I used to regularly get good sleep for a while pre-pandemic, but ever since then my sleep has become so dysregulated and I’ve basically become dependent on weed to fall asleep. It’s gotten to the point where I get nerve pain and restless legs (that in itself contributes to insomnia) if I don’t get high before bed, no idea if this is a shared experience with other NDers. On top of the fact that this makes weed less fun and it makes my tolerance out of control, I also don’t like relying on a substance to fall asleep as it seems to just make it more difficult to try and go without the longer I continue this pattern. I am trying to refrain from using weed to fall asleep for the next short little while but the first night I’m unable to fall asleep at all. Anyone have any advice or experience with a similar situation or just for regulating sleep in general? I know sleep difficulties are part and parcel of the autistic, ADHD, ND experience generally. I can’t function if I don’t get good sleep and I’m desperate.
A couple things I haven’t seen mentioned.
Get a smart watch that tracks your sleep. I like the Samsung Galaxy, but there are much cheaper options, like those from amazefit. This will give you a baseline of how much sleep you’re actually getting and an idea of the quality as well. Being able to quantify it has helped me get substantially more regular sleep, and showed me how much I actually need. Plus the vibrating alarm is better for actually waking me up, and I can set an alarm to remind me to get ready for bed.
Use a meditation app with some comfortable Bluetooth headphones. I like insight timer. I hate meditation, and particularly those ‘body focus’ ones. I’m already hyper aware of my body, but there are plenty of options and they do really help you get to sleep.