[BirdsOfAFeather]

Or is it "delayed sleep syndrome"...yes, there is such a syndrome, apparently...look it up on Wikipeida.

In any case, I find it very difficult to shut my mind off when its supposed to be bedtime. I read books, but then I get too engrossed and end up reading all through the night. If I lay there, I have thoughts going a mile a minute keeping me entertained (and up). My latest trick is to fall asleep with a documentary on...I find most voices in documentaries to be rather lulling...

Any other tricks you know?

[n8ey]

Booze...

I know that's bad, but it works for me.

Also - walking or doing something physical every day. When I walk a mile or two a day, I can get to sleep a whole lot faster than when I'm stationary all day, holding down furniture.

Some have said meditation helps them - I can't agree or disagree. I'm too scatterbrained to meditate very well...

[DeaconSyre]

*looks up delayed sleep syndrome* ... craaaaap.

Sometimes I find music helps to shut out the thoughts and lets me sleep. Unfortunately my music is on my PC/TV so if music is playing then there are bright lights in the room... and my alarms can't wake me...

But if those aren't a problem for you then give it a try. Gotta make sure you're not listening to anything catchy though or you'll just wake up again.

...

Oh! Also, I close my eyes and try to imagine something - create my own world. I usually get lost in thought and end up falling asleep.

[Cooper]

Well, it's 2:51am and I am listen to shit on YouTube, watching TV, and haunting the threads here....so I don't really think my ideas on how to fall asleep are of much good.

[pawnxing]

What works for my personally is to go to bed around the same time everynight. There's a limited window in which I can readily fall asleep. When I'm up past that time, and find it difficult to sleep, moving to a different room helps. That means sleeping on the couch or something, but it seems to help for me at least.

[davai]

	Originally Posted by n8ey To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Some have said meditation helps them - I can't agree or disagree. I'm too scatterbrained to meditate very well...

That in itself is a realization which shows you already understand something about your mind. Keep at it, its a skill to be trained like any other and takes a lot of time.

Other than that, the obvious tips for better sleep would be to exercise more in the day, and give up drugs before bed (coffee, weed etc). I would personally advise against alcohol, hangovers don't really facilitate any sort of strenuous exercise the next day and one may become dependant on it to enable them to sleep. Eating well is also another, no big meals at least an hour or 2 before bed, and stick mainly to fresh stuff, not foods high in sugars/carbs/ or heavy dull foods like pizza and chips.

Yoga does wonders for me,
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and
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before bed time are superb at relaxing both body and mind, and are easy poses to get started with.

[ThirdEye]

Like others have said, exercise (even minimal) can work wonders for helping one sleep.

I used to have terrible problems with insomnia throughout middle school and high school, and the only thing that really helped me with minimal side effects is
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. It's the chemical in your brain that controls your sleep cycle, and can be bought as a dietary supplement from Walmart for about 6 bucks. One 3mg pill will have you out like a baby in 30-45 minutes, and it's not like sleeping pills, so the sleep feels a lot more natural and they aren't addictive. The only real side effects are increased vividness in dreams, and the first few times you take it you'll feel a bit groggy in the morning (but only for about 15 minutes).

This is probably what you're looking for:
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Hope this helps.

[K27]

No computer before sleep unless you need it to relax.
Do some stretching.
No coffee after noon.
Read some silly books before sleep (I'm serious). <- The key is to relax
Regularly exercise.
Force yourself to wake up early.

I had exactly the same problem, and I did what I listed there, and I improved to an amazing extent. So if you are really finding a solution, just do ALL of the above. And be patient. It won't work if you just do it for a day. It needs a month to start working (my experience).

[tms1337]

Usually marijuana is an excellent sleep aid for me, plus I have a little time before I lay down to be a little extra creative or just really absorb music.

But I've been going through some extreme stress lately, which made that method not work any more. I tried getting hammered drunk, but that only made my thoughts whizz by even faster, and I ended up staying awake until the sun came up.

