Insomnia.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I hope to gain the self-discipline to put it to good use.

My computer engineer/born-again Christian father calls it "defragging the hard drive," possibly because he is too born-again to realize how ideal that phrase is as a masturbatory euphemism.

Either that, or he DOES realize it, and I now know how my father deals with insomnia.

Ew.

like ppl said above, try cutting back on coffee, don't go the milk route (most ppl i know do find it keeps them up) and most importantly, try and get exercise. That is the only thing that sometimes helps me. Booze wakes me up even more and I find myself posting drunkenly to ILx.

My insomnia started when i was about 12 or 13. I'll be ok for a few months and then get a bad patch again. In normal cirumstances I usually have a least one night a week or so where I don't sleep. In bad patches it can be up to 3 nights of no sleep (and I mean none whatsoever) I've basically adjusted and try and either get some work done, catch up on reading and not force sleep.

In your case, if you are on a work schedule where you can go in a bit later and stay later, maybe try doing that for a while. Good luck.

Have you seen a doctor about it?

I would just got to bed but I have three days to memorize all of this:

Lesson 6 - Adverbs

I. General considerations
II. Forming adverbs from adjectives
III. Position of adverbs
IV. Comparative and superlative forms of adverbs
V. Negative adverbs

I. Introduction

An adverb is an invariable word that can modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs generally answer one of four questions: how, when, where, and how much

The following is a list of just a few adverbs:
adverbs of time (when): adverbs of manner (how):
aujourd'hui today bien well
autrefois in the past mal badly, poorly
tôt early ensemble together
bientôt soon vite quickly
tard late vraiment really
maintenant now réellement really, actually
aussitôt at once d'habitude usually
actuellement at present, currently heureusement fortunately, luckily
tout de suite right away, immediately
encore again, still, another time seulement only, however
déjà already autrement otherwise
d'abord first, at first brusquement suddenly, all of a sudden
hier yesterday très very
généralement generally
souvent often

adverbs of place (where): adverbs of quantity (how much, how many):
près near beaucoup a lot, very much
loin far peu a little, not much
ici here assez enough
là there, here trop too much, too many
là-bas over there plus more
ailleurs elsewhere moins less
partout everywhere
quelque part somewhere

adverbs of restriction
presque almost
peut-être perhaps, maybe
seulement only
à peine hardly, scarcely

Exercice (6.1)

II. Forming adverbs from adjectives

1. Many adverbs of manner end in -ment. This corresponds to the English -ly. To form such adverbs, take the feminine form of the corresponding adjective and add -ment :
curieux curieuse curieusement
normal normale normalement

2. If the masculine form of an adjective ends in a vowel, the adverb is formed simply by adding -ment (no extra -e is added):
poli poliment
absolu absolument
terrible terriblement
vrai vraiment

3. Adjectives which have two or more syllables and end in -ant or -ent are changed into adverbs by substituting these endings with -amment or -emment:
évident évidemment
différent différemment
courant couramment
élégant élégamment

4. The following adverbs are irregular:
adjectives adverbs
bon bien well
meilleur mieux better, best
mauvais mal badly
gentil gentiment nicely, pleasantly
rapide vite fast, quickly
bref brièvement briefly
commun communément commonly, generally
énorme énormément enormously, tremendously
aveugle aveuglément blindly
précis précisément precisely
profond profondément profoundly, deeply

Remember that vite is an adverb and cannot be used as an adjective. Rapide is the corresponding adjective:

Tu as mangé ton gâteau trop vite! Tu as mangé ton gâteau trop rapidement!
J'ai un modem très rapide.

5. Certain adjectives can be used idiomatically as adverbs:

coûter cher C'est très beau mais ça coûte cher.
It's very beautiful but it's expensive.
parler fort Pourquoi parles-tu fort?
Why are you speaking loudly?
parler haut/bas Pourquoi parles-tu bas?
Why are you speaking softly?
sentir bon/mauvais Ça sent bon ici.
It smells good in here.
chanter juste/faux Roseanne chante faux!
Roseanne is singing off key (badly).
voir clair Je comprends; maintenant je vois clair.
I understand; now I get it.
aller (tout) droit Pour arriver à la bibliothèque, tu vas tout droit.
In order to get to the library, you go straight ahead.
travailler dur Les élèves travaillent dur.
The students are working hard.

When used in this way, these adjectives are invariable (the masculine singular form only is used) and come directly after the verb.

Exercice (6.2)

III. Position of adverbs

a. in simple tenses

In simple tenses in French adverbs never come between the subject and the verb, as they often do in English. They are normally placed after the verb. Compare the following sentences in English and French:

Je vais souvent aux Etats-Unis.
I often go to the United States.

