NeuroTalk Support Groups - Impossible to get a restful sleep?!?

I can't fall asleep, and when I finally do, I'll have like 20 minutes TOPS of this super restful, deep sleep, but then something (I haven't figured out what) always wakes me up:(--usually around the same time every night, too, which is bizarre. Or maybe it's just my body because it hates me. Anyway, after I wake up, I get annoyed because of it and can't go back to sleep for a while, and when I eventually do, I toss and turn for the rest of the night & can never seem to sleep as deeply as I did at first.

I've started taking ZzzQuil at night, just out of desperation for a more peaceful sleep. My family gets annoyed with it, but honestly I have no idea what else to do. It sort of works; I definitely notice a difference between when I take it and when I don't. When I do take it, it's still not a perfectly restful sleep, and when I wake up in the morning it takes a while for the rest of the dyphenhydramine to work its way out of my system completely so I'm still a little groggy. -_-

If ANYONE has this problem, or knows anything about it, PLEASE let me know.

I've tried everything--no lights, no sounds except my bedroom fan; I'm cool, my sheets are clean. I've switched out pillows, drank herbal/calming tea, taken that natural sleeping aid garbage (which does SQUAT), written in a journal, read a book, stopped exposing myself to technology & other bright lights an hour beforehand. I've tried relaxing, reading my Bible, listening to soothing music. I also go to bed around 10pm every night and wake up at 7am, so it's not like my sleeping hours are erratic and/or crammed into too short of a time window for getting the proper "8 hours".

I don't drink too much caffeine or drink it too late. I don't consume alcohol. Whether or not I go to bed on a full or reasonably empty stomach doesn't matter. I also take a multi-vitamin every day, and have for almost over a year, so it's not a vitamin deficiency.

I haven't been tested for sleep apnea, but I don't snore (at least not that anyone has let on :rolleyes:). My grandfather (or was it my grandmother...?) had a machine he slept with at night, because he had sleep apnea. Some of my family members claim I sleepwalk, which I'm not sure is true. I know I've done it before, but that was way back when I was like 10 or 11 years old and still had a bunkbed--which makes for an interesting story haha!--and I haven't done anything like that since.

I've been dealing with this for several years---at least two, if not three. It's not had a HUGE impact on my life, but I'm definitely not at all at my best. I wake up stiff and tired, and don't have much energy.

I'm 21 and run 5 miles several times a week, as well as strength train. I eat healthy, drink plenty of water. I'm supposed to be energized and full of life--not sleep deprived & grumpy. : /