problems getting to sleep

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Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep because my mind keeps wondering. But yes, my sleep schedule's never been right. I am fully awake late into the night, sleep for a couple of hours, then am VERY sleepy around 9, but fully awake in the afternoon, then I get sleepy around 4 again.

Sometimes I find that playing soft piano music helps me sleep. Like Dan Gibson's "Solitudes". - I especially like his CDs "Piano Cascades" and "Sleep Deeply".

I take melatonin for this. It works wonders, and it's natural.

I have trouble getting to sleep especially if there is something I need to do the next day even when trying to lead a healthy balanced lifestyle. It can take hours and hours. I have been trialling using Gabapentin for a tremor and taking it seems to have helped sleep so far. I get to sleep within an hour which I can never remember being able to do regularly.

I found melatonin made me feel very depressed. I also recently tried Lunesta and always felt terrible the next day. I seem to have issues with some forms of sedatives. Luckily no problems with Ambien.

Melatonin is definitely worth trying though, lots of people have success with it.

I often have problems getting to sleep, often I get to bed but don't sleep until an hour later. It varies though, but I have been known to have sleeping problems.

I go through phases. For weeks, I will sleep fine every night. The, I take ages to get to sleep every night for the next few weeks.

My mum is terrible for sleeping. But, she wakes up through the night a lot.

I used to really struggle when it came to sleeping, but a few weeks back i purchased a memory foam matress and now seem to be sleeping far to much

I like the sound of them! I want one

They are well worth investing in and you can pick them up for £90

I have trouble getting to sleep nearly every night. I take Geodon for my Bipolar disorder and one of the side effects is it makes you sleepy. I take it at night and it works like a sleeping pill. Otherwise I lay awake and stay up most of the night.

i've been taking nyquil at night for about a month and a half. It has helped alot because i fall asleep quicker, sleep better and wake up more refreshed.

i am unable to take naps...think i've taken like 1 or 2 in my whole life...except maybe when I was a baby.

a beer or 2 at night adds to the effects of the nyquil...but beer alone does not help me sleep at all.

The things that I have found that work for me in falling asleep:

1. Exercise. A long walk for an arobic work out in the evenings with 1.5 to 2 hours to cool down. If I exercise too close to the time I want to go to sleep, I have too much energy. It also helps with aches and pains of lying in bed. I suspect this is more of an issue for those of us over 40.

2. Melatonin. Only take it just before your normal sleep time. If you wake in the middle of the night and then take it, you may end up badly depressed the next morning.

3. A glass of wine or a beer. In moderation, alcohol is good, but too much can cause sleeplessness so if you tend to over indulge, this is a bad idea.

4. Counting sheep (or lobsters, or hippopotami or whatever) The point here is to break the obsessive thinking and bore yourself into sleep. I've had a hard time keeping my concentration on the task and I find this rarely works.

5. Rain or wave sounds. I have some MP3 files of rain that helps a lot. Not always, but often enough that I strongly recommend it.

6. Reading. "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" should just about do it. The mild eye strain I get if I read without glasses might sometimes help.

7. Listening to podcasts (or the radio) If I listen to podcasts that I am familiar with and that have a consistant program format ("Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" or "Car Talk" etc) despite enjoying these shows, I find they sometimes help me go to sleep. If the show is unfimilliar to me I tend to pay closer attention and this keeps me awake.

My issues with sleep are much like what others have mentioned above. In my 20's it took anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours of lying in bed before I fell asleep. Now at 45, I usually fall asleep fairly quickly, but then again, I also exercise regularly whereas when I was younger, I never exercised.

I suspect exercise is a major key to getting good sleep. It doesn't need to be much. A walk in the evenings after eating, a jog, or a work out on an aerobic machine, regular bike rides. Whenever I slack off of exercising, my sleeping suffers.

Lars

I've been having trouble going to sleep for a long time, ever since I was young. Since 2006, I've had to rely on Tylenol PM to help me fall asleep. Part of that unfortunately is due to my caffiene addiction, and since I am caffiene sensitive, I won't fall asleep w/o my pills. Even on some nights when I take it, I'll have problems sleeping and wake up at like 4:30 in the morning, and then try and fall asleep again.

All the flipping time, I'm always up till early morning on a weekend cause of the amount of stress or I'm just too distracted that sometimes, I forget what a bed is.

I've always had trouble sleeping myself, I've been taking Ambien for the last 3 years and it helps immensely. I've also discovered that anti anxiety drugs such as Xanax or Klonipin also work well in getting me into a sleepy state of mind, as do certain muscle relaxers such as Flexaril. Flexaril is an all around great thing to keep around, it makes you sleepy and untenses all of your muscles so you wake up feeling very refreshed and relaxed, I often take it after long days of welding in uncomfortable positions, it keeps me from waking up all tight and cramped.