What do you do when you can’t sleep?

[Starfishswimmer]

Not been able to sleep properly for a over month now

I always wear a sleep mask otherwise I can’t sleep. Magnesium spray or magnesium sleep lotion also helps when I have insomnia. If I’m struggling to get to sleep or if I wake in the night and can’t get back to sleep I normally focus on my breathing and tensing and relaxing each part of my body. Sometimes that works to get me to sleep. I count back from 300 to 0 with each breath. That technique helps me too. When my insomnia became really bad I did have some sessions with a hypnotherapist and that helped reset my habit of not sleeping. I hope things improve for you.

Get up and go to the loo to reset my body, switch in the radio or podcast at low volume, eye mask and then deep breathing. I try to clear my mind of any thoughts.

Podcast

4.7.8 breathing technique is the saviour.
A small snack can be really helpful to comfort and 're regulate( no doesn't sit in stomach or make u wake)
Cup of tea in bed.with low volume tv or book.
Tell yourself a story
Take yourself (in your head) on a walk around your favourite place.desceibe each detail.see.smell.touch.feels.hears.
Dream if somebody or a fond memory.
Make shopping lists up of your fave meals.

Listen to an audiobook or podcast. Always sends me to sleep within half an hour, but it has to be a relaxing one!

Lots of sleep meditations on Spotify

Eye mask, dull podcast and sometimes counting backwards from 5000.

Audiobooks. Tend to set the sleep timer and nod off before it goes off.

I make a nest 😁Duvet folded in half underneath me. All the pillows. So I'm surrounded by softness that I can sink into. (Easier for me cos I sleep alone). Then I go downstairs and make some hot milk and a snack and take it back up to my nest. Read for a while. Last night I also took an otc sleeping pill.

The trouble is, the longer it goes on, the more the brain panics before you even go to bed, and then bed is associated with panic (of not being able to sleep). When that happens I don't even bother going to bed- I get the duvet and stay on the sofa.

I think all the sleep meditations, podcasts, books etc have the same effect- they switch your brain off from thinking about how much/little sleep you're going to get. Once your brain is occupied elsewhere, the 'off switch' can do its job.

I listen to an audio book on low volume, usually something I have listened to before, nothing too gripping. Helps me drift off.

Listen to radio 4.....nearly always works

Washing, drying, ironing

Get up, have some cereal. Listen to a mildly interesting podcast at a low volume so I have to lie still to hear it.

I completely swear by the Calm app Sleep Stories. They really stop my mind from wandering and more often than not help me the drift off. Bizarrely I love the train ones where someone with a lovely voice describes a train journey. I also have an eye mask and ear plugs which I can't sleep without now.

If its been going on for over a month, I think you need to look at what else is going on in your life. Stress, diet, exercise and routine all play a part

Struggled with insomnia for years and years but can mostly manage it well now with the following
Morning walk in daylight
No caffeine after 2pm
No food 2hours before bed
Makeup off religiously (was a sometimes slattern and the leftover eyeliner would irritate overnight)
Antihistamine at bedtime (sleep with windows open)
Turn off heating at least an hour before bed
Melatonin at bedtime (5mg slow release)

If I wake in the night and can't drift off:
Shakti matt in bed
Recount my favourite book in my head
Last resort- make a cup of tea and do some life admin and end up drifting off at 5 with dc waking me again at 6. And definitely no naps during that day so when I get to bed that night I absolutely crash.

Listen to a podcast in the pitch black!

How old are you ? It’s a peri menopause symptom.
Ive given up alcohol, I have Epsom salt baths and I take magnesium tablets. A good sleep routine is vital.

Apple calm playlist set for 30 minutes. I've struggled with sleeping for so long now but this wipes me out usually by about the 4th track. I've not heard it to the end of the 30 minutes yet.

Window open for air and taking pain relief for my chronic pain condition at the right time of night helps too.

Please recommend your melatonin

I wank.

Not joking

A combination of these…
sleepy tea
Yoga ‘square’ breathing
Body scan meditation
Any of the guided sleep/relaxation apps by Andrew Johnson
Listening to ‘Nothing much happens’ bedtime stories (I’ve never actually got all the way to the end of one of these - her soothing voice sends me to Zzzzz.)
www.nothingmuchhappens.com/stories
‘cognitive shuffle’ technique
google the Military method for sleeping

I try not to worry about how little sleep I'll get and concentrate on the fact that at least my body is physically resting which does a lot of good too.

I listen to guided sleep meditations on Spotify, there are some good ones that are an hour or two long that I can put on a timer to switch off after they finish so my phone isn't playing all night and disturbing me later on.

I make a cup of tea and read the papers in bed. After an hour I’m ready to sleep again and nod off easily

if it’s regular wake, consider dropping caffeine and alcohol and instead use ear plugs, eye mask, nightol tablet, lavender, exercise during the day, better evening routines

Melatonin tablet
Read
Get up lie on sofa for half hour to reset then try bed again
Plan my lottery win house in detail in my head.