Wanted- Your suggestions for dealing with insomnia & the resulting daytime fatigue.

Have you seen a sleep specialist? If so and you don't have medical conditions that cause this, I've found one solution that works for me. It can be hard at first.

To "reset" my clock, I get up an hour earlier in the morning. I've found that trying to go to bed earlier just doesn't work for me. The next morning, I get up two hours earlier than my usual time. At some point, natural tiredness kicks in.

Of course, you have to FORCE yourself not to take naps during this adjustment period and try to avoid caffeine. If you HAVE to drink caffeine (and I do), make it earlier in the day and stop drinking it around 3 pm - even earlier, if you can.

If those tips don't work, try melatonim, a natural supplement. Although you don't give your age, I found that most of my insomnia started as I got a bit older. I think there is some hormonal connection. I wish I could have gotten by with less sleep when I was a young mother instead of now.

If all else fails, of course, and you are in pain, you could try some sleep and pain medication. That would be my last choice because I'm so fearful of addiction. At some point, though, you have to decide how much sleep deprivation is affecting your life and what options you need. My husband snores so he has a C-Pap machine and that has made a HUGE difference. He hates the machine but it does help him sleep and breathe better.

I am 32, and suffer from CONSTANT pain, due to several spinal misalignments (aka:subluxations). I am not insured, and I cannot afford a chiropractor at this time, so I wind up taking a mixture of generic Tylenol & aspirin every day. I'm worried that this will eventually affect my liver.

I feel ya... I have lots of pain and other issues that prevent me from getting a good night's sleep and unfortunately have to take pain meds and muscle relaxers.

By the way, this discussion would be perfect for my 'Crazy Sleepers' group! When you have time do you think you could post it there?

Thanks :o)

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