Sleep Quality

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drz
Posts: 62 | Thanks: 44
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Age: 31
Location: UK

Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:36 pm

Hi all,

I did a quick search here but couldn't find anything. I know that Andy had an article on sleep as well, which was a great summary, but alas I cannot find it :(

I'm looking for any other tips on improving sleep. I rarely wake up feeling refreshed these days, even if I do get morning wood, I'm frequently irritable. It's damned annoying, and want to fix that and I'm sure sleep has something to do with it.

Things I have done so far:
  • Washing my pillows at 90 degrees Celsius (I don't care whether they're feathers or synthetic, it sure made them more supple after drying in sunshine).
  • Getting pillow and mattress protectors
  • Using blue light filter
  • Melatonin (not regularly, thankfully)
  • Magnesium before bed
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Keto diet (though not all the time)
My goals (next 4 years):
- fix the poor approach-to-date ratio
- get into a relationship (done, in one from March 2021)
- move to a detached house
- Find a way of perma-reducing anxiety when I'm out.


My log
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drifter
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Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:52 pm

Going to bed at a set time every day.
Cutting caffeine.
Healthy diet without too much sugar and processed foods.
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Radical
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Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:05 pm

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Now
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Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:08 pm

drz wrote:
Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:36 pm
I did a quick search here but couldn't find anything. I know that Andy had an article on sleep as well, which was a great summary, but alas I cannot find it
Sounds like you're looking for this article.

I have big trouble consistently getting restful sleep as well so I'm always on the lookout for further tips too.

Things I have tried and can vouch for:
- Consistent bed and wakeup times to regulate circadian rythm
- Bedroom as dark & quiet as possible: I use earplugs and sometimes an eye mask (more often I just close blinds and cover/tape any LEDs left on in my room)
- Fresh air + comfortably cold temperature
- Blue light filters on phone & computers (big shoutout to f.lux)
- No caffeine/alcohol or other stimulants
- Bedtime ritual (especially in regards to clearing your mind)

Things I plan on trying:
- White noise machine
- Blue light blocking glasses
- (De)humidifier
Last edited by Now on Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Crisis_Overcomer
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Tue Aug 10, 2021 7:56 pm

Whats your dinner like?
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jackBruh
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Tue Aug 10, 2021 9:41 pm

I'd recommend everyone read The Power of When. It covers everything you would want to know about circadian rythms and how to get good sleep. After reading it my sleep is pretty much perfect now. Wake up feeling refreshed every day.
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- Get a tattoo (✔)
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drz
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Goal: Improve cold approach
Age: 31
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Wed Aug 11, 2021 9:11 am

Cheers all for your responses. @Radical and @Now yeah that was the article I was seeking :)

@Crisis_Overcomer - yea good question. Before I cut out sugar there'd be times I'd have cake or similar at night. That screwed me over. Chocolate (even without sugar, like home-made stuff from just cocoa beans) also keeps me from sleeping so I avoid that at night nowadays.

What I have now before dinner? Ideally something big but low in carbohydrates about 2-3 hours before I sleep. I'm usually having one meal a day for "fasting" purposes (though I deliberately have 2-3 meals some days to change things up).

@jackBruh - "The Power of When" I'll take a look.
My goals (next 4 years):
- fix the poor approach-to-date ratio
- get into a relationship (done, in one from March 2021)
- move to a detached house
- Find a way of perma-reducing anxiety when I'm out.


My log
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Crisis_Overcomer
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Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:42 pm

drz wrote:
Wed Aug 11, 2021 9:11 am
What I have now before dinner? Ideally something big but low in carbohydrates about 2-3 hours before I sleep. I'm usually having one meal a day for "fasting" purposes (though I deliberately have 2-3 meals some days to change things up).
Add carbs in your dinner. Irritation and low energy are low carb symptoms.
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Limitless
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Tue Feb 22, 2022 2:53 pm

drz wrote:
Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:36 pm
Hi all,

I did a quick search here but couldn't find anything. I know that Andy had an article on sleep as well, which was a great summary, but alas I cannot find it :(

I'm looking for any other tips on improving sleep. I rarely wake up feeling refreshed these days, even if I do get morning wood, I'm frequently irritable. It's damned annoying, and want to fix that and I'm sure sleep has something to do with it.

Things I have done so far:
  • Washing my pillows at 90 degrees Celsius (I don't care whether they're feathers or synthetic, it sure made them more supple after drying in sunshine).
  • Getting pillow and mattress protectors
  • Using blue light filter
  • Melatonin (not regularly, thankfully)
  • Magnesium before bed
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Keto diet (though not all the time)
Mattress topper. Helped me a ton.
Have a sleep ritual, ccertain time before you go to sleep where you have NO electronics useage.
A temperature sensitive pillow that is also conforming to your head, I bought one at CostCo.
The mattress topper I use was a god send.
Increase melatonin.
Try it mixed with benadryl or doxylamine succinate.

