Advice on how to fall asleep

What helps you fall asleep and not wake up through out the night?
I've been having a very difficult time with sleeping.

I would love to know the answer to this one! I have had this problem for about 20 yrs.

There's many things that go into a good nights sleep. Keep the room dark, quiet and cool, never hot. Don't consume too many caffienated beverages or eat a large meal too close to bedtime. If you're a person who lays there worrying, I like this mental trick - I imagine putting all the concerns and worries is a locked box, high on a shelf. This is a symbol of not bringing matters into bed.

Do slow deep breathing and with each exhale you relax another body part - imagine you're melting into the bed, where you can't even feel your arms/legs. You can take a nice warm to hot bath in epsom salts - bath bubbles aren't good.

Hello, Jenn1fer82!

Falling Asleep

• bedtime ritual -- doing the same things every evening to cue my mind and body for sleep
• anti-anxiety medication
• something to take my mind off the process of falling asleep -- light radio or TV talk (nothing too interesting) in the background usually works for me; trying not to think about sleeping while I'm trying to fall asleep
• paradoxical intention -- trying to stay awake in order to induce sleep

Staying Asleep -- Got me there.

What I do to fall asleep lately...

1. Take 1 and a half benadryl an hour before bed

2. Try to get to bed before 12 midnight

3. Try to keep in mind:
"I know you have a lot on your mind and a lot of worries... So I will allow you about five or ten minutes to think and worry. But after that the mind closes down for the evening and it's time to rest and sleep.
At that time you can give your worries over to God."

4. If I still can't stop worrying I start to do simple arithmetic in my head:
7+4=11, 11-6=5, 5+4=9 etc.

I do take Benadryl and sometimes when I am keyed up Klonopin.
I have taken to reading through the Bible. And before bed it seems to be soothing.
If I am tense or start to worry about not getting to sleep, I count backwards from 1,000. What is more boring than that?
Dark room and being sure to block out morning light, especially this time of year, helps me to stay asleep.
A sleep mask might help. I haven't been able to get used to one.
Oh also I go to sleep in the same position every night. Trying to train my body in that way.
I hope some of these will be helpful.

Good luck.

when I can't sleep because too much is going on in my head
I turn on the fan
(yes, even in the winter)
the white noise is soothing

roses

The Benadryll thing, not a good way to do it lol. I have before as well though, I must admit.

However, I can tell you what has helped me tremendously (and why I have been able to sleep well lately). If I wake up or if it is late and I need to sleep, I don't force myself to. I don't just lay there, because trust me, it could take hours if you do. Instead, turn on the TV. Play a game on your phone. Read. Just something to get your mind off of it and to actually make you more tired. When we can't sleep, we can't force our bodies to because it just makes it worse. Take it from a guy who has an overactive mind that NEVER stops. I think that if you try my method it WILL help you. You might have a few nights with not as much sleep, but it beats the hell out of staying up all night just lying there doing nothing. I've learned that when I do something else I fall asleep faster AND feel better in the morning since I didn't stress myself out over it so much.

taking meds very important

I have been having the same issue. I have tried the benedryl, and my body got used to it and had to switch to unisom - they are made from different anithistamines that make you drowsy. I was concerned so mentioned it to my doctor and they put me on Ambien - only bad thing is it has the ability to trigger my anxiety at night. If i take an ambien and xanax together it seems to work. I forgot a few of the simple things that people had mentioned on here and need to try those as well. Last night i was up I swear ever 2 to 1 hours!

Good luck and let me know what works for you so that I may try it as well!

Mixed results with meds. It can help sometimes, but other times I either react too strongly (I have to take Trazodone IN bed, it works that fast, and then I'm hung over all day the next day) or eventually it stops working and has no effect at all.

Reading the Bible does help me, and even copying out Scripture passages by hand works very well to relax me. For those who are not of that persuasion, perhaps another book will do. Dr. David Burns and his Feeling Good books are excellent. I've also found Dr. Wayne Dyer to be very helpful. (Even though they sometimes disagree with each other. )

For me the room has to be dark. We're moving soon, and we'll be looking for blackout curtains for the master bedroom. It's good to have natural light in the house, and during the day time I absolutely need it, but at night, I have to have the room dark. Which is why my psychiatrist made these suggestions, especially for winter:

1. Use full-spectrum light bulbs in the house.
2. In the morning, turn the lights on. Keep the house bright during the day.
3. Gradually dim the lights toward evening.

This is supposed to train your brain to be alert during the day, and more restful at night.

Now, staying asleep.... I have a problem with this. It's 4:00 AM here and I am obviously awake. Well, I haven't been feeling well, and I've been under some stress. I have joked before that who needs an alarm clock when you have a bladder? Yeah, stress does cause the bladder to kick into overdrive, and I'm just darn lucky I don't (usually) sleep so hard that a full bladder won't wake me until it's too late. I don't like having to get up to go to the bathroom 2 or 3 times a night, but I am both perimenopausal and diabetic besides being under that stress, so I guess that's part of the deal.

Sometimes I envy my husband. No matter what's going on, he can just decide to fall asleep, and do it as soon as his head hits the pillow. I never COULD do that. Not even when I was a kid. Even though I wanted to be cooperative, the admonition, "Now go to sleep!" had no effect on me. I could go to bed when told, but I could not go to sleep on command.