Your bedtime "stack"

[HalfAsleep]

"Stack" = sequence of habits

I've been thinking lately about what habits to adopt to bring me sleepily into bedtime mode, so I get more hours of sleep.

This is apart from any mechanized intervention (e.g. CPAP), which I don't have at the moment 'cos I got fired by the sleep doc , and a long story....

I start dragging my feet at what should be bedtime, and I lose a few hours of it right there. I hate tossing and turning in preparation for sleep, so I try to avoid it. I've also been sleeping further into the morning than I like.

I could use some ideas!

Right now, I go something like this.....

1. Finish washing the dishes (by about 10pm), and clutter picked up.

2. Turn down the heat.

3. Wind up active computer stuff. Begin to get drowsy.

4. Shower

5. Take .3 mg melatonin (recently added to the stack to slow me down more)

6. Have maybe 1/2 cup yogurt

7. Do word puzzles in bed until I'm about to keel over. Paradoxically, these do help me get drowsy.

8. Take 5 mg melatonin and go to sleep; I go to sleep within minutes.

At this point, I'm at, like 2 am.

I've been toying with the idea of ramping drowsiness by taking some magnesium citrate at some point (which would benefit me in other ways), but haven't got this figured out.

But, I'd love some alternatives! Not getting too private 'n' all, how do y'all structure your evening rituals?

[SarcasticDave94]

End of evening for Dave:
• Dog takes me out for her late night walk
• Take night meds
• Change to sleeping clothes
• Recline on hospital bed
• Begin listening to old time radio via Mr. Google
• Put extra large weighted heating pad on my back, turn it on 60 minute timer at 127°F
• Plug chargers into phone and iPad
• Pass out around midnight-3

[punkrockcholo]

This is an interesting topic as I often think about the massive anxiety I have over my sleep. I am only five months in to my CPAP journey so you tell me.

Right now my focus is on relaxing before bed with the goal to log anywhere between 7-9 hours. I struggle with going back to sleep if I wake up close to my alarm time.

So every evening as the night draws near, my anxiety builds. The thought is always, "How will I sleep tonight?"

Someone please tell me it goes away.

[HalfAsleep]

@punkrockcholo

Yes, that! Anxiety about lying down to sleep. But how do you relax before bed?

[punkrockcholo]

I just unwind, as vague as that may sound. I don't eat after 7:30pm. I sometimes watch TV or read around 9pm. I have been having red marks on my nose from the silicone on the N20 AirFit, so every night around 10pm I cut up some tape into a small enough square to cover the skin where the mark usually develops. I then cut some tape for my mouth (cover roll stretch) and put water in my humidifier chamber. I hop in bed and fire up the "Run Mask Fit" on my ResMed AirSense 10. This is my daily routine.

Help me make sense of it.

[Nightynite]

I eat a small bowl of Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal an hour before bed and It makes me so sleepy that when I lay down I’m out like a light in about 10 minutes, I literally can’t keep my eyes open.
I was so surprised until I googled the benefits of some cereal. All cereal is not the same though.
Just add a little half and half and I’m good to go.

[HalfAsleep]

Wow, @nightnite..

What did your research say was the magic ingredient?

Moments later.....

I looked up an article on flax and sleep, since that was my guess. This is what it says 3 of the 5 best ingredients for sleep are: flax, honey, almonds.

You just need cherries and bananas on top for the total treatment, because that would be the other 2!

[Nightynite]

Wow, @nightnite..

What did your research say was the magic ingredient?

Moments later.....

I looked up an article on flax and sleep, since that was my guess. This is what it says 3 of the 5 best ingredients for sleep are: flax, honey, almonds.

You just need cherries and bananas on top for the total treatment, because that would be the other 2!

Don’t forget the milk with the cereal. 

[SarcasticDave94]

I get chocolate covered sugar bombs cereal

[HalfAsleep]

It sounds like @nightynite only has an all-in-one stack! This is impressive. I might have to try it. Maybe swap honey for cherries.

You've gotta wonder: Do burps register on Oscar graphs? Or do they look like snores?

Now it's 11:30 pm, and I haven't even begun my "must do by 9 pm" stack element. Sigh.