Can't sleep, what do?

You try Lucid dream ?
Is good for conquering nightmares.
Goodnight guys :)

I always drink a glass of milk when I can't sleep :)

I've had sleeping problems my whole life. I'll tell you what my brother, who is a doctor, told me once:

Have a few drinks

You may try practicing Zen (no, not Yoga). It can even substitute sleeping to a certain degree.

I tried so many meds. They don't do shit. Unless you get the good stuff, but that's a) hard to get and b) can get you addicted. So you can't take it ever day and need one or two days inbetween each 2 days you take it. I know how you feel, I don't have nightmares anymore, but I don't get a lot of sleep myself. Never really did. I started to like lying awake and thinking about the day and everything, but if I really can't sleep (and actually want to) I listen to music/podcasts or... just stay awake until I'm tired enough to fall asleep. That's all I can contribute. Hit me up if you found something.

I had sleep problems a while back and the best thing I ever tried was magnesium supplementation, and now I sleep perfectly fine :-)

The thing to realize is that stress rapidly depletes the body of this mineral, and this is likely why you are experiencing these symptoms. Magnesium basically makes you feel calm and relaxed, in a very natural and gentle way...plus it provides many other health benefits as well. Your body requires sufficient levels in order to work properly. Most processed foods remove this which is why so many people are deficient in it now.

So please just try this, and I promose you'll notice very tangible benefits...and will feel overall much more relaxed with very noticeably improved sleep cycles and less stress. I've been taking 2 a day for 3 years now (once in the morning and again 20 mins before bed with juice), and I will never stop taking this...plus it's very affordable too.

My brand of choice is this one btw (magnesium citrate is the kind you want as the body easily absorbs it).

Anyhow all the best Alyssa :-)

i sleep better than normal if i've had a significant amount of physical activity in that day, if i'm especially tired, or had sex shortly before trying to sleep. i have trouble falling asleep if something big is happening the next day (especially a good thin) or if it's a different bed than i slept in the previous night.
i don't feel stress though so if your trouble sleeping is stress-related maybe none of this will help. good luck though -- hope you find something that helps!

I completely understand, I rarely get to sleep as well. I had my nightmare for the 7th time in a row last night. My cat had a baby and some guy picked it up and smashed its head against a wall until it died. It was messed up.

Have you tried sleeping medicine?

Melatonin alone does little, and doses should be carefully adjusted - over a certain threshold it has a detrimental effect. Tryptophan in conjunction with melatonin and does wonder for me, both to get sleepy and for the quality of sleep. Magnesium and niacin supplements could also help.
Stay away from BDZs, they're not suitable treatments for insomnia - sure, they'll knock you out, for a time at least. Then you'll quickly develop resistance, addiction and the effect will even be reversed depending on usage history and molecule - high potency BDZs can actually help in staying awake if one is used to them.
As always ask your doctor, possibly more than one - in my line of work I see way too many physicians with little to no understanding of pharmacology whose licenses should be revoked.

I fall asleep easily without the help of any medicine, and I almost never wake up during the night. My secret? Constant sleep deficit, but just to a mild degree which does not visibly impact my life. I'm sure that negative impact can be measured in a sleep lab, but as long as I feel good with it throughout the day, and as long as no-one complains about my performance, it's good for me. The other bonus is that I get 2 to 3 more waking hours compared to most people I know.