Now I'm using diphenhydramine (benadryl, Tylenol PM) and that works really well, but I need at least 12 hours or I'm heavy headed for the day.

It's a bad cycle.

[1superkawaii]

I swear by Melatonin. Just make sure you take the smallest dose needed. Everyone I've spoken too, including myself have nightmares when too much is taken. They usually come in 3 and 5 megs. I take half of a 3 and I'm good. 5mgs will give me crazy dreams and a not so hot sleep.

[gracious]

I have suffered as well. Whatever you do, stay away from prescription sleeping pills of the "Z-name" variety.
Non-pharmaceutical things that have worked for me include evening exercise, enforced routine even on weekends and white noise. I find even the white noise from running a fan in the room helps.
Good luck, OP. Nasty business insomnia.

Edited - from wiki for "Z-drugs"
Z-drugs are a group of nonbenzodiazepine drugs with effects similar to benzodiazepines which are used in the treatment of insomnia, and whose names mostly start with the letter "Z". Some Z drugs may have advantages over benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines actually worsen sleep architecture whereas certain Z drugs such as zaleplon have less or no disruption of sleep architecture.

[davai]

	Originally Posted by tms1337 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	U Now I'm using diphenhydramine (benadryl, Tylenol PM) and that works really well, but I need at least 12 hours or I'm heavy headed for the day. It's a bad cycle.

You're not kidding. I'm not sure how healthy 12 hours sleep is a night, from personal experience i feel way more tired after 10 hours than i would on 6.

[benr3600]

Yeah oversleeping makes you feel on par with about 2 hours of sleep. My depression has left me in the constant cycle of insomnia/hypersomnia. Either I can't sleep much at all for a week, or I sleep way too much.

[Dancing Queen]

Doing something relatively unstimulating for 30-60 minutes before bed - so if you like reading, try chick-lit instead of an academic journal. Listening to non-uptempo music on my iPod works pretty well for me too.

[Chosen]

Used to have the problem.. Now it's extremely easy for me to fall asleep, almost instantly. Like everything else, it took time, but got to it eventually: practised/self-forced to shut thinking down. I started with repeating only one sentence in my mind, it could have been what ever but it stopped from ideas developing on and further, any time my thoughts did wanted to spread I just took my attention back to the original sentence. I think it took me few weeks till I was able to "shut" thinking down manually.

[Abgrund]

	Originally Posted by n8ey To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Booze... I know that's bad, but it works for me. Also - walking or doing something physical every day. When I walk a mile or two a day, I can get to sleep a whole lot faster than when I'm stationary all day, holding down furniture.

Yes, and yes. Be careful with the booze, though, alcohol is shitfuckfull of calories and too much can be counter-counter-insomniac.

[K27]

Alcohol is a depressant, and even if you can fall asleep quick, I gaurantee a sluggy feeling the next morning. Not a good solution if you want quality rest. Well but if you only want to knock yourself out...

[reckful]

Half a drink or so an hour or two before bedtime tends to make me sleepier, and I doubt it interferes much (if at all) with a good night's sleep. And people who have a drink a day are supposedly healthier than people who don't drink.

[idlesiren]

I saw the clock tick 1:31 last night, and I had to be up at 7.
I can't shut my thoughts off, no matter how hard I try. And they're not bad thoughts, either. They're quite entertaining and engaging.

A lot of the time I forget I'm in bed trying to sleep when I have a slew of thoughts jiggling around.

[Dancing Queen]

	Originally Posted by idlesiren To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I saw the clock tick 1:31 last night, and I had to be up at 7. I can't shut my thoughts off, no matter how hard I try. And they're not bad thoughts, either. They're quite entertaining and engaging.

But are you certain that 5.5 hours sleep is far too little? I'm pretty sure that somewhere near that amount is actually optimum for me if the quality is good. The mainstream view of how much sleep we actually need is very dubious and focuses far too much on quantity rather than quality.