The joy of Fibromyalgia and Insomnia is that I am always looking for a trick to help me sleep. I’ve tried counting sheep, I’ve optimized my sleep hygiene, I take warm epson salt baths, and the magic answer still eludes me. In my search I’ve come across some very interesting tricks for sleep, that work for others, and have tried just about all of them to no avail. But, I know that just like Fibromyalgia, sleep is individual, and what works for me (or doesn’t) may work differently for you. I thought I’d share four tricks to help you sleep, so that you can give them each a try.
1. Pretend You Have to Stay Up All Night – Gretchin Rubin shares a counter-intuitive trick on her blog, The Happiness Project. Instead of focusing on how much you need sleep, and how you can’t get it, allow your mind to think (and believe) that you can stay up all night,not just that you CAN, but that you must. She says that before you know it you’ll be ready to start snoring.
2. Rub It Out – Fibro Modem shared a rather controversial idea for getting yourself relaxed enough to fall asleep – masturbate. Obviously, it’s not for everyone and it may not work for everyone. Many people do find that sex is relaxing enough that they can easily take a nap after-wards, so why shouldn’t solo sex work the same?
3. Play a Mind Game – My friend Tracy came up with this mind game that she swears by for helping her fall asleep (and build brain cells at the same time). If it doesn’t work your brain to the point of being tired, you are way smarter than the average bear. Of course, you may get tired of playing before it wears you out.
4. Drink Banana Tea – what’s a good list of sleep tips without one from Dr. Oz. Supposedly, this tea you make from boiling a banana will help you fall asleep. I wonder if mixing this tea with the Tart cherry juice will make it work even better.
I will admit that I have only tried three out of four of the above tips. I’ll let you take guesses on which one I have not tried (you’ll probably be wrong). In the meantime, I’d love to know which of these tips (if any) work for you, or if there are other tips you’ve encountered that have worked for you.
Update: I originally wrote this back in 2014. In 2017 I finally found something that actually does help me sleep better. It’s not a trick, it’s CBD oil. I take it at bedtime and as a result I fall asleep really fast (I am rarely able to read more than a few pages) and stay asleep through the night. This is the first and ONLY thing I’ve found that has worked consistently.
Do you have a favorite trick to help you sleep? Share on X
AshleyJane says
Great post on sleeping tactics – both informative and witty at the same time which is a hard combination. I’ll sign off now to go try either Tactic #2 or #3 – or maybe a weird combination of both? Lol.
Julie says
Thank you Ashley – I think that’s the first time someone has accused me of being witty, so I really appreciate it! Let me know how your sleep tactics work out!
Valda Garner says
Hey Julie, Have you had a sleep study done? CPAP has almost eliminated my sleep problem because now I can go to sleep without choking every 4min. It took 2 sleep studies to get me diagnosed and two different sleep labs. 80% of people with fibro have sleep apnea. Warmly,Val
Julie says
I did several years ago and it showed nothing. They offered to throw another low dose antidepressant at me to see if that would help, but I’d had enough at that point that I wasn’t willing to give them another try.
Trisha Pearson says
Interesting ideas! I admit I’m lazy: I just want the right supplement or drug to knock me out for eight hours! I thought I had found it with valerian but then summer came and sleep went away, valerian or no valerian. I’ll have to try out some of these ideas!
Julie says
I’m with you. I’ve tried them all (supplements, tricks, etc) and nothing has really helped me long-term. I have been doing somewhat better lately since my new doc increased my progesterone (by 4x), combined with taking with my Fish Oil at night instead in the morning. Not sure if it’s one or the other or both, but seems to be helping some anyway.