• 0 Posts
  • 21 Comments
Joined 16 days ago
Cake day: February 26th, 2026
  • Cris_Citrus@piefed.ziptoADHD@lemmy.world•Chronic InsomniaEnglish
    2·
    4 days ago

    Hi, I have a lot of experience dealing with sleep issues (in treatment for a severe circadian rhythm disorder for 10 years and used to have insomnia additonally)

    If you haven’t also made changes to improve sleep hygiene, its like the absolute #1 most important thing with insomnia (having a consistent bedtime is an excellent start. If not the case already, try to create a consistent routine around sleep. Dont spend any time in bed not asleep- don’t do any of your daytime activities in bed, sex usually being considered an exception, don’t get into bed until sleepy, if you can’t fall asleep within ~30min, get up and do something to wind down again and try again once sleepy. If you wake up and can’t fall back asleep, do the same. When you wake up in the morning get out of bed as quickly as you can rather than relaxing in bed, a comfortable chair and blankets close to bed that you can move to help make that easier)

    Sleep hygiene is a term you can look up for more info, its the most important starting place for insomnia if you’re not already attending to it.

    Also, you should know that the correct dosage for melatonin is generally considered about .5mg taken (I believe) 3h before you want to sleep. I currently take .3mg/300mcg from Carlyle medicine on amazon, they’ve seemed to be the lowest cost option for low dose when I’ve looked

    I say I believe because for my sleep disorder research now points to taking it even earlier, 5-8h before sleep, but I don’t think thats applicable to insomnia, just circadian rhythm disorders

    Something I’ve been finding a lot of success with lately is a warm shower before bed. Your circadian rhythm is primarily regulated by light, but temperature also plays a big role, both internal and external temp. In the evening your internal body temp will peak a couple hours before bedtime and then start to decrease. This is a que that its time for you to sleep. When you take a warm shower it increases bloodflow to your extremities and once you get out that bloodflow to the outer edges of your body actually causes you to shed heat, helping your body temperature decrease. It seems like research generally points to 1-2h before bed for maybe like 15min, but research on specifics of how and when is most helpful is still ongoing and not totally concrete. And I saw the comment from a doctor somewhere that wearing socks would hinder your ability to cool down this way which makes sense so I try not to cover my hands or feet when I get out. I find it doesn’t need to be that far in advance of bedtime to be helpful for me

    The last thing I’ll mention is that in some cases the circadian rhythm disorder “Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder/Syndrome” (DSPD/DSPS) can look like insomnia, and will generally be different in that if you try to maintain a delayed scheduled sleep will get easier, as the problem is actually that your body’s circadian rhythm is delayed, so its hard to get to bed when you expect to be able to. Sleep apnea can also sometimes look like insomnia. Seeing a good sleep provider to rule out other explanations or identify if there’s more going on there may be a good idea if the issue persists.

    Sending love and hugs my friend, sleep issues are fucking miserable 🫂 I’m rooting for you, good luck. If you have any questions about things I’ve said feel free to ask

  • Cris_Citrus@piefed.ziptoMental Health@lemmy.world•TrueEnglish
    2·
    9 days ago

    I haven’t had a job for several years :(

    I went through a mental health episode in highschool and had to do a lot of growing and changing internally, but never really figured out how to be an independently functionally person. This is the last major milestone but the years keep dragging on and I still seem to be stuck. I’m at least happy to be in therapy again as of recently

  • Cris_Citrus@piefed.ziptoMental Health@lemmy.world•I'm not sure who needs to hear this but get up and move today.English
    18·
    11 days ago

    As someone who struggles to manage mental illness, yeah people have become really knee jerk opposed to lifestyle change approaches to managing mental health. The research is really unambiguous. In DBT they teach you to exercise as part of the PLEASE skill for attending to your physical wellbeing, because its hard to be mentally alright if you feel like crap physically

    Moving won’t fix your mental health, but your mental health is unlikely to improve if you dont go physically move, its a really important part of taking care of your body

    That being said, how you deliver a message has a huge bearing on whether its receieved, and the reason your message is one people are guarded against is because people constantly talk down to mentally ill folks and tell them how to “solve” their issues from a place of presumption. As a part of that, people frequently present exercise as a cure, and as someone who exercises every day it very much is not. Empathizing with that is worthwhile, as invalidating people also promotes poor mental health outcomes :)