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Sleeping Problems

No caffeine at least 5 hours before bedtime.

exercise during day - but not less than 5 hours before bedtime.

Try turning on a fan or something that provides constant, but not loud, noise. I have a homedics device that I use religiously every night. I turn it to "waterfall", and that helps me tremendously. There are other settings like "summer's night" and "thunder", but the "waterfall" is my dr. feelgood!

Don't drink ANYTHING right before bed -- 'cause if you're over 40 like myself, you will have to get up at night to pee if you do!
 
Try everything possible before turning to sleep medications. The side effects of these drugs can be frieghtening, making the problem worse. I will tell anyone who listens that sleep medications especially Ambien, are the worst things ever invented. I fully expect to see a "1-800-BAD-DRUG" commercial for Ambien.

My wife had a hard time sleeping during 'our' 2nd pregnancy. Her Dr perscribed this nasty ******. I did not recognize her for a week, before she stopped taking it. She would act very strangely when awake and even worse at night.
Try anything and everything before turning to perscription drugs.
 
Here's what my situation is:

I tend to have trouble getting to sleep on Sunday nights, because I stay up later and tend to enjoy afternoon naps on the weekends. Plus, I always think about everything I need to do the following work week, and my mind starts to race and I can't shut it off.

So, on Sunday nights, about 20 minutes before I want to turn in, I take two Benadryls. It helps a ton.
 
I second the recommendation for Melatonin. My son had major sleep issues, and his sleep specialist recommended that. It is not habit forming, and doesnt appear to have any side affects. It is a naturally occuring substance in the body anyway. If I have a night that I cant fall asleep, I pop one and it knocks me right out. It is easy to find and cheap too.
We got a lot of assurances from the sleep specialist before we put my son on it.
 
One thing that has helped me is counting backwards. I pick a relatively large number, like several hundreds or thousand and countdown slowly, thinking about each number. That's helped a few times. There's also a natural supplement, melatonin. You can use it regularly about 15-20 minutes before you want to get to sleep, and it can help. I've found it most effective after I've had a couple of beers, but I'm sure that's not necessarily recommended...
 
I recently started sleeping better (lots of worrying about things before I went to sleep) and it feels great!

Maybe your brain just can't turn off?
 
Thanks for all of the ideas and advice. Interesting that melatonin was mentioned several times. After researching it appears to not have any side effects. I may give it a try.
 
I occasionally go through periods where I have trouble sleeping. They re-occur occasionally ever few months to a year. Generally they seem to be triggered by work related stress, or sometimes just the stresses of life. They never happen on weekends unless I have something important to do like a long drive or travel. I don't sleep as much as you normally either (usually about 6 a night, 7 on a good night).

As others have noted, what works best for me is some very hard exercise after work, enough to wear me out completely. Fishing works great for me as it really clears the mind for me personally. Also, sex before bed helps but that isn't always an option if your single. I find that alcohol will help me get to sleep, but I end up not getting as much rest out of my sleep/waking up alot during the night, unless I drink a ton... and to drink that much I'd be a mess for work in the morning.
 
I have been suffering with insomnia since I was very young. Had to go to eiu hospital to see if they could find out what's wrong. Now in my 40's it hasn't changed. There are nights that I just don't sleep at all and function just fine. Then there are some nights when I get 4 - 6 hours of sleep and am fine. If I get more than 8 - I'm usually sick...this is really the only time I sleep. The only problem I have about this whole insomnia thing is that there is no set pattern so it comes on when ever/where ever.

Have noticed that if I stop drinking any type of liquid around 7 pm it usually helps me sleep...until my body says don't sleep - of course.

FWIW
 
Just drink until you pass out. Works for me. I have slept great since 1999. My liver is probably angry but he is a trooper.
 
This isn't really advice for you since your problem seems a little more serious than this issue, but the thing that puts me to sleep fastest is lying down and thinking as hard as I can "don't fall asleep". I'm usually out in 5 minutes. And all my life I have been someone who takes about 30 minutes to get to sleep.
 
I'm not a religious fanatic, but I frequently recite the Lord's Prayer over and over for at least several times in my mind and it always seems to calm my mind and I fall asleep. It's sort of my way of giving thanks for all the blessings in my life and handing over all my stresses to God so I can rest.
 
This isn't really advice for you since your problem seems a little more serious than this issue, but the thing that puts me to sleep fastest is lying down and thinking as hard as I can "don't fall asleep". I'm usually out in 5 minutes. And all my life I have been someone who takes about 30 minutes to get to sleep.
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That's the funny thing. It can be difficult staying awake when you need to, but then be impossible to go to sleep when you need to.
 
I recently had sleep issues where I couldn't fall asleep until about 4 o'clock for 3 weeks. I had trouble falling asleep one night because I was loaded with Mountain Dew. The next night I kept thinking about how I didn't get any sleep the previous night so I needed sleep this night. After this went on for a few weeks I took some over the counter sleeping pills 4 nights in a row and was able to sleep on my own fine after that. Maybe the first night back from Hawaii is what screwed you up and got you into the same cycle.
 
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