J'aime beaucoup les cerises.
I really love cherries.

If you want to place emphasis on adverbs of manner (how) that end in -ment, you can place them at the end of the sentence:

Il ferme la porte brusquement.

Certain adverbs usually come at the end of the sentence, or at least near the end. Specifically, these are adverbs of time (when) and adverbs of place (where):

Marie va au zoo aujourd'hui.
J'ai laissé mes affaires là-bas.

If you want to place emphasis on adverbs of time (when) or place (where), you can often place them at the beginning of the sentence:

Ici on ne fume pas.
Généralement, il fait beau en juin.

When the adverbs meaning "probably," such as peut-être, probablement, and sans doute begin a sentence, the subject-verb word order is inverted.
Ils sont peut-être en vacances. Peut-être sont-ils en vacances.
Tu as sans doute raison. Sans doute as-tu raison.

However, if one wishes to avoid the inversion, que may be used after peut-être:

Peut-être que vous êtes perdus.

b. in compound tenses

The position of the adverb in a sentence with a compound tense depends on the type of adverb. Most often, the adverb is placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. Adverbs that fall into this category are: adverbs of quantity, adverbs of manner , adverbs of manner that imply restriction, and certain adverbs of time.

Elle a bien fait son devoir.
Nous avons presque terminé notre repas.
Il a vite compris la leçon.

A second category of adverbs, however, never go between the auxiliary and the past participle. These are adverbs of place and certain adverbs of time (avant, après, aujourd'hui, hier, autrefois, tôt, tard):

Je ne suis jamais allée là-bas.
Etes-vous sorti hier?

Exercice (6.3)

IV. Comparative and superlative forms of adverbs

The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are used according to the following constructions:

comparative: (plus, moins or aussi) + adverb + que

Je marche plus vite que toi.
I walk faster than you.

superlative: (le plus or le moins) + adverb + de

Elle marche le plus vite du groupe.
She walks the fastest in the group.

* Note the use of de in the above sentence. Where English uses the word in in superlative expressions (in the world, in the class, in the family), French uses the word de (du monde, de la classe, de la famille).

Some adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
bien mieux le mieux
beaucoup plus le plus
peu moins le moins

* Remember that mieux and le mieux are adverbs (they describe verbs) and that meilleur(e) and le/la meilleur(e) are adjectives (they describe nouns).

Superlative adverbs, just like superlative adjectives, can be intensified by possible:

Venez chez nous le plus tôt possible.
Come over as soon as possible.

Il est arrivé le plus vite possible.
He arrived as soon as he could.

Exercice (6.4)

Exercice (6.5)

V. Negative adverbs

To form a negative sentence, you use both the negative particle ne and a negative adverb such as pas, jamais, rien, plus, etc. Study the list of negative constructions below:
ne ... pas not Ils n'ont pas appelé leur mère.
ne ... point not at all (literary) M. de Charlus n'aimait point les arrivistes.
ne ... plus no more, no longer Mon père n'a plus de cheveux.
ne ... jamais never Tu n'as jamais mangé d'huîtres?
ne ... que only Il ne mange que des hamburgers et des frites.
ne ... rien nothing Elle ne m'a rien offert.
ne ... guère hardly Ils n'étaient guère gentils.
ne ... pas encore not yet Vous n'êtes pas encore partis?
ne ... plus jamais never again Jean ne va plus jamais chez ce dentiste.
ne ... plus rien no more, nothing else Je n'ai plus rien à vous donner.
ne ... personne no one Ils n'ont vu personne au café.
ne ... nulle part nowhere Elle n'est allée nulle part toute la journée.

ne ... ni ... ni ... neither ... nor Il ne parle ni français ni espagnol.
ne ... aucun(e) none, not any Nous n'avons eu aucun problème.
ne ... nul(le) none, not any Il n'y a nulle raison de se fâcher.

* Note that aucun(e) and nul(le) are adjectives and agree in gender with the noun they modify. They always remain singular.

Il n'a aucun ami.
He has no friends.

*Note that de and d' replace du, de la, de l' and des after a negative adverb.
J'ai toujours de l'argent. Je n'ai jamais d'argent.
Il a des pommes. Il n'a plus de pommes.

However, this rule does not apply to ne ... que whose meaning is not negative.

Anne n'achète que des légumes frais.
Anne buys only fresh vegetables.

