I have major insomnia at night, what can I do?!

I have major insomnia at night, what can I do?

I stay away from caffeine and food, etc. Stuff that would keep me away, etc. But lately, since I have been on vacation, I can't sleep. I usually find myself asleep at 2 instead of my usual 10 pm, and I wake at 5, instead of 6:30. What is causing my lack of sleep?

i know what you're going through. a lot of times at night i am "tired" and want to go to sleep, but i'm not "sleepy" if you catch the difference.

this is especially true when i travel. as for the reason, i believe it is simply being in an unfamiliar environment which causes you to subconsciously not feel safe or comfortable enough to got to seep easily. it could also be that you are in a different time zone (same as jet lag) and it takes a few days for your body to reacclimate to the difference as sunlight plays a vital role in telling your body when it is supposed to feel sleepy.

my mother is a pharmacist and told me to use melatonin supplements any time i need to regulate my sleeping patterns, and it WORKS. melatonin is a substance produced by all lving creatures that regulates their daily sleep-wake cycles. in laymen's terms, melatonin is what is responsible for making you feel sleepy...you take the supplement, you feel sleepy, you sleep...period.

you don't need to use it daily like some meds, so dependence is not a factor. just take the recommended dose about a half hour before you want to go to sleep whenever you're having trouble getting to sleep be it from travel or the change in sleep patterns from weekend to work week, or stress. i often have to take some the night before an exam because i'm so stressed out i can't sleep.

you can also take it a couple nights in a row at the same time of night. doing this will change your sleep cycle so that your body feels sleepy around the same time you've been taking the melatonin the previous nights. so you can use it to simply go to sleep one night when you prefer to, or you can use it a couple days in a row to more quickly develop new sleeping patterns that your body will get used to on its own.

it's non-prescription and found in the supplements/vitamins section. it will work and it's safe. it doesn't interact with anything else (your own body produces it after all). ask a pharmacist about it...surely there's a Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, or Eckerds or something wherever you're vacationing.