I persistently have problems trying to go to sleep. I don’t watch tv before I go to bed and I avoid caffeine after 4 pm. I either can’t sleep til really late, like 3 am or so or I crash early and then still can’t wake up in the morning or if I do I’m exhausted.

I wake up with ugly purple bags under my eyes. I’m a young adult (21) but look 30 because of this. Not only that it’s beginning to affect my school schedule. Either I go to class exhausted and rarely feeling rested or I sleep through my alarm.

PLEASE help. I NEED to fix this insomnia problem!! I have a MUCH harder semester coming up this week and an exam this Monday…if I sleep in on Monday I’ll fail.

What are effective ways to treat this problem? I already have an eye mask but what else can I try? ie. techniques, drinks, etc

Technorati Tags: bags under my eyes, crash, drinks, eye mask, google, Insomnia, purple bags, sleep, watch tv, young adult

If I had an apple for breakfast (and I’ve heard apples have more caffeine than coffee), would it give me an energy boost and then a crash later on in the day? Also, does caffeine make it harder to concentrate, focus, and stay still?

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So I was pretty much born with insomnia, if that’s possible. The only time I cried when I was a baby was when my mother tried to put me to bed. Even when I was in early elementary school I would be up until 2 a.m. before sleeping, and then have to wake up and go to school exhausted, and then at the end of the school day, I would be completely energized, and I would stay that way until I fell asleep and woke up again. I stay up for like two or three days at a time if I don’t seriously make myself go to sleep. Then I crash and sleep for like 24 hours. I have tried everything I can think of.
Not doing anything 2 hours before bed except reading or relaxing.
Drinking warm milk.
Taking a hot shower.
Exercising during the day
Progressive muscle relaxation
"Counting sheep"
Deep breathing
Visual imagery
Taking Melatonin (I think thats what its called)
and a bunch of other stuff, but I still can’t seem to make myself go to sleep every night, or I just lie down and close my eyes for like 2 hours and nothing happens.

I have a summer college course, and its begins at 9:20 each morning and with my sleeping habits, it’s very hard for me to work with this schedule.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can sleep at night!?

***NOTE**** I have been to a doctor, and they just want to prescribe me sleeping pills which a) my parents don’t approve of and b) my medical insurance doesn’t cover because I’m only 17.

Technorati Tags: counting sheep, crash, deep breathing, google, Insomnia, insurance, medical insurance, melatonin, parents, progressive muscle relaxation, sleep, sleeping habits, sleeping pills, visual imagery, warm milk

I currently stay up till about 2 every night and then crash until 6:15, then i go to school and come back home and take a nap till about 7 or so, if i manage to not take my nap, how can i make myself fall asleep around 9 or 10, and will this regulate my sleeping pattern? if not, how can i. Thanks

Technorati Tags: crash, google, nap

I haven’t slept well in at least a month. I will go 2-4 days with minimal or minimal or no sleep, and then crash for about 12 hours. I can be physically exhausted, and still unable to sleep. The sleep I do manage to get isn’t restful, and I’m trying to make medication a last resort. I’ve tried music, silence, meditation, vitamins, temperature variations, positions, and even where I sleep, but all to no avail. Do you guys have any other ideas that will help? Thanks in advance!

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I’ve always had some problems with sleep..but things have been abnormally bad since I returned from Iraq last summer. I’ll stay awake for 3 – 4 days in a row and then crash for 14 to 16 hours at a time. It’s really annoying…and I know what everyone’s first reaction is going to be, but other than the insomnia itself and maybe a little more jumpiness when I got back, I don’t have any other symptoms of PTSD. I don’t have bad dreams…I don’t have flashbacks…I don’t have anger control issues…I don’t drink or do drugs…I don’t feel overly stressed out…maybe a little depressed, but hell, I was depressed before I went. I just can’t frikkin sleep.
Thanks for the advice dude, but I’ll self medicate with pot the day it becomes legal. Until then, I have a career to think about.
lol…at this point the only "cure" I’ve found so far has been some left over flexeril I had from old injury and a dry martini or two. First, I’m all out of flexeril…and second, it’s not a habit I really want to stay with for obvious reasons. But I’m desperate.
El Duderino, that actually was the effect I went for. Thanks for noticing. I thought it was funny…but that could just be the lack of sleep.

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This is a very weird and bad case of insomnia. My problem isn’t getting to sleep, and it never has been. But for some reason, I’m only sleeping 4 hours now.. its been happening for over two weeks. No matter what home remedy I try, after EXACTLY four hours (It’s very spooky how exact this is, folks…) I will wake up, feeling wide awake and physically impossible to fall back asleep.

What is going on in that brain of mine? Am I skipping out on one of sleep’s stages, or are all my stages of sleep being condensed itno a "micro session", I do crash hard so I know the 4 hours a night is not enough, but what the hell is wrong with me?

When I wake up, my mouth is completly dry and I have a very strong need to urinate. Even though I don’t drink anything before bed. I’ve been thinking.. possibly diabetes, I hope not, but at this point, just figuring out the cause of this would be a relief anyway. BTW, I have seen a doctor for this, and got Lunesta, and it didn’t work

Technorati Tags: bad case, brain, crash, diabetes, google, hell, Insomnia, lunesta, sleep, stages of sleep