I have tried several medications and so far, my old standby still has the best results. I go through periods of time when I cannot sleep because I have too much on my mind and I usually try to write down lists, turn off devices at least an hour before bed. I never drink caffeine (interferes with my meds) and I try not to anything sweet or that might keep me up after dinner.

I have had trouble sleeping my entire life. Sometimes it gets better and sometimes worse. Most of my life, I have slept for 5 hours a night, but after I was diagnosed and treated for ADHD, we found the meds I am taking now and I can sometimes make if for 6 hours. Occasionally, I can sleep for up to 7 hours, but that's a rare occurrence.

The Lunesta knocked me out and I heard NOTHING (which has never happened before in my life!) BUT, I woke up 5 hours later no matter what I did. Also, because I did not get the required 7 hours EVER, I ended up having nearly every negative side effect possible when I took that (and it took me several weeks to figure that out and I thought I was going crazy!)

I am guessing this might be hormonal (and I don't want it to be, because I am not allowed to take hormone supplements due to cancer history and issues). I have talked to my primary care physician and he put me on an anti-depressant that is supposed to help people sleep, and it made me feel really weird and tingly and dizzy and it didn't improve my sleep either. My psychiatrist was the one that gave me the Lunesta that did not work. I will check with him at our next appointment to see if he has some other viable solutions. Good idea.

I guess I mostly need suggestions for strategies, then. I try music but that usually activates my brain (even if it's slow and soothing). I used to have a white noise machine and I think I have a white noise app on my phone and I completely forgot about that, but sometimes that helped as well in the past for awhile, so I think I'll try that again.

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it!