I can't sleep in the van!!!!!!

[HarmonicaBruce]

It might sound silly but it works!

That's brilliant Reducto.  

Along the lines of Reducto's post, here's a good article on sleep without any drugs:
Does counting sheep help you sleep?  

But, one drug I found that works great is beer!

 

[highdesertranger]

dang bruce, I read through this whole thread and no one mentioned it until the last post. that's what I was going to say a beer or two. highdesertranger

 

[ilovemyvan]

HamonicaBruce, good stuff in this article. I should have read it last night . Here I was 11:30, tossing and turning. That's the last time I remember looking at the clock until I looked at it again 3:30 wide awake.

highdesertranger, I have gone to bed quite a few times after a few beers and you're right it does the trick, unfortunately, it all needs to come out. One trip to the bathtoom and I'm wide awake. :sleepy:

I'll go the supplements route. I going to get Estroven and Melatonin today.

Thanks again guys.

 

[spd2918]

Melotonin (completely natural) and earplugs.

I'd be careful with Melotonin.  I tried it when I worked nights and I messed with my head big time.  Weird, disturbing dreams- no thanks.  An antihistamine tablet is better.

 

[SoulRaven]

I have a lot of trouble sleeping, have done the Ambien thing, Restoril and a few other prescribed drugs, all with limited success. Ambien works but has some truly odd side effects.

I tried the Vicks ZZZquill and it helped. I doubt there is a cure-all but it might be worth a shot.. Good Luck.

 

[GotSmart]

Take a warm cat and call me in the morning.  

Unless it is like mine and it gives a bladder massage in the night.  

 

[SoulRaven]

Ear Plugs & a Sleep Mask have always worked well for me if I was having trouble.

Being able to see out has always had a very strong positive impact on my sleeping well too. I only use the sleep mask & ear plugs occasionally, but there is just something about being able to see that your surroundings are safe and give you your bearings that soothes the soul and allows peaceful sleep.

 

[ZoNiE]

Sometimes an anti inflammatory works. Ibuprofen or Aleve works sometimes. Inflammation tends to keep me awake.

 

[SternWake]

I also take melatonin when i know falling asleep will be difficult, but I do find that the next night without it, it is more difficult to fall asleep.

It also seems like the pills are not really dosed the same. Sometimes it feels like a full knock out pill and I'm all groggy the next morning, other times I awake early and as if I was injected with caffeine right before awaking.

I also do not function well with too little, or too much sleep. 6.5 to 7.5 hours seems to be the sweet spot that allows me to concentrate the next day. Less or more makes me irritable and prone to fury, and Murphy's law.

THC in any form does not help me fall asleep. Reading does, and THC makes me read the same page over and over while I thnk about something else and have no idea what i just read.

If your Van has LED lighting, the high level of Blue in the White led light also affects sleep. Some swear by using Amber colored glasses to filter out the blue light when watching TV late at night.

My reading light is on A dimmer and I make it just bright enough to read by, and will wake up book in hand.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

sorry, i sleep at truck stops daily like a baby

 

[compassrose]

Do you have trouble sleeping in the van on the street, in a campground or both? I know I would not be able to sleep soundly parked on the side of the street. I don't in a parking lot. With ear plugs, I sleep well enough for a few nights and then I just need a good night's sleep. Hence the 3 night max stay in parking lots then it's into a campground for me.

 

[ilovemyvan]

Noise don't actually seem to make much of a difference. For example, we live in quite a 'redneck' area, every New Year at midnight my neighbors pull there guns out and shoot in the air for about 10 solid minutes. The gun shooting freaked my out the first year but I've been sleeping thru it every year ever since. I seem to have 2 problem areas. Sometime I just can't fall asleep for no apparent reason. The other one is if I wake up that's it, I stay awake. At least if it happen at home I can get up and turn on the computer and spend sometime that way. In the van I am stock and the time drags on forever. It adds quite a lot of aggravation to the not sleeping thing. We overnight in truck stops, Walmart and campgrounds, it doesn't seem to make any difference where we stay.


