[CherryBerry9339]

Most nights I have a lot of difficulty falling asleep. Usually I try around 11:30 at night and end up laying in bed for hours, usually until 2am or so.
The room temperature is fine, my bed and pillow are comfortable, and it doesn't make a difference. I started playing a bit of music at a low level, and it does help slightly, but not significantly so.
What do you do when you can't sleep? :/

[Crazy Hitch]

I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with sleep issues at the moment.

This happens from time to time with me too.

You have put strategies in place to enable the sleep process, but are in need of further support.

I have found a great article here by the National Sleep Foundation.

I hope some points might be something that you can consider.

Sleeping Tips & Tricks - National Sleep Foundation

Take care and I wish you some rest soon.

[indigoChild337]

I am personally afflicted with insomnia. This is something that has challenged me since I was a child. Now, most people associate insomnia with an inability to fall sleep, however, it also includes and inability to stay asleep, or receive quality sleep in general. It is not unusual for me to wake between four and seven times a night. Typically, my number one struggle is racing thoughts, or anxiety. I just can not shut my brain down without active intervention and literal decision making. It can be very frustrating. (Have you ever gone on a tangent in your own mind for so long you completely forgot how or why you got to that topic in the first place? Welcome to my experience on a nightly basis.) Wake cycles are also stressful for me. Each time I wake in the middle of the night invariably leads to an increase in stress and anxiety about not getting enough sleep. Seems ironic doesn't it?

Over the years I have utilized many different coping skills for this challenge. Among them is exercise, dietary changes, over the counter sleep aids, prescription sleep aids, reading, writing, warm baths, and relaxation. Also, isolating my bedroom for solely the purpose of sleep is helpful. Of these, relaxation, yoga, meditation, and sleep aids have proved most useful.

Once I understood much of my insomnia was the result of my anxiety, or complete concern with the fact that I would not sleep well, I stopped putting pressure on myself to fall asleep and instead made rest my goal. Often times I will lay down to rest and close my eyes without actually falling into any of the stages of sleep. Through this I have learned to practice meditation and eventually, I will sleep.

What do you think is preventing you from sleeping? Do you experience racing thoughts similar to mine?

[Squaw]

I have a difficult time sleeping and it interferes with my ability to function in daytime activities..I have family ask me "why don't you just go to bed like everyone else?". It doesn't work like that for me. I had jobs working at night before I became disabled simply because I was awake anyway. I get really frustrated because it causes me to miss morning church services, early morning doctor appointments, etc..I feel like I am the only one that isn't "normal" like everyone else. Thanks for this post CherryBerry9339, and nice to meet you as well..

[guilloche]

I used to have a horrible time getting to sleep too, and then would feel exhausted and groggy the next day (only to repeat the experience when it was time for bed). Here are some things that have made a huge difference for me:

1. I cleaned up my diet (ok, still a work in progress, I backslide from time to time). The biggest thing for me is - chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is like caffeine, except longer acting apparently (it's described as having a "more gentle" curve - i.e. it takes longer for you to feel the full effects, and longer to get it all out of your system, unlike caffeine that peaks and dissipates quickly).

For example, I was sleeping well with no chocolate. One evening, as I was cooking dinner, I had 2 squares of dark chocolate while cooking (~7pm or so). Boom. Couldn't sleep. I felt completely AWAKE and alert, very late into the night. When I tried having chocolate a little earlier (early afternoon), I was able to fall asleep, but it was incredibly restless, and I was still exhausted when I woke up.

I give myself one cheat day a week, usually Friday or Saturday, when I can sleep in the next day. Other than that, I try to avoid chocolate and sugar, and it helps. I also don't drink coffee/soda/caffeinated drinks, I imagine they'd also mess with your sleep, especially if you are (genetically) a "slow metabolizer" of caffeine.

2. Sounds goofy, but the sugar/chocolate alone wasn't actually enough for me. I made my room totally dark (I cover up alarm clocks, any other light sources, and have light blocking curtains on the windows, with velcro holding them to the side of the window frame!)

Then, about 2 hours before I want to sleep, I get off all computers/tvs, and turn off all the lights in the house - and use an orange light in my bedroom. (I got one from my local Home Depot for ~$5, and it plugs into a regular lamp, I just replaced a light bulb in my room with the orange bulb.)

Blue light (any light that is white has blue in it, and computer screens, phone screens, and TV are really bad for this) can stop your body from creating melatonin. Your brain gets the signal that it's still daylight - and tries to keep you awake.

I hang out in my room, do exercises/stretching, read, listen to music, and generally relax. (Sometimes I use orange glasses that filter out blue light to get on a tablet or watch TV, but this isn't perfect, and I don't recommend it when you're first starting out!)

The orange light doesn't do enough, by itself, to counteract the chocolate for me. But together, they work really well!

I was at the point of thinking I had a serious disorder, I was falling asleep during the day (I work from home!), unable to think clearly, unable to process information - and unable to fall asleep before 2-3 am (sometimes later). I was chronically exhausted, and those two things really seem to fix 95% of the problems or so I have.

I still have problems with backsliding (chocolate is addictive!) and extreme stress (therapy, trying to process crappy childhood stuff) can throw me off. But seriously, the difference is insane. I had sleep problems my whole life, and really thought there was something wrong with me. Nope, I just can't process the stimulants in chocolate fast enough to get to sleep, apparently (and need non-blue light to make melatonin to get to sleep!)

Good luck!

[Hellion]

Browse the internet, get on forums, drink tea, burn incense, watch movies, play video/computer games, lay there attempting to sleep...or be hanging out with my brother who has a night shift job and is used to staying up all night.

I have a very hard time sleeping at night, usually don't get to sleep till the early hours of the morning.

[RisuNeko]

"I am personally afflicted with insomnia. This is something that has challenged me since I was a child. Now, most people associate insomnia with an inability to fall sleep, however, it also includes and inability to stay asleep, or receive quality sleep in general. It is not unusual for me to wake between four and seven times a night. Typically, my number one struggle is racing thoughts, or anxiety. I just can not shut my brain down without active intervention and literal decision making. It can be very frustrating. (Have you ever gone on a tangent in your own mind for so long you completely forgot how or why you got to that topic in the first place? Welcome to my experience on a nightly basis.) Wake cycles are also stressful for me. Each time I wake in the middle of the night invariably leads to an increase in stress and anxiety about not getting enough sleep. Seems ironic doesn't it?"

I can relate to this 100%. I get awful racing thoughts and they get worse and worse every time I wake up. I have a fitbit tracker that tracks how many times I wake up during the night and It's usually upwards of 7-10, and each time I wake up thinking, "oh s*** I only have X more hours left until I have to get up. And then the racing thoughts and the anxiety comes back in full force. My brain just doesn't shut down.

Then there's the bipolar that decides to keep me up for a week or two at a time when I get stressed out or at random. I just went through finals week and didn't sleep for 6 days straight. And the week before that I didn't sleep for 5 days. My antipsychotics seem to be keeping full on mania at bay but it's not stopping the sleep loss that comes along with mania. Luckily I got some sleep last night and my sleep med regimen got changed today, so hopefully things will start looking up.

[TIGGER_]

go down easy just can not stay asleep... I try to keep a rigid sleep schedule,, no caffine,, no tv or computer 30 min before bedtime,, have tried to accept stress in my life so I do not dwell on it,,,use tricks like never look foward to "know" what is coming in morning,, just let it be a suprise so I do not worry all nite over it.... I admit I used xanex for quite a while and it helped me get over my nervious side....