High Energy and Sleep

[ApologiaPhoenix]

Recently, I got a new job and had my first new day yesterday and it's a major change and being an Aspie, I don't respond to change well. Meanwhile, my mother talked with a friend on the phone yesterday who wanted to know about children growing up Aspie and I was there for the whole thing and as she described my growing up, I think I started remembering and feeling things I didn't want to feel. Therefore, there's a lot of stress in one day. I want to do good at the job. I also want to enjoy myself. I want to make sure I'm keeping up with my studies. I still want to make sure I'm being a good husband.

I worry about getting enough sleep for the next day. Keep in mind also lately, I wake up during the night after awhile to have to go to the bathroom. The fear I won't get enough sleep often keeps me up. Then, here comes the high-energy part. My old counselor talked to me today and said he thinks my mind over-analyzes with new situation and that because I'm high energy, it's always running. Thus, when I get up during the night, my mind immediately starts running and so it's hard to get to sleep again. It could just be I need less sleep than most.

But my question is if anyone else has this similar problem at night. It can be great as a thinker to have a mind that can constantly analyze information if you get it going in the right way. When it goes in the wrong way, it's entirely negative and jumps to wrong conclusions. I try to take Melatonin at night as a calmer, but there are times the mind is just racing as soon as I'm in bed at night (And not that out of control any other time) and I just don't know what to do and it gets worse and worse and I start to panic and, well, it's a vicious cycle.

Is anyone else like this and if so, what do you do to quiet the mind down or redirect it?

[princesa]

First, congratulations on your new job and I wish you much success and fulfillment there. Before you know it, it will be smooth sailing.
Secondly, I saw so much of myself in here. I, too, have difficulty sleeping as my mind tends to analyze and then over analyze moments or encounters of the present day or just thinking of the future, or simply just thinking gibberish that I can't shut off.

A few seconds after my spouses head hits the pillow he is fast asleep to my envy. I am sorry that I don't have a solution as I still struggle with a full nights sleep. Even if I sleep a full 5 hours without waking up, it would be an accomplishment and I would possibly be refreshed. People have suggested not staying in bed and reading until you 'feel' sleepy. But I am too alert of the passing time to leave my bed for fear that I am making matters worse. I certainly don't have coffee past 4pm or anything caffeinated or high in sugar (natural or otherwise).

When I've had a thoroughly exhausting day it is easier to sleep. I notice if I watch tv for an extended period the onslaught of mental stimulation absolutely affects me. While you are trying to sleep try to 'catch yourself' and immediately (this is courtesy of my husbands advice) say the Our Father, slowly and then repeat. I can't stress how important it is for me to check my breathing. When my mind is over stimulated as I try to sleep, I make it a point to breath in and out slowly as to relax my body. This helps. The key, for us who will be distracted again during this process, is to continually remind ourselves to breath slowly.

Ok, this is a weird one but...I've noticed that when I am about to fall asleep I see images almost in HD. In other words I feel I am between 2 realms, the awakened state which is allowing me to realize this fact and the sleep stage which is enabling me to see this object (leaves on a tree) with such clarity. This I cannot do when I'm fully awake. So, with this in mind, sometimes I envision a tree and try to stay on the vision until that 'clarity' arrives, which means I'm not too far from sleep.

I'm sure there are websites with great suggestions on this too. Good luck on this.

[Sparko]

Recently, I got a new job and had my first new day yesterday and it's a major change and being an Aspie, I don't respond to change well. Meanwhile, my mother talked with a friend on the phone yesterday who wanted to know about children growing up Aspie and I was there for the whole thing and as she described my growing up, I think I started remembering and feeling things I didn't want to feel. Therefore, there's a lot of stress in one day. I want to do good at the job. I also want to enjoy myself. I want to make sure I'm keeping up with my studies. I still want to make sure I'm being a good husband.

I worry about getting enough sleep for the next day. Keep in mind also lately, I wake up during the night after awhile to have to go to the bathroom. The fear I won't get enough sleep often keeps me up. Then, here comes the high-energy part. My old counselor talked to me today and said he thinks my mind over-analyzes with new situation and that because I'm high energy, it's always running. Thus, when I get up during the night, my mind immediately starts running and so it's hard to get to sleep again. It could just be I need less sleep than most.

But my question is if anyone else has this similar problem at night. It can be great as a thinker to have a mind that can constantly analyze information if you get it going in the right way. When it goes in the wrong way, it's entirely negative and jumps to wrong conclusions. I try to take Melatonin at night as a calmer, but there are times the mind is just racing as soon as I'm in bed at night (And not that out of control any other time) and I just don't know what to do and it gets worse and worse and I start to panic and, well, it's a vicious cycle.

