What do you do when you can't sleep?

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Justin often has trouble sleeping too. He usually watches TV for awhile, that usually helps him, but not always. He usually drinks a glass of milk before bed, almost every night. I don't know if that helps him or not though.

I almost never have trouble sleeping. When I do it's when I don't wind down before going to bed. I have to get everything else done, clean up the kitchen after supper, take the dogs out for their last walk, put my birds, rodents, reptiles to bed. Then I sit on the couch with the dogs, cats, & Justin for awhile and watch TV. That relaxes me and I can fall asleep easily after that. I wouldn't be able to sleep with out watching TV to wind down first.

If I can't sleep after winding down then I lay in bed and take really deep breaths and listen to my breathing, that relaxes me and clears my mind. This will sound silly, but I've done this since I was little- if I still can't sleep I lay in bed and imagine myself somewhere wonderful, like laying on the beach in Hawaii, or sailing with my favorite celebrity. Use your imagination and do something you'd love to do but probably never will, basically just day-dream until you drift off into a night-dream. Sounds silly, but that's how I'd fall asleep as a kid.

Another thing that helps me if I have something bothering me is to write in my Live Journal, if I don't want anyone to read it I keep it private, just writing it down helps to get it off my mind. If I have a lot of things that need to get done on my mind I make a ta-da list, then I don't have to worry about that until the next day.

[Anita Cholaine]

I'll lie down and be pretty tired but it's like I'm too tense to fall asleep.

That's exactly what happends to me! It could be stress for me, and that at night I start thinking about lots of different things, and I can't just relax... The worst is that the next day, I feel so tired...

When I can't sleep, I listen to the radio in a very low volume, or I read. That usually works, but maybe I should try some of the things you guys sugested...

Good luck with it... I know how awful it is....

[CagneyDog]

Thanks everyone. I took the Nyquil last night and I slept for almost 8 hours, which is the most sleep I've gotten in a while. I'm hoping I don't have to take it tonight though, because it made me feel pretty gross in the morning.

I'm going to find one of those relaxation tapes today.