Insomnia

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I can't fall a sleep. I take pills. I lie down for hours with my eyes closed.
Sleep just doesn't come. The only thing I can do is stay up and post on this forum and play video games. Why can't I just go to sleep?

Do you sleep in the day at all?

try having a hot drink, or excersise in the day. I'll post some more sleeping tips when I think of them.

I find it hard to get to sleep at night, I sleep in the day I think my body clock is out of sync.

Batman, i have the exact same problem. I stopped taking sleeping pills, they didn't put me asleep anymore, anyway... I lay down, close my eyes, but i don't feel sleepy.
Most of the time i get up again (after trying to sleep for a few hours and going crazy on the fact i can't) and start doing things and just wait till i'm exhausted, but even then it takes me ages to fall asleep. It seems like my eyes keep moving too. I close them, but they keep moving and it's even hard just to keep them closed.

Do you sleep during daytime? If you do, try not to. You will wake up discovering it's already 6pm and by the time you need to go to bed you'll be bright "awake" again (i haven't felt bright awake in a very long time, but i guess you know what i mean...)
I don't have any actual tips, as i've been struggling with this for so long myself now...sorry.
Just try not to have too much stimuli a few hours before you go to bed. Give your brain some time to rest, before you actually go to bed.

I usually go for 3 days then just sleep from exaustion.

I used to have this problem all the time. I could be up for an entire week before I just fell asleep out of exhaustion. Sleeping pills didn't work. Now I'm tired all the time, because they have me taking so many meds so often. I'm the walking undead.

It always takes me forever to fall asleep at night, and when I do get to sleep, I'm very prone to waking up from distractions.

If I allow myself to do so, I can stay up longer and longer each day until I can have a 28 hour day. 20 hours of being awake, and 8 hours of sleep.

Right now I go to bed each night out of routine at 11pm, then I usually don't fall asleep until 1:30 or 2 am, then I'm up again at 7:30am for classes.

its a bit of boring old advice but a warm milky drink generally helps. (you can buy special hot chocolate drinks that are designed to help sleep)

you could try not playing games or using the computer before you try and sleep (tv is the same) these things only activate your brain and make it harder for it to switch off- alternatives being reading a book (providing you find this relaxing) or listening to music.

If there is anything worrying you- write it down. If you cant pin-point what is bothering you then write down all the day's events as you saw them.

I've always had trouble sleeping and getting rest- the things I've suggested are what has worked for me.

I have trouble falling asleep too. Sometimes I fall asleep right away, but most of the time I'm awake for at least a half hour before I'm asleep. I've tried taking medicine that makes people drowsy, but since it doesn't really work anymore I might have gotten immune to it.

I have this problem a lot too, but when nothing else works, something that seems to work every time for me is sleeping on a hard surface such as the floor. I'm not sure why but it really seems to help me out.

What I generally find is as follows. I get up around 6:30, so I try to be in bed by 9:30 or so at the latest to get the required 8 hours. And here's why.
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If I find myself going to sleep after 10, I get nervous I won't get enough sleep (I often wake up during the night). Once I'm nervous, I can't sleep. And the longer I can't sleep, the more nervous I get: vicious cycle. I eventually conk out around 1 or 2 AM in some cases and only wind up with 4 hours of sleep.
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Now imagine what happens if I get into bed at 9 or 9:15. I suddenly realize that I have a 45 minute buffer before things get dicey. I'm relaxed and fairly certain that I'll get a decent amount of sleep. And off I go. For instance, last night I retired at 9:30, took maybe half an hour to fall asleep, and wound up waking up at 5 without an alarm clock. That's 7 hours. I generally don't wake up that early though. However, I did manage to guarantee myself at least 7 hours.
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That's basically the idea: determine when you want to get up, subtract 9 hours, and try to be in bed before that time knowing that you've got some leeway to handle any insomnia issues and get 8 hours sleep.
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I have sleeping pills, but like any "drugs" I don't use them unless there is an absolute emergency (such as if it's 2:30 AM and I'm still up and I didn't get a full night's sleep the previous night, which has gotten thankfully rare). Not that they help much.

I'm not sure if I have insomnia or not, but I haven't been sleeping well a lot lately. I usually turn on the lights in my room (or in the "family room" [the room next to mine that me and my family keep some of our stuff that won't fit in our rooms in]) and read. Last night, I turned on my TV to try to sleep (dark, quiet [with the exception of outside noise and my fan] rooms don't always make me sleep), and it sort of worked, just not at first. I also have to go to the bathroom a lot at night.

I usually go to bed around 9:45 pm on school nights and wake up around 6:40 am on school days. On Friday and Saturday nights, I can stay up later, and on Saturdays and Sundays, wake up later.

At this 5-day school overnight camp I went to in September, it was go to bed at around 10 pm and wake up around 7:30 am (or whenever the resident counselors got to your cabin and turned on the lights). On the first night there, despite all the activity that went on, I could hardly sleep. I probably only slept for 30 minutes at the most on that night. I was glad when it was time to wake up and relieved that this long night was over. The 3 following nights, I slept a whole lot better. I think it was because a) there was more activity those days and b) I got to read my accelerated reader book (which I packed along with me) more, so I wasn't eager to get it back (the aide they brought along for me kept it with her the first night and half of the next day so I wouldn't be tempted). It also helped that I finished reading the book on Thursday (the last full day there) while the rest of my cabin got "lost" on a hike (I wanted to finish reading it and I felt as if I had taken enough hikes already that week). I also read during the archery the day before (I had already been through the previous day's archery, and it took too long to shoot even one arrow, so I decided not to do it anymore there).

And no, I don't sleep during the day, unless I really have to. My weekdays (which are mostly spent at school) are usually too busy, and I'm too lazy to take time to nap on weekends.

Mich

that is funny I am usually too lazy to do anything else but nap on weekends!! !

Thanks for the sugestions
Please feal free to post more.

I have this problem too. I always go to bed late 1-2am on my days off or when I work late. The Lexapro seems to make me tired at least since I was upped to 30mg. So my Doc told me to take the Lexapro at night and gave me sleeping pills to use when I cant fall asleep, and also gave me something called Provgil "sp" to help give me more energry and stay alert during the day. The Lexapro has helped calm me though.

I have always gone to bed at 9:30 or 10:00 I fall asleep in about a half hour. If i wake up before 8:00 I feel terrible but if I go to sleep at 3:00-5:00 in the morning and wake up at 10:00 I feel great. Any one else like this?

definitely, but rarely get the lie-in required. I have to get up at 7.30 so tend to catnap in the afternoons when I can but I think a 3am-10am sleep pattern would suit me best (just not everyone else, lol)

dunc