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The following is a visitor-submitted question or story. For more, you can submit your own sleep story here, or browse the collection of experiences and questions other visitors have shared here.
No Sleep At All For Who Knows How Long Now :/
by Michael
(Denver, CO)
My name is Mike, 19 years of age, and ever since sometime last year, I've been having trouble sleeping. It would be difficult to sleep without tv, then tv was what made it worse, but eventually I was able to go to sleep at some points of the night.
But ever since new years it's been different. I haven't been able to sleep nearly at all since then with 3-4 day intervals without sleep. I'm currently on a 3 night spree of not sleeping and I can honestly say that I've tried almost everything. I own a medical card and live in the state of colorado, so I smoke medical marijuana, and have smoked for a while now (about 2-3 years) and it used to whisk me away to sleep every time. It was perfect, but now it doesn't help at all! I've tried going to bed without it and that doesn't work either.
I've tried tea, melatonin, htc pills, and ambien as well, yet I STILL can't go to bed. I try getting out of bed when I haven't gone to sleep for 20 mins, try not to do anything stimulating before I go to bed, I've tried sheep, numbers, counting backwards, but nothing works. I don't usually drink coffee ever and caffeinated drinks as well. I have soothing music on every night to help but it doesn't, and when theres no music it's even harder not to think.
I have ADHD and my thoughts are always running but now it's not stoping and I'm honestly a little scared that I'm going to go crazy. I'm in college and have multiple responsibilities as well as stress from thinking about things I want that I don't have, or not being as good as other people.
I was thinking about if it was because of something traumatic but all I can think of is what happened on new years eve. It wasn't 'traumatic' as you might compare to other things, but I had a bit of a stressful trip on some LSD and haven't really been able to sleep well since. Now it's not like this was my first time for tripping or having a bad trip in general, so why would it mean anything this time? I don't know, I doubt it's that, but whatever it is I'd like to know ASAP as well as how to fix it.
Any help would be most needed, thank you
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Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.
We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.
In fact, we challenge you to do so! What do you say, are you up for the challenge?
Interviews With Sleep Specialists: Insights Into the Worlds of Sleep Medicine & Sleep Business
America's Most Dangerous Disorder: What Is Sleep Apnea Doing To Your Sleep?
Sleep Debt: How Much More Will You Achieve When You Reduce Yours?
The Stages Of Sleep: The Journey Through The Night
Delayed Sleep Phase: You Want To Sleep But You're Not Tired Yet
Paralyzed at Night: Is Sleep Paralysis Normal?
Sleep In Words: Smart, Strange, and Funny Quotes About Sleep
Sleep Disorders In Children: What's Keeping Your Child From A Full Night's Rest?
Attacks of Pavor Nocturnus (a.k.a. Sleep Terrors, Night Terrors, or Incubus Attacks)
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Publishing sleep stories and questions from our visitors is meant to create a forum for open and proactive dialogue about an extremely important portion of our lives (one that occupies 1/3 of it and affects the other 2/3) that isn't talked about enough. It is not meant to substitute a trip to the doctor or the advice of a specialist. It's good to talk; it is not good to avoid consulting someone who's profession it is to help you with this kind of stuff.
If you are in any way concerned about your sleep health, don't wait for an answer on here, and don't necessarily rely on them. See a sleep specialist in your area as soon as possible.
The Stanford Sleep Book
Dr. Dement's pioneering textbook has been the core text for Sleep and Dreams since 1980, but it has just recently been made available to the wider public for the first time.
In it you'll find a more detailed account of the most important things you need to know about sleep, alertness, dreams, and sleep disorders. Studies, statistics, plus plenty of Dr. Dement's classic anecdotes painting the history of sleep medicine.
Preface | Intro | Contents | Get A Copy
More Sleep Resources
The Zeo
A revolution in personal sleep tracking, the Zeo is a wireless headband that transmits your brainwaves in realtime to a dock (pictured here) or your smartphone. The result? You can wake up and see exactly what stages of sleep you were in during the night! Unprecedented personalized sleep knowledge.
Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide
Ever woken up paralyzed? A surprising number of us have, believe it or not. But few know the actual causes of this phenomenon, and fewer still how to exert control over it. Dream researcher and sleep paralysis expert Ryan Hurd shares breakthrough insights into how to do just that.
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