Tips for helping with insomnia that really help

[TellySavalashairbrush]

I’ve had insomnia for years , mainly an issue with waking up around 3am and laying there worrying about anything and everything until
6am and then having to get up for work. GP gave me pherneghan tablets which does help but the horrible headaches it gives me and the risk of developing dementia worry me a lot. Does anyone have any tips/advice that has worked for them?

I don’t wake in the night really but I do struggle to sleep sometimes . These are my fail safe methods.
Go through your day backwards in minute detail, start again if you miss something. I also find it I drop my body temperature really cool so take off all the covers (and imagine being really cold), then put the covers back on I drift off. 2 paracetamol also help. The biggest help to me is really good quality earplugs and eye mask. The quality of my sleep is so much better now, I cannot stand more than 2 minutes listening to dh snuffling and breathing. Plus really dark bedroom, take time to close the curtains properly so no light coming in at all, and no screens before bed. I used to sleep do badly and would dream that I couldn’t sleep which was just the cruellest trick my brain could play on me. Even now the worst thing for my sleep is feeling like I will get woken up (eg if dh is out and coming back late I just will not be able to sleep knowing he’s going to disturb me when he gets in)

I don’t sleep very well anyway, but if I have somewhere important to go the next day - well, that’s it. I won’t sleep one single wink. And then of course I spend the next day feeling groggy with smarting eyes and invariably an upset stomach to really make the day go well.

Does any one-off medication work? Do you have to build it up?

Kirkland Sleep Aid works for me, taken half an hour before bed, with a warm milky drink.

I read last week to think of a random word, eg potato and then think of as many words as you can which start with the same letter. Or to think of a high number and count back to 0. I listen to audible which is quite good and helps a bit.

I do the alphabet thing too. I saw a doctor on tv recommend it and thought that there was no way it would work but it absolutely did! He did give a scientific explanation as to why it works but I can’t remember it now

I have trouble sleeping through a combination of perimenopause and divorce I usually get to sleep ok but often wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.

things that have helped me:
magnesium
zinc
good quality sleep mask
white noise (I like rain storm and like to pretend it is foul weather outside but I am tucked up warm and safe away from it)
really soft fluffy blankets that I can focus on the feel of maybe agains my face or arms
staying up later (I don’t get anymore sleep but if I say up an hour or so later I also wake an hour or so later and it’s a bit less time lying awake worrying about stuff)
tv that takes my mind off things before I go to bed
books that take my mind off things when I wake up (has to be an easy read but engaging something like Marian Keyes or Lisa Jewell - I might not sleep but at least I’m not worrying)
keeping on top of other health issues (things like eczema because I was waking up scratching but have been more disciplined in applying creams to keep it bay)
just making sure I do some exercise even if is gentle like a little walk

things that did not help
algebra (I honestly tried everything)
books that made me remember all my worries (my friend gave me a book about divorce that just made me spiral in the middle of the night)
getting out of bed and sitting somewhere else (lots of sleep sites recommend this - it didn’t help me)

I think another poster also said that they have stopped worrying about it and I definitely worry about it less now and just think I’m awake so snuggle into my blanket and read. I probably do get back to sleep more often than not.

always looking for tips though.

That's what I do. Can be naming anything food, films,actors or places etc

HRT, magnesium, not eating late at night, having your windows open if you can and even if its cold, making your bedroom cold but that's personal preference. And either radio 4 or the sound of waves/rain or a fan on my smart speaker on quietly all night. The BBC do have lots of relaxing sleep playlists too on BBC sounds

Distraction sometimes works. At the moment I carry out a gym session in my mind, from start to finish. If I can manage to really focus on it, it does sometimes switch my mind off enough for me to fall asleep.

Podcasts, ideally boring, tedious, overly academic ones with drony voices, In Our Time generally does the trick, I fall asleep pretty quickly to them though if I’m really having sleep issues I may need to live up multiple episodes otherwise as soon as the noise stops I wake.

Zopiclone.

Audiobook on a loooonnngg timer - 90+ minutes,. It needs to be non fiction, read by a narrator with a calm voice and not have anything too exciting in it. Interesting is okay. I enjoy Richard Dawkins books for this purpose. Playing just quietly enough that you have to strain just a little to hear it and ideally with you facing away from the speaker.

If I'm really desperate I add in white noise or rain sounds from another source.

Paul McKenna's sleep hypnosis is also surprisingly good.

If you've been taking phenergen for a while then cut down gradually to half then a quarter of a tablet.

I'd also consider if you need a notebook to get your worries out or to do some meditation before bed so you have less filling your brain up.

There is an app called ''My Sleep Button" which works really well for insomnia, especially if you are kept awake by racing thoughts and anxiety. It uses a technique called the 'cognitive shuffle' - you set a timer and you hear random descriptions of things, e.g " A clown shelling peas " followed by " A cat climbing up a tall tree" , with a pause between each description for you to visualise each scene. It's very effective!

Just watching a video on YouTube. Emma Voysey Health. Her latest video shows an exercise to do to get back to sleep. I'll try that in the morning.

There's a breathing trick that soldiers use in combat zones. If they can somehow fall asleep when in danger, with bombs and shit going off all around, then I reckoned it would work for me. And it does!

it goes like this:

Breathe in THROUGH YOUR NOSE for a count of 4
Breathe out THROUGH YOUR MOUTH for a count of 8

Repeat, repeat.

While doing this, also try to relax your body as you breathe out. And pause any thoughts/worrying. For me, for some reason, it helps to imagine (with eyes closed) that I am staring at a spot roughly in the centre of my forehead.

If you catch yourself going over endless conversations you've had/might have, fretting over things you've said or done or might say or do or must say or do soon, just gently shelve them.

Just focus on the counting and the breathing pattern.

This kind of slow, controlled breathing directly activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the body's 'rest and digest' mode). Your heart rate slows, muscles relax, cortisol drops, and brain shifts out of threat‑monitoring and into a state where sleep becomes possible.

Honestly, it really does.

I thought I was the only one playing audio that quietly!
came to realise it works for me as we lived above a pub, so every night I would fall asleep to muffled conversations and the sound of glasses being collected
funnily I had to stay in a room above a pub a few years ago and heard the same sounds, was out like a light