Insomnia . Would appreciate some tips on how to get a decnt nights sleep!

[crushedintherush]

Help !

I am stressed out and haven't had a decent nights sleep for a few months because of it.

I'm currently trying to work through my stress issues so I can sleep, but everything is twice the effort as I'm tired, so a vicious circle has formed.

I would very much like to break the vicious circle
before having to resort to seeing my GP.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks .

[forevergreek]

Eat heavier meal at lunch and light meal in the evening

No tv/ laptop/ screen time min 2hrs before sleep. So if your aiming for 11pm, nothing after 9pm, ideally 8pm. Read/ soak in bath/ craft blah blah

try and exercise/ get fresh air daily

[Mylittlepuds]

A guided relaxation meditation. Zonks me right out! You can just find them on YouTube.

[veryworried29]

I would take the shortcut and go to your GP and ask for temazepam.

[Dededum]

Yoga / stretching
Go to bed when you are tired not before
If you wake up / can't get to sleep get up for half an hour read a book then try again
Sex

[goodtimesarecoming]

I went to a sleep clinic three years ago after 15 years of insomnia, and it cured me.
Basically I had to stay awake for a full day/night/day, and then the night I had to work out the time I needed to get up in the morning, say 7am, and count back 4 hours and go to bed at 3am that morning.
Every night after it got an hour less until I was at 6/7 hours.

If I ever go through a rough patch now I stay up for a whole night and go to bed at normal time the next.

Sounds hard but it worked straight away!

[crushedintherush]

Thanks, all, for your advice, been so busy with other things that I haven't had time to reply to anything. I have stopped using my pc from 9pm onwards, am thinking of going to the gp for temazepam (does it have side effects?), but will have a look at the relaxation meditation on youtube in the meantime to see if that helps first :)

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

I have a free 'Sleep Soundly' app on my phone, which I use most nights, especially when my aches and pains/hot flushes wake me up.
Some people don't like the voice, reading the reviews, but I don't mind it. Think that's always the case with hypnosis/meditaion - the voice either irritayes you or it doesn't.

[digerd]

Exercise that is tiring is the best. Or Valium , Diazepam etc. for short term use. When I was younger and rushed off my feet all day and evening, I always zonked out as soon as my head hit the pillow exhausted.

[mymatemax]

relaxing bath (lavender or somehting similar) then relax with a warm milky drink (hot choc works for me). A few drops of Bach nighttime remedy and then off to bed.
5 mins reading a book, when you feel your eyes getting heavy switch the light off & sleep

[crushedintherush]

Hi digerd,

I would have thought that being a forty-something and rushing about all day, and sometimes the evening was exercise in itself, and that I would be zonked out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Hmm not so. I've not had a decent nights sleep for months now, what with family issues and now dh (as per my other post). Those bags under my eyes have now become large disposable bin liners.....not a nice look.
Again, might try other things before pills, and see how it goes. Thanks again, you give very good advice. Thanks to everyone else too. Might try the bach nightime remedy..

[digerd]

Crushed
Do hope you find respite. I was 49 when DH was diagnosed with advanced cancer, and other matters emerged that year that were a real stress to deal with.. I had difficulty sleeping then.
I took to the Diazepam to help me get a good night's sleep and it worked as needed to be fit during the day to care for DH.