Gladys

I'm so envious of you guys who can't go back to sleep. I find I can sleep anytime even after 18 hours of sleep.

justwannaquilt

I don't mind being up all hours of the night as long as I have the modivation to get something done! tonight I am working on a Drunkards Path for my Daddy!

plainpat

OH,the blocks are pretty! Lucky Dad.

Maralyn

When I can't sleep, I get up and read until I get sleepy. Usually it's about 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. and I can get back to sleep by 5:00. It helps that I am retired and can then sleep as late as I want.

DeniseP

I started not being able to sleep when my last child started sleeping all night which was about 15 years ago. I wake up alot and read. I find that if I get up I end up watching too much tv. I will get into a movie and have to finish it. If I read I get sleepy. I usually sleep about 5-6 hours a night and have to be happy with that.

Central Ohio Quilter

My trick for getting to sleep is to recite memorized lists.

I have memorized the list of presidents' names and the dates they served as president. I have memorized the list of states, in alphabetical order and in chronological order, along with the years they became states.

When I can't sleep, I start reciting in my head one of my lists. If I get to the end before I fall asleep, I will recite that list backwards in my head. This usually puts me to sleep.

I am now in the process of memorizing the First Ladies names. I will look at about 4 or 5 names before I go to bed at night, then say those 4 or 5 names over and over again until I either fall asleep or have them memorized completely. I then add them to the the previous nights list and recite all of them in order that I can recall. If I can't remember one or two, I will concentrate on those the next night as I am trying to fall asleep. Eventually I have the whole list memorized, then I can add that list to my ones that I use to make me fall asleep.

This works great for me and it really helps when watching Jeopardy!

Kokomo

I was having the same problem only a few weeks ago. Here is what I did. I saw this on Dr. OZ, try drinking some valerian tea before you go to bed. I use the Celestial Sleepytime Extra, caffeine free with an herbal supplement, or I drink the Celestial Chamolile herbal tea (caffeine free) with 1 dropper of melatonin 3.5mg. I got the melatonin at a health food store. i only had to do this maybe one or two nights and now I can go to sleep and sleep all night. I don't have to use it each night.
Another trick is one my sister told me to do. It's just a little prayer: My dear sweet gentle Jesus, I pray you give me the strength I need to get though this. It works for me. Good luck.

Kokomo

Here again. All reports say to sleep in a dark room, no noisy tv on. My DH likes to fall asleep with it on and it is usually too loud for me. Whatever you do, don't get on the computer, I've heard that the blue light it emits plays havoc with the sleep patterns and caused sleep problems. Just try to set a regular bedtime, set an alarm for, say 8 o'clock pm, the 1st 20 min work on picking up & straightening the house before going to bed, 2nd. 20 min. sit and relax, take a relaxing bath and maybe have your tea, and the last 20 min., visualize yourself going to sleep. 9pm go to bed, or whatever time you pick.

plainpat

Thanks...I might get desperate enough to try your suggestions. A problem for me is,I don't drink anything after 6pm....or would be up to potty 3-4 times.Even not drinking anything, I'm up 1or 2 times every nt of the yr.UGH

quiltgran2

I can relate to so many of you. I've being sleeping poorly for 20 years at least. I am retired now so I do sleep much better than when I was in the work force. However I was awake at 4:00 this morning so brought a book out to the kitchen to read for awhile. I usually find if I read I can go back to sleep after an hour or two. When I was working this was not an option as I had to be up at 5:30 for the day. In the middle of the night it seems as if you're the only one with this problem but obviously not with all the postings on this topic.