Having trouble falling asleep at night?

2015-09-18T18:24:34-04:00

Do you sit on your computer or other electronic device in the evening or at night while sitting in bed? This could be the cause of your sleeplessness. The blue light emitted by our computers and other electronic devices is the same as exposing ourselves to sunlight. "Light is one of the most important external factors that can affect sleep. It does so both directly, by making it difficult for people to fall asleep, and indirectly, by influencing the timing of our internal clock and thereby affecting our preferred time to sleep." Many studies have verified this information.

What can we do to combat this? There have been advances through software applications which will change the light emitted by our computers based on the time of day. "Light influences our internal clock through specialized "light sensitive" cells in the retina of our eyes. These cells, which occupy the same space as the rods and cones that make vision possible, tell the brain whether it is daytime or nighttime, and our sleep patterns are set accordingly."

There are applications that track the daylight time schedules in your area and adjust the type of light emitted from your computer accordingly. One such application is called f.lux. If you're interested in reading about it the website is justgetflux.com. If you want to read about how artificial light affects your sleep an article you can look up is "How artificial light is wrecking your sleep, and what to do about it" by Chris Kresser.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Sep 18 at 2015 6:25 PM

2015-09-18T18:25:33-04:00

I am not having trouble to fall asleep ;but, wife does CPT Private RallyPoint Member.
Her biggest issue is worry about what the future may bring; but, I have peace because I know that God is completely in control of our lives. There is a time for birth, a specified time for death. A time of peace and a time for war. A time for planing and a time for harvesting. etc.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Sep 18 at 2015 6:25 PM

2015-09-18T18:25:52-04:00

I do have trouble with sleep. I have lousy sleep patterns and habits...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2015 6:27 PM

2015-09-18T18:27:34-04:00

I noticed this in my own life. I was always on my phone doing last minute emails & stuff. Decided that I would try to read for at least 30 mins prior to bed instead of being on computer or watching TV. I have noticed a dramatic increase in not only the amount of sleep, but quality of the sleep.

The only real downside is that I tend to read stuff that makes my brain want to go into overdrive right before sleep!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2015 6:28 PM

2015-09-18T18:28:08-04:00

It's sad, because I've read a study with the same conclusion, am aware of the issue, yet I continue to ignore it and have trouble falling asleep.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 18 at 2015 6:33 PM

2015-09-18T18:33:33-04:00

I take a lot of sleeping pills at 2000 hours.

Response by SSG Keven Lahde made Sep 18 at 2015 7:14 PM

2015-09-18T19:14:41-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Ma'am I do, but then again I work nights and sleeping during the day is hard enough by itself. I suffer from sleep apnea and it sucks. And then my dog doesn't help either. But I try not to take any sleeping pills if I can help it.

Response by MSgt Curtis Ellis made Sep 18 at 2015 7:18 PM

2015-09-18T19:18:17-04:00

Good thing I have my little pills... ;)

Response by LTC John Shaw made Sep 18 at 2015 7:19 PM

2015-09-18T19:19:55-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member I must have my phone with me 24x7, I am always on-call when my systems go down, it can happen every so often. I do have my phone turned face down to cut down on the ambient light.

Response by SGT Scott Bell made Sep 18 at 2015 7:35 PM

2015-09-18T19:35:09-04:00

I suffer from sleep apnea

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Sep 18 at 2015 7:49 PM

2015-09-18T19:49:49-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Within 5 to 10 seconds of my head hitting the pillow I'm out for the night. I've never had a problem sleeping. I guess I'm lucky!

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Sep 18 at 2015 8:00 PM

2015-09-18T20:00:08-04:00

Even with good sleep hygiene it's difficult for me to sleep. Between anxiety and pain, I'm often up in the middle of the night, and sometimes, like last night, I couldn't get to sleep until about 0330...

Plus, as we age, we tend to sleep less...

Now, for OIF/OEF, Desert Storm, and other Gulf War veterans, sleep disturbances of any type are a specific presumptive condition, which means you can claim it, even if you never had a diagnosis on Active Duty, and it's more than a year since discharge/retirement...

Response by SSG Katherine Likely made Sep 18 at 2015 9:12 PM

2015-09-18T21:12:16-04:00

Actually, i found that when tired i sleep better (and sometimes on the keyboard) in front of the computer. I get up - shut off the computer and stumble into bed to find myself wide awake and starring into nothingness.
Now when i get tired, i go to my room grab my small pillow, come back to the computer, move the keyboard aside, arrange my pillow where it was - read an article and sleep soundly to morning. Sometimes i wake with a crick in my neck and swear that i will come up with a better plan for sleeping - but then i forget.

Response by SFC John Durham made Sep 18 at 2015 9:21 PM

2015-09-18T21:21:43-04:00

I have insomnia. I take meds to help but they don't work.

Response by 1SG Antwan Nicholson made Sep 18 at 2015 11:49 PM

2015-09-18T23:49:05-04:00

I have a hard time falling to sleep without some sort of noise, i.e. the TV or my cellphone. I found a good app for my phone that allows my brain to relax while reading my phone. I have installed the app, "Twilight", from Google Play on my phone and tablet. That has helped a lot when I'm laying there, thinking, and reading my phone in bed. The reddish light is calming and doesn't allow my brain to stay in a constant state of alert.

Response by COL Jeff Williams made Sep 19 at 2015 9:33 AM

2015-09-19T09:33:38-04:00

no problem getting to sleep, the problem is staying asleep...4-4.5 hours a night. Would love to have more. But then again naps are great!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 19 at 2015 11:12 AM

2015-09-19T11:12:08-04:00

I try to stay away from my phone or computer after 9 pm. I usually have issues falling asleep because I am pain from my hip and back.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 19 at 2015 11:13 PM

2015-09-19T23:13:41-04:00

Thanks, ma'am. I am up late now getting this blue light in order to read your post, and now I can't sleep.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Sep 20 at 2015 1:34 AM

2015-09-20T01:34:19-04:00

I turn on my computer, dial up KBOI, and listen to talk radio. Some nights I can go right to sleep, other nights I listen longer. Ever since I came back from Iraq, I've got to have no blinds on the windows, and some kind of noise in the back ground.