Unfortunately, I seem to be going through phases of bad insomnia

My doctor recommended to get out of bed within 20 minutes and do something different but light and relaxing i.e. reading then try to go back to bed again.

Sometimes it works....sometimes it doesn't. When things get really bad I consider taking Nytol although I have no idea what the equivalent of it here is.

What you do to help insomnia? I'm interested to see if there are any other tips out there to help me.

same boat here. it was good for when I worked nights. now i just keep the gf awake and get kicked out of bed.....no cures from me besides a sleeping pill now and then

Yeah I end up getting out of bed so not to keep the OH awake.

One thing I have learnt since not being able to sleep....they turn the street lights off at night from around 12 to 4.30 .....

If you stay up all night you will definitely sleep without problem the next day at least, and in my experience for some time after. Seems to reset the sleep clock somehow. You will be a zombie, especially in the afternoon- don't do it if you need to drive any sort of distance, operate heavy machinery, or have some critical interview or report etc. the next day .

You have to go to bed at your normal time the day after though- if you take a huge nap in the afternoon or hit the hay at 5pm yer screwed again.

When I was having sleeping trouble the doctor advised to get out of bed and do "quiet time" things for a bit, whether reading or watching something non-stimulating on TV (so no action movies for example) and have some hot caffeine-free tea. She suggested orange blossom tea as it has some properties to help relax and ease you toward sleep.

If you feel the need of sleep aid, try the tea first, or ask at pharmacist for valerian root as it has similar (but stronger) "ease to sleep" type effect for most people as opposed to "knock you out."

Me, up early thanks to my cat (grrr!) who is determined to prove that she makes a better "Simon's Cat" than Simon's cat does.

Melatonin. Works every time for me.

I have learned the news paper is delivered at 4.15 for the gas station,. delivery trucks are here for the coop and that there is a ton of people driving around everywhere

Yeah that will be me. Been up since 3am and feel sprightly but come lunch time ill be a zombie. Walking the dog will help.

Ha ha yes I also have a cat like that nuematic drill!!!

Yes and when the bells go at 6 am all the school kids are up!!

Kids.

They keep you up against your will. Any chance you have to sleep, you take it and fall like a rock.

About 15 pints of Guiness

I don't suffer particularly, but when I have many things on my mind and wake up in the night I learned a trick.

Thick about a long route you know very well - it may be your commute or something. For me it is the long runs I do. Just close your eyes and visualise the whole route, noticing every detail, the bridges, the cars, the people, the trees etc etc but visualise it at real speed.

When I do that, I just drift off - normally by the third km

Have you tried sex?

Go into the room where the TV is, get a blanket, comfy cushion and settle into your favourite chair with a footstool, and put on the TV.

I often fall asleep watching TV, and night time TV is such crap, that it has to cure the strongest of insomnias.

That only works for the male of the species, it's the opposite (apparently), for females - they're wide awake.

This is a biological phenomenom, inherited from our ancient ancestors, so the female could safely and quietly flee after copulation, before she got hit over the head and carried away to his cave.

Exercise until around two hours before bedtime. Light snack and a warm drink can be beneficial. Don't read any e-mails, make any calls or use the internet, or read newspapers for a few hours before sleeping. Avoid caffeine and sugars. Music soothes (try to avoid Slipknot) and eases you into sleep. What works well is heavy rainfall or thunderstorms, you can get apps that play this stuff or use meditation CDs for the same effect. But by far the best is making sure that your body is physically challenged during the day and that your head is emotionally clear before you hit the sack, that's why avoiding all social and public media is important.

Have had insomnia on and off for entire adult life.

Normally, listening to the radio (speech radio it has to be) is a good way of relaxing which then eventually enables me to drop back off. Now I have an internet radio it's even better as I can catch up on lots of "complicated" programmes (ie ones that do not benefit from being listened to with children/family life going on noisily around!). Annoyingly though, I tend to drop off half way through the longer programmes (listening to a really great afternoon play on Radio 4 at 3.30am this morning so must get it back again to see how it ends .. ).

When the insomnia is driven by particular worries, the best cure is to get up and deal with them, insofar as you can in the middle of the night.

Finally, as someone who has lived with this now for more than 20 years, I am no longer ashamed to nap (for half an hour) during the day. This was part of accepting that it is part of my life, that it probably will not go away and that with a few coping strategies, I can more or less work my way around it.

But I am heartily fed up of people always saying how tired I look!

Try some Valerian drops (called Baldrian in German) and are available in most pharmacies. It's a natural remedy and also works if you're generally agitated. Also, exercising in the morning and not to eating anything past 6pm works wonders.

Reading englishforum.ch

Propofol seems to work.
However make sure your doctor knows what he is doing - and take his mobile phone off him also.

Much good advice here, especially about avoiding caffeine and exercise before bedtime.

I would add that many times when I wake up in the night and lie in bed in the dark trying to go back to sleep, I tend to begin thinking of various stuff that needs to be done the next day like phone calls, items to pick up at the store, errands to be run, etc. i.e. "I need to call the electrician about that faulty outlet in the bathroom... bathroom...bathroom...out of toothbrush heads for electric toothbrush and youngest is probably getting cavities as his is 6 months old...he needs dental checkup, call to make appointment....does insurance cover that? check on that.....don't forget dog needs to get to groomer before next weekend when company is coming over...OMG but did I get the pickup time right for the cake I ordered for dessert that night? Need to call to confirm... don't forget that friend X is allergic to nuts, so need an additional dessert option....dessert...desert, desert, hot, geez, it is too hot in here for me to sleep, need to open a window, but hubby needs to fix that broken hinge...." I then get kind of fixated upon the thought that I absolutely must not forget those things, which then interferes with my trying to go to sleep again, thus a somewhat endless cycle of non-sleep.

I find that just keeping a memo pad and pen on my nightstand and taking a few seconds to turn on the light and jot the thought down allows me to "cleanse" my mind of the worry of possibly forgetting and then relax enough to go back to sleep.