Ni....ni will replace indefinite or partitive articles but not definite (le, la, les) articles.
J'ai un frère et une soeur. Je n'ai ni frère ni soeur.
Voulez-vous du sel et du poivre? Je ne veux ni sel ni poivre, merci.
BUT: Tu aimes les chats et les chiens?

Je n'aime ni les chats ni les chiens.

Depending on the particular adverb, a negative adverb can be placed before or after the past participle of a compound tense such as passé composé.

Before the past participle:

Je n'ai pas vu cet homme que tu cherches.
Je n'ai rien acheté.
Je n'ai jamais entendu cette chanson.
Je n'ai plus écrit à mon frère.
Je n'ai guère travaillé hier.

The negative adverbs which go after the past participle:

Je n'ai vu personne.
Je n'ai fait que le premier exercice.
Je n'ai vu ni chien ni chat.
Nous ne sommes allés nulle part cette anée.

Similarly, if the negative adverb modifies an infinitive, it is sometimes placed before the infinitive and sometimes placed after it, depending on the particular adverb. The same adverbs that preceded the past participle will precede the infinitive and vice versa.

Before the infinitive:

Elle préfère ne pas voir ce film.
Nous préférons ne rien dire.

After the infinitive:

Elle préfère ne voir personne aujourd'hui.
Tu préfères ne faire que le début?
Il préfère ne lire ni celui-ci ni celui-là.

Nous préférons n'avoir aucun visiteur cet après-midi.

Je préfère n'aller nulle part ce weekend.

*If a negative adverb is used as the subject of a sentence, ne must be placed before the verb.

Personne ne m'a dit la vérité.
No one told me the truth.

Aucun de mes amis n'est venu à la fête.
Aucune de mes amies n'est venue à la fête.
None of my friends came to the party.

As you saw in the list at the beginning of this section, more than one negative adverb can be used in a sentence:

Je n'entends plus personne. I don't hear anyone anymore.
Il n'y a plus que moi. I am the only one left.
Elle ne va jamais nulle part. She never goes anywhere.
Ils ne parlent jamais ni de leur travail ni de leurs enfants. They never talk about their work or their children.

The negative adverbs will always be placed in the following order in a sentence:
que
rien
ne . . . plus . . . jamais . . . personne
ni . . . ni
nulle part

*Note: "pas" can only be combined with ni and que:

Je n'ai pas envie de la voir ni de lui parler.
I don't want to see her or talk to her.

Il n'y avait pas que des livres dans cette librairie.
There weren't only books in this bookstore.

When answering a negative question with an affirmative (yes), "si" is used instead of oui.
Tu n'as pas apporté les photos? You didn't bring the pictures?
Si, elles sont dans mon sac. Yes, I did. They are in my bag.

* Ne . . . que means only. The que is placed before the relevant noun.

Je n'ai acheté que deux pêches.
I only bought two peaches.

Exercice (6.6)

Hou ! Hou ! Hou ! Hou !
En quatre couleurs
Allez hop !
Un matin
Une louloute est v'nue chez-moi
Poupée de Cellophane
Cheveux chinois
Un sparadrap
Une gueule de bois
A bu ma bière
Dans un grand verre
En caoutchouc
Hou ! Hou ! Hou ! Hou !
Comme un indien dans son igloo

Allez hop ! La nana
Quel panard !
Quelle vibration !
De s'envoyer
Sur le paillasson
Limée, ruinée, vidée, comblée
"You are the King of the divan"
Qu'elle me dit en passant
Hou ! Hou ! Hou ! Hou !
I am the King of the divan

Allez hop !
T'occupe
T'inquiète
Touche pas ma planète
It's not to day
Quel le ciel me tombera sur la tête
Et que l'alcool me manquera
Hou ! Hou ! Hou ! Hou !
Ça plane pour moi

Allez hop ! ma nana
S'est tirée
S'est barrée
Enfin c'est marre, a tout cassé
L'évier, le bar me laissant seul
Comme un grand connard

Hou ! Hou ! Hou ! Hou !
Le pied dans le plat
Ça plane pour moi
Ça plane pour moi
Ça plane pour moi moi moi moi moi
Ça plane pour moi

why are you up?

I'ts 7:30 AM and I haven't slept AT ALL. I have to catch a train for a day trip that is sure to be no fun anymore in an hour. Everything is starting to feel surreal and over-emotional, and OH IRONY OF IRONIES now that I have to drag my ass out of bed I'm finally fucking tired enough to pass out.

This is going to be one of the longer days of my life.

I just wanted to bitch, kthxbye.

"Nada."

"Otro loco mas," said the barman and turned away.

"A little cup," said the waiter.

The barman poured it for him.

