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Sleep Issues

Ok It's natural to find yourself having difficulty sleeping sometimes and especially when under pressure or experiencing stress. For example during EXAM SEASON!

However during the past week, I have been having a less than adequate amount of sleep almost every other night, last night/this morning I only slept about two hours.

That means today is virtually a write off in terms of revision/exam practice and most of the stuff I did yesterday will probably be forgotten.

I have tried things that are supposed to be good for sleep like hot milk and chamomile tea, but sometimes these don't work.

-Does anyone have anything that works for them?

I am considering talking to my doctor about this, but I expect the outcome will be prescription sleeping pills, which is not something I would normally consider, but for the next two weeks it may be worth it.

-Does anyone have any experince with prescription sleeping pills?

-Do they work?

-Are they likely to adversely effect concentration/exam performance?

-Are there any other side effects I should know about?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Reply 1

rainjan_4now

I have also been having sleeping problems, and what i had to do is take a day off before i began revising because i could not mentally get myself to absorb the many words in front of me as i tried to revise with a tired mind. :redface:

Reply 2

mtbab

i was on them for a week and hated them, they made my morning very slow as it took my longer to wake up, they also gave me dreamless sleep which is not something i like becuase its kinda scary, lol, the best thing i found to do, was go to bed earlier than you would, dont take any revision books or anything with you to bed, dont switch on the radio or anything, and dont ptu your phone in you room. just turn off the light (dont put the lamp on) and try to asleep, you'll feel really restless, but after a lil while your body will get tired and bored and fall asleep, you wont even remember falling aslepp too, it does work, the first night might be a bit rough, but afte rthat youll be fine

Reply 3

saz_1989

i took diazepam (although it wasn't prescribed for me). it was great. it knocked me out completely and i got a good night's sleep. problems were getting up in the morning - make sure you take one early so you can conk out around 10 and get a really long night's sleep. if you can sleep in, even better. another thing is that i quickly became dependent on them. when i ran out, i had to buy some nytol to help me sleep. now i'm ok though.

if you dont wanna try tablets, then get up really early or have very little sleep and get up normal time one night - then when you feel tired in the night go to bed straight away.

Reply 4

finnstar

pills such as Sleep-Ezy will get the job done efficiently, but its excessive. its just exam stress.. try not to depend on man made pharmaceuticals.. try the natural approach.. sleep early, wake early, maintain a healthy diet.. eat lots of greens and drink tons of water.. once your lifestyle improves,. so will your sleeping pattern.. good luck..

Reply 5

xXMessedUpXx

i only have difficulty sleeping when i stay with my boyfriend.

he's an insomniac.

which for someone who isn't, staying awake till 5am is baaaaad

Reply 6

Adarah

What worked for me was a nice hot relaxing bath with many bath oils and such and not a pice of paper with formulars or notes for revision in sight - before every exam I'd spend the evening not thinking about it, bannishing the books and all and just having a nice hot bath... might help you. good luck with your exams! :smile:

Reply 7

Saffie

grr i could almost accept not being able to sleep during my exams but i've practically been finished a week and I still cannot sleep. So I stay up ages, then get up early--> really tired that day and try to go to sleep earlier. But as soon as i get into bed I can't switch off. So i don't really know what to advice, it's awful when you're soooo tired but just cannot sleep. :frown:

Reply 8

Cirsium

Get yourself down to Boots and buy 2 things:
Firstly (sorry if you're a guy) get some lavender and sandalwood aromatherapy balm. It comes in a little tub like lip balm and is in the boots aromatherapy section. It's great for calming you down - i'm taking it into all my exams
Secondly ask for "Bach Rescue Remedy" - it's a herbal thing that you put a tiny bit in water or on your tongue - they do a spray and a bottle. It's clinically proven to help you relax - and works like a charm for me (I suffer BADLY from stress) Tis all natural :smile:

Try to get hold of some calming music too

Reply 9

Taldarion

Get some exercise on the job during the day as well, that's been shown to help you sleep at night, certainly helps me

Reply 10

epitome

Don't go down the prescription pills route: it seems they make you feel mighty hung-over the next day. (So useless for revision time!) Horse tranquillisers!

I'd suggest the natural things, like others. Exercise, eat sensibly, don't use computer just before trying to sleep, etc.

And the Doctor will probably be useless - a friend went for the same thing and Dr. didn't say anything that hasn't been said here already.

Reply 11

Zarathustra

epitome

a friend went for the same thing and Dr. didn't say anything that hasn't been said here already.

No no, not quite - he wished me luck in my exams, after being rather rude and making it quite obvious that he considered me a waste of space :smile:

Zara's new sleep-eazy method: Stand at the opposite side of your room to the bed, bend at the waist as if leaning over to pick something up but stop when your torso is at right angles to your legs, run forward as fast as you can into the wall.

Guaranteed to get you straight out of that pesky state of consciousness* :wink: