What is the solution to insomnia?
147657
I don't know if there is an exact solution.  But, there are some things that can help.  What I found works for me is drinking warm chamomile tea before bed and putting soothing music on when it's time to sleep.  Nothing with words or singing, just soft instrumentals.
466785
Wow, that's awful.\n\nI haven't had too much trouble with insomnia, but the few times I have, tylenol pm (over the counter) helped me wind down enough to sleep.\n\nAfter four days, I'm sure you've already tried the standards: milk ( contains natural stuff that helps you sleep..doesn't have to be warm - yuk!), a nice glass of wine, warm bath, etc.  \n\nGood luck, man.  Hope you don't get this because you've finally been able to sleep.
948678
go to your doc and get on Ambien CR..  it's non addictive and works like a charm...  it's control release so it keeps you in a nice even sleep pattern for a good 7 hours, and when you wake you don't feel drowsy or sluggish..  your doc may have samples to give you.  btw.. lots of people suffer from insomnia either from stress or any number of reasons, but just to let you know, it's always there when a person becomes or is depressed..
457395
i have always been quite the insomniac.  luckily for me, I'm on a night shift now, and seeing as i enjoy staying up late i just do and it's fine.  however i wasn't always on a night shift so i can give u some of my techniques.\n\n1.)  first of all, u don't want pills?  is this a health thing like you don't like taking pills? u could try herbal supplements.  Valerian root and melatonin are the two best.  melatonin will always be in pill form that i know of, but it's just a replicate of the exact same chemical that your brain uses to put you to sleep.  it's either the best stuff out there or it won't work at all. that depends on you.  Valerian root on the other hand, has one major benefit for you.  it doesn't to be a pill.  u can actually buy this in it's natural form and i think u boil it in some water.  there may also be some herbal teas that have it.\n\n2.)ur second bet is herbal teas.  there are alot of them available a  sleep aid and even if they don't have Valerian root they do have other things that work.  and drinking something warm before u go to bed usually helps you go to sleep anyhow.  warm milk can sometimes do it for me.  you need to make sure, however, that you do not drink anything with sugar or caffeine in it at least 2 hours before you go to bed.  if i have to go to bed at ten, i don't drink caffeine after 5 pm, or not at all if i can help it.  also, u might try not smoking about a half hour before sleeping if u r a smoker.\n\n3.) another thing u can try is a sleep CD.  my friend Whitney swears by some of them.  they have music or sounds or just gentle whispering and she says that some of hers will put u to sleep within 5 minutes of starting them.\n\n4.) make sure that you have the most comfortable bed set up possible.  if your like me, your body and mind love finding any excuse to get up, and the wrong pillow blanket and mattress is an easy target.  i love the foam pillows but the foam mattresses suck for me.  but it all depends on you. if you sleep in clothes, make sure they are soft and loose.  it's better to sleep in the nude, however. also keeping a room a bit too cold for ur tastes but having plenty of cover is a great way to go to sleep.  you'll wrap urself up tightly and u won;t move.  soon you'll be asleep.  i always sleep better in winter.\n\n5.) reading or watching a television show that just DOES NOT INTEREST YOU is another way.  i watch the news because i hate the news.  sometimes the news can conk me out in the middle of the day.  \n\n6.)there are plenty of meditation exercises out there and lots of them can relax you to the point of sleepiness.  instructions for quite a few should be available on line, but try this one: breath in and fill your lungs all the way up.  imagine that when you breathe in you are breathing in a number (the number one for the first breath and so on).  fill ur lungs up completely with ones.  then breath out all of the ones (emptying ur lungs completely) and then continue with the number two. sounds crazy but it does relax you and if ur laying on ur back in ur bed, it can actually put you to sleep.\n\ni hope one of these works!!
659628
Quite the opposite.  The B vitamins are known to have a sedative effect on the nerves. \n\nVitamin B6 supplements of 50 to 100 milligrams/day can help to prevent insomnia. A tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast is an excellent Source of vitamin B6. Stir it into a glass of juice.\n\nVitamin B12 is another important supplement for treating insomnia. 25 milligrams of vitamin B12, supplemented with 100 milligrams of pantothenic acid (B5) can serve as an effective anti-insomnia vitamin regimen.\n\nAre you taking a multi-vitamin?  They sometimes have niacin, which will keep you awake.
