What Do You Do When You Have Insomnia?

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I've always suffered from insomnia occasionally, even when I was on my meds to help me sleep better. In most instances, (when it comes to me and the stuff I like), I find myself writing a lot of the time.

Personally, what do you find yourself doing whenever you can't fall asleep?

I either listen to music or watch something on Netflix

Outside regular sleep hygiene practices, if I can't sleep I just drug myself to sleep. I have a huge collection of many kinds of sedating meds to take.

When I know I have to go to work the next day I'll always take a sleeping pill. But even then I still have trouble often getting to sleep, mostly when I worked a few days in a row. I don't do anything to distract myself. I know I need all the sleep I can get, and spending time on distractions makes me feel I'm just wasting more time.

When I'm free however it's not much of a problem, in those cases I'll watch some youtube or read things. I know I don't have to wake up early, so it's alright.

I have this trick in which I fool my mind into thinking that I'm rolling around in bed when I'm actually not. It calms me down, and I also focus on my breathing, in and out, in and out.

I get out of bed so that I don't form an association with being in bed and not being able to sleep while wanting or needing to.

I get up and read, or watch TV or a movie on my DVR, or play a video game until I'm sleepy. Sometimes just playing my favorite Kindle games send me to sleep -- don't know what that says about my games, lol.

If I don't have time to waste because I have to wake up in the morning: I will listen to "music" or rather some pink noise, such as https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... aturesound , close my curtains so room gets pitch black and if it still doesn't help I will change bed mattress (my bed isn't too comfortable so I keep the mattress from my old bed which isn't the right size for the current bed but is more comfortable so I can change them if the new mattress bothers me). I might also open the window for a few minutes so some fresh air gets in - but I have to close it soon because else the morning noise(starting at 4-5AM) will bother me.

If I can just screw it I will watch some anime or read manga on my tablet till feel tired enough (my tablet has red filter on https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ndroid.lux so the blue light isn't an issue). I do it everyday before sleep anyway(and fall asleep pretty fast, sometimes within mere 5 minutes) so if I can't fall asleep I just do my evening anime/manga routine for longer.

Listen to audiobooks! Sci-fi usually. It's like someone reading you a bedtime story.

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do one of three things Raned from Most Likely to Least Likely
A. Go about my day as normal with slight modifications
B. Lucid Dreaming
C. Sit there and do nothing.

I work on my arts and crafts when I can't sleep. He he, I said work.

Like Ezra S, I post on here (or elsewhere), like i'm doing now.

Either that or read something really boring that lulls my mind to the point where I can switch off enough to sleep.

Last edited by Bustduster on 19 Sep 2016, 8:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I usually just lie in my bed. Sometimes I get up and read.

Since I've been suffering from insomnia on and off for years, I often have a hunch if I'll have trouble falling asleep that night. If I think I will, I'll take a melatonin pill. Melatonin is a natural occuring neurotransmitter in the brain, so taking the pill has no side effects whatsoever. It just makes you a bit more drowsy and sleepy. Works almost everytime.

I have a "mindful body scan" CD that is designed to put me in a mindful, relaxed mindset. I'm supposed to stay awake while I focus on every part of my body starting at the toes. However, it never fails to put me to sleep so I listen to this when i have insomnia.

I tried Melatonin, i was kinda hopeful it might help, unfortunately it didn't for me, but i hear good things about it. Sleep hygiene i think is generally a good thing, but by no means a cure, and is sometimes not helpful at all. I have kind of accepted if i can't sleep, then there is nothing i can do about it, that is actually better than trying for me, as i just seem to tie myself up in knots. Generally being aware of my body in a vague sort of way, where i try to relax all my muscles, especially between the eyebrows is the thing that helps me most. Anything else just seems to stress me.