Is anyone else like this and if so, what do you do to quiet the mind down or redirect it?

I have problems sleeping the whole night through too. I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep because of thinking about stuff.

I find that taking some Melatonin before going to bed can help me sleep through the night. It is what your body naturally makes to make you sleep and its a great antioxident. The first couple of nights I take it, it tends to give me vivid dreams, but that goes away.

Might be worth a shot. start with 3mg.

as far as quieting my mind, I tend to turn on the TV to some boring reality show like American Pickers or Storage Wars, that I can just close my eyes and listen to till I fall asleep. Other people like a little soft music, but I find listening to the TV engages my mind just enough to get me to stop thinking about stuff too much and vegges me out.

[Manwë Súlimo]

I'm no stranger to sleep disorders. I used to be victimized by sleep paralysis on an almost daily basis; but luckily, those occurrences are very rare now. And there are nights where I can't...get to sleep....no matter....what. But then my scumbag brain decides to shut down right around the time I have to get ready for work.

I don't have much advice, but I can sympathize.

[Chrawnus]

I'm no stranger to sleep disorders. I used to be victimized by sleep paralysis on an almost daily basis; but luckily, those occurrences are very rare now. And there are nights where I can't...get to sleep....no matter....what. But then my scumbag brain decides to shut down right around the time I have to get ready for work.

I don't have much advice, but I can sympathize.

Apart from the sleep paralysis (which I have only experienced about 2-3 times in my entire life) this pretty much sums up my experience with trying to get sleep.





My solution is to stay awake for 24 hours and sleep for 7-8 hours (or however much time you have to sleep).

[Cerebrum123]

I have pretty much everything above, including very vivid nightmares during sleep paralysis, and I have no advice other than what has been given. In fact, could use some myself as I rarely get any good sleep.

[Abelard]

Is anyone else like this and if so, what do you do to quiet the mind down or redirect it?

I mentally repeat the Jesus prayer, "Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me, a poor sinner." Never fails.

[mossrose]

I read a while before turning the light out. Sometimes I fall asleep reading.....depends on the book.......

If I wake in the night, there are a couple of things I do. I start with the alphabet and thank God for something that begins with each letter.

I count backwards from 300 by 3's.

I start with the first Sunday of the new year and go through the numbers of the Sundays. For example, January this year, the first Sunday was the 6th. So, 6, 13,20, 27, and then on into February. This last is usually the one that sends me back to sleep.

Sort of like counting sheep, I guess, which I have never understood..........

And well done on your new job, Nicky!

[Andius]

Recently, I got a new job and had my first new day yesterday and it's a major change and being an Aspie, I don't respond to change well. Meanwhile, my mother talked with a friend on the phone yesterday who wanted to know about children growing up Aspie and I was there for the whole thing and as she described my growing up, I think I started remembering and feeling things I didn't want to feel. Therefore, there's a lot of stress in one day. I want to do good at the job. I also want to enjoy myself. I want to make sure I'm keeping up with my studies. I still want to make sure I'm being a good husband.

Excellent, no comments here.

I worry about getting enough sleep for the next day. Keep in mind also lately, I wake up during the night after awhile to have to go to the bathroom. The fear I won't get enough sleep often keeps me up. Then, here comes the high-energy part. My old counselor talked to me today and said he thinks my mind over-analyzes with new situation and that because I'm high energy, it's always running. Thus, when I get up during the night, my mind immediately starts running and so it's hard to get to sleep again. It could just be I need less sleep than most.

Some comments I can offer here. As odd as this might appear, you waking up in the middle of the night is really nothing to be afraid off. There is a possibility that your body is reverting to a segment sleep pattern (and in part, assisted by the "bodily fluids" ). If you go to bed at an early hour (say around the hours of 8-10pm) and wake up for about an hour or two around the hours of 12am-2 am, it may actually provide a venue for your highly energized mind to actually think, contemplate, meditate. The unparalleled calm of those hours are quite effective at mitigating a raging mind, and actually allow you to think straight.

But my question is if anyone else has this similar problem at night. It can be great as a thinker to have a mind that can constantly analyze information if you get it going in the right way. When it goes in the wrong way, it's entirely negative and jumps to wrong conclusions. I try to take Melatonin at night as a calmer, but there are times the mind is just racing as soon as I'm in bed at night (And not that out of control any other time) and I just don't know what to do and it gets worse and worse and I start to panic and, well, it's a vicious cycle.