119084
Insomnia may be caused by a variety of things. There are three main areas that insomnia causes may be grouped into. These are psychological problems, social problems and medical problems. \n\nPsychological Problems\nInsomnia may be the result of depression, stress or some other psychological reason. Many people who suffer from psychological disorders also suffer from sleep disruption. If your insomnia follows a traumatic experience such as a car accident, an assault or a robbery, the trauma of the event may be contributing to your lack of sleep.\n\nSocial Problems\nA tense work environment or a problematic marriage may cause insomnia that falls into the Social Problems category. The frustrations and irritability confronted throughout the day may be replayed in your mind when you try to lie down to go sleep. This may cause you to be unable to sleep, simply tossing and turning for hours.\n\nMedical Problems\nA large assortment of medical reasons may cause insomnia. Being in pain or worrying about your illness may keep you from sleeping. Or the medications you take for your illness may cause you to stay awake.\n\n There are three stages of insomnia:\n\n1- TRANSIENT INSOMMIA.\n2- CHRONIC INSOMMIA.\n3- INTERMITTENT INSOMMIA.\n\nTransient insomnia is also known as short term insomnia, intermittent insomnia is also called on and off and chronic insomnia is called constant. Insomnia lasting from a single night to a few weeks is referred to as transient. If an episode of transient insomnia occurs from time to time it is said to be transient. Insomnia is considered to be chronic if it occurs on most night and lasts for a month or more.\n\nPeople more likely to experience insomnia are those in advanced years, those of the female gender, and those with a history of depression.\n\nTransient insomnia occurs in people who are temporarily experiencing 1 or more of these conditions: stress, noise, hot or cold temperature changes, jet lag and side effects from medications.\n\nChronic insomnia is mainly due to depression, misuse of caffeine and alcohol or shift work.\n\nInsomnia is found in both male and female. But in females in the menopause years it is most common.\n\nInsomnia is diagnosed with a medical history and a sleeping log. A sleeping can be done through journal entries, telling the time you went to bed and the number of times you awaken during the night.\n\nInsomnia is treated differently depending on the stage. Transient and intermittent may not require treatment. Chronic is different. The reason it is different is because the underlying cause must first be found.\n\nThe following are a few handy tips to avoid Insomnia:\n\n1) Don't go to bed until you feel exhausted & sleepy.\n\n2) Don't use the bed for anything else but sleeping i.e. no eating or watching TV.\n\n3) If you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes get up and do something else.\n\n4) Don't take naps during the day.\n\n5) Avoids alcohol and caffeine before bed.\n\nIf you want to eradicate this problem simply follow the tips for getting some proper sleep, which will ensure you stay healthy for a long time. Change your living style, try making some changes in your bedroom surroundings/setup, it may help you feel relaxed and eventually fall asleep.
836801
There are many natural treatments for insomnia that should be considered before resorting to medications. \nTryptophan, melatonin, 5-HTP, Valerian, and St. John’s Wort may help with sleep. In difficult cases, use of these in combination have been successful.\n\nValerian is sometimes used as a treatment for anxiety. However, it is more commonly recommended as an aid for occasional insomnia. \n\nKava is probably better for anxiety but is sometimes recommended at higher doses to treat insomnia as well.\n\nMake sure that something you are currently taking is not causing the problem. Substances such as panax ginseng, hydrocortisone taken late in the day, caffeine, and too much alcohol, cocaine or sedatives can cause insomnia.\n\nOther suggestions\n\n Poor sleepers do not clear caffeine from their systems as rapidly as normal sleepers. Even one cup of coffee at breakfast only was enough to keep them awake at night. A two week trial of no caffeine may be beneficial.\nSleep in complete darkness. A recent study indicated that even dim artificial light may disrupt sleep and melatonin production.\nDon't nap. Sleep disturbances may encourage napping during the day, which can make it harder to fall asleep at a normal hour. Avoiding naps can promote sleep at an earlier hour.\nTry taking your watch off and any clocks out of the room. This simple technique has worked for a surprising number of people.\nReading for 45-60 minutes.\nAerobic exercise 3-5 times per week.\nMany with FMS need a water bed, sometimes even with an egg-crate pad. Some need a hard bed. Find out what works for you. Go to a store and try some.\nIf hypoglycemia is a problem, some are helped by a snack before going to bed.\nGo to bed only when you are sleepy but get up at the same time each morning.\nIf medication is necessary, find out which works for you. Don’t give up - good sleep is worth the search.\nVitamin B12 can help with fatigue, insomnia, depression, and the anxiety of getting older, especially if low stomach acid is suspected. Shots may be required for large doses.\nMild acting agents like homeopathic preparations, chamomile tea, a long relaxing bath, or a touch of sea salt on the tongue with a glass of water can be tried.
