How can I overcome insomnia?

Question

For the past four years I've suffered from mild insomnia, but recently it has become much worse and I rarely sleep more than two hours at a time. My doctor keeps telling me I'll be fine and to just take some over the counter drugs or that stuff you get in health stores but they don't seem to help at all. I rarely sleep in my own bed, usually on the floor or in my recliner, and when I do go to sleep I am very easily woken up. I fanyone has suggestions on how to correct my sleeping habbits pleas tell me.

Answer 1

Sleeping pills -- prescription ones -- can be great, but beware of even non-physical dependency. I'm sort of re-learning how to sleep after years of taking them whenever I ran into problems with sleep.

Find out if yours is just generic insomnia, or a more interesting (sorry) sleep disorder. See if you can get an appointment with a sleep specialist; maybe get an overnight sleep study. Being able to fall asleep but not staying that way strikes me as less than common.

The advice already given to 'relax' is good, even if it seems ludicrous right now. Do your best to decide you're not going to worry about it -- if you sleep well in your recliner, sleep in your recliner if that's what your body wants to do.

That said, there are a lot of advocates for good "sleep hygiene" -- see

http://www.umm.edu/sleep/sleep_hyg.html
http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/sleep_hygiene_abridged_access.html

for example -- but take it with a grain of salt. 'Only use your bedroom for sex and sleeping' strikes me as nonsense given how much of the world's population doesn't have that luxury.

Pursuant to the 'relax' idea, you could try some going-with-the-flow to extremes; when I wake up too early these days, I usually spend very little time trying to get back to sleep. The second I'm out of 'pleasantly drowsy' and getting into 'frustrated,' I get out of bed and find something to do. Going for a 4am walk, reading in the tub, just about anything but lying in bed seems to make it more likely that I'll go back to sleep next time I lie down. Interestingly, being willing to give up on falling back asleep seems to have made it easier to be able to fall asleep when I wake up too soon, too.

A drug called 'Imovane' (zopiclone) gave me the best sleep duration. If you're in the US, there's something on the market there now that's similar -- ezopiclone, I think, aka Lunesta?

Good luck.

Answer 2

take a nap?

Answer 3

This helped my mild insomnia. I don't know if it'll have the same effect on you, but I recommend it:

I went to my local aroma therapy shop (at the recommendation of my brother) purchased a roll-on essential oil using Frankincense and orange, called Calm. They might have somethin else, but when I applied this before going to bed, a actually got rid of insomnia.

Problem is, now I can't stay up late anymore!

Answer 4

1.Warm milk
2.Going to bed and wake/get up at a regular, scheduled time every day (including weekends) with a schedule before getting to bed (i.e. movie, shower, book, bed)
3. After lying in bed awake 30min, leave, do something, then return
4. Exercise throughout the day, but not within an hour before regular bedtime
5. Yoga exercises before attempting to sleep
6. Calisthenics before attempting to sleep
7. Play a CD containing nature noises while in bed
8. Read a monotonous book in bed
9. Don't eat anything within an hour before sleeping (with an exception to warm milk)
10. If all else fails try using Melatonin, it's an over the counter herbal, dietary supplement, with absolutely no addiction chances

Remember never to lie in bed awake for more than half an hour, never exercise right before sleeping, never eat right before sleeping, and don't ever, ever consume caffeine within seven hours of sleeping.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

do not take any naps, do not lay down to just relax for a little. You have to be really tired by 11pm and get up at 6am. If you would have 6-7 hours of night sleep (not per 24 hrs) you'll forget about insomnia. DO NOT RELAX AT DAYTIME!

Answer 6

Several things:
No caffeine 6 hours before bed time.
No cigarettes 4 hours before.
No naps during the early hours of the evening.
No exercising 6 hours before bed time.
No chocolates, no coke (meaning coca cola..:-))
No eating after 7 PM whatsoever. One exception, see below.
No alcoholic beverage of anykind in the evening.
No stress related activity such as bringing work home to catch up etc..

Having sex will help immensely. If single, masturbate. It helps.
A cup of hot milk 15 minutes before. Or warm - but not cold.

After all this, if it still does not help, your constitution is just built that way. Accept it. If you can carry on your daily routine during the day without being tired, there are no strict rules that one should sleep at night.

Some can catch 2 hours of sleep just before dawn and still feel fresh all day. There is nothing wrong with that.

Answer 7

Insomnia (sleeplessness) is due to stress, dietary and medical
problems. By making small lifestyle changes like having a fixed
daily routine, relaxing and eating properly, insomnia can be
cured. I found the information at http://tinyurl.com/jfzpz useful
for getting sleep.

Answer 8

a method that worked for me was to stay up all night and not go to sleep the following day until normal 'bedtime'.

I then forced myself to get up at the normal time the following day and did not go to bed until normal time the following evening.

I need to do this every month or so but after every time it works.

This is a techinique practiced in a lot of sleep cliniques the world over.

It is definately worth a try. Good luck.

Answer 9

I have the same problem. You can try a varied of things. Do a little exercise before bedtime, don't drink caffeine before bed, or try to fall asleep at a regular bedtime. If none of these work (none did for me), you might ask your doctor about sleeping pills. My doctor put me on Ambian CR. I have been using it for about five months and it works great. I have no side effects and there is really no chance of dependency.

Answer 10

Sleep in not essential if our body dont want that. Take the situationa easy and try to enjoy it. But insomnia may be hazardous if it deterorates your health, and if not, dont mind at all. You are advised to practice Yoga, indian methode of living and treatment if the above opinion dont seem fit.