"The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished," the waiter said.

The barman looked at him but did not answer. It was too late at night for conversation.

"You want another copita?" the barman asked.

"No, thank you," said the waiter and went out. He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted cafe was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he would go home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it.

actually tonight i can't sleep because of (a) too much caffeine (b) an allergen in my cheap laundry detergent that's making me break out in hives.

It's so strong, I had to chop up the pill - half a pill for one night.

I also quit drinking coffee entirely, and it's made all the difference in the world.

I've steadily been sleeping later and later since study week began and it's getting worse everyday. A few nights ago, I fell asleep at 7 am. Woke up at noon. Two nights (mornings?) ago, by 10 am I refused to sleep telling myself I wouldn't nap and go to bed early instead. I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 5.30 am! Fucking 5 and a half hours in 2 days!

Somehow, I managed to take a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon and then I was up till 4 am last night. Went to bed but I never fell asleep. It's 8.30 am now.

I really need help. I have a paper on friday but I can't study cause I'm so so tired, but I can't sleep either. I'm going mad. I'm bringing my housemate down cause she's a light sleeper and I'm out and about at odd hours and I shouldn't do that cause she's taking more papers than me.

I haven't seen a doc yet, just wanted to rant. It probably doesn't help i'm one of those people who doesn't like going to clinics.

I SHOULD be exercising more. I think part of the problem is that I've been taking dance classes twice a week but stopped a month ago because I didn't have time. I try to go swimming but work's just piling up.

thanks everybody, I will try all of these things. did try melatonin once, it had mixed effects on me, but i wouldn't be opposed to another round.

the weird thing is I don't have a gauge on how tired I actually am because I do so little in a given day now.

Have you tried doing the thing where you keep a notebook by the side of your bed and write down the things you're stressing about so you can deal with them at another time? I've never tried it myself, but I've heard it helps get your brain off the hamster wheel.

I've also read that part of the purpose of sleep is to let your brain sort through memories from the day and forget the unimportant ones. So when I'm lying awake stressing about something little that happened that day, I try to tell myself that I don't even know yet if it's worth thinking about, because my brain hasn't had a chance to do its overnight sorting and processing. This may not work for you but I find it weirdly comforting.

Forgot to mention one of the most effective things I have tried --
the weighted blanket!

When I go to the dentist (where I have a lot of problems), I always wear the lead x-ray vest the whole time, and it really helps. Turns out a weighted blanket is like that only huge. I just put mine back on the bed and it's really helping me fall back asleep when i wake up at 3am with my mind racing.

There are some cons: it can be hot and they aren't exactly cheap. But that's it! Otherwise, I love mine and it really helps.

Ugh

yeah this shit is making my life impossible basically

I’ve managed to avoid it for a long time but tonight’s the night tonight. I’m kind of emotionally high for various reasons, and in my head I am having a future conversation I am looking forward to, this internal dialogue which I can’t turn off, an old habit I long ago broke myself since it’s the kind of expectation that brings disappointment, or so I’ve heard, oh wait, actually experienced firsthand many times.

Past the point where I will vet even one four hour REM cycle. Hello walls!

Zero hours of sleep last night, fun fun fun. I can take the brain derangement but the constant feeling like I'm about to have a heart attack is, well, killing me.

Nytol works well for me, you can get it over the counter without prescription. Weirdly the other thing that works for me is the Calm app in which you have various soothing-voiced people (even Matthew McConaughey pops up) to read you a bedtime story.

Is that the free or premium version of that app?

Premium

There's a great podcast called The Maritime History Podcast that used to knock me right out. It took me months to make it past Hammurabi. But then my brain got used to that, and started a new trick: letting me go to sleep for about an hour from midnight to 1am, then waking me back up again for the rest of the night. The night before last I didn't sleep at all and eventually got up at 5:30.

It definitely helps me to get some exercise during the day and not eat late at night, and to avoid alcohol. But those things only help. They don't guarantee sleep.

“Nytol will help you get your zzzzzzzzs” = jingles u will never get out of your sleep deprived head

Come on over to this thread, LL: Thread for random old TV voiceover/announcer phrases that pop into your head

it's baaaaaaaaaack. but now I have an anxiety-cause to some of it. pretty much for the majority of the year, some nights I try to go to sleep, and feel like every time I start to go under, I jolt awake, and my heart races and it repeats over and over for an hour or so until finally I fall asleep (or don't). it only started when I acquired an assload of stress and usually on nights when I have a lot in my head at bedtime.

also it's long past time I do a sleep study. i am 99% sure I have apnea, p much everybody in my family does.