For students with insomnia, what have you found that works for you?

[J-Swish]

I started having insomnia at the beginning of this year. I have tried everything - white noise machine, Benadryl, Melatonin, even Ambien. I'm a little hesitant on the latter because of its withdrawal effects. So what works for you?

[lilredrn]

Reiki really helped me to decompress and clear my mind. I had NOC 1900-0700 clinicals senior quarter. So to sleep days, I added one melatonin, a sleep mask, blackout curtains, a white noise machine and ear plugs to deal with the sun, my 4 kids and my yappy dachshund!

[J-Swish]

@ Mom/Nurse2b – I’ll probably have to talk to my doctor about doing something similar…taking Ambien 5 mg about 2-3 times per week. Ambien, Lunesta, Trazadone, and all the other prescription sleep aids can be dangerous due to long term use and other effects/disorders so that is why I want to stay away from those.

@jngo91 – Good suggestion, I’ll have to reset my sleeping cycle.

@kayla24 – thanks, I’ll look into Calms Forte

@Maladroit – Dramamine?! Isn’t that for nausea and motion sickness?

@lilredrn – Reiki, is that a Japanese teaching/philosophy of some sort?

To everyone else…thank you all for your suggestions. What I usually do is combine everyone’s suggestion into one big plan. So now I am going to do the following:

1) Read NCLEX questions and nursing material before bed time (this is essentially studying, isn’t it? lol)

2) Calms Forte or L-Tryptophan for anxiety, mood, relaxation, etc.

3) Set up a fixed time to wake up everyday.

4) Close blinds, utilize a face mask, turn on the white noise.

5) Use Sublingual melatonin in liquid form for the knockout!

I hope this works.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I started having trouble sleeping after my mother died and my son was dx with Type 1. I couldn't/didn't want to take Ambien b/c I was afraid I wouldn't wake up if I had to test his BS in the middle of the night (DH works 3a-noon). I was prescribed Klonopin and it works great. I fall asleep, stay asleep, but wake up (non groggy) if needed. I can also take a 1/2 pill if I am anxious about a test.

Good Luck! I hope you find something that works. I couldn't function very well when I was not getting enough sleep and this was BEFORE Nursing school

[LuckyinKY]

Klonopin works well for me too, it helps take the edge off of my anxiety, stopping my overthinking and helping relax enough to sleep. I have Ambien as well, but rarely use it since it makes me feel drugged and groggy the first few hours after waking up in the morning. If I do take it, I only take 2.5 mg, breaking my 5mg in half. It is not as bad then, the 5 mg does makes me feel way to weird.

Nclex questions and reading any textbook, HGTV in the background (volume turned low), and playing Monopoly on my phone seem to also help me fall asleep.

I am so scared because I am going to be working night shifts while going to school this year, my insomnia is only going to get worse.

[lilredrn]

@lilredrn - Reiki, is that a Japanese teaching/philosophy of some sort?

Its a type of Japanese energy medicine... Here is a link: Reiki.org

[sandyfeet]

More exercise.

Gotta second this one. High-intensity exercise will reset your clock and make you want to sleep. My first semester I used to get up and run 7 miles, skip my daily coffee, and go to the hospital to pick out my patient. Then go home and prep, and I would always get a good full night's sleep for clinical the next day because I was so exhausted that I would crash by nightfall. This plan worked really well for me, and the times that I would skip it, I suffered!

[UPSBossman]

I've been an insomniac for more than 10 years, at some times going 5+ days without ANY sleep at all (my longest was a 7 day sleepless bender!) Changed my diet and got more exercise and it cured me. And on the rare occasion that I still can't fall asleep I just use the time to study.

[zbb13]

I don't eat high protein foods after lunch...they keep me up at night. I eat root vegetables (naturopath gave me this advice, and it works for me). I don't drink caffeine at night and preferably not later than early afternoon. If I drink a Pepsi, for instance, or eat chocolate, forget falling asleep. I try to do relaxing exercises--slow, relaxed breathing, clear my head of all those thoughts that go running round and round. If that doesn't work, I am completely knocked out by Benadryl (children's dose). Since I am very sensitive to meds, it doesn't take much and I am gone. However, I wake up really groggy and I find it hard to get myself going in the morning, so I need to do this pretty early, and not at 1 in the morning. I don't have insomnia every night, just once in a while, and I definitely have it before exams, so I have to anticipate having a problem and deal with it accordingly.

I agree with a lot of the previous posts, but I really prefer to not take medications, so I try natural ways first. Melatonin, by the way, does have side effects, like everything else.

[Tree5981, ADN, BSN, MSN]

xanax....relaxes and puts me to sleep:yawn:

[J-Swish]

I share the same grief with all my fellow insomniacs, but I am glad some have found what works for them.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

These are individual decisions and should be discussed with your medical providers.