I tried caffeine before bed the other night because I read in my ADHD book that that stimulants could have the opposite effect in some people with ADHD, and help the specific problem of racing thoughts before bed(understimulation) which I get pretty often. Slept the best I had in a long time for 4 hours, then got woke up by pets and lost 4 hours because I couldn’t sleep again funnily enough; I did tea for my first test but it definitely ran short, may try a caffeinated something else next time ~~ibuprofen~~.

Edit: Caffeinated ibuprofen doesn't exist to my knowledge and probably for the best not to test it, I got mixed up making comments too early for my brain to wake up.

I'm autistic and I'm the same but for me it's less about going a minute without stimulation, more about not wanting to be alone with my thoughts because they're constant and horrible at best.

Without my tv and pc always on around me (and weed) I don't think I could sleep at all (pc to scroll/read till my eyes get sleepy, and tv to give my brain external conversation to focus on rather than the one going on in my brain). Even then it's a struggle, but I'm still 100% more likely to get some sleep with these things on, than I am without (I don't consider crying for several hours in either frustration or deep despair until my eyes can't stay open anymore a good enough alternative ¯\(ツ)/¯).

If I don't put on a decent to good movie I've already seen several times AND brown noise (not to be confused with the theorized Brown Note), odds are I don't fall asleep for several hours if at all.

Sleep advice and other such "lifehacks" are seldom very ADHD-friendly and can be borderline ableist at times.

I find listening to (already listened to—this part is important) stuff is like a sleeping pill. Rip YouTube videos and put just the audio on your phone. Play it at bed time—I use earbuds and throw it under my pillow.

Right now, I’m listening to Kings & Generals and Operations Room audio. In the past, I’ve done Futurama audio.

That advice is bullshit. I look at screens for hours before bed and then just fall asleep. Doesn’t apply to everyone.

Yeah bro not gonna happen. 2 hours is 2 entire hours and I have things I care about to do.

A while ago, I read something about how back in the day, people would spend half of their evenings "thinking about sleep" and not really doing anything, talking about it like wasted time when you could be doing more fulfulling things. So it's weird to me to hear that people are recommending two whole hours of this.

As someone who doesn't have ADHD, here's what works for me*: No heavy metal or intense video gaming right before bed. I usually just take one final scroll through the front page of Lemmy before I go to bed. And I leave my phone at my desk - that part seems more important. Studies have found it's harder to fall asleep while looking at a screen. I learned this a while ago and thought it was a no-brainer, then was surprised over the years to learn how many people are literally scrolling through their phones while they're trying to sleep. If you can give that up*, you'll fall asleep easier, and if your phone is out of arm's reach of your bed, your alarm clock will be much more effective in the morning.

*I can't even guess how easy this would be to pull off with ADHD. Maybe it's about as easy as it is for anyone else (which may not be all that easy tbf,) maybe it's borderline impossible. If it's the latter, sorry, I don't have any ADHD-specific advice.

The sleep thing highlights how little we know about the brain. We have no treatment whatsoever which can safely induce sleep. This cliché advice, which is meant exclusively for acute insomnia of those who typically don't experience it, is the cutting edge of sleep medicine. Humanity and the most advanced scientific research currently available is totally ignorant of everything not covered by these tips.

When I finally accepted that I have absolutely no control whatsoever of my sleep latency and there is currently nothing in all of medicine that can be done about it, my nights became a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable.

Weirdly, I can spend hours meditating. But meditating before sleep? Impossible. If I can't have Netflix, I require music

I thought reading is actually often recommended though instead of all those other activities. Knitting too. Relaxing things like that.

It might be a specific “stay alert” trigger for some, but not generally.

I fall asleep super easy if I am watching stuff in VR. The trick appears to be to completely immerse yourself with stimulation until your brain shuts down.