If you’ve ever suffered with no being able to sleep well, what finally worked for you?

[GingerKittenTail]

what was it that actually helped you

Prescription melatonin. I have never slept well since my cancer treatment and this is the only thing that works. I stopped taking it for a couple of months last year and thought I had cracked it but had to start again to get any kind of decent night’s sleep.

Listening to podcasts. The spoken word, nothing too stimulating, not music or stories. I need to be interested enough to want to listen, but I soon drop off.

The Calm app has helped me enormously

Familiar audio books on quietly on my phone under my pillow
Giving up alcohol

Hands down giving up alcohol

I use Calm too, but also podcasts like 'sleep with me' which help me nod off quickly. I also like YouTube sleep hypnosis ones which have subliminals to help if you have anxiety or anything else that needs 'fixing'

Melatonin. I've had sleep problems since primary school and it's by far the best thing. Better than Zopiclone and diazepam. It's a funny thing though, seems to work well for some people but not others.

Mirtazpaine. Prescribed for depression/anxiety but hit the sleep problem on the head. It is magic.

Xanax & the fabulous app.

Most days. Not last night.

I’ve been an insomniac since birth. Suspect it might be the ADHD’s fault. It deffo was last night.

Giving up caffeine after 12pm, drinking very strong chamomile tea in the evening, and watching some very boring tv before bed (for me, big brother. I liked watching then all nod iff to sleep.)

Giving up coffee entirely and a weighted blanket. Finding the right weight was a palaver.

No caffeine after midday, no screens an hour before bed, not eating late (after 8pm), familiar quiet audiobooks, blackout blind.
And managing stress (daily runs or pilates).

I've tried various supplements/pills (including melatonin) but none have really worked.

Alcohol doesn't reliably prevent me from sleeping. Sometimes 4 units will knock me out for 7 hours straight (I'm a lightweight).

To fall asleep I need to block out my husband's fidgeting as he's either trying to fall asleep or is dreaming noisily 🙄so something has to be playing in the ear that isn't on the pillow. I do a variety of things:

• Pink, brown, white noise on Spotify
• Sarah J Collins sleep meditation on Youtube
• A podcast with a nice calm voice (Literature and History for example)
• A variety of other Youtube videos that oddly all seem to work, but the disadvantage is that they might break for ads which is bad and spoils it, but Dashner Design and Restoration, Dr Octavia Cox and Tasting History all work for me.

However to stay asleep a whole night is another matter. We have some leftover hydroxizin pills (an anti-histamin prescribed for anxiety and/or sleep trouble) from years ago that work. I quarter them and sleep all night on that morsel and am not too knocked out to get up in the morning.

Therapy and no alcohol.

For me it's not the getting to sleep, it's staying asleep the whole night. I have to get up at least once per night to pee, and getting back to sleep can be a pain as my brain sometimes switches on and I can't mute it

Regular exercise, cut back on alcohol, sleeping in a much cooler room and not sharing a bed/room with anyone.

For me, menopause symptoms had me on my knees with insomnia. HRT had me sorted within days.

Listing all the monarchs of England, in order.

True story . I am not a royalist but it happens I know them all (and spouses) and so do this. I think it works because it's worked in the last, so I've kinda trained my mind to shut off whenever I start thinking about them.

I am trying some CBT style interventions which are helping. Nothing stimulating like TV, tablet or phone in the bedroom. If I can't fall asleep within 20 mins I get up and do something quiet for 15 or so minutes then try again. Same if I wake up in the middle of the night. It sounds counter intuitive but it has started to help even in the middle of the night getting up sort of 'resets' things so that when I go back to bed I fall asleep faster. Sleep quality is also improving.

Melatonin bought from US, yoga nidra and no screens 3 hours before sleeping. I don't drink alcohol and still have insomnia.

My insomnia lasts several months and I'm OK for six months then it comes back again.

Forgot the Mantra eyemask, by far the most comfortable mask and blocks all light.

Giving up caffeine

Soft sleep headphones and listening to sleep hynotherapy tracks on the Insight Timer app. I have a small number of favourite tracks which I listen to regularly. I find tracks with breathing exercises particularly helpful, and those that focus on relaxation and anxiety reduction rather than specifically sleep. With the sleep ones it makes me feel I have failed if I'm still awake at the end.

More broadly, reducing stress and anxiety in my life. Not becoming too hung up on not sleeping - reminding myself that I always manage to get through the day even if I'm tired. Not becoming obsessed with sleep routines. If I'm unable to sleep in my own bed I sometimes get up and move to the spare room, which can help.

I find zopliclone very helpful in breaking the cycle if I've had several nights of poor sleep, but I don't take it often.

Open window to keep the room cool (nightmare in spider season), Calm app, reading a book (not phone) before turning the light off and a purring cat next to me have all helped.

Next to no alcohol
daily exercise
alarm set for 5am every single day
regular bedtime
Casefile podcast on low volume via sleep headphones. There's something about being tucked up in bed not being the victim of a crime that's incredibly comforting. It's also quite sick, I admit.

In the past I hav had such bad insomnia Ihallucinated!

HRT
Anti-anxiety meds
Kirkland's Sleep Aid
White noise
Gentle, unobtrusive YouTube videos (I like ones where people walk around an interesting place and talk about them, like Free Tours by Foot, Londonist and John Rogers).
Plenty of physical exercise.

All of these have worked for me at different times.