Insomnia - suggestions?

[countthestars]

H has been having a really hard time falling asleep lately.  He has always been a hour-in-bed-before-sleep guy and now it's closer to 2 hours every night.  He doesn't want to take any medications for it but it's keeping us both up.  Any suggestions? 

[badgergrl]

I have found melatonin helpful in that situation. Also, benadryl can help too. I also found at around 30, I had to be a lot more careful when I had my last coffee in the day.

[mrsfarmer]

Tylenol PM. My grandma's doctor even recommended it. Yes, the caffeine too. For me, it is none after 2.

[sweetnsour]

Does he drink caffeine? What keeps him up? Is his mind really active? Does he have a routine? I cut caffeine out completely and it has made a big difference. I actually have more energy during the day because I don't have spikes of energy then exhaustion. I don't talk on the phone to anyone once I am an hour before my bed time. Sometimes playing a game of Sudoku helps my mind settle down.

[Deleted]

Exercise regularly, no caffeine, no alcohol.

[rubytue]

I'm like your husband. Have always been 45-90 minutes to fall asleep. Recently I've been using a meditation app on my phone to fall asleep and I think its been helping.

[whitemerlot]

I think limiting light and tv before bed or taking a hot bath 45 minutes before bedtime makes a big difference to me. I like to drink a decaf tea, then brush my teeth, take a bath, and then read.

[audry80]

No phone or Internet one hour before bed.

Wiggling toes also helps me. Weird I know but I read about it once so tried it and it worked!

[lys]

Jan 25, 2013 19:29:56 GMT -5 rubytue said:

I'm like your husband. Have always been 45-90 minutes to fall asleep. Recently I've been using a meditation app on my phone to fall asleep and I think its been helping.

Ditto - cardio early in the day, no caffiene, no alcohol.
Also NO TV and NO Computer 1 hour before bed. 

[bunch]

Unisom

[momof2boys]

I have the opposite problem...I can fall asleep but can't STAY asleep. I wake up several times in the middle of the night and often can't go back to sleep. If I manage to actually sleep through the night i'm up around 4am (for no good reason, my body just wakes up and I can't fall back to sleep).

Anyways, someone recently recommended a natural oils called Sweet Dreams (by BC Essentials). I find it does work (though I don't use it every night...not sure why, I should, but I guess i'm lazy or want to sleep without the aid of anything? It doesn't keep me from waking up per say, but it does help me fall back to sleep without being up for hours like I used to be. So overall i'd say there has been improvement, and I like that its just natural oils that I rub on my palms and soles of my feet.

[Deleted]

My husband swears by putting his feet in cold water, drying off, and then getting back in bed.

[dirtyred]

No computer, phone, or tablet stuff at least an hour before bed.  The light sends cues to your brain that it's still daytime and it's more difficult for some people to fall asleep.

I read that a way to diagnose insomnia from other issues is to have the person stay up at least 2 hours past when they would normally get into bed.  If you have insomnia, it won't make a difference, but if you have other sleep issues, staying up later usually results in a faster fall asleep time.