Can't sleep

I have an audible account and downloaded a get to sleep hypnotherapy track. I listen every night and am asleep before it ends . Ear buds in and I’m off. I wake just enough to remove them at some point. I would highly recommend

I read until the pages turn green and blurry, or if i'm unable to put a light on I play games on my phone. The clue is taking your mind off what going on in the world.

I've been using a programme called The Mindful movement to help me relax and fall into a deeper sleep. The lady who does this is called Sara Raymond and has the most soothing voice ever. You can google it or find the videos on u tube

I stay in bed and read. I find Anna Ford novels good for reading in bed. Sometimes I read for an hour or two but some nights a few pages and I’m sleepy.

Perhaps it has been mentioned before, but I find EFT tapping helps. Since the pandemic Nick Hortner has been posting lots of free tapping techniques to still anxiety, quieten the racing brain and aid sleep. If you are unfamiliar with it you will need to Google and learn the sequence, but there is loads on You Tube. My doctor would not prescribe sleeping tablets, but offered Mertazapine instead. This was given to Tom Bradbury, the news reader who had a psychotic episode due to lack of sleep. Apparently it can cause weight gain. So glad it's not the chocolate!

This is exactly me too.I have a cup of decaff tea and read in another room and creep back to bed. Am terrible in the mornings...

I am a rubbish sleeper and always have been. When I was a child I didnt sleep too good either and I must have been a nightmare to my parents. My DH often says that I didnt “learn’ to sleep. Never a truer word. Now that I am retired it isn’t too bad as i can get a lay in but when i worked I sometimes only had 2 hours sleep each night. Sorry but i have no answers.

First
Why can't you sleep?

What thoughts are you going over and over in your head?

Most worries can be dealt with in the cool light of day and until we do so, they will continue to keep us awake at night.

So while you are up, make a list of the worries, or whatever it is that is troubling you, and some hints as to how to deal with them.

Go back to bed firmly resolved to tackle them when you get up.

Find someone that can help and deal with one problem at a time.

Hope this helps.

Despite what they say about not using tablet/phone in bed I find it the surest way to get to sleep. I add a few drops of lavender oil to an unfragranced moisuriser and rub it around my chest, shoulders and lower arms, I then snuggle down and start watching something like Jonathan Creek or Midsomer Murders and am usually asleep befor the end of one episode. If I do wake up during the night, usually due to outside noise, I just rewind to the last bit I remember. I'm usually asleep by 11 and wake up about 7sh when I need the loo and as it's downstairs I get up then.

I have three layers of blinds to keep the room completely dark and I use earplugs. My mum uses bach rescue remedy night formula to stop all the silly rubbish going around in her head. Napping during the day is no help as it can lead to problems sleeping at night. A glass of sherry might help.

Sorry about your bad night OP. There’s lots of good ideas to try on here so you may find one that works for you. I doze off reading or listening to books on my Kindle. Those new Bluetooth headbands so you don’t have to wear ear buds are great. Strangely enough a cup of tea is a great sleep helper at 3.05am.
Sometimes I just decide it’s a white night and stop expecting to go to sleep-so I read or do ironing or catch up on paperwork.

I have always had difficulty going to sleep, and now it is worse, thinking of everything happening in the world.I try to think of some of my favourite places and that calms me down.I often use my excercise bike in the middle of the night if sleep fails me, that helps.Reading a book until the early hours, helps my eyes get tired.
Kalms are very good with Valeriana, which helps calm and isnt addictive.
Next time I cant sleep I will think of all the other GN,s in the same boat. Pleasant dreams everyone!

Valerian is very good, as someone posted, but my best remedy is CBD oil. Two drops under the tongue and away I go, you don’t even realise you are dropping off. No hangover next day.

I wish I could stay awake!
I fall asleep watching TV. Have to record anything I particularly want to watch. Because I get stiff and in pain if I stay in bed too long I don’t go until 1.30 am. Fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow. Wake four hours later wanting to wee and the light is still on. Get back and wake up at 7.30.

This is the guided meditation I use most often as it works well for me www.doyogawithme.com/content/yoga-nidra-sleep
I think you need to try out a few to find a voice you like.
Hope this helps!

I listen to the BBC World Service (go to spare room so as not to disturb dh) or lose myself in a good book, usually on the Kindle at night. And/or make myself a cup of lovely old fashioned cocoa.
I’m not saying any of these will necessarily get me back to sleep quickly, but they’re all much better than just tossing and turning, with too many things going round in my head.

Doubt if I've had 12 hours sleep all week. I don't worry about it always been this way some nights I'm lucky to get 3 hours in.
My husband is the complete opposite he gets 9 hours a night, Its a family joke that he sleeps for both of us. I just get up and do something if I cannot sleep waste of time tossing and turning in bed

I too sympathise with all fellow non-sleepers.
A couple of nights ago in the middle of the night I felt cold, do put on some socks and that helped.
Pennykins I'm going to try your idea - thankyou.

Things that work for me:

Some fresh air during the day
No screens of any kind for the last hour before going to bed
A mug of camomile tea
Lavender oil or spray
Not worrying about it when I do wake up, then reading an undemanding book or magazine. Better able after that to go back to sleep, if only for a short time.

When the lockdown began , I was having trouble getting off to sleep, so DD recommended a pod cast called Sleep Cove , I don’t like the stories very much, others might , but the sleep hypnosis/ meditations are excellent. Other things that help are , valerian, magnesium, and eating a kiwi fruit ( it’s rich in seratonin ) before going to bed all can help , there is also a spray called This Works , that helps .

Quite a problem.

Avoid screens of any sort - the blue wavelengths trigger the circadian rhythm centre in the brain. It suggests it is still daylight so the alerting hormones continue to be circulated. An hour of no blue before bedtime is enough to tell the brain to turn off the 'keep awake' signals.

Most long term insomniacs have been down the usual routes, I think.

If only it was that simple.

A couple of drops of Lavender oil just inside the nostrils does it every time for me.!!

Its a full moon right now and there is a lot of energy, many people don`t sleep well during the full moon. Personally I like alexa all night, I have lbc on but very low so that I have to strain my ears to hear and that stops my mind whizzing, it is so low that it does not impinge. If I wake at 3am, I eat a small oatcake and that also does the trick

I think of my home town and imagine walking through the centre as it is today, and then take the same imaginary walk through the town in the late 50s.