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How to Fall Asleep with a Rowdy, Racing ADHD Brain

Sleep difficulties — falling asleep quickly, staying asleep, and waking up on time — go hand-in-hand with ADHD. Theories for inherent sleep problems vary from biological to the behavioral symptoms of ADHD. Learn how to fall asleep reliably by considering these strategies and best practices ranging from taking melatonin to avoiding electronic devices at night.

2 Comments: How to Fall Asleep with a Rowdy, Racing ADHD Brain

  1. I understand about turning off “screens” before bedtime. However, some of these “screen” devices are useful for tracking or aiding one’s sleep! (How ironic!) I used to listen to certai podcasts from my smartphone each night to help me fall asleep and get back to sleep if I woke in the night. It helped, but, of course, before actually GOING to sleep, I had to fiddle with my phone and set the device to play–at BEDTIME–thus, I was looking at a screen and doing the “wrong thing”.

    Lately, I’ve slightly modified the former practice. I keep my small laptop in the bedroom, but find a 10-hour track on Youtube of certain (relaxing for me) “nature sounds”.
    First, I locate and set the track to play (after skipping the noisy ads at the beginning!).
    Second, I fold the screeb so that it’s not tilted back, but at an acute angle to the keyboard, and cover (the screen of the laptop) with a dark cloth–so the screen is dimmed by quite a bit.
    Third, I adjust the volume–not too loud, but just barely audible, and,
    Lastly, I position the laptop facing the wall, away from my line of sight when I’m in bed, and the room is darkened.

    After setting up my “sound environment”, I gather my things (pajamas), dim the lighting in the room (the bedside lamp has only a dim, “pink” bulb and shade–not so much light as to over-stimulate my eyes when I’m preparig to sleep). After that, I do the bath and related “bedtime rituals”. When I return to the bedroom, it’s dimly-lit, and the “night sounds” are turned on. I find this helps me fall asleep fairly easily. Once I get the “scheduling” (WHEN to start all this routine) down pat–it seems to work MOST of the time,

    BTW, my favorite “nature sounds” are the sounds one might hear on a summer’s evening where I live. I often have the windows open and enjoy the sounds of crickets, night insects or night-birds, and “katydids”. This is truly relaxing and, now that it’s winter where I live, I can play the summer night’s sounds to help me fall asleep!

  2. My biggest issue is turning off the screens at an appropriate time because I get sucked into FB or some other online vortex. But the rest of these practices I’ve maintained for years and sadly I still require an extensive rX regimen to regulate my sleep. I’ve had the apple watch for about 6 months now and I’ve been diligently using the sleep tracking app and it’s been very illuminating. I can see where my sleep disruptions are, how little actual restful sleep I’m getting and I’m going to take this information and get a formal sleep study. I’ve already had apnea ruled out medically due to a heart condition but I’d like to know what’s going on with the highly inconsistent quality of sleep.

    And the morning fatigue whether I’ve had 5 hrs of sleep or 11 hrs is brutal. It takes several hours for me to fully wake up and be alert. I pretty much function on auto pilot until the Adderall and vitamins kick in. *Sigh* I’d just like to sleep WELL for a change!

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