help me out here! problems sleeping!! (jm)

I watch mindless TV...usually infomercials.  Something that is interestingly enough to watch, but not so much that I need to think about it.  It helps me get my mind off of work and empties my thoughts so I can fall asleep.  Now, this won't help if you can't sleep with the TV on, I never had a problem with it.  DH on the other hand can't sleep with it on, so I usually fall asleep on the couch when I am having problems getting to sleep.  Works pretty much every time.  Just remember, it has to be something you aren't that interested in or have to think about, I have gotten sucked into movies before and then stayed up all night watching some weirdo movie.

Things that have worked for me:

• meditation (I have a cd of guided meditations)
• Calms Forte (homeopathic calmative)
• Taking the dogs on a long walk to clear my head
• Watching mindless tv 
• Eating something sugary (ice cream is a good one)
  

Drinking won't help.  Alcohol does make you FALL asleep, but not to stay asleep.  The quality of your sleep is impacted by alcohol and you end up waking up feeling worse than you did when you fell asleep.

I either read or watch mindless TV.  Once my eyes have had enough they close and refuse to open again. 

I second reading,with a booklight.Currently reading A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas.

Tena

 I read before bed, "easy" stuff like murder novels and such.  If I'm sick and really NEED to sleep, I take a half a Dramamine/Gravol.

 I use visualization.  I have a "happy place" in my head I can always go to when I need it, I know all the details, it's high on a tropical cliff, weather is fine, it's a bed/swing type thing that's supremely comfortable, there's a breeze, on an island, etc.  I have a CD of ocean waves I put on repeat and I light a stick of incense. 

When that doesn't work, there's Tylenol PM or Lunesta.   

well the TV or reading thing doesnt work AT ALL for me! i can get sucked into the lamest books or infomercials! seriously! it's pathetic!

my problem IS with falling asleep, not quality of sleep once i get there.

i dont really know how to meditate... i was thinking about that though...

i like the icecream idea! hehe. keep the ideas coming guys! :)

Since you're freelancing, is there any way you could slowly work your way back to working in the daytime but not at night?  Or at least, not all night?  A radical change in your work/sleep pattern can really mess up your ability to either sleep or stay awake when you want to.  My DS is going through something similar.  He works at the Hampton Inn from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. for three days, then he does two days from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. That constantly going  back and forth really makes it hard to adjust.

Joyce

I rarely have trouble falling asleep unless it's the weekend and I've taken a nap. I'm usually asleep within 5 min's of my head hitting the pillow. On nights I can't sleep though, I take a benadryl and that defiitely knocks me out. My husband takes melatonin and swears it helps him sleep. I think either benadryl or melatonin would probably be better for you than the beer and less calories too.

How about drinking some warm milk or eating turkey...never tested it, but aren't they supposed to help you sleep?

I know people who swear by St. John's Wort and aren't there some herbal teas that are supposed to be helpful?

Joyce

Chammomile tea is a pretty good calmative and something warm will help bring the blood from your head to your tummy.

But honestly -- you just can *not* stop work at 2:00 a.m. and fall asleep at 2:01.  You have to deliberately take some time to decompress and relax.  I'm not a TV person at all anymore -- but I'll check the boards until about an hour before I really want to sleep, then I'll go do my little chill-down ritual that involves soaking my feet (the joys of psoriasis) and reading a mindless trash novel.  If I'm particularly wound up I'll take some Calms Forte (Hylands -- the homeopathic someone mentioned above). 

Nothing works fast -- you can't relax by a schedule.

My other serious suggestion is to elminate caffeine.  Caffeine stays in your body over 12 hours -- so if you want to sleep at 2 a.m. you'd best elminate caffeine after NOON.  And caffeine is a drug and you'll get a wicked nasty headache when you try to detox your body from needing it.  Takes weeks to get past the shakes and sleeplessness.