Insomnia

You can try a melatonin supplement.

I've never been a good sleeper but dieting was definitely making it worse. A lot of nights during this diet, I was getting ~ 5-6 hrs whereas what I really need is a solid 8. I recommend trying magnesium. It hasn't "solved" the problem for me, but it's helped somewhat. Less waking up during the night, and somewhat longer total sleep time.

It depends on what is causing the insomnia. Are you anxious about not falling asleep and in turn, are keeping yourself awake? Are you exercising in the evening? Are you eating right before bed (or had your last meal too long before bed)? Are you taking vitamin supplements in the evening? Caffeine intake in the evening? Working evenings? Taking a decongestant with pseudoephedrine? Using a computer/cellphone/iPad/etc before bed?

There are so many factors (and combinations of those factors) that can cause insomnia. If you are able to target the reason, you can find the solution.

I’ve had some bouts of insomnia in the past. The first time was because I was taking mucinex. I would be up for 48 hours straight then crash on the third day. This pattern went on for nearly two weeks before I realized it was the mucinex.

Other times was purely mental. Watching the clock, getting anxious that I couldn’t sleep and thinking about how I had to do xyz the next day - the usual snowball of thoughts that happen when you should be sleeping but can’t. What helped me was remembering that I could actually function being completely awake for 24 hours (part of my issue was worrying I would miss or feel too sick or tired to fulfill the next day’s obligations). It actually took the pressure off trying to force myself to sleep and thus, I could fall to sleep. That’s really what you want to do - take the pressure off forcing yourself to sleep. You need peace of mind. Now that I’m a mom I wish I had the kind of sleep I did when I had insomnia 🤪.

But if you have outside factors keeping you up, they really need to be resolved first before you can do all the other methods to get a better nights sleep (no screens before bed, sleepy time tea, lavender oil, white noise, completely dark and cool room, weighted blanket, exercise in the morning, stop caffeine by the early afternoon, eat three hours before bed, etc).

And if you’re still struggling, I had a college professor who was also a hypnotist. She said if you are having a hard time falling asleep, repeat the same meaningless one-syllable word to yourself over and over again in your mind. She used the example “one” or “the.” It works by calming your mind and blocking the snowball effect of thoughts. I’ve tried this and it has worked.

Good luck. Remember, this too shall pass!

Had insomnia for pretty much my entire life. I've been told by my family even as a toddler I'd be awake till all hours and it wasn't unusual for my parents to check on me in the middle of the night and find my wide away in my crib!

I had sought help but unfortunately my insomnia was coupled with a tendency to be overly effected by sleeping medication which would knock me out. So I was left with either existing on the 3-4 hours of sleep per night or taking something that would knock me out for 12-14 hours and have me shambling round like a zombie the next day.

I had all but accepted my lot in life until a few years ago a doctor got me to try melatonin and it was the magic bullet I was looking for!! I took the tablet about 1 hour before I wanted to sleep and, rather than being comatose like before I just found myself 'naturally sleepy' and able to drift off and awake the next morning feeling genuinely refreshed.

Best of all is that I only really need to take them for about 1 week at a time. After that I seem to be able to maintain a relatively normal sleeping cycle for months. Then when I get out of wack again I just take them again for about a week to get back into a normal sleep routine.