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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
have you tried exercising regularly? you'll be so tired, you'll have no choice but to sleep through the night.
plus, its great for you π
Alcohol is pretty terrible for sleeping.
There may of course be psychological reasons alcohol can help you get to sleep. And for alcoholics I would imagine the withdrawal symptoms may interfere with sleep. We are all balancing the needs of our bodies and minds to cope with this cruel world and I'm not judging, but the science says there are benefits to sleeping without alcohol.
From what I remember from my neuroscience classes, TL;DR there are different networks that promote sleep vs wakefulness. Sleep involves firing of specific networks that are so in sync they generate brain waves that can be measured from the outside of your skull. Think delta waves. Alcohol has many non-specific targets in the brain that fuck up this rhythmic firing that keep you from entering REM and deep sleep.
The hypothalamus, a peanut-sized structure deep inside the brain, contains groups of nerve cells that act as control centers affecting sleep and wakefulness. Within the hypothalamus is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)βclusters of thousands of cells that receive information about light exposure directly from the eyes and control your behavioral rhythm. Some people with damage to the SCN sleep erratically throughout the day because they are not able to match their sleep/wake cycle (circadian rhythms) with the light-dark cycle. Most blind people maintain some ability to sense light to help them regulate their sleep/wake cycle.
The brainstem, which is made up of structures called the pons, medulla, and midbrain, controls the transitions between wake and sleep. Sleep-promoting cells within the hypothalamus and the brain stem produce a brain chemical called GABA, reduces activity in the hypothalamus and the brainstem. The brainstem (especially the pons and medulla) also plays a special role in REM sleep. It sends signals to relax muscles essential for body posture and limb movements, so that we donβt act out our dreams.
The thalamus sends and receives information from the senses to the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the covering of the brain that has many functions, including interpreting and processing short- and long-term memory. During most stages of sleep, the thalamus becomes quiet, letting you tune out the external world. But during REM sleep, the thalamus is active, sending the cortex images, sounds, and other sensations that fill our dreams.
The pineal gland, located within the brainβs two hemispheres, receives signals from the SCN and increases production of the hormone melatonin, which helps put you to sleep once the lights go down. Scientists believe that peaks and valleys of melatonin over time are important for matching the bodyβs circadian rhythm to the external cycle of light and darkness.
The basal forebrain, near the front and bottom of the brain, also promotes sleep and wakefulness, while part of the midbrain acts as a system to help us stay alert during the day. Release of a chemical called adenosine from cells helps make you feel sleepy. Caffeine counteracts sleepiness by blocking the actions of adenosine.
The amygdala, an almond-shaped structure involved in processing emotions, becomes increasingly active during REM sleep.
Alcohol has non specific targets in the brain. It reduces excitatory action through NMDA ligand gated ion channels. It enhances inhibitory action through GABA ligand gated ion channels. Fucking with those ion channels changes ions entering neurons which changes electrical signals that eventually propogate down the axon. Electrical signals in a nerve axon lead to the axon terminals releasing neurotransmitters to the next cell in the chain of the entire network. This fucks up the overall network/brain waves and fucks with your ability to enter deep sleep.
You can fall asleep faster with ethanol on board, but quality of sleep will be poor.
I'm pretty sure humans can learn how to sleep well. That's what babies do after all.
Newborns sleep only like 1 or 2 hours, then wake up for a bit, then sleep again for 1 or 2 hours and so on. It takes them months or years to get it right.
If a baby can learn it, you can probably learn it as well.
Also, there are sleep labs btw.. They monitor you during sleep and give advice, but I don't like the concept, because it's not your usual bedroom and therefore flawed.
"if babies can learn it, you can probably learn it as well"
Bruh, lmao I totally get the sentiment you're going for but babies are famously the best at learning things.
don't they need like 5 years to not poop themselves. idk π
Yeah on top of learning language, learning how to sleep, learning to walk, eat, hell how to coordinate their whole body. For 5 years that's incredible.
I had a sleep study this year that was take-home, actually. They show you how to set up the device in the office and then you bring it back to them the next day for analysis.
