this post was submitted on 01 May 2026
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I told my doctor I have difficulties going to bed at good time and have a hard time turning my brain off. She just gave me a piece of paper with some recommendations for better sleep like "dont drink coffee late" or "dont use screen or TV an hour before bed"... Like as if I didn't know that already but my fat ass just sits here doing nothing while my brain screams "JUST DO SOMETHING FFS!!!" While i watch YouTube video number 258 this evening and its midnight and I'm trying not understanding why I can't just go to bed....
Take 50mg weed edibles and stay up till 4am gaming? Sounds good to me.
I slept on a sofa for over five years because of this basically (though the reason stems from something different). I figured if I don't do a sleeping routine I can just pretend I'm not going to sleep and then eventually "take a nap" on the sofa after browsing the internet for some hours. That has worked well, even though it's against all the sleep hygiene advice stuff, but hey whatever works... I only stopped sleeping on the sofa since we moved and I could make a nest in the closet
That sounds dubious af, but if it works it works. I was a Futurama Sleeper for years so I can't judge
Haha, I've done this, too! My brain only wants to sleep when it has shit to do I guess. Or something about napping on the couch is easier than falling asleep in the bed. Luckily for me, falling asleep is the problem, not staying asleep. So when I wake up from the couch and get up to go to the bed, I'm already sleepy enough for the trick to have worked.
Put down the phone and read a book. It's the phone keeping you awake. It has blue light that tells the chemicals in your body that it is daytime and to keep awake. Could also use a noise machine or a fan. I also take a gabapentin pill to help turn off my brain.
You read that whole comment and then gave the same shit advice the comment stated does not work.
Good job captain oblivious.
Maybe oblivious answer is oblivious cuz phone bad at night. Maybe try looking at the whole answer instead of just part of it.
doesn't sound like you have tried pills.
Except it's more "why I can't begin the nighttime procedure that I should have started an hour before bedtime"
Ok I'll tell you my pill concoction. Gabspentin to turn off my brain, ropinirole for keep my legs from bruising me, and clonidine to lower my blood pressure. All of these combined make it hard to stay awake.
Indica edibles work better than any sleeping med I've tried. For me, it's hard to turn my brain off, but cannabis throws my train of thought off track so well that it's perfect to keep myself from ruminating instead of sleeping. It's a shame it isn't legal in more places, and a shame that my state doesn't recognize it as a treatment for insomnia (so I can't get a medical card/discounts for it.)
Otherwise, I've been prescribed hydroxyzine (brand name Vistaril) for insomnia. It's an antihistamine, so there's a chance of drowsiness in the morning, and sometimes I find I'm too sluggish the following day. I use it on occasion, but nothing works quite as well as the edibles I mentioned. No drowsiness in the morning, no remaining high, and I haven't experienced any side effects.
Yeah as if I didn't try that... I have timers on my phone for bed time, I have BW AND night light filter on my phone. Also i don't watch YT on my phone but exclusively on the TV in the living room. Also, trying to read a book while tired makes me super uncomfortable since focusing on lines of text is really hard with ADHD and my brain wonders away on a million other things and I generally dont enjoy reading. It takes a lot of effort. Having the TV on at least forces my brain to stay on to only one single thing instead of a million.
It's not about what to do because I'm very fucking well aware of what to do but its about actually doing it that feels impossible.
How long - ie consecutive nights - did you try going to bed with no screen time an hour before bed? I get the draw of "one thing to focus on", but your brain takes a while to adjust to the new normal of "no high octane input before bed time."
Just being real, and I really do believe that you tried, but it really undermines your call for help and support at bed time when you state your doctor's advice to not watch TV an hour before bed in the same paragraph as describing how you still watch TV while trying to go to sleep at night.
I think you misunderstand. Ive never had issues actually falling a sleep. When I do go to bed i fall asleep within 10 minutes most of the time. Absolutely no problem. I love going to bed early. But its about actually doing it, that is so hard. like asking an ADHD person why they don't just do the laundry that's been sitting there for weeks. Its not hard to fold and put away but starting the task feels impossible. I think that in the evening my meds are mostly out of my system and I'm tired so my willpower is really low. When I say my brain goes through a million things its not that it keeps me awake, but it paralyses me to take any actions on going to bed (or any other activity for that matter, like reading or doing some of my small projects)
Gotcha! Yes, I had misunderstood. I thought the issue was more ADHD induced insomnia rather than ADHD induced prevention of routine.
Thankfully, a lot of YouTubers are making content to fall asleep to now. When I can't get my mind to stop wandering, sometimes having such a video on low volume with a sleep timer does the trick. Sometimes.
Also, Inb4 someone suggests melatonin. Fuck melatonin. When I tried (just half a dose) I ended up so irritable the next day that I quarantined myself to keep from inadvertently snapping at anyone. I've never felt so annoyed for no reason before. I hated it.
I'd put even odds on you being dim versus trolling.
I have ADHD with my PTSD enough so that I can't hold a job and am on SSI.