How do you deal with insomnia?

Jared
#1. July 25th, 2008, at 3:12 AM.

You might be opposed to meds right now, but if you’re like me and your body is just screwing itself over then you need to go to a doctor. Exercise an hour or so before you go to bed and read a book while in bed. Buy some melatonin and take it every night at the same time. Keep the same schedule through the whole week, including weekends. If none of this works, see a doctor or some kind of sleep specialist and they’ll know what to do.

Jenn B
#2. July 25th, 2008, at 4:05 PM.

If you have real insomnia you either don’t go to sleep at all or you go to sleep for only a few hours.

I went through a period of about three months where I didn’t and couldn’t sleep at all. I am a single mom of three kids, full time college student, and could barely function. I had a difficult time concentrating on anything.
A friend of mine gave me sleeping pills to try but that only put me to sleep for about 3 hours.

Then a nurse friend gave me B-12 and calcium to take.
Once I got started on that I was able to get more sleep.
Some other friends helped take care of my kids while I could sleep some. After about two weeks my life starting getting back to normal.

Brooklyn_C
#3. July 25th, 2008, at 5:17 PM.

I have a lot of trouble sleeping sometimes, though i’m not sure if it’s actually insomnia. I have a very stressful job, and I have a lot on my mind even at night. I find it’s always good to take an hour or so to read, relax, talk to a friend, or even write the things that are troubling you down, that often helps me relax and get to sleep faster.

Sometimes there’s so much going on in our minds that even just focusing on one thing helps. Like counting to a thousand, listing to your breathing, things like that.

Some other little things that help are:

1. stretching before bed
2. not eating for a few hours before going to sleep
3. no caffeine past noon
4. a hot shower/bath
5. hot tea/milk
6. flexing and relaxing each muscle in your body individually

During the day when I’m really tired, I try to stay active to keep my adrenaline up. Most days I’m up and running around, so it’s fine. But if I’m sitting at a desk or studying, I get really tired, and sometimes can’t help but fall asleep. So, even when all you want to do is relax keep moving! Our body has an amazing ability to function on adrenaline without sleep for some time.

I hope something helps