Lack of sleep

Absolutely NO caffeine -tea,coffee and choc. It works for me xx

specki I have just been listening to some of the music files on my laptop downstairs. Im wondering? once you start playing the files on your iphone, once you have gone asleep do the sounds wake you back up again...if I have gone to sleep and here a sound then it wakes me back up. I do have an iphone.

I haven't slept properly for at least 20 years ever since my divorce. Sometimes I take a couple of hours to fall asleep and even then I don't sleep through the night. I wake up sometimes three or four times. I usually have to get up to go to the toilet once in the night, which doesn't help. I've always hated the dark so I sleep with a night light on. I'm taking various medications so I'm not sure if they're aggravating the situation. Beta-blockers for migraine, for my hiatus hernia and various vitamins. I also now have IBS and have medication for that. I find it helps listening to recordings on YouTube. There are some with talking in and I find ones that I do like are by Michael Sealey. He has made at least 20 recordings and I find them helpful. Also dozens with no talking by Magnetic Minds, recordings to help with sleep and healing. Trigram Healing Sleep Hypnosis is another good one as is Liberation in Mind by Dr Paul Ogilvie. There are hundreds to choose from. Hope this helps.

My sleep pattern is gradually and slowly improving after four years of stressful events. I recharge my i-phone on my bedside table and one night I clicked onto YOUtube and discovered Sleep Inducing Music files - times vary from two hours to eight/ten hours! So, depending on how much sleep i want to have, I choose the music and settle down. They work! I'm amazed - even if I wake up for the loo, I just go back and settle down again and off to the land of nod I go. Try them.

I haven't read right through, so hope I am not repeating things...I have no trouble getting to sleep, but wake up (and WIDE!) at 3 or 4 a.m. What has helped me a lot are guided meditation practices on youTube. Jason Stephenson (Australian accent!) does a lot of them: here's one sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4qCFFBrrgk I love telling my husband 'I'm off to the guest room to sleep with Jason'!

Another is Jody Whitely (Canadian I think!) : here's a sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o99VPTS0JsA

My sister is also an insomniac, and she recently discovered this weird and wonderful solution...podcasts of a guy (U.S.) who just rambles on telling convoluted stories...I never believed it would work but it did. here is a sample: www.sleepwithmepodcast.com/category/podcast/

I have also recently taken up meditation (so far I am on lesson 8 of ten free lessons with Headspace: www.headspace.com/ . It has calmed me down and I am sleeping better.

I would love to have feedback from others on this!

Oh, Shamma, my mum had PD. Back in the late 80's in the US she was an 8 year survivor. Now the meds are so much better and new treatments seem to constantly be in the news and help older patients as well as younger ones.

You have a lot on your plate. Take care and look after yourself! [flowers'

That's a good strategy I never look at the clock
I used to but would completely freak me out an would be even more insomniac!

Grannygrunt I do walk whenever I can, although some days I do not even have time to walk as far as the garden! I certainly would not be walking around at night in the dark just before bed, that's for sure.

I have had insomnia for years on and off
Nearly always when I am mentally or physically not relaxed
I know if my brain is buzzing or I amworriedn( often)! I have no chance but knowing I don't have to be up at a certain time helps though in the past as a working mother it was a nightmare. I flew to a meeting I Europe with no sleep,whatsoever and thought I was going to die I felt so bad !
Any phone or tablet screen activity before bed is bad
Certain vitamins taken other than in the morning can really disrupt sleep.as caffeine can obviously
Alcohol makes you wake up in time night but helps you nod off
I go to a deep,sleep sometimes now a days only to wake up ten minutes later
I find a ritual helps and if it's disturbed the it s hard to relax
Bath Camomile tea with a book in bed
Dark room and ear plugs
My sympathies
Sometimes you have to break the pattern of insomnia with a mild sleeping pill because it take the edge of the anxiety that comes with insomnia
Before prescription drugs try nytol
Good luck

Try a magnesium an hour before bed, my DH really struggles to sleep but finds this works most nights. Hope you sleep well tonight.

Late to this thread, so i may be repeating things, apologies if I am. I have had periods of over thinking events and failing to sleep as a result. I find music helps, I use my MP3 player with earphones (that way I don't annoy MrsP). I usually drop off after a short period.

If you tend to get into cycles of worrying when lying awake, would it help to seek counselling, CBT or similar help to break the worry cycle, so that your mind can just float loose.