57719
Try these if you want to fall asleep faster:\n\n1.  Exercise\nMake sure you exercise enough and stay physically active.  If you don't move a muscle all day long, you have too much energy left at the end of your day.  Do some aerobic sports at least every other day, each lasting 30 minutes or more.\n\n2.  Stress management\nToo much stress obviously help create insomnia.  Make sure you are not annoyed by or concerned with anything when you are in bed.  Relax yourself before going to bed.  If necessary, some "soft" relaxing exercise helps. (or even moderate stretching will do)\n\n3. Hot drink other than coffee\nIf possible, take a cup of hot or warm drink like skimmed milk.  Avoid drinking coffee starting from six hours (or more) before you go to bed.\n\n4. Body temperature\nI advise taking a warm shower before going to bed.  When you're sleeping your body temperature drops a little bit.  So the shower help create that "drop" because after the shower your body is slightly "hotter".  Make sure you feel a comfortable temperature at where you sleep. Too cold: add a blanket; too warm: show your bare feet or even your lower legs.
281482
Over The Counter sleeping pills do the trick for me, as I too suffer from stress and can't sleep.  Walgreens sells a over the counter pill called "sleep aid" you take 2 and it works like a charm, just make sure you have about 8 or 9 hours to devote to sleep!!  Wal-Mart also sells a pill by the same name, give it a try!
96460
Well, first of all it's probably a agood idea to get checked by a doctor to rule out anything else that could be causing your insomnia and may need to be treated. Your doctor may prescribe a sleep aid. But if you'd like to keep it more natural try taking 5-HTP shortly before bedtime. If that doesn't help L-tryptophan is stronger, take it shortly before bedtime, also. These supplements can possibly be found in your grocery store. If not there, then at your local natural foods store or health food supply. They are safe and do not cause any side effects. \nThe other part of relieving insomnia is to use your bedroom for sleep only. No reading, watching tv, etc in bed. This helps your body & sub-contious mind to associate your bed with sleep, which makes it easier to actually fall asleep there. Be sure to make your bed and bedroom as condusive to sleep as possible. i.e.: no noises, lights, or other disturbances; comfortable bed & bedding; comfortable temp...most people prefer a slightly cool temp for sleeping. You can also use lavendar essential oil, it's great aromatherapy for sleep. (essential oils affect our body chemistry)& lavendar helps your body & mind to relax.
264069
How much sleep do you get?  Recommendations:  go to bed at same time every time; don't exercise before going to bed or eat heavy meal; no alcohol.  Have you been checked for low blood sugar (maybe you need 1-2 ozs. of protein before bedtime to keep sugar level)?  Try drinking green tea.  First site below lists 20 ways to eliminate insomnia.
966978
There are some herbs that allegedly help, like kava kava and st john's wort.  Avoid caffeine for at least 8 hours prior to bedtime.  Maybe try reading a book before bedtime. That may help you focus on one thing instead of having your mind race from one thing to the next.  The only other natural remedy I can think of is maybe getting a lot of exercise and tiring yourself out during the day.  Otherwise, if you have to go the chemical route, Trazadone helps reset your Circadian rhythm.  Good luck!
