Help Me Sleep Better!

[kbtoyssni]

I moved to a new apartment five months ago (from the suburbs to the city), and I have never slept well in this new place. I have no idea why. I can be really tired, but lie down and something makes me feel like the room is not conducive to sleeping. I have trouble falling asleep and I often don't wake up refreshed. On weekends (I work M-F) I have been waking up not feeling very well, either. It's like I've always got a headache or something and just want to go back to sleep. Seems to happen whether I stay up late or not. Here are my thoughts:

-I've got the same bed with a 1.5 year old mattress so that's probably not it. Same sheets/blankets, too.

-I now close the blinds, but they're just the cheap plastic ones that come standard with apartments so they're certainly not light-tight. I've never liked sleeping in complete darkness, and I like the light to come in in the morning. At my old place I never even closed the blinds and there was a street light right outside my window.

-I only use my bedroom for sleeping and getting dressed. I do not have a TV or computer in there - just the bed, my clothes, my bike in the corner.

-I have been watching more TV lately (new apartment gets the style network and it's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me).

-I haven't been working out as much. I got whooping cough at the end of August. It is impossible to do any cardio with the whoop! The past few weeks I've just started being able to work out again. Combine that with an arm injury and that means not much in the weight lifting department, either.

-Could it be something in the carpet - chemicals or something? The guy who lived here before me smoked, but I thought all they do for that is repaint and shampoo the carpet. I also occasionally get problems with smoke from a few apartments down wafting into my apartment although the smoke never gets in the bedroom.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm sick of being tired!

[confused]

What kind of heating is there, maybe its a dry heat that is causing it.

I would ask the owners to have the carpets reshampoed again.

The smoke could be coming in threw the heat vents.

paula

[Guest j_mommy]

Smoke circulates if there is heating vents!!!

You may want to give blackout curtains a try and see if it helps...new place, new light, new noises ect...they can help block some of that out. You can pick them up at walmart.

Dry heat is a problem for me....I use a humidifier at night...it helps alot.

Are you tossing and turning at night???? Restless sleep maybe????

[confused]

Have u tried the allergen free mattress covers and pillow cases, that helped my stepson alot with this allergies at night and not being able to sleep.

paula

[kbtoyssni]

I *think* it's electric heat. I hardly use my heater, though. Apartments tend to be pretty warm without it. I even opened my window a crack today, and it's 20F outside! It is pretty dry (as it always is during Minnesota winters) so I can try a humidifier. The dryness can get uncomfortable with itchy skin. I didn't sleep well in August and September before I needed a heater, though, so I feel like there's something else going on.

I'll try blacking out the room tonight.

There are two smoke issues.

1. The former tenant smoked. It doesn't smell like smoke; I was more concerned they used chemicals on the carpet to get the smell out. Could smoke chemicals be coming out of the carpet even if I can't smell it?

2. The people down the hall smoke. This is really bugging me. I've talked to the landlord a few times about it (nothing like coming home to the smoke smell the night before a final, getting a migrane and throwing up and being unable to study). Sometimes it makes me feel sick, sometimes it doesn't. The ventilation in the building doesn't isolate the apartments. The smoke was coming under my door so I put a doorsweep on. Then they covered the vents in my bathroom and kitchen to hopefully prevent air from being sucked into them and being replaced with hallway-smoky air. It's helped a lot, but it's not 100%. I wonder if legally I can do anything about this. I'm sure this doesn't help sleeping, but the smoke is mostly in the kitchen and bathroom. I've never smelled it in my bedroom. A little side note: Minnesota recently banned smoking in public places. They had a lot of money left over from the advertising campaign so they're going to start campaigning for smoke-free apartments for this very reason. I don't think it will ever pass because people want the right to do what they want in their own apartments, however.

I do have dust covers on my mattress and pillows. I haven't had any problems with dust for years since getting them.

[Guest j_mommy]

Is it suppossed to be a smoke free building????

[kbtoyssni]

The public areas are smoke free, but tenants are free to smoke in their own apartments. I wouldn't care if they didn't have this stupid ventilation system in which the air from all apartments mix. I never had this problem in my last apartment because the ventilation system was more of an individual apartment one. I honestly don't think people should be able to smoke in their apartments with this type of ventilation, but I'm not sure legally there's anything to back that up.

[Guest j_mommy]

Bummer, b/c if it was a smoke free building you could complain to public health.

Not sure there is much you can do legally.

Have you tried shampooing them yourself(if your landlord won't)? You can pick up the machine and rent one for a day pretty cheap. Atleat then you have some say over what's being used to clean your carpets!

[TestyTommy]

Is your new apartment in an older building?

I've discovered that I've become very sensitive to mold. Older buildings are loaded with it. Even if there's no mold in your unit, the ventilation systems will pick it up from the basement and circulate it through the building. (I have a problem with this at my office).

[kbtoyssni]

I think it's a 1970s building. I'll ask about mold, doubt the front office has any clue, though. Is there any way I can tell if there's mold on my own?

