because my sleep is all messed up!!! Uff! 
So Im not working right now which leaves me with a lot of time these days to do anything I want. Somehow between late night movies and GS, my sleep pattern got messed up and now I absolutely cannot fall asleep on time! I am awake…wide awake 
…all night long!
What do I do? I have to embrace sanity and stop staying awake all night.
Any tips for this people? How do I get back into a regular sleep pattern?
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
hmmm dinner at right time and avoid going online after dinner may help. Read a book or listen to soothing music. AVOID watching tele late evening and not taking a nap in afternoon may help.
ME TOO, PSquared!!! You’re not the only insomniac, join the club. It’s 5:23 in the morning and I’m still wide awake. I’ve been awake the whole night! My mind is just really active during the night. And i’ve always been more of a night person, but not THIS bad! My siblings are beginning to call me night owl and start hooting like an owl when I wake up in the morning, LOL.
And just like you, I’m not working for the time being either. Before, grading my students’ papers would make me sleepy:)
Sometimes reading a book makes me sleepy…but my sister took the one book I was reading. It belonged to her anyways, I had stolen it :- P Need a new book now.
And I’m a light sleeper too. So if I do manage to sleep early, I’ll wake up after a couple of hours, lol. On the positive side, I read an article stating that night owls tend to be creative thinkers. On another site, I read that they also have stronger intuition. I though I’d post the link, if you were interested in reading it…let’s face it, you’re gonna be up anyway, might as well have something to read. LOOL!
News in Science - Night owls are more creative - 13/12/2006
Regardless, I further the request for tips, sleep duas, etc.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
Redvelvet, Im an insomniac! I read the article and its actually kind of nice to know we're being applauded for not being normal, lol.
If I fall asleep, I wake up every couple of hours too! Ugh! Im scared my body is not getting enough rest as its important right? I dont know...lol. Right now, my whole house is asleep, its 5am and Im the only one up. Ive not fallen asleep all night and its annoying! Tossing, turning and then sitting up because you're done trying for the night.
What to do?
Well, PSquared, since I'm WIDE AWAKE at 7:11 in the morn, I have no idea what to do. I suffer from the same affliction. HOWEVER, ever since i've become an Insomniac........it's been easier to pray Fajr.....considering I'm UP at that time. No alarm clock required. LOOOOOL
Sorry, I mean 6:11 in the morning.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
Yes, that is one big benefit though. My mom only has to knock once these days for Fajr. IF I ever fall asleep, its at least a good half hour before I hear anything, lol.
You know PSquared.........I've figured out why we're not getting any sleep-inducing tips at the moment...................it's cuz everyone is ASLEEP.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL, HILARIOUS!!!!!
I'm sure we'll receive some wonderful suggestions the following LATE AFTERNOON.......which is when I'm gonna wake up!!!!!!!!!!
Since we're up.....what's your real name? I highly doubt that its PSquared....although it would be a very unique one. LOL. I'm Aisha.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
I'm a member of the GS insomniac club too. ack. I've tried all those inspiring tips - no tv, dark room yadayada and nothing works....
every now and then when I get super over-tired, I'll take a benadryl (or two) and have a lovely full night sleep. And wake up feeling really good. I tried Tylenol PM and it made me really groggy but I'd still wake up after a couple of hours. And it made me feel very groggy the whole next day. Benadryl worked very well for me.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
Teach you body to stay in bed for 8 hrs. Even If it doesn't sleep.
No activity !!! when its time just lie down , turn off the light(before you lie down)
Think what ever, what you did during the day, future plan, any thing.
Next day your system would know its time to sleep.
This excercise would help you training your kids too, when you have them lol
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
^ Thats a good advice, but falling asleep is important, REM bro!
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
Trust me she will.
When we watch too many movies + GS we get so many threads going on in our own head.
She need to kill those threads in order to sleep. Probably first day she will be still up, But she will be putting end to those half million things in her head.
If that doesn't work she could have back, what she payed!
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
PM thats good advice for sure...but it doesnt work for everyone. In my case, I get more and more involved in my thoughts just laying there, my mind races and I get even more wide awake. After hours of this, it get to be annoying yeah? It can become a vicious cycle.
For the most part, I usually get about 4 or 5 hours of un-interruped sleep which isnt quite enough so when I start feeling totally rundown, the benadryl is a real godsend.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days…
I feel like a total hypocrite for advising you about this matter 
but here goes…
try sleeping a little earlier everyday til you have reached your ideal bedtime. This will help you adjust slowly to a more normal sleep pattern.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days…
^ look whose talking (sorry couldnt help it AE hehe)
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
No worries AE!! lol!! Heres the "thing" with me...
When I was working, before I had babies...my work was "off-shift". I worked from 4 am till 12 noon. When I wasnt working, I was on call and had to respond to pager within 5 minutes. And since I was supporting a trading floor, the calls were incessant. Sleep was a luxury.
Then....babies. Feedings every 2 to 4 hours with diaper changes in-between.
I had messed up sleep patterns for a decade lol. So personally I think my biological clock is totally outta whack. Even though I already go to sleep early - by 9 pm - that just means I wake up earlier - say by 1 am. Go back to sleep by 3 or 4, wake up again by 7. Anyway, I think that if I went on sleep meds for 2 weeks or so then my biological clock would learn how to get good sleep again. BUT docs (in US anyway) will not do this for me. And I would not feel comfortable medicating myself for 2 weeks every night with benadryl. I dont want to have the reputation of being a "drug seeker" which is what would happen if I outright asked for this. So I wont...I'll just continue the way I've been and deal with it yeah?
as if i didnt say that already!! 
I think poor sleeping habits are quite common among many people 
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
I liked ideas of PM and AE.
Its amazing there are people who go to sleep in a minute anywhere anytime. (Not those who have narcolepsy but those who are otherwise 'normal' people)
Body needs to be trained gradually.
Do not fight hard to get sleep on time in one day.
This makes you frustrated and even more awake.
Few things I found useful is to:
1-Never sleep during daytime or take even a catnap.
2- Do some good exercises to make your body tired or just be active all day.
Staying online and reading books while resting does not make body tired enough to go to sleep fast.
3- Try not to take meds unless absolutely necessary. There is no magical pill which can mimic natural sleep. Perhaps for very short time to train your body, you may think of taking light sedatives. benedryl is good for some but it has anti-cholinergic side effects on brain which stimulates few nerves rather depressing it. Sleep with benedryl is not a nutural kind. Alprazolem or Zolpidem for short time are OK. You might be groggy in morning with cloudy head if take meds and the effectiveness may become less with time.
Re: Im not a happy camper these days...
Diwana, I havent been one to pop a pill for any and every ailment that bothers me...I'm educated and fairly well-read about things that affect myself or my family. And have been told for years and years of all of these steps to take to get back to a normal sleep pattern and that it takes time. I tried and tried - for months!! with no success. After having such an interrupted sleep pattern for about 6 years with work followed by another say 3 or 4 years with babies...my biological clock tell me so sorry but you aint gonna get a good nites sleep, you gotta keep waking up. Sometimes, I think that the clock gets so very outta whack and meds can help to re-train it. I dont know this for sure...I havent pushed my doc cause I dont want to be a drug-seeker. But something I DO know for sure is that all of the "typical" sleep-pattern-retraining" methods have not worked for me. And if I give it 3 or 4 months with no improvement then thats not the answer. I'd be so curious to see ... if someone had a similar problem, and was given sleep meds for a week or 2...did that fix the problem?