Please die, insomnia

[SomethingBig]

I've tried just about everything to murder my insomnia. I've tried:
1- Milk
2- Exercise
3- Reading
4- Contour pillow

First, I'd like to know of any other possible methods to combat this demon from hell. Second, I'm just about ready to use sleeping pills, which brings forth questions:
1- What are the health risks involved?
2- Addiction?
3- How long 'til the effects wore off?
4- How old do you have to be in order to buy medicine in NJ?

Thanks for any and all help.

[Old Manus]

You could try drinking a lot before bed.

[kikimm]

Hmm....sounds pretty bad. Reading is what usually works for me; music helps too (of course, not something like Disturbed/other loud and possibly obnoxious bands), if you're a bit hyper. Usually I just come on here until I feel a bit woozy/insane from loss of sleep.

I've never taken sleeping pills, but I've heard they're not so good for you, because they don't allow you to get the true "deep sleep" that you need.

Sorry I can't help out too much. I hope that as soon as you read this you feel exhausted, and will go to bed immediately. And have no further problems with insomnia.

[Loony BoB]

I have recently gone through a spell of insomnia and ended up trying sleeping pills.

First of all you should try over-the-counter stuff. They're not effective with everyone, but they work for some people and are far less dangerous. You can probably find some good herbal ones out there, too. My Mum uses NatraSleep and swears by it - however it didn't work for me.

If you do need hypnotics (knockout pills), then go to your doctor and explain everything as honestly and openly as possible. If you are suffering from some kind of downpoint in your life or anything that you think might be affecting you, then let them know. Anything that might give them a better idea of what will get you sleeping better.

Sleeping pills are well known to be addictive. I'm not like that because I just plain don't like pills, so I never went that way. But your doctor should let you know of such addiction problems and they will probably only give you a minimal amount of pills to counter such possibilities. I got given ten pills, and was told to only use five of them and then try sleeping normally. After four, I gave it a shot without any and it worked. The key is to use them at the same time every night.

Other things you could keep in mind for trying to sleep are the following:
Try sleeping with a window open, if you aren't already.
Try sleeping with slow music or something else that calms you.
Take a hot bath.
Exercise, yes, but during the day, not at night.
Don't constantly try sleeping at different times. You have to get your body into a rhythm and this can take a while. This is especially important if you use hypnotics, as the entire point of using them for a week or so is to forcably adjust your body clock into a regular sleeping pattern.
Make sure you're eating and drinking normally/regularly.

If you have something on your mind that is troubling you, then you should talk to people about it.

But first of all, try over-the-counter stuff and see if it works for you.

EDIT: As for the health risks, just make sure you take them as prescribed/directed and you should be fine. As for the effects, they differ from person to person, so make sure you cancel any obligations the day after you first use them (such as work, school etc).

[Project G]

Isn't insomnoa a mental illness?

[boris no no]

i had insomnia at school...it wasn't fun
try and relaxing and not stressing. i remember thinking"must sleep must sleep" and that just made it worse

[Mitch]

Umm.. I'm not trying to spam with this... so delete it if you must...

I don't know how bad it is, but sometimes having a w*nk works... I am serious by the way

[Winter Nights]

I don't know how bad it is, but sometimes having a w*nk works... I am serious by the way

Actually, this is really true. Getting off by some measure does help, as it uses alot of energy.

[Rye]

I've been having trouble sleeping lately too, but I think it's the heat and how I have too much on my mind when I try to go to sleep. I wish I had sleep pills sometimes.

[Chris]

Sleeping pills can be a good way of helping you through this problem. Anyways, not everyone gets addicted to them. Just make sure not to take an overdose.

[faster skating penguin]

Wank.

No, seriously, it works very well. Sometimes I crank one off just because I wanna take a nap. Try it.

[Chris]

Wank.

No, seriously, it works very well. Sometimes I crank one off just because I wanna take a nap. Try it.

Thanks for sharing that with us.

[Princess_Yuna]

I think that's a good idea but maybe it's dangerous.Why don't you take a piece of advice from a doctor?!

[Crop]

Wank.

No, seriously, it works very well.

No wonder ive never had insomnia.

[SomethingBig]

Thanks to everyone for the advice so far. Now, I'm sure the question that's on most peoples' minds is, "Why hasn't this crazy guy seen a doctor, yet?". Well, the answer is that I'd have to ask my parents. Which means they'd blame it on my having a computer in the room with access to the internet, although I can assure you it's not. I've tried sleeping before, but after an hour or two of lying in my bed with my eyes closed, I don't feel the slightest bit sleepy. I could tell my parents that, but I know them better; they'll still blame it on the computer.

Bob, do you know how old you have to be in order to buy sleeping pills in the US?