Trouble sleeping?

Hi all, I guess I am prone to getting anxious for big things like the Level I test, and for the last three nights I have not been able to sleep well. I manage to get a lot of work done during the day and I am keeping my confidence up while studying but at night that all seems to go out the window. When I do finally fall asleep around 2 or 3, I wake up constantly. I’m really worried that if I can’t sleep now then I’m headed for a sleepness night the day before the exam… does anyone else have any experience with this? Any suggestions? I did grab some sleeping aids at the drugstore but I’m afraid to start using them so soon, esp since I don’t know how I’ll feel the next day. I’d hate to take them the day before the exam and then either end up sleeping too late or feeling groggy the next day. I also worked out for an hour yesterday and today… you would think that would do the trick, but no :slight_smile:

mr j walker?

don’t use sleep aids. the long term storage process of your brain needs normal sleep to transfer knowledge from short term memory. embrace the anxiety.

I’ve typically woken up 2-3 times a night for as long as I can remember. Welcome to my world.

You might want to talk to your doctor about that - if you have apnea it can damage your heart (i.e., you might really be waking up 200 times a night but are only thouroughly awake 2-3 times). Anyway, they make some really fine sleep aids now (Ambien is my personal favorite).

I’m only 22. Ambien can’t be my best bet - unless popping in those things like Brett Favre takes advil is in my only future.

I hardly slept at all the night before the June exam but somehow my brain worked quite well on exam-day. Don’t worry too much. You’ll be fine.

Cup of warm milk before bed, and meditate/visualize somethng calm and peaceful as you lie in bed. Works for me everytime. Or get your bf/gf to give you a massage before bedtime, works well too.

I take my ethics book to bed…works everytime.

HAHA^

everybody is going to be a little short of sleep on exam day I bet I’m counting on some adrenaline kicking in when we get those test papers.

Yeah it definitely has to do with stress/anxiety. I couldn’t go to sleep before 2am for over a month during the summer when I was looking for a job. I’m starting to get it again as I’m getting anxious with other things. My best advice is to workout or run hardcore a few hours before bedtime. It will relieve a lot of stress (even if it doesn’t feel like it immediately after) and it will work wonders for your sleep.

TPain88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah it definitely has to do with stress/anxiety. > I couldn’t go to sleep before 2am for over a month > during the summer when I was looking for a job. > I’m starting to get it again as I’m getting > anxious with other things. My best advice is to > workout or run hardcore a few hours before > bedtime. It will relieve a lot of stress (even if > it doesn’t feel like it immediately after) and it > will work wonders for your sleep. I can’t go to sleep before 7am … this exam is too strenuous for me and I am too behind in my proposed plan. I’ll probably take my first test tomorrow [as suggested by delhi and ckp, the other day] (If I complete the FSA ratio’s chapter) - Dinesh S

Granted the Series 7 is a playground to the CFA, I probably slept about 2 hours the night before. The nervousness helps keep you attentative. Despite the fact I was tired, I was able to focus; as well as go celebrate that evening :slight_smile:

jalmy8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m only 22. Ambien can’t be my best bet - unless > popping in those things like Brett Favre takes > advil is in my only future. You don’t take them all the time - just when you have trouble sleeping.

With sleep, if your body gets used to a certain routine, it’s hard to break it off. Over the next little while try to go to bed early and to get up early (that’s what you’ll be doing on exam day). The most important thing: don’t panic when you can’t fall asleep, this is what perpetuates the problem and is the root of it. I had insomnia probs during last yr at uni, but these days I’m fine, b/c I get super tired during the day and I’ve trained myself to fall asleep within 10min if I wanted to. Sounds silly, but juggling work and school for a while, every spare min you can squeeze in, is huge help. And yes, you can train yourself to fall asleep. People will start talking about sleep aids, etc but this should really be a last resort. I don;t care who says you shouldn’t put yourself through this if pills can help you, this is not always true. You should give it your honest effort first. Allow yourself plenty of time to fall asleep. If you want to sleep for 6 hrs, budget for 7, because it might take you a while to fall asleep, that way the pressure will be off that you need to fall asleep NOW. Re the people who suggested cardio before going to bed, that works only for some. See what works for you. You got 10 days to experiment, that’s plenty. This might put your mind at ease a bit: the resounding opinion among the scientific community is that your cognitive functions are not impaired much if you suffer from SHORT-term sleep deprivation. Even if you don’t get a solid 8hr sleep before the exam, don’t sweat it, you’ll still do fine. Remember that, and once the pressure is off, you’ll fall asleep even easier.

i am going to abstain from coffee until Dec 1st. That’s going to help me sleep well.

I don’t know if you have tried listening to the schweser audio at all?..Give it a listen, I guarantee within ten minutes you will be out cold

what form of transportation are you guys planning to take on exam day? getting stuck in traffic (although chances are not that good that there will be a lot of traffic at 7am-8am in the morning on a saturday), and going bumper to bumper really kills your brain and exhaust your energy, that’s what I find anyway

definitely not driving or taking public transit. Might just hop on a cab, no hassle there. I don’t think the traffic will be that bad early on a Saturday either.