h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nope. There's no way I'm going to suggest either hash or weed to anyone, since I have a bad reaction to both.
The getting up and going to bed at the same time daily, no matter what time you get to sleep the night before
is helpful. A warning must be made for this option, though. I did it for 2 months, and ended up more of a
zombie than I was before. I started falling asleep in public places, like park benches. So be very careful if you
choose to try this. A doctor once told me that drugs weren't a bad idea if you didn't suffer from chronic insomnia,
but if you do, try to avoid them. Alot of medicinal sleep aids can become addictive. Personally, I've now given
up the idea of ever getting a full nights sleep. Especially after I tried the boiled lettuce (don't ask me, I was willing
to try anything)

Hmm... well, I shall say that I have grown accustomed to it by now... None of the afore mentioned help me, especially since I can't smoke or take medication (doctor's orders, both parts...)

Hmm... well, maybe if I adopt an addiction to these Vodka fish...

jumpleh, garnr, mmm!!!!

I'll either become addicted or develop narcalepsy... either way, pretty good...

What was your bad reaction?

I know that each individual reacts differently to smoking marijuana, so please be careful on taking my previous advice.

As for myself I have been smoking for about 10 years now and I have never had a bad reaction, except for when I don't have any!

When my daughter was younger and couldn't sleep. I would sit with her and talk her through relaxing her muscles one at a time, starting from the toes while imagining herself floating on a cloud, . By the I reached her fingers she was usually asleep, it might have been boredom but she still uses it today.
One thing not mentioned here is that people do need different amounts of sleep. If you sleep 4 hours a night and feel fine, who say's you need eight.
By the By, the male "ahem" on the beaches are quite good for keeping us females awake too

Oops! Perhaps I should have said "on a beach, totally alone". It never did occur to me to imagine others there with me, since it would just be a distraction. Sorry 'bout that.

Of course, now I'm probably going to have some rather luscious beach dreams.....

I occasionally suffer from insomnia too, for a month or so, and then it seems to go away.

Now is one of those "month or two" things...

I've started sleeping just every-other-day and it seems to work, the first 24 hours i feel perfect, and can easily stetch it into 36 hours awake. By then, believe me, nothing can keep me away from a bed/couch/whatever...

Just takes a bit of cautions with doing things like driving when the 36-hour line approaches... but then again, your mileage may vary...

Try burning some lavender oil or a lavender scented candle. One thing I found works really well, and is similar in effect to trying to consciously relax your muscles, is 'Pulse Tracing'.

To do this, lie on your back, and starting with your toes and working up, try to feel your pulse in every part of your body. The most common ones are found in the sole of the foot, the back of the knee, the buttocks, small of your back, back of the neck, temples, just under the ears, inside the elbows, writs, and fingers.

When you've traced them, try feeling them all at once, sort of like a body pump. If your doing it properly, you should notice a slight delay in the pulse detected in the neck, and the ones in the soles of the feet.

Eventually you should also discover additional pulses in the some pretty surprising places.

I'd heard about lavender oil a while ago but never got round to trying it. A friend said it was really good but he is able to fall asleep just whenever, usually involuntarily after a couple of pints, so I guess he has the opposite problem.Perhaps we need sleep transference.

I'll give the pulse thing a go, sat here at my desk I can feel it but I have a paper due in tommorrow so I don't want to get too relaxed.

Or, then again, you could try smoking some Ucalyptis (spelled incorrectly) leaves... I've heard they make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside... hey, all of those Koalas must know what they're doing, eh?

Ok! It's good to know that more people suffer from this. Maybe we ought to set up something like Insomniacs Anonymous. I will try all of the suggestions (bar the weed) until I find one that works. Thank you all for contributing, and please - keep those posts coming.

hmmmmm............life's a beach..........zzzzzzzzzz

I, having been a beach in a past lifetime, resent that comment! Please, such abrasive comments aren't wanted here...

LOL!
Apologies to all beaches, past and present. That was not a degenerative about beaches, just an observation!

Apology accepted (however reluctantly...)

Uhm... I'm fully aware of that.

Where I get my biggest problems is that my natural internal clock is set for 36 hour days.

*giggles*

If life were really a beach it wouldn't feel so bad getting sand kicked in your face.

Hmm... Well, it does... quite a bit... each little kick in the sand is like a prick of a needle... after a while, little bits begin to get sore...

Reading a technical document can be a good way of going to sleep. Often works for me.

Heh.. or watching really bad sitcoms (ie, most any of them).

Eight years ago, I was given a video as a gift called 'Invasion of the Humanoids'. No matter what state of awareness I'm in, I have only been able to watch half an hour of it, before waking up just as the end credits are rolling. Has anyone heard of this film? If so, do you know what it's about?

Incidently, lest many of you think I'm a complete moron (or more so than usual), No - the film does not run for half an hour only, but extends close to two.