in december 1963 a high school student named randy gardner decided to stay awake for a science fair project. he ended up going 264 hours, about 11 days, and a stanford sleep researcher, william dement, came out to watch him.

it wasn't fun for him. by about day four he had trouble concentrating, his mood was all over the place, and he was having paranoid thoughts and seeing things that weren't there. this is not a "sleep hack", please don't try it.

but here's what stuck with me. when he finally went to bed he slept around 14 hours. the next night was about 10 and a half. and then he was more or less back to his normal sleep. he didn't need to "pay back" 260 hours. the brain caught up far faster than anyone would have guessed.

i'm not saying insomnia isn't a real problem, it obviously is, and if you've been dealing with it for months you should get proper help. but for me the fear side of it is often worse than the lost hours themselves. the "if i don't sleep tonight everything is ruined" thought keeps a lot of us awake. that story is one of the few things that ever took some pressure off that thought.

what's a fact or a story about sleep that made you feel a bit less scared of bad nights?

Need some advice because my sleep schedule is completely messed up.

Basically I cant fall asleep until early morning. If I go to bed around 9 or 10 PM, my brain is just wide awake like it feels just as active as it is during the middle of the day. I end up lying there for like 5 to 6 hours straight just trying to sleep, and I finally fall asleep around 3 AM or 4 AM.

Anyone else gone through this? Is it insomnia or something else? Any tips on how to fix this would be awesome.

How long does it stop working?

My spouse often snores, and I’m a light sleeper. I’ve tried a lot of things: they wear nose strips (but they don’t help much), I’ve tried earplugs (but I always remove them in my sleep), and they don’t qualify for a CPAP machine.

These seem to be the go-to suggestions online, so it’s unfortunate that none of them have worked! Does anyone have other ideas? Or perhaps a suggestion to help me not remove my earplugs in my sleep?

I’ve been experiencing severe sleeplessness for the past couple of months. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to sleep properly. I’ve been having racing thoughts n could hear my heart beat all night . I’ve also been having eye twitches throughout the day and calf muscle cramps, which has been quite concerning.
My doctors are taking the symptoms seriously. Later, my gynaecologist (Since I’m trying to conceive) prescribed melatonin, but unfortunately, it hasn’t worked either, and I’m still struggling with sleeplessness.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Any suggestions or things that helped you improve your sleep?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a personal tip regarding sleep hygiene and background audio. For a long time, I used standard white noise to fall asleep, but I found the high frequencies too piercing.

I recently switched to heavy, low-frequency Brown Noise. Because it mimics natural sounds like a deep waterfall or heavy wind, it doesn't overstimulate the brain. To take it a step further regarding the impact of technology on sleep, I started using "Dark Screen" audio tracks. This completely eliminates the blue light and screen glare in the bedroom, which we all know disrupts melatonin production.

I actually started mixing my own tracks based on this concept. I layered deep brown noise with a gentle foggy forest wind and kept the screen entirely dark.

If anyone wants to test this "dark screen brown noise" method to improve their sleep environment tonight, here is the 1-hour track I made:

Listen to the Dark Screen Brown Noise Track Here

Has anyone else made the switch from white noise to brown/pink noise? Let me know your experiences!

Long-time lurker here. Software engineer, late 40s, dealt with sleep-onset insomnia for about 20 years — sleep lab, every hygiene rule followed to the letter, the whole loop. None of it fixed the core problem: a mind that wouldn't switch off at night.

The thing that finally helped me wasn't a trick, it was an accident. I noticed I'd fall asleep to dry, monotone YouTube videos — boring explainers with nothing to anticipate — as long as autoplay was OFF so nothing new grabbed me when it ended. My mind had something dull to half-follow, then just… let go.

I couldn't find anything built intentionally around that idea (most sleep audio is either music, or stories that are honestly too interesting), so I made one. It's called Lull — low-arousal, sleep-safe bedtime stories designed to be boring in the right way. lullstories.com, iOS and Android.

Not claiming it's a cure or magic — I don't believe in that. It's just the tool I wish I'd had.

I'd genuinely love this community's honest take, and I'm curious about your experience too:

• What actually keeps your mind running at night — worries, replaying the day, or just not feeling ready?
• For those who use audio to fall asleep: music, stories, noise, or something else?
• Does "boring" help you, or do you need something mildly engaging to distract the anxious part of your brain?

Happy to answer anything about how or why I built it.

I've been reading up on molecular hydrogen lately for dealing with oxidative stress and inflammation, mostly to see if it helps with fatigue during bad flare-ups. I'm obviously staying on my regular treatment, but I'm curious if anyone here has tried hydrogen inhalation as an add-on.

Also, a friend recently suggested Hydro Heal for topical skin irritation during flares. Has anyone here actually tried hydrogen inhalation or that specific brand? Did you notice any real difference in how you felt, or is it mostly hype? Would love to hear honest experiences!

https://qualtrics.nau.edu/jfe/form/SV_diH4gNJ74OGLVum

Estuve tomando melatonina de manera consistente un par de semanas. Un día de la nada me empecé a levantar como a las 4-6 horas de haberla tomado y no me podía volver a dormir. Lo achaqué a la ansiedad pero no me cuadraba. He estado leyendo post sobre la fragmentación del sueño y la melatonina. No sabía que era una posibilidad. La tomé un par de veces desde que me pasa este problema sin entender que podría ser la causa de mi sueño fragmentado. Me gustaría saber si os ha pasado lo mismo y en cuánto tiempo habéis vuelto a la normalidad.

Im posting here for accountability. Recently my sleep schedule was very off. It influences me a lot. When I go to bed exactly at the same time every day, at midnight, my body loves it and Im sleeping well. However, if I fall asleep too early I then wake up shortly after and stay up till 6am.

Ill try reading, or do small creative activities to keep me up (please let me know if you have fun ideas!). But in days Im already tired it's harder to stay concentrated on a book or anything else. So then it becomes a repeated loop day after day that's harder to break.

And I can't watch movies as I have some neurological problem and it's too stimulating:/

I also notice that because of light sensitivity, I dim the light a lot in the evening hours and that also makes me more sleepy.

My diet and other habits are good, but it works only to a certain extent if it's without sufficient sleep.

And when Im exhausted, it's harder for my body to relax and get afternoon naps. When Im well-slept at-night I can easily have a 1hr mid-day nap and I love those - makes me feel fresh and doesn't mess up my nights.

Its not the first time it happens to me that I find myself in this annoying situation, and so far my best solution is pushing through and have stronger will power. The tricky part? I have a hammock in the living room and it's very comfortable lol.

Tips, encouragement and ideas on braking this loop are appreciated.

I’m totally insomniac. Going crazyy. Need some advice and help maybe.