Trouble getting to sleep

Still awake at 4.00a.m this morning and then only slept till 7.30 a.m. Totally shattered and having the grandchildren for lunch!?
I find it virtually impossible to go to sleep even though I am exhausted at bedtime.

Regulating my breathing sometimes helps. Count the breath in, count the same number while you hold that breath, count again as you slowly breath out, then try to count the same number before you re-start the cycle.
Probably at the start you may only manage to count to 3 or 4, but with practise can get to 7.
It is the concentrating the mind which often allows sleep to come.

Sometimes I try to visualise the colours attributed to the various chakra points. It doesn't matter if you believe in that or not, it is the concentrating on something specific which might allow sleep to come.

I can list the 50 states of USA alphabetically in less than one minute!!

Sadly, very often, nothing works at all.

It pays to cut down on caffeine and to be physically active outside for part of the afternoon. Having an enjoyable social evening with no alcohol also helps though some people do say that a dram of whiskey at night helps.

www.readersdigest.co.uk/health/wellbeing/sleep-well/insomnia-remedies-and-treatments

Insomnia cures: Before bed

Have a slice of turkey or chicken or a banana before going to bed. These foods contain tryptophan, an amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin. And serotonin is a brain chemical that helps you to sleep. Keep the helping small, though, or your full tummy may keep you awake.

Carbohydrates help tryptophan to enter the brain. Try a glass of warm milk (milk contains tryptophan) and a biscuit, or warm milk with a spoonful of honey. A sprinkling of cinnamon won't hurt and might add mild sedative properties of its own.

Don't go straight to bed at night–enjoy some quiet time just pottering about, perhaps making a ‘to-do’ list for the next day or reviewing the day's activities. That way, when you lie down to go to sleep you won't be kept awake by the day's annoyances or tomorrow's worries.

I'm a newcomer so hi everyone! ..I use Audible. It's a life saver for me. I set it to sleep timer and it sends me off quite quickly. Only thing is if I forget to set timer I can be on chapter 3 and wake up in the early hours on chapters 33!

I can get to sleep easily very rarely make it after 10pm but I wake between 4 and 5 and can't get back to sleep so end up shattered by the afternoon I'm up at 6 30am for work and that's when I could just drift off .

I also use headphones and music. I have Amazon prime music which has super compilations such as 'classics for sleep' or 'soothe to sleep'. These were a great find as in the past I've started listening to something I considered soothing only to be shocked awake by a sudden change in tempo.

Try to go to bed much later - ie midnight to 1am. If you can find things to fill those few extra hours.

Try talking yourself to sleep?
Just tell yourself a bedtime story and make it up as you go Along.
Try not to make it about actual people or events or you might start thinking too hard about them and lose the story.

I have found the same problem. I think it is part of getting older for some anyway!

Music is worth a try, thanks Luckygirl. Will have to look up sleep phones - never heard of them.
obie, no change in anything that I can think of...? I wondered if it was just one of those things about getting older. My dh has started sleeping less soundly during the night but for me it's the getting to sleep in the first place that's the issue.

Different or new pills?
Change in pattern of work or exercise?

I have an iPod nano, which is very tiny - about the size of the palm of your hand. I have filled it with lots of music that I enjoy. I connect that to my sleepphones (www.sleepphones.co.uk) and drift off surrounded by beautiful music or a relaxation track sometimes. It works for me. You can put the sleepphone headband over your eyes to cut out any visual interference.