I bought some Melatonin yesterday. The lady at the health store suggested a very mild one, 0.3mg. She said that if taking in to large a quantity it has the reverse effect. I took one last night and sleep thru, however it probably was because I hadn't slept properly for several nights in a row.

....And the saga continues.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

sorry, i sleep at truck stops daily like a baby

Ah, but only Manly Men are lulled to sleep by the sound and smell of powerful diesel engines!

Regards
John

 

[highdesertranger]

ha ha ha, good one john. highdesertranger

 

[SoulRaven]

I pulled a refrigerated trailer for 20  plus years , I was so accustomed to the sound of the reefer running when I got home I had get my lawnmower and run it by my bedroom window..


Small (very small) joke. 

 

[Bdog1]

Now that's funny!

 

[SternWake]

Back in 2000 I was travelling the South Island of New Zealand in my second ever Van.

I found a certain surfbreak and in area I really liked, and of course one could just camp about anywhere for free outside of the towns.

This one surfbreak, called meatworks, had excellent camping spots, but my first two nights there I was having horribly violent and disturbing dreams.

I thought the surfbreak was called meatworks because there was an actual abattoir not far away many years before, but I told a Local about having the nightmares and he told me of some gruesome murders which had happened there a while back too, and right in the same campsite I'd chosen.

I don't know if he was having some fun with me, but I moved a few sites away and slept soundly.

Some locations seem to give off a certain bad vibe, and I will move on if I feel that.

 

[LeeRevell]

I pulled a refrigerated trailer for 20  plus years , I was so accustomed to the sound of the reefer running when I got home I had get my lawnmower and run it by my bedroom window..


Small (very small) joke. 

It happens.  On my Navy ship I often slept in the "Radar Room" adjacent to my shop, as the berthing compartment for Operations had very poor ventilation and would get to stink.  I lay on foam pads, and used a foul weather jacket as a cover.  Comfy!  But I was right next to three very large power transformers, that used three phase power - they hummed loudly.  Didn't bother me at all.  When power went out and the noise stopped, THEN I woke up!  That was also a "Security Alert" situation, and I'd be halfway to the armory before the rest of the onboard security detail arrived.  In some situations, total silence can be deafening......!  

Now it's the same at home in my S&B - if power fails, it wakes me.  During the summer, I always have the AC or a fan going, as well as a radio at night.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I'll do you guys one better.  I was born in Brooklyn, and we lived on the third floor of a building on Myrtle Ave.  The old Myrtle Ave. El (elevated subway line) ran right by my bedroom window, 20 or so feet away.

When we moved to the country, I had trouble sleeping.  It was too quiet!

Regards
John

 

[Brian_and_Jesse]

After several years traveling and sleeping in hostels, vans, cars, crappy motels, etc I've developed a method that works for me.

First thing is wearing earplugs. Next is covering up any flashing lights with electrical tape. Some people find blindfolds helpful, but I've never needed one.

When you're asleep there's a small part of you that stays alert, monitoring for danger. This warning system is slow to adapt but it can learn. Living in the same house for years it learns to recognize the sounds of the heater turning on and off, the movement of your partner next to you, tapping of pets walking down the hall, etc. The alarm system eventually realizes those things are not dangerous and stops waking you up for them. In a van the environment keeps changing so it can't adapt quickly enough. When I move to a new place or have trouble sleeping I'll take a moment to talk to my alarm before going to sleep. I tell it that the doors are locked, the neighborhood looks good, I have no possessions with me that cannot be replaced, that I'm unlikely to be in physical danger, and that it doesn't need to wake me unless it smells smoke or hears a tapping on the window. I'll list the noises and such I'm likely to encounter while asleep and assure myself that they are safe.

It might sound silly but it works!

It's not at all silly; it's scientifically proven. The brain (subconscious) can't take a joke, so watching one's words and choosing association carefully is wise. Same thing goes for movies, TV, and any other kinds of social interaction.

I could tell you stories all night, but the bottom line is that people who say things like "My back is killing me," are modern-day prophets who just don't know it, and people who *think* they're dying of cancer, generally do.

Humans have a remarkable capacity to 'create' their reality - both good and bad.


Jesse.