255101
Generally if you can't sleep but are tired you are considered to have insomnia. \n\nIf this has been happening for more than a few weeks and none of the following suggestions help, you may want to talk to a doctor.\n\nI had a bad problem with insomnia for many years, and did some research on it.  Here are the things I’ve found that help the most.\n\n1.  Don't take the sleeping pills.  Although they are not addictive in the way we tend to think (you won't jones for them if you miss taking them) they are addictive in the sense that once you have taken them for a while, you will have to take them to get to sleep, but they won't have the same effect they used too.   This is because you tend to not get the necessary REM sleep you need to be rested.  If you must take a sleeping pill, take it well before you go to sleep.  For instance, I prefer to take sleeping pills 2 hours before I go to sleep, so that the pill can get into my system and make me drowsy before I get into bed, then get out of my system (hopefully) early enough that I get some normal sleep.\n\n2.  Try to go to bed at about the same time every night.  You have some wiggle room on this, but if you stay out on Saturday night till 3, it'll be harder to go to sleep at 10PM Sunday.\n\n(Which somewhat contradicts:)\n\n3.  If possible, don't go to bed if you're not sleepy.  Note  - one thing I have read and found to be true is that you have to be awake for 12 hours before you can go back to sleep.  So if you sleep till noon, again, you won't be sleepy at 10PM.  \n\n4.  Don't spend more than 15-30 minutes trying to get to sleep.  If you notice that you've been in bed more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something for a while.  Make sure what you do isn't going to make you more hyper; e.g. no exercising or energetic music or writing posts to online debates. \n\n5.  When you go to bed, choose a chore or some other task that you do not want to do and tell yourself that if you are still awake in thirty minutes you will do that task.  Then, if you are still awake, get up and do your chosen task.  This is my favorite suggestion, as it has worked nearly every time I've used it. .\n\nThose are the most useful suggestions I have.  Other things you can try:\n\nBefore you start getting ready for sleep, turn off high energy music and turn the lights down.  I love R&R music, but I went through a period where I had to turn the radio off every night about an hour before I went to bed, or I would be too wired to sleep. And our bodies react to reduced light by producing melatonin which puts us to sleep.  \n\nGet plenty of exercise, but not right before bed.  (Unless you're weird like me - exercise right before bed just puts me to sleep)\n\nAnother suggestion that might work is to relax your body, consciously, one area at a time, starting from your feet. You think about the ball of your left foot and relax it, then the ball of your right foot, then the arch of your left foot, etc. You have to concentrate (pretty hard) on what you are doing.
534112
I had insomnia for a long time and then I learned how to dope myself without using any external means. No Drugs at all.\n\nI have never written how to do it, I just had done it for a long time, but it has worked for me, maybe it works for you.\n\n1. Avoid any substances that hinder sleep, for ex. anything containing caffeine (chocolate, tea, Coke or pepsi, coffee), if you smoke, do not smoke for two hours before going to bed. \n\n2. Maybe your life is not as active as it should be, way too passive. Try to make some exercise each day, at night before sleeping make exercise until you feel exhausted and until you feel pleasure in stopping it. That means that your body is needing rest.\n\n3. After relaxing wash yourself up and get ready for bed and lie down.\n\n4. First, you have to quiet your body. Stretch in your bed with your arms and legs slightly apart. Order each part of your body with your mind to quieten, for ej. feet, go to sleep, quiet yourself, then continue with your legs, then with your bottom, on and on until you make your jaw rest, your mouth rest, your head rest and finally the eyes.\n\n5. Then imagine a very peacefull situation, and you in it, for example, a countryside road covered with oaks at each side, with leaves on the path all the way, a gentle warm breeze, etc. Or maybe yourself floating in the crystal blue ocean, use your imagination.\n\n6. Next thing you will hear will be your alarm clock.\n\nRegards,
1042873
I'm an insomniac so I can sympathize! There are all sorts of tricks to try, warm milk, a warm bath, mild exercise about 1 hour before bed. Try to read or do puzzles somewhere other than bed and have your room dark and on the cool side. try self relaxation when you lie down close your eyes and starting at your temples imagine each muscle slowly relaxing as you move down your body.  If all else fails a mild over the counter sleep aid may be needed on occassion or see a doctor. Good Luck and Sweet Dreams!
