Hello there, my name is Barnaby and I’m just an average 32 year old guy currently living in sunny Florida. To this point I have been quite fortunate finding my lovely wife Suzanne, and we have been blessed with two wonderful children — Annie is 11 and James just recently celebrated his second birthday. I have a good job, and although we are a far cry from being wealthy we are getting by just fine. Thankfully, we all have our health, and up until a few weeks ago I was leading a normal and relatively stress-free life. Then, all of a sudden, everything changed. For some reason — which I have yet to be able to determine — I began having serious sleep issues. It all started on July 4th weekend. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but at this point my inability to fall asleep is having a serious impact on all phases of my life. I’ve immersed myself in research, visited more doctors than I have in the past 5 years and visited hundreds of websites purporting to have a magic fix for my deepening sleep issues.

One of the most informative and objective sites I came across was this one — Cantsleep.com. This led me to email the site’s administrator, and since then we have developed a nice relationship. He extended an invitation to me to post my sleep issues, and seeing I have a lot of newfound late-night time on my hands I took him up on the offer. I admit that I am not the best writer in the world, but I’ll do my best to share my experience — and hopefully soon my cure — in the hopes that I can help someone else who is experiencing the same agony emanating from sleep issues. It seems that everything under the sun can be tied to sleep issues — from psychological causes dating back to your childhood all the way to a bad pillow. Pinpointing which issue is applicable — for me at least — has been like finding a needle in a haystack.

Well, thanks for listening to me ramble. It’s now 3:30am, and I am going to go quietly slip into bed attempting not to wake Suz. Then, I’ll pretend to wake up when she does as I’ve been doing for the last week. We tell each other everything, and I feel really bad now hiding my insomnia from her — but she has enough on her hands dealing with the two kids let alone having to baby me.

Over and out,

Barnaby

There are many factors that go into a good night’s sleep. Your sleeping environment is the most essential to sleeping well. The room that you sleep in must be free from noise, free from bright lights, free from clutter and have a comfortable bed. A comfortable bed involves clean sheets, the right type of pillow for you and just the right mattress.

A good mattress is essential to a good night’s sleep. What qualifies as a good mattress? The optimal mattress will offer comfort in the form of proper cushion and recoil, while providing firm enough support for a person’s back, legs and neck. The best mattress will distribute a person’s weight evenly so that you won’t wake up sore. This comes from the firmness of the mattress. While a great deal of people seem to prefer a very firm mattress, scientific research has been inconclusive due to the differences in every person.

How long does a mattress last or when should I buy a new mattress? The life of the mattress is  reliant on whether  the mattress is used everyday or for guests only, the quality in which the mattress was created, along with the weight and sleep patterns of the user. Taking all of these things into consideration , the average mattress should be replaced every 5-7 years.

When shopping for a mattress, doctors recommend that you purchase a mattress that supports the natural ‘S’ curve of your back while allowing you to completely relax. You should spend anywhere from 15-30 minutes ‘trying out’ a mattress. That’s right. Lie down in the middle of the mattress store and  turn over just like you were sleeping. Now don’t do this quickly. It takes your body 15-30 minutes to relax, so lay down and wait for relaxation to happen.

Keep in mind that there are many types of mattresses. There are traditional coil, air, latex and memory foam. A good mattress is not made up of all the bells and whistles, nor is it the most expensive. It is the one that fits your needs and your body. The one that offers support and evenly distributes your weight. A good mattress allows you a deep, restful sleep so that you can wake in the morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated not groggy, sore, achy and tired.

Keep in mind, when you’ve eliminated the stress from your bedroom and eliminated any other issues that might be interfering with your sleep patterns, it’s time to look at getting a new mattress. If you’re mattress is over 8 years old don’t try to justify keeping it.  A good mattress equals a good night’s sleep which equals better health.

I came across some information that I found surprising. Most doctors recommend that you abstain from drinking caffeine after 2 pm. I thought that this was amazing, I mean how many of us enjoy a caffeinated beverage with dinner or a nice brew of coffee after dinner; apparently, it takes a long time for the caffeine to dissolve, and to completely leave our bodies only once this occurs we can start to relax. I decided to see if this was true and I soon realized that it’s much harder to do than I thought.

I found out that after eating a big meal I had become incredible custom to that much needed caffeine boost and avoiding coffee or stimulants I fell asleep watching television. I did notice that I slept better than I have ever slept before, I got to sleep right away no tossing or turning, I didn’t wake up half way through the night and when I woke up the next morning I felt much more alert even before my morning brew.

I have decided to make this one of my permanent rules when I get home from work I stay away from caffeine unless I don’t feel like I am going to be able to make it to bedtime of course. I hereby issue you the same challenge you may find it difficult at first but I encourage you to stick to it.

I would like people to try this simple and easy method and see if it works for them. In one of my other articles I wrote about the over use of stimulants and relaxants or as I called them uppers and downers. This is your chance right now to remove yourself from this negative cycle and stop your body from working against you and help it work for you. Not to mention think of all the money you will save on sleeping pills and coffee.

Bill Hanson