I'm prescribed sleeping meds, but they can cause addiction and you become dependent and tolerance increases so the original does doesn't work.

But I've heard good things about Lunesta and I forgot the other one. (shit I think my recent head injury really did affect my memory).

Ask a doctor for a non-addictive sleeping medication, although I'm not aware of any that aren't OTC.

I was taking 20-30 mg of melatonin a night, 50 to 100 mg of benadryl, and 25 to 100 mg of doxylamine succinate. I forgot the OTC (over the counter) name for doxylamine succinate.

And if there's an extended release version of these meds., that's better.

Temazepam is the sleep med. I use, Try not to use it more than 7-10 days, that's it's purpose. I'm dependent on it for sleep. Any psychiatrist should be willing to, it'll help your sleep for 7-10 days, after that is when tolerance builds up, you wake up early because it doesn't help you stay asleep.

Seroquel too, that is not addictive. Knocks you right out. I don't even think seroquel is a controlled substance and it's almost impossible to abuse. I know people (not me) who have abused it, I think they're fucking idiots. It just makes you tired and sleepy. I cut one out of my life cuz he did retarded (can I use that word, its politically incorrect and offends some people, but I'm using it quite literally, I truly believe his IQ is really low, not to the point of literal retardation, but his actions are tantamount to it).

And also I know people who use marijuana (legally, get an medical marijuana card to try), though I've never personally tried it for sleep.

CBD can also help. It helped me.

Note: I've only used the solid forms of the medications above, not the liquid, which I assume is more effective.

DO NOT USE IT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME FOR A FULL NIGHT's SLEEP AND DO NOT DRIVE A CAR OR MOTORCYCLE WITHIN 7-10 hours of consuming any large amount of the above.

I'm prescribed 30 mg of temazepam and 400 mg of seroquel. (That's an insane amoutn of seroquel but my tolerance has gone up since I've taken it since I was 15). My temazepam recently was cut in half by my doctor (and he lied about the reason behind it) and my sleep has been horrible since. So, do not take that more than 7-10 days. Even online and in medical training textbooks it says its meant for 7-10 days of consumption.

Hope that helps. If your mattress topper also conforms to your body and is temperature sensitive (stays cool), that helps too. Mine doesn't. A warm shower before sleeping helps too. And reading. Or watching reruns of shows.
The 10,000 Hour Rule.

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Vice
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Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:14 am

I was about to reply but everyone has hit the good ones already.

I do want to emphasize using eye masks and earplugs consistently. Once you get used to them, your sleep quality gets much better overall, even when you travel. My pet theory about that is that you're creating more "familiar factors" for sleep.

My biggest thing would be to look on craigslist for a Tempurpedic mattress. You can buy a good one at a significant discount, and your sleep quality will be outrageous. You spend a third of your life asleep; don't get a shitty mattress or try to compensate for one with a mattress topper.

After that, get memory foam pillows, high quality cotton sheets, and a nice goose down comforter. I have girls that love sleeping over just because they get a really good night's sleep at my place.
Vice's Log (Threesomes, military adventures, online dating shitshow, and shaking off the rust from night game: viewtopic.php?t=739
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Lieutenant Lucid
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Sun Aug 21, 2022 9:53 pm

@drz Sorry to hear you're dealing with this. My sleep went to shit in 2015 and it was nothing short of torture. Lots of good suggestions already made here, so hopefully you've found a solution by now. If not then I'd suggest looking in a bit of a different direction

Poor sleep can be a result of environmental factors as well as a symptom of a deeper physical issue. If you haven't already, I'd strongly suggest going to a good functional or integrative medicine doctor. The idea is to suss out any underlying problems you may not know you have. And trust me, it's very easy to be sick without knowing it. If you have suboptimal gut health, thyroid issues, adrenal fatigue, mold toxicity, high oxalates, or any number of other hard-to-identify problems, there's a good chance your sleep quality will take a hit because the body is interconnected.

This is why the focus of functional and integrative medicine is to look for the root cause throughout the entire body. Not just the area where the symptom is supposedly coming from. An imbalance of your gut flora can impact your brain via the vagus nerve, which will in turn impact the rest of your body. A liver that isn't filtering out toxins enough or a permeated stomach lining is letting toxins and food particles slip into the bloodstream, which can in turn trigger your autoimmune system, cause inflammation, and wreak havoc on the body. And if the body is under that sort of chronic stress, it's going to have a hard time getting the rest it needs while you sleep, even if you don't necessarily feel sick during the day
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