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by tomcam 2038 days ago
As an old guy with insomnia who freaks out seeing these headlines on the hacker news, I’d like to thank you sincerely. This shit is scary at my age.
1 comments

Cold showers, warm milk and zero screen time right before bed. Thought of just mentioning it, dunno if it might help you in particular.
I do all that stuff, and more. Thank you, but it doesn’t help much. One one thing that helps is not having any screens or audio in bed and waking up at the same time every day. The latter is excruciating for me.
The world is full of advice about sleep, but very little of it is appropriate for everyone.
I was told that alternating cold and hot showers - a few cycles - help reset the nervous system. I tried it a few times and seems to be working, makes me feel relaxed and tired in a pleasant way. Simply taking cold showers before going to bed will make you feel invigorated, not very conducive to sleep.
Wait so shower for a few seconds cold, a few seconds heart, and repeat that cycle a few times before bed?
Yes. You can finish with hot. Make sure hot/cold water get all over your torso, chest and spine. You will feel really good afterwards even though the cold water isn't very pleasant. Alternatively, in the summer, take cold showers for invigoration, especially if you feel sleepy in the morning. It is unpleasant for the moment but it makes you feel great afterwards.
Is there a study showing that cold shower before bed helps sleep? Thanks
It was mentioned in Tim Ferris' book so I tried it at the time, considering I was living in a tropical country at the time, so the cold definitely helped get to sleep. I just checked once more and he mentions a Stanford University professor's quote on the same.