I use radio therapy, also R4, but I have it on so low that I cannot, quite, hear what is being said, that way I do not get pulled into programmes. The background murmur of voices I find quite comforting because it brings back memories of childhood, lying in bed and hearing the indecipherable murmur of the voices of my parents chatting in the room below.

I find that the human voice (either radio or audio books) will often send me to sleep when all else fails. I also found some amazing tea bags in Brazil which put me out like a light. Unfortunately, they are not available in the UK but they contain a mixture of camomile, lemon-grass and passion fruit. It might be possible to find a similar combination somewhere. When using these I can sleep for 6-8 hours which would otherwise be impossible.

We have classic fm on quietly. I read that listening to classical music for 30 minutes before sleep was as good as a sleeping pill. We put it back on for another hour if either of us wakes in night..
Works for us most of the time. The advertisements can be annoying if you let them but I now don't hear them.

I used to be like this. I think it must've been due to the menopause.

I sleep much better these days; I make sure I get lots of exercise, I don't drink caffinated drinks after 4pm, and make sure I don't drink alcohol if I need a proper night's sleep (if i have a particularly busy day, say).

I use the Rescue Remedy occasionally too.

And I'm not sure if this has been suggested already, but apparently Night Nurse is terrific for insomnia.

Get out in the fresh air and go a long walk. You'll soon sleep well

I registered with audible- and listen to any books of my choice and it definitely helps me sleep! I have bought hypnosis/ meditation books and also listen to them - just listening to a soothing voice makes me drop off without fail!

oh and no I take no medication, and I a pretty fit and not overweight at all. 5 feet 8 size twelve. Is there hope for me short of asking DH to hit me with a mallet at bedtime

Just seen Blueskies post. I have Lavender all over the house
and still I lie awake thinking what a lovely smell !!

Are you on medication? This can affect sleep in some cases. I had trouble some years ago and it was the high blood pressure tablets I took. After a change, it improved.

Such alot of good suggestions here, it is kind of comforting to know that I am not alone in this, sometimes when I am sitting in the kitchen at 3 am or whatever time it feels like the whole world is asleep except for me .

I am not hormonal, I am in my sixties and over all that. I do not have a TV in the bedroom, in fact it isn't something I watch at all. We do eat at about 6 ish. I always have a bath, and not a shower, although I do have it at 7pm so that I can have my 15 min soak listening to the Archers! I will try an Epsom Salts bath though, that sounds tempting, and also the Bach Flower remedies.

This all started when my Husband was diagnosed with PD. He has some bad nights, and I find now that I lie awake anticipating that it is going to be a bad one, then whilst I am lying there I start to worry about all sorts of things that may or may not ever happen.Stupid Woman that I am .
Once I am asleep though I am fine. I don't wake up early, unless DH wakes me with a bad do of course. It is just the initial dropping off which seems to be a problem for me right now.Thanks again to everyone who made a suggestion.

I only have decaff tea during the day and find that this does help. Yorkshire tea make a good one that tastes exactly like the real thing. I also have an iPod with spoken word stories on which I listen to in the night if I wake up. This seems to send me back to sleep after a while. I always sleep better on the nights I don't have any wine unfortunately! Lavender on your pillow, milk at bedtime, all the usual remedies sometimes help.

I don't know if this, or something similar might help. I needed to lose weight and after reading the reviews, looked at this (not suggesting you need to lose weight): Vitual Gastric Band Hypnosis by James Holmes, on the Apple App Store. I am the world's most sceptical person so really didn't believe hypnosis would work for rational, resistant, cynical me. But it did. Not only did I lose weight but the relaxation technique, the soothing sound of the voices and the images they put into your mind all worked to send me off to sleep - I never got to listen to the end of the session while awake. This particular app would not be good if you do not need to lose weight but something similar might help you. I know this company do hypnosis for other situations so might be worth a try. I listened to other hypnotists before settling for this one and found some voices just didn't work for me, so you might need to try a couple. Six months on, if I can't get to sleep I still use this app and it still works. I hope you find something that works for you too.

When I stayed with a friend I slept right through the night. I saw that she had bowls of dried lavender from her garden in the bedroom so I now sprinkle oil of lavender on cotton wool pads in my bedroom ( refreshed every week) and although I have the occasional bad night I now sleep like a log. It is worth a try.

Do you fall asleep in front of the TV? I have one in my bedroom and set the sleep timer on it for an hour. I find I've watched 5 minutes of my favourite programme and wake up again at 5/6pm. Worth a try - I know what it's like.