π€― that's nice
I used to drink a lot of beer every day and slept normally.
Then I quit drinking because it started to be incompatible with my aging body, but I still drink 2 or 3 strong Belgian beers on Saturday and Sunday: now I sleep normally on weekdays, and I fall into a dreamless slumber on weekends.
My conclusion is that, at least for a man my age, alcohol gives me more hours of lesser quality sleep. Make of that what you will.
Your experience is backed up by science. Alcohol suppresses REM sleep.
The most productive I've been in like the last year was when I had 12 beers the night before and I was nursing a hangover all day
Are you an alcoholic?
I drank 12 beers a day for about 10 years. Also mixed it with benzos. Eventually stepped it up to 18 when I went to a coding bootcamp and started having daily panic attacks
So that's a yes...
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: see above
It might have something to do with that.
You can't run away forever - face your problems. Life can be good
I used to drink a lot more both in days and number of drinks. I found out that I wake up better rested when not drinking. I also found out that I have trouble sleeping if I'm not active at all during the day, I have a mostly desk job, and I need to at least take a walk for an hour every night to allow my body to be able to rest at night.
An under the desk bike has done wonders for me over the last decade. Let's me keep mobile during the day and burn off all kinds of nervous ADHD energy
I think you might have a problem
lmao i know i do! i went to rehab in 2018. these days i try to drink less than once a week. big improvement given that i used to get shitfaced every night
I'd say alcohol might be the root cause for the sleeping issues.
Smoke some CBD or ask your doctor for Promethazine to help you sleep.
I have tried CBD, cannabis, melatonin, trazodone (200mg per night) hydroxazine (I took 20x the recommended dose)
Make sure you are practicing good sleep hygiene. Things like - going to sleep at the same time every night, keeping the room dark and cool, limit screen time prior to sleep, not eating dinner too close to bed time, etc.
Would recommend search for "sleep hygiene handout" and take a look at a couple of the lists.
Have you tried promethazine? I used to have 5-10mg and then crash out an hour later, but you have to prepare for a full night's sleep because otherwise you spend the next day drowsy.
I would check with your doc and get your blood/hormones checked and a sleep study if you can
This. Halftime is 7-14h. I used to take it around 19-20h but would still be a bit drowsy when I woke up.
Some backstory about it: it's not sleep medicine but it's against allergic reactions, but has a side effect of drowsiness.
The reason why this is awesome, is that it isn't a benzo. Benzo's are addictive, you can only use those two e each 14 days without building a tolerance. There are also other alternatives for getting to sleep, but Promethazine is the one other than Benzo's helping with staying asleep. It's non-addictive, it doesn't build up tolerance. They use it in mental clinics for new people brought in without a medical file, as it isn't dangerous in combination with anything else, like alcohol or opiates.
So it's really chill, but expect to be drowsy when you wake up so take it early in the evening, otherwise you won't get out of bed early.
I used to take 25mg at first, eventually when I couldn't sleep due to anti depressants (SNRI, which is partly a neuro adrenaline re-uptake) I got 75mg.
So convincing your doctor to get this is easy as it doesn't have bad side effects or tolerance buildup. It's really safe to take this.
The upside of Benzo's (like valium of diazepam, or anything else ending in 'pam') is that it works really well. The downside is the tolerance build up and the addiction.
I take that for nausea, and I can confirm it's hard as fuck to stay awake after taking a dose of that most days
Quietiapine worked for me personally. I can sleep normally without any booze, when I want to. Feels like such a superpower.
Consult your doctor, though, it's not advised as a sleeping aid per se. I get yearly check ups.
Yeah that works too if you have issues falling asleep, but issues with staying asleep its not the right med for it. The only meds for staying asleep are Benzo's and Promethazine.
Also, I had really bad side effects from quietiapine, mostly an extremily dry mouth which alarmed my dentist. But, this isn't a standard side effect, for other people it works fine.
Like you said, consult your doctor. Always go for the advice of a medical specialist. We're just a bunch of random people o the internet.