Help with sleeping?

Question

I'm finding it really difficult to get to sleep at night. When I do fall asleep I end up waking at least 2 or 3 times through the night. I'm not worrying about anything and can't seem to find any reason for my insomnia. I'm struggling to get through the day on the little sleep I'm getting. Has anyone any ideas on ways to get a decent nights sleep?

Answer 1

Hi..i am a 27 yr old female living in Devon.

I have suffered this frustrating problem,i think this is a pattern for you now..got into a rut with waking hours.Go to the herbal health shop and get some lavender oil to sprinkle on your bed,also before the winter night draw in..go for a walk for half an hour before retiring to bed.Onestly lavender works..there is something to the old ways of medicine and i am a nostalgic woman who is always on the prowl for better ways of doing things..rather than take a bottle of sleeping pills ..try the herbal shop...oh..and eat a light meal before going to bed and cut out caffine which stimulates the brain..and good luck..it is just a matter of getting your body clock into a routine..bless you!

Answer 2

Try drinking camomile tea or Valerian or Tranquility before bed time. You can get all of these in teabags at healthfood shops and Waitrose (though maybe not the Valerian one from there). Relaxation techniques include lying on your back and trying to make yourself feel weightless, and imagining that you are in a peaceful place, one that you really like. Not watching supenseful movies or playing computer games late at night is good too. I sometimes try to solve a numerical puzzle and find that I fall asleep while thinking about it. The thing is that you are probably worrying about the fact that you aren't sleeping, so you need soemthing to take your mind of that. It has also been said that most of the body's major repair work is done in about four hours of actual sleep and that you probably have more sleep than you realise. The night hours seem long if you are awake. If I'm awake in the night for long I sometimes go and lie on the sofa and listen to favourite CD's on headphones till I feel sleepy again. Take a cover with you though as you need to keep warm. Hopefully this is a passing phase.

Answer 3

Its really a drag when you don't get enough sleep. So here are some suggestions. Don't drink any coffee or tea in the evening. Don't eat anything after supper. Don't watch TV just before bed. Take a warm shower. Go to bed earlier than usual. Read until you feel drowsy. Turn the light off, close your eyes and count down from 50 to 1, while concentrating on relaxing your whole body from head to toes. Keep doing that until you fall asleep. Focus on the present and try not to get distracted with thoughts. If you wake up in the night, don't turn on the light. Go back to sleep using same process as above. Hope this works for you.

Answer 4

make sure you go to bed and wake up the same time every day. try cutting caffeine out completely- you may be really sensitive and it can affect you for a long time. don't work out in the evening. try to have a routine that you follow every night before you go to bed. keep all your activities relaxing for a couple of hours before bedtime, and no tv or computers then. don't eat heavy meals too close to bedtime. don't do anything in bed besides sleep and maybe a little reading- it teaches your body
that bed=sleep. try relaxing music, deep breathing, or muscle relaxation techniques.
i suffer from insomnia too, so i know it's a pain. good luck!
ps if you're in bed for forty five minutes and nothing's doing, get out of bed and read in a different room til you feel sleepy again.

Answer 5

Try a relaxation CD playing very quietly beside your bed . I have a really good one called 'sleep sound' When I am ready to sleep I turn on a cd player next to the bed and am asleep in minutes and cd just runs to end then switches itself off. If I waken during the night I turn it back on and again fall asleep almost instantly. SWEET DREAMS.

Answer 6

Whats been helping me lately is about an hour before bed I put on pjs and wash face/brush teeth. Then I lay on the couch and read or watch tv..something relaxing and I drink a warm cup of herbal tea (I have a sleep kind). I try to go to bed and wake up at consistant times and I drink NO COFFE after work.

Answer 7

I have taken sleeping pills in the past and they work really well. It takes about 10-20 minutes after you take one to fall asleep but when you do, you get a good nights sleep.

Answer 8

Try listening to 45 minutes of soothing music before bedtime, with the lights dimmed. Then when you are in bed, make sure the temperature is right - not too hot or cold.

Do you feel tired during the day too? If you start to feel fatigued during the day, then see your doctor. Otherwise, you may be getting enough sleep anyway.

Answer 9

Waking up during the night may be due to noise from outside, not having a completely dark room or it being too hot. On top of that your blood sugar may be dropping too low causing you to wake up. Try keeping a fruit juice by your bed to sip at when you wake. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

you may not think of things consciously during the day, but at night, your brain thinks of other things....

before you go to sleep just get a diary and write down everything you've done that day and everything you need to do tomorrow - this really helps....

also, creat a bedtime routine - have a nice long bath, a mug of horlicks and then a sit down with your diary - and then relax as you go to sleep. it really helps.