[Nancym]

I found taking Vit D3 supplements (oil based cholecaliferol) helped me sleep. I take about 2000 iu a day. Another woman I know of found D3 helped her too.

[GFinDC]

Heating ducts can collect a bit of dust over the summer and then circulate it when the furnace kicks on in winter. So it could be something like that. Also could be carbon monoxide leaking in the furnace I suppose. You can get a carbon monoxide detector and check it. They sell them at home stores for not much money. Or your landlord might have one you could borrow. You could also be sensitive to paint fumes or carpet fumes in the apartment. Maybe airing it out for a few hours would help. Oh, and then there is insect control sprays the landlord or other tenants may have sprayed. Just some thoughts, I am no expert that's for sure.

[YoloGx]

Hi,

I had a similar problem years ago. I'd get a headache in this new apartment. I tried everything: washed the carpet and the walls with baking soda -- nothing helped. Finally I discoverd some vinyl used as shelf paper on a shelf under the built-in oven. Once I removed it and threw it away, my problem dissappeared!

Other than that, something along the lines of my first remedy might help. It could be a problem with the chemicals they used to clean the carpet?? I suggest you rent a water extractor type carpet cleaner and use 1 cup borax with 1 cup non gluten apple cider vinegar and peppermint castile soap (2 tablespoons) to the gallon or so hot water you put in the machine. This will get rid of the cigarette stuff as well as chemicals and even mites and flea eggs etc.. You then can rinse it out with just plain hot water if you want or just leave it in.

If all else fails could it be that you are near some kind of weird electrical field?? Or a chemical plant? If so, the best solution (I am sorry to say) is to move to a different place.

Before moving however try staying over at someone else's place sufficiently far away from your apartment to check to see if any of the above suggestions are needed. If you can sleep at the friend's house then try some of the above solutions. If not, your trouble sleeping could be something internal. Possibly you are experiencing a need to take special Co-enzyme B vitamins (as I eventually found I had to) in order to sleep. They are more absorbable than other B vitamins. I get mine from Country Life. (I don't like the sublingual tabs with sorbitol.) The B vitamins can make all the difference for your joints (even cures heart palpitations) too as they really did for me -- as well as the usual vitamin D and minerals. Walking can help too while the gym is more difficult.

Further, should I even say this?? You just have to stay away from all gluten--even previously glutened cutting boards and old iron skillets plus shampoo or soap with gluten in it. Am finding this last incredibly to be true. I found it hard to beleive but my body doesn't lie. My joints are very much weakened by even the tiniest bit of gluten. I now think of it as kryptonite.

Herbs help to detox and thus help you sleep better too--like dandelion and oregon grape root or yellow dock to detox, with marshmallow root and slippery elm to eliminate some of the inflamation. Skullcap will both soothe and rebuild your no doubt weakened nervous system--which could really help with sleeping.

I also like barberry to get rid of excess fungus which easily can interfere with sleep too... Just don't overdo this herb since its very powerful. A little will do you. Fungus and celiac seem to go together quite often I have noticed. So I suggest no Sugar either!! Invest in some Stevia for sweetener if this last is relevant to you.

Don't forget too to take acidophilus and bromelain/papain to help improve digestion as well as help heal your joints. These things too can help (down the way) with sleep.

Yolo

I moved to a new apartment five months ago (from the suburbs to the city), and I have never slept well in this new place. I have no idea why. I can be really tired, but lie down and something makes me feel like the room is not conducive to sleeping. I have trouble falling asleep and I often don't wake up refreshed. On weekends (I work M-F) I have been waking up not feeling very well, either. It's like I've always got a headache or something and just want to go back to sleep. Seems to happen whether I stay up late or not. Here are my thoughts:

-I've got the same bed with a 1.5 year old mattress so that's probably not it. Same sheets/blankets, too.

-I now close the blinds, but they're just the cheap plastic ones that come standard with apartments so they're certainly not light-tight. I've never liked sleeping in complete darkness, and I like the light to come in in the morning. At my old place I never even closed the blinds and there was a street light right outside my window.

-I only use my bedroom for sleeping and getting dressed. I do not have a TV or computer in there - just the bed, my clothes, my bike in the corner.

-I have been watching more TV lately (new apartment gets the style network and it's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me).

-I haven't been working out as much. I got whooping cough at the end of August. It is impossible to do any cardio with the whoop! The past few weeks I've just started being able to work out again. Combine that with an arm injury and that means not much in the weight lifting department, either.

-Could it be something in the carpet - chemicals or something? The guy who lived here before me smoked, but I thought all they do for that is repaint and shampoo the carpet. I also occasionally get problems with smoke from a few apartments down wafting into my apartment although the smoke never gets in the bedroom.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm sick of being tired!

[YoloGx]

I just read your earlier posts and smoke seems to possibly be an issue. Try investing in an air purifier. They have cheap charcoal filter ones at Target. You can replace the filters every so often. I use a wood stove for heat and find the air purifier essential.

Yolo