Is anyone else like this and if so, what do you do to quiet the mind down or redirect it?

I was like somewhat like this (don't think my mind is as energetic as yours I think, since I don't overanalyze something given my predisposition to be anti-philosophical at times), and I used to worry that I wasn't getting enough sleep When I decided to change my 8 hour sleep to two chunks of 4 hour sleep (give or take a few minutes) coupled with an hour or two of midnight wakeness, it actually gave me a greater awareness and clarity during the daytime. That wakeness that now occurs naturally for me during the midnight, I use it to simply sit in my sofa and contemplate my thoughts, spend quality time in the toilet of course hehe, read a book, have a chat with your wife if she decides to join in ^^,*(Since I doubt the neighbor will comply, heheheh), or better yet, pray to the Lord during that special quietude.

That midnight is a very very special time, and I have learned to value it more and more. In it you will find calmness not found during the regular day. It can serve as an excellent venue to release whatever high energy you have pented up, and hopefully, if you do succeed in bringing down said energy, the next 4 hours should be delicious, and you will wake up all tanned and rested so to speak. It is a relief for me to learn that segmented sleep was once the norm, and looking forward to that hour or two of wakeness is something that puts a smile in my face these days. A few tips though to get the most out of segmented sleep (based mostly on my experience that I've had over a month):

- Stay away from bright bright locations. Your body "detects" the surrounding light, and being in a fully lit room might confuse your body into "thinking" it's the morning, and kickstart the "wake up and start working mode", ruining the 2nd segment of sleep, and depriving you from sleep. Surround yourself in utter darkness, or if you plan to do some light reading, do it with a small light bright enough to point the book, but still allow a room to be dark.

- Drink at most, food is usually a big no no (The digestive system will slap you hard if you insist on making it work with a horizontal position ).

- No intense activities. Stuff like exercise or grueling work (both mental and physical), obviously out of the question. This moment of wakeness is optimized mostly for relaxing activities. Doing stressfull activities will make you fall into the pitfall mentioned in the first tip, you end up waking up, and not going to sleep again. Use this moment to release and contemplate whatever high energy thoughts you have and sort this out, you won't get any other better time than this. A little writing is always good though (there's a reason why writers of the past chose this hour for their great compositions).

This was the way our forefathers slept TPh, because of the intensity of their lifestyle during the daylights, this night time afforded them a great time of leisure, and a very good time it is. Not a bad idea to retake old and ancient habits I always say.

Read more about it here:

http://www.sott.net/article/248261-R...egmented-Sleep

Hope you take into consideration this mode of sleep. Hopefully, it will mitigate or solve your high energy and sleep problems. Hopefully it will optimize your lifestyle as it has mine.

[Sparko]

interesting Andius.

Last night I woke up around 4AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I normally get up around 6:20am. So I lay there trying the various techniques people have mentioned here and nothing helped. But around 5:30 I started falling asleep again.

of course only to be woken up 30 min later by the dang alarm clock!

[princesa]

interesting Andius.

Last night I woke up around 4AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I normally get up around 6:20am. So I lay there trying the various techniques people have mentioned here and nothing helped. But around 5:30 I started falling asleep again.

of course only to be woken up 30 min later by the dang alarm clock!

Did you try the envisioning leaves on a tree in high definition technique? Just want to be sure

[headheart]

Did you try the envisioning leaves on a tree in high definition technique? Just want to be sure

I dunno what that is, but my best system is to pray. It worked with the disciples in the garden, if you recall they were all napping while the Lord was praying. I couldn't sleep after my heart attack, and started praying and slept like a baby. Each time I start praying and get in about ten minutes even less at times and I'm gone.

[Sparko]

Did you try the envisioning leaves on a tree in high definition technique? Just want to be sure

actually yeah. I too can vividly imagine things when going to sleep. I could see the veins in the leaf and everything.

I remember having a lucid dream one time (that's where you are dreaming and KNOW you are in a dream) and I was walking down a hallway at a school, and I stopped and examined the concrete block wall and could see and feel every little bump on them. Pretty cool.

[Andius]

interesting Andius.

Last night I woke up around 4AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I normally get up around 6:20am. So I lay there trying the various techniques people have mentioned here and nothing helped. But around 5:30 I started falling asleep again.

of course only to be woken up 30 min later by the dang alarm clock!

Hehehe, guess that's the body way to troll with yah, heheheheheh. If it means to hours, and the body refuses to sleep, I figure, why bother, might as well enjoy the sunshine (Unless your THAT sleep deprived, hehe).