Hi Bridgie


If your having trouble sleeping here are few tips that may improve things.

1. Get out of bed at the same time every day. Resist sleeping in later on the weekends. This will help your body to set it's internal (circadian) clock.

BTW....This tip is extremely important for consistent, good quality sleep.

2. If you are watching the alarm clock, cover it up so you won't see it. This will keep you from getting anxious about your sleep difficulities and making the problem worse.

3. If you are not sleeping, get up out of bed and go into another room and read or do some other quiet activity.

Only go back to bed when you feel tired.

On the rare occasions I can't sleep, I like to play spider solitaire and mahjong on my computer, lol.

Anyway... the key here is to choose an activity that is not too mentally or emotionally stimulating... but something that is brainless and repetitive.

4. Avoid caffeinated beverages in the afternoon and especially in the evening. Caffeinated beverages can stay in your system for up 12 hours or more and can interfere with your body's sleep cycle.

5. Avoid exercising 2 hours or less before bed time. Exercise is a very good thing for high quality sleep, but when it's too close to bed time, it can stimulate you like coffee or tea, lol.

6. Do not take naps for any longer than an hour. While I know you are very tired, you want to get your body's internal clock reset so you feel sleepy at bed time and will stay asleep, so don't take long naps!!

7. Make sure your bedroom is cool, comfy, and dark. I am one of those people that wakes right up as soon as there is a little bit of dawn light in the sky, so I installed some dark blinds and very heavy drapes in my bedroom's east window to cut down on this problem.

8. Take a warm bath or shower a couple of hours before bedtime. I find this really helps in relaxing me and making me feel sleepy.

Anyway... good luck to you. I hope you catch your ZZZZZZZs.