You should probably talk to your doctor. Insomnia is an actual sleeping disorder. Maybe you can't fall asleep for a different reason. That's why you should go to your doctor.
I occasionally get this. I find the best solution (and make sure you dont do this on a work day. Do it when you have a free day) is to stay up for the length of the next day. DO NOT fall asleep. Do everything you can to stay awake. Coffee, energy foods like chocolate etc. Then goto sleep around 8-9pm. Set an alarm for early the next morning, for about 7am. You should wake up no problem with this. Then, just make sure you goto sleep a reasonable time that night, say no later than 10-11pm. This may not be the best way, but i find it works very well for me.
Failing that, goto your doctor and get some tablets that reset your sleep cycle.
Has anything happened to you like loss of a loved one or stress? Perhaps you should try to bring your body clock back.. stay awake each night till you're about to fall asleep... and then sleep till you wake up... eventually you'll end up sleeping at like 10pm and waking up and between 5 and 7 and if you keep to this it should help.
I went through a similar period myself last year.. for no actual reason mind... it just went away and then for about 3 months I'd sleep at 10.30 and wake up at around 6, no problem.. then I started staying up again and it came around again...
I find that if i sit around alot in the day i cant sleep very well.
The best way i found was go and do something that makes you totally and utterly knackered in the daytime, preferably outdoors, running, cycling, working on a car etc, so you are really worn out by the end of the day.
it worked for me, plus a couple of beers always helped me to sleep aswell.
i find doing nothing for an hour before i fall asleep helps me unwind. if i go straight to bed from doing something that requires major thought, it gets stuck in your brain.
did you know, that you should actually do nothing for alteast half an hour before going to sleep if youve done something exiting or that. some doctor said you ''adrealine brust'' is still on for half an hour after the thing youve done. and i find that actually helping, niko try it. also, you should not play games for that half n hour, just watch tv or smthing like that
Since this is a recent change it could be a symptom of a more serious problem. You should seek the advice of a doctor. They will be able to give you advice, perform tests (if necessary) and refer you to a specialist (if necessary). I used to have trouble getting to sleep and I am regularly 'upside down' on my sleep cycle (sleep during the day, awake at night). Something I found helped me to get to sleep was to try to replay the day before.
I wouldn't joke about this. Some people have very serious insomnia and without proper sleep you can start to suffer mental problems.
Me when i cant shleep, i start imagining and thinking that next day, i will receive Scirocco and i take it on Westhill and do manji and listening to loud Sepultura till my nose start bleeding ... max 5 mins and i always fall in deep rest
It is very very good :goodvibes
Dont know if its insomnia, but i didnt sleep at all when we had serious problems with our family. I woke up in the morning, and went to sleep in the next morning. Then woke up in the night and then nolifed and went to sleep again and so on ... wierd. Now im okay
Jesus christ I just typed out a massive reply then the internet went down. Great.
Anyway. As Jamie says, try and going to bed earlier - around 11pm is good (if you are aiming to wake up at 7am). If find if I go to bed at 11 I will get to sleep quickly, but if I stay up working or whatever till 1am etc I won't be able to get to sleep for another couple of hours.
As others have said, try not to do anything too engaging before going to bed. Reading helps, but playing games etc does not.
You could also try muscle relaxation techniques. Contract your muscle groups for 20-30 seconds and then relax them again, start from the feet and work up to the upper body. This can help before sleep.
Alcohol and caffeine are both disruptive to sleep patterns and so shouldn't really be drank before going to bed, although beer may help initially, it shouldn't really be recommended, especially not in the long term!
Or, as Dan says, just bosh one out. That usually works as a cure for most things, including hangovers as it happens
If you did 1: and 2:, you`re still.. OK(how can you be ok after more than 2g of weed, alone:really, and you try doing 3:, the odds are you`re gonna end up like this. Not a safe advice.
I am in the same situation right now, can`t sleep more than 3-5 hours. I can confirm the adrenaline thing, if i play something before going to sleep.. something that keeps me focused, i`m going to watch tv for at least an hour before i fall asleep.
Last night for example.. Arrived home after a wonderful night with some friends. I had my adrenaline stash filled, because of some heavy rain, relative high speed(for the road conditions), an empty long (~15miles) road, aquaplanning multiple times(nothing too hairy), and many times cursing the goddamn open diff.. on my way home. FWD but enjoyed it tbh.
I went to sleep at 4:40. Nothing. The grin on my face was persisting. Got up, power on the pc, get busy. By 6:30 am, i was totaled. Woke up at 9am.
Usually sex and/or weed do help, but since every now and then you`ll have to take a break from either.. you`re in deep. Unless you grow it and/or you`re married / engaged or something.
Actually that doesn`t work for me, if i stay late, crash when i can`t hold my eyes open no more, then sleep as long as i can, there`s no way i`ll ever be sleeping the next night by 10pm; more like 4am again.
[..]i`ll try, it seems reasonable logic, but another thing i hate about this sleep disorder.. is my whole body aches the next day after a 2 hour sleep stint. I can`t imagine how it would be like after none now. I was doing it 7 years ago sleeping every 2 days, for 9 months.. but because i had to.. school, working nights.. it was rather unpleasant.
Niko.. Chloroform? (CHCl3 - trichloromethane). Never tried it but shouldn`t be to hard to get a hold of . jk
-- Later on while wondering if i should press submit.. after remembering a little important detail and searching my hard drives:
This helped me few years back, and several of my friends. If it`s an interesting read, i`ll let you decide.
I think i`m gonna read it again too.
brb i`m hungry .
Doesn't work for actual insomnia, you can be really tired and just not be able to sleep properly. I don't take drugs, but 1 and 3 don't help with insomnia, when tried on their own or at the same time.
There was a show on BBC1 recently that talked over 10 steps you can take to improve your sleep, one of them seemed to work. Basically you just have to keep to a routine, you only go to bed to sleep, and even if you don't sleep you get up at the same time every day. Eventually you break the bad sleeping pattern.