Natural Sleep Aids/Insomnia HELP?!

Hi - I apologize for not going all the way back but have you tried Valerian? It comes in capsule form @ Wal-Mart or health food store. It smells bad when you open the bottle but I think it helps! Good Luck.

Hi! Thanks! I have tried Valerian and don't find it works. Melatonin has not worked for me but once so I am confused and apprehensive to try it again. Might try a stronger dose of Valerian and see how it goes.

Note/Update: Back to waking up after noon, staying awake until 3, 4, 5 and longer. Got out all day today and walked about grocery shopping, thrift shopping, and generally trying to stat active. Have had a few sips of coffee, have not had adrenal support vitamins or energy vitamins, and honestly have not eate much at all today but two small slices of vegan pizza. Feeling sleepy, but that has fooled me before. We will see how it goes tonight. May jump in a hot shower, but those tend to wake me up.. we will see.

It's going to be a tough habit to break, and to fix your inner clock RunStopSlide!

Stick with one method, and work on preparing yourself for bed earlier. Maybe end your day with a movie and then go right into bed after brushing teeth, etc.

You'll find a way!!

Thanks Sky. I try to end the day with brushing my teeth/washing my face and sometimes some reading. I tend to watch too many movies being inside most days, so I am going to try cutting back. Also going to try to get a better pillow soon; this one is about used up!

I will be updating in the morning; here's to a restful night!

You're welcome :)

Maybe your days are too lazy. I find when I have those spells of not wanting to change, not having anything to do.. I find it hard to sleep. I usually stay up all night and all asleep at 6am.

Maybe try to plan some cognitive activities like puzzles or go for a jog or maybe drive around, hang with friends, etc. ?

Best of luck x

Good morning! FYI - The Valerian I take is 450 mg and you have to take it way before you want to go to bed. It's not perfect but I think it helps. I see it also in some of the horse calming meds. If you want to try to reset your inner clock, you can start setting an alarm for say 9 or 10 am and get up then no matter what. It can be rough if you've been up all night but if you keep up the schedule, it usually works. I have a sleep disorder and I'm supposed to use a sleep apnea machine. I also have to have the TV on. I hate the mask, especially since I'm warm all the time. I used to be able to fall asleep 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow. Not anymore! There are people who are naturally early risers and then there are the night owls. We are the night owls and sometimes it just goes haywire! I can sleep 12 hours and still feel tired! Have a great day!

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Life is short - enjoy the trail!

Well, fell asleep pretty fast last night - it was just after 3 when I finally got to bed. Woke up around 1:30. Blegh.

Getting up, showering, making some food, exercising - that is my plan so far today. Here's to a tiring day!

Sky - I have been thinking of getting some puzzles or something. I have been reading a lot since I got here, and it just makes my eyes tired (need new glasses). As for getting out, my options are very limited. The neighbours (and landlady) don't know I am here, and the risk of the landlady kicking the both of us who are here out is too high at the moment. So until the situation improves in the next month or so, I am flying below the radar. Difficult when there are 4 other tenants in the building (house converted to apartment building with separate units, not municipal space).

I feel like I have exhausted most of my "entertainment"/"activity" options :( that's why I am asking here.

By the way; managed to find decent, cute skirts at the thrift store yesterday, and two nice lightweight cardigans, so my "expensive hooker dresses" problem is solved. Yay for thrift stores!

Cheers everyone :)

That's 10 hours of sleep! I'm guessing you needed them! Try to work on going to bed a little earlier each time until you get to 11pm or 10.. that SHOULD help out a lot.

If I go to bed at.. 6am, I wake up at 3pm lol! Not a good idea :p If I sleep at 11pm I wake up at 10am and 2am I wake up at noon.

Just gotta train your body, and yeah puzzles are fun. Maybe you should get a video game system? That would be entertaining :p or computer games as well.

Had a nice portobello fajita for dinner and apples with peanut butter as a snack. The fajitas were a big process, so it took a while and was fairly entertaining. Spent some time reading as well, amongst other things. Feeling pretty good today, and even a little sleepy already at quarter to midnight. Yay!

As for video games, I like them but I am no good at them and get frustrated. My video game success lies solely in Angry Birds (oh boy, haha).

I have a plethora of books to read here that are good for me (lives of Saints, books about the spiritual life, etc... Orthodox Christianity ;) ), so I really should read more. Working on a 1000+ page biography of a monk right now.

Planning to try to sleep without melatonin or valerian, so we will see in the morning how it goes. I will be setting my alarm and getting up, regardless, at 10a.

That's a shame! They used to frustrate me too, but then my brother kept rubbing his winning in my face.. so I secretly practiced and now I kick his butt at every game :P

Sleep well! That Fajita sounds amazing..