POINT PROVEN

For those of you who have been following my posts of late, and have therefore been aware of my sprooking regarding my uninterrupted 7 to 9 hours of sleep, would no doubt be aware of the new sleeper that I have recently come across.

Of course, I had absolutely no difficulty whatsoever, in managing to give all the credit, for my newfound success in finding (what I have no trouble in describing as), the perfect sleep.

Well apparently, that information was not exactly 100% correct. Besides the added success of the new sleeper, I also took heed of the advice, (probably predominantly coming from this site), suggesting that all electronics should be vacated from the bedroom, including your digital clock. And yes, I did actually follow this suggested protocol, and removed all electronics from my bedroom.

Unfortunately that is, until last night. For the ridiculous reasons of wanting to watch a particular TV show, and also being unable to find comfort in the lounge room, and coupled with the fact that I was excessively tired, I reneged and gave in to all of these reasons, (which were, at the time, quite acceptable to me), and returned the TV back into the bedroom. And I have definitely paid the price.

Firstly, I didn't get to watch my TV show as I fell asleep and missed it.

And secondly, I woke up approx 2 hours after falling asleep, and did the right thing, (that I surmised, at the time, to be the correct course of action, which, however, in hindsight, was proven otherwise), I turned the TV off.

And the third lesson learnt, was that I soon realised that that was not going to be an acceptable option either, as I once again woke, only after another hour. (So much for my uninterrupted sleep).

Unfortunately, I hadn't realised that the that the expert advice given by this site, actually had to be taken literally, and therefore it soon became apparent that all electronics had to be removed and it became quite obvious that the bedroom had to be100% completely free of all electronics, (whether they be turned on or off).

And I'm afraid that I have learnt this lesson the hard way.

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Hi!

You’re taking Melatonin, right? I am so glad it works for you!! Can I just add a cautionary note in here?

Do you have a plan for how long you’ll be on this? The reason I’m asking is because I just finished reading the «sleeping pills» section of the book «The Sleep Solution» by Dr. W. Chris Winter (a sleep specialist), where he emphasizes the need for a long-term plan for taking sleep aids. According to him, sleep aids should only be used for so long. This long-term plan he talks about (one that needs to be agreed upon by both you and the prescribing doctor) involves determining when to use it, how long you will use it for, and when not to use it.

In regards to bedroom environment, you are right: electronics shouldn’t be in the bedroom! Dr. Winter devotes an entire section of his book to sleep environment and, ever since reading this section, I have made an extra effort to follow his advice. I now use a sleeping mask, have recently washed all linens, have turned the temperature down, and make sure to keep the ipad out. My husband and I both have an alarm clock, but we keep them turned towards the wall.

I highly recommend his book!

[Bajatom]

This illustrates once again how hard it is to attribute a "cure" to one substance or another. Simultanaety does not prove an effect. It suggests something to investigate. Melatonin seems ... seems to make my RLS worse.