into it.

Another thing I heard and have also read is that if you have problems sleeping you should limit your electronic viewing several hours before bed.  That would mean no TV or no computer.  Oh wait, here I am at 2:20 AM on the computer still... and I am wound up, prob not going to bed for awhile... which means I should get OFF the computer about now.  I do limit TV and video and stuff for my daughter after 4PM so she isn't stimulated too much before bedtime.  But, then there is the whole do as I say, not as I do thing...  At least she isn't awake at 2AM catching mommy on the computer.  So she doesn't know... :)

To get vibration things... there are back massagers that vibrate that you could buy.  I'm not sure how safe they are to fall asleep with, but you could have a family member turn it off once you are asleep.  And hey, you could get a massage with it.  

I have also heard that the weighted blankets help people fall asleep.  Or those weighted vests.  i would not find falling asleep in one of those vests very comfortable, but the blanket might be.  Actually I should probably buy one for my daughter... which I have not done.  Probably could use one for myself too, if it does help the falling to sleep thing.

Good luck on falling to sleep... I'd suggest good exercise during the day, but it sounds like with your other health issues going on, that is probably not going to be an option for you.