1162063
I have a few suggestions for you...\n\nI have insomnia and problems sleeping and staying asleep etc, due to a head injury, so I've tried nearly everything to get myself to sleep.\n\nFirst off, if you're in bed and you're not sleeping, get out of it and do something else. Try to keep your bed as a "sleep only" area. \nThat way, when you get in the bed again, you associate it with sleep.. and not like paperwork or phonecalls, etc.\n\nSecondly, tea or warm anything helps sometimes. There's actually a specific tea out there that I found at Albertsons, made by Celestial Seasonings, called Sleepy Time EXTRA. And there's a red flag that says "VALERIAN MAKES IT EXTRA!". Valerian root is a natural sedative. Taken in low doses I have found that it calms, or, in a tea such as the Sleepy Time (It's Chamomile Mint I think, really good with a little honey) it puts ya right to sleep. (high dose)\n\nThere's also another natural sleep aid called Kava. My mom found it in the healthfood store (Rainbow Market) in a little drink called Elixr. The bottle says to drink the whole thing, but I tried just one tablespoon and I was out like a light. I did some research on it, and apparantly the more frequently you take it, the higher dosages you'll need to be able to sleep. (http://www.elixirtonics.com/)\n\nAnd of course there's sleeping pills. Walgreens has "Tylenol PM". That works, or "Simply Sleep", which is essentially the same thing. But it was nice because it did not have me feeling groggy and ridiculous or hung over in the morning. I just woke up feeling refreshed.\n\nYou could also consider prescription sleeping pills. I just got an Ambien prescription... I tried it once and hated it though, guess it works differently for different people, etc. I was miserable all night and felt unrested and a prisoner in my own body. Like my body was dead, couldn't move, but my mind was racing. I was overheating and sweating and couldn't do a damn thing about it. So.. I haven't decided if I hate that or not, I'll have to give it another shot, but I'm hesitant to even bother... \n\nReading helps too.\n\nOr turn on the radio on a quiet channel, or a soothing cd or something, and get it nice and dark and before ya know it, it's time to wake up. It really works.  Just don't put on a station or something that you'll be singing along with, it doesn't quite work out.\n\nAnd sometimes I go in the yard and just breathe. The darkness and the cold air makes me want to bundle up in my bed and usually I just knock right out. Sometimes with a little coaxing from a warm drink too. (non alcoholic of course)\n\nWell then I heard some people drink (alcohol) to relax and calm down and eventually sleep but that's apparantly highly unrecommended.\n\nI always fall asleep on my side with the pillow even under my neck. Maybe you're having trouble with either your pillow or your sleeping position? I read online somewhere that sleeping on your back is bad for people that are prone to snoring who have sleep apnea, because it's harder to breathe and it's not a restful night if they even get to sleep. And I also read that sleeping flat on the belly isn't that great either because your neck is craned to one side, and could lead to neck problems. \nIf you're a belly sleeper, maybe try sleeping with one leg up so that you're not totally flat on the bed. It will also make it so that your neck isn't completely craned to the side, and the pillow can be adjusted around the head and maybe a separate one for under the chest or knee for good elevation so you don't suffocate yourself.\n\nOh and maybe a body pillow too... ever try just holding something to sleep? It could help... pillow, teddy bear, someone.\n\nSometimes when you feel really safe where you are, you'll just knock right out, without a second thought.\n\nGood luck, hope you can catch some
1180531
i've been an insomniac ever since i changed schools at age 12 (i'm in my mid fifties now).\n\nwhen things get really bad i can usually break out of the pattern by taking a long walk (at least one hour) late in the evening and then making sure i do only calm things (sloppy movies or smooch music) between getting home and going to bed.\n\ntaking a long slow walk also tends to get you out of your own head (private worries are a major contributor to insomnia) since you see so many other weird things to distract you.\n\nor perhaps that happens only if you live in cardiff.\n\ndid you know that the word 'insomnia' was invented by the latin poet vergil?\n\nreading the aeneid is an excellent cure for sleeplessness.