HI GYE!!

Im Autostop. Im 20 not married and have been acting out etc. for about 10 years. This is my first time one GYE and I kinda just wanted to get my story off my chest. I think it will help, im not sure why exactly but it's worth a shot.

When I was a kid (really young 6,7 and on) I used to have trouble falling asleep and I always work up early. 5 6 am. It wasn't much of an issue then I would just watch TV until school(FYI im from a Modern Orthodox background). Once Im not sure how old I was maybe 9 I was watching early in the morning, so early that the "late night tv" was still on and there was an add for basically a porn site (ya on reg. cable) and to sum it up it just went downhill from there.
I mentioned before that I had some trouble falling asleep. I used to lay in my bed for hours at times until I fell asleep. The big thing was that after the first time I acted out I felt really sleepy afterwards and just passed out. Which at the time I thought was great (since I could just act out and I would help me sleep and wouldn't be stuck lying there for a couple hours every night).
For me now I have 2 issues 1) simple lust desire for the stuff which is with a filter(a couple weeks and haven't seen anything online:) ) manageable. 2)This sleep issue. I still have trouble falling asleep without acting out. Everything I need to act out is already in my head and I don't need the internet to do it. Mainly because of this, I avg. acting out once a day to help me sleep. I have and relatively easily could go a while without doing anything during the day but for the night every time is a major nisuyon and I fail more often than not.(way more often).

I downloaded the handbook and am going through it now.
Any advice, tips or help would be greatly appreciated. Just a comment would help alot and this post I think helps too.
So thanks everyone for reading and/or commenting

Welcome

Posting does help.

It begins the healin' and recovery process.

The others will chime in and tell you where to look on this site for more stuff.

Aren't there over the counter stuff you can take to help you sleep? Just askin'.

b'hatzlachah

tried does help all that much.

I assume you meant: "doesn't" help all that much.

Try somethin' stronger then

ya that's what I ment. ok will do.

Welcome!

We're all in this together, Keep on posting!

Make sure to see the 12 suggestions on the First Time Here page.

Also, check out your Personal Home-page. It will guide you through each tool/task that we suggest, one by one, and help you track your progress in recovery.

WELCOME!

A lot of what you said resonates with me. Acting out definitely helps me go to sleep and night after night i would act out because it helped me go to sleep. I didnt know what i could do?

I realized that my problem really comes from stress and acting out relieved me and allowed me to go to sleep. Perhaps you are stressed too? or maybe some other issue that you are escaping?

I think relying on pills isn't a good thing. Try to relax, breathe. Shower or take a bath before bed. Use a heating pad. Take really long breaths.

dms,

Thanks I think that sounds right. You mentioned breathing, showering and heating pads to relive stress do you have any other suggestions(or anyone else for that matter)?

I find that exercising during the day helps tremendously, because the body then needs even more than before to sleep. I've heard that yoga is also a great stress reliever, and that many people use it. It also may be that you have a lot on your mind. It helps to sometimes jot down on a piece of paper any issues or just things that may be on your mind, and once it's all on paper, it becomes so much easier to deal with them. This removes a big burden from the mind allowing you to sleep more easily. But I hear you about the mb making one drowsy. That was me for quite a while, but after a certain point it stopped working. This really shows how acting out is a chemical release which after time the body can become addicted to. Hatzlacha raba! You can do it!

Thanks shomer bro I appreciate the suggestions and support

hi autostop!!!

i don't have much to add to what the fellow friends mentioned,

just here to say WELCOME!!!

you made it to the right place, make yourself comfortable and hang in there there is a lot to learn here, and great guys to get to know,

so KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Welcome autostop....I wish there was an auto button to just press that makes all of this stop, but there isn't!! So we get the opportunity to actually work on ourselves to make it stop!!

Welcome to GYE!! It's a great group of friends here, understanding friends!!

Have you seen anybody about your sleeping problems? They may be just a trigger, or they may be a way to "rationalize" acting out, in other words, maybe your addiction is indeed causing you to not sleep so that you'll act out? Just a thought, no way I (or anyone else here) could answer that.

Keep on Posting!! and of course KOMT!!!

welcome.
i also have sleeping problems and used m@#$%^&* to fall asleep. there have been some good suggestions made already on this thread although in my experience chemical sleeping aids should be used as a last resort. the bad news is, again this is only my experience, there are adjustment periods where your body has to get used to doing something new/no longer doing something familiar and sometime there are just gonna be sleepless nights.
good luck (and maybe try getting some international numbers so you can call someone when you cant fall asleep without waking anyone up )

Welcome! The sleeping problem is pretty common. You have some good suggestions here, and can probably find more. Is it ONLY an issue at night?

Let us know how you are doing. You could post on GYE when you are sleepless .

Welcome!

The best sleeping drug is to be very tired. Try waking up early. Maybe set up a chavrusa before shacharis. You'll be plenty tired when bedtime rolls around.

In the bad old days I also couldn't fall asleep many nights without masturbating first. But I discovered it wasn't a sleeping problem, it was a lusting problem. I would be entertaining lustful thoughts all day, and checking out every woman in sight. So of course when I tried to go to sleep at night I needed to release the tension I built up.