What is a good cure for insomnia?

I had a bad problem with insomnia for many years, and did some research on it. Here are the things I’ve found that help the most.

1. Don't take the sleeping pills. Although they are not addictive in the way we tend to think (you won't jones for them if you miss taking them) they are addictive in the sense that once you have taken them for a while, you will have to take them to get to sleep, but they won't have the same effect they used too. This is because you tend to not get the necessary REM sleep you need to be rested. If you must take a sleeping pill, take it well before you go to sleep. For instance, I prefer to take sleeping pills 2 hours before I go to sleep, so that the pill can get into my system and make me drowsy before I get into bed, then get out of my system (hopefully) early enough that I get some normal sleep.

2. Try to go to bed at about the same time every night. You have some wiggle room on this, but if you stay out on Saturday night till 3, it'll be harder to go to sleep at 10PM Sunday.

(Which somewhat contradicts:)

3. If possible, don't go to bed if you're not sleepy. Note - one thing I have read and found to be true is that you have to be awake for 12 hours before you can go back to sleep. So if you sleep till noon, again, you won't be sleepy at 10PM.

4. Don't spend more than 15-30 minutes trying to get to sleep. If you notice that you've been in bed more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something for a while. Make sure what you do isn't going to make you more hyper; e.g. no exercising or energetic music or writing posts to online debates.

5. When you go to bed, choose a chore or some other task that you do not want to do and tell yourself that if you are still awake in thirty minutes you will do that task. Then, if you are still awake, get up and do your chosen task. This is my favorite suggestion, as it has worked nearly every time I've used it. .

Those are the most useful suggestions I have. Other things you can try:

Before you start getting ready for sleep, turn off high energy music and turn the lights down. I love R&R music, but I went through a period where I had to turn the radio off every night about an hour before I went to bed, or I would be to wired to sleep. And our bodies react to reduced light by producing melatonin which puts us to sleep.

Get plenty of exercise, but not right before bed. (Unless you're weird like me - exercise right before bed just puts me to sleep)

Another suggestion that might work is to relax your body, consciously, one area at a time, starting from your feet. You think about the ball of your left foot and relax it, then the ball of your right foot, then the arch of your left foot, etc. You have to concentrate (pretty hard) on what you are doing

Sex *grin* by yourself or with an SO, it produces a nice soporific chemical, which does a nice job of putting you to sleep.

Insomnia is never just insomnia it is always caused by something such as underlying stress, too much caffeine, or maybe even a condition called restless leg syndrome. The first cure you should look into is finding out what is causing you trouble when you try and sleep and working from there. If it is stress, try meditating before bed or learning yoga or tai chi. It is always a good idea to cut back on caffeine or sugar atleast a couple hours before bed. If you do have restless leg syndrome (I do) it is hard to sleep because your tired but your legs twitch and feel like they have all this built up energy. Nothing really helps that but there are new medications out. Sometimes I find stretching before bed helps.

Well, hope that helps and you can find the underlying cause of your sleeplessness.

Here are a few tricks that I have found have worked for myself and friends....

- melatonin (it is a natural supplement and you can find it at almost any natural/suppliments store and at Wal Mart/ Wal Greens and so forth. The highest easily found dose is 3 mg., as it is not expensive you may wish to try the smallest effective dose.

- "SleepyTime Extra" tea (herbal) by Celestial Seasonings...more effective then the original "Sleepytime" tea the Extra formula contains a herb called Valerian that makes it more effective....once again it is easily found.

- Yoga/ Stretching.....Yoga is the best but if you don't have any expierence here even simple stretches performed before bed will help you relax and will help the body relax physically. You do not want to raise the heart rate right before bed, just stretch out the muscles.

All of these, especially in combination, help me. I also don't feel "draggy" in the AM like over the counter sleep aids often make you feel.

Please remember though that there has to be a root cause of what is keeping you from falling asleep or staying asleep. Seek out that cause (wether it is physical or psychiological, fix it or adress it. That is the best and most effective cure! Good luck and sweet dreams to you!

Well;not being able to get adequqte sleep is definitely a problem.however it is usually caused by different matters for different people.Stress is one common cause of the disorder.it is very easy some people are abble to relax their bodies and some are not.

There are of course medications that help you go to sleep but I don't suggest anymedicine.getting yourself tired will help so if you can jug or do any excersize it will help.

In Iran we have a local remedy called Dough also called Ayran in the West.get 6 spoon of natural yoghort and mix in a glass of water,add a pinch of dried mint and drink.it helps 70% of my patients.Otherwise consult your physician.

You are the best person who can find the cause of this problem.I also recommend a book called how to avoid worries if you can find it.It definitely helps.

Goodluck and happy dreams

Hope it help.

turkey has a natural ingredient tryptophan. this is a good natural sleep aid. also get you some calcium in liquid gel caps...(fairly inexpensive at walmart)take a nice warm bath, then take 1000 to 1200 mg an hour before you go to bed with a glass of milk and a turkey sandwich.... stay away from sweets at least 3 hours before bed.

There are many means to go to sleep, such as physical exercise at day, pharmacology,... But the best is to get advise from psychologist.

Avoid sweets and caffine before bed, listen to relaxing music.

Try a nice tall glass of milk. That works for me.

Watch Nick At Nite, that'll do it

warm milk and honey just before bed time