I've always been a poor sleeper my whole life and have tried many different things. The anxious self talk is very destructive to sleep habits as you've said but is so "natural".

Over the years, I've developed different ways of coping with it. When I notice I'm heading down that path of "If I don't fall asleep now, tomorrow will be horrible" etc, I replace it with things like:

"It doesn't matter if I sleep right now, its only one night and I will do ok with a bit less sleep."

Then I start to really think about my individual body parts and how they feel.

"My feet are nice and warm and feel so comfy resting on the mattress" and really feel my feet.

"My knees and thighs sink deeply into the soft bedding, that feels so nice".

"My back is so supported and relaxed"

And if I come to a body part that isn't in its most comfy spot, I think about that too and think maybe if I shift a tiny bit this way it will be nicer. Or if I tuck this pillow like that.

I think really focusing on each part and its comfort and how the sheets feel and the softness makes me really relax, calm down and fall asleep quickly.

By the same token, if something is really uncomfortable (like the dog accidentally got upstairs and ate a cookie in the bed leaving crumbs!) I get up immediately, change the sheets and try again. Otherwise, all I can think about is how prickly things are

Not sure if that will help you, but that has improved my ability to ward off the negative stressed out "must sleep now" thoughts that don't allow for any sleep.

Starr

Hi Nick,

The troubles I have falling asleep have gotten much better over the last year. A year ago, I had a lot of trouble falling asleep and staying asleep and would wake up several times each night - it was awful!

Now, I generally fall asleep within a half an hour to two hours after going to bed.

Aside from time, and just getting better cognitively, which has reduced my anxiety levels a great deal, I think the number one thing that has helped me to fall asleep each night is to wake up at the same time consistently every morning.

I tried taking 5-HTP, which my acupuncturist told me is tryptophan, but it didn't seem to help at all. But I do think it's worth trying because I'm pretty sure it's helped a lot of people.

Nowadays, when I have trouble going to sleep, I usually try to meditate to relax. I've also used the trick Starr uses to relax each part of my body, starting with my toes and moving through each part until I get up to my head. Or I eat a light snack, like a yogurt cup, or some cheese or beef jerky. (Sometimes, I'm hungry and I don't realize it and then putting something in my tummy makes me sleepy.) When none of that works, I get out of bed and read a little bit of something light in another room and that usually does the trick.

I know there are other sleep aid medications out there. Tell your physiatrist about the trouble you had with the newest one you tried and see if they can give you something else.

I now have good luck with Ambien, but it didn't start that way. Regular Ambien would get me to sleep, but I would awake a couple hours later. We switched to ER, but then I stayed groggy during daylight hours.

For some reason my body got used to non-extended release Ambien, and I now get a full night's sleep with it. I have no idea why, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I'm not happy about being dependent on another prescription, but am very happy that the sleep problem is not a problem for the time being (I certainly have enough of those).

Thanks everyone.

I'm going to bookmark this thread because there is lots of good advice/suggestions to try. I took 400mg of Gabapentin last night and it knocked me out until about 2am. Then, I fell back asleep until my alarm went off. First time that's happened in awhile. So, I'm gonna keep using Gabapentin as a sleep aid until that stops working - then its on to these suggestions.

Thanks again guys and gals.

Nick

I've been trying 5-HTP per my FNP's suggestion, and I really not sure if it's helping that much. 5-HTP is a precursor of melatonin and serotonin. I'm taking it along with my Ambien. I actually wanted to try it more for my depression and it's helping a little with that. Interesting research here, seems it also helps with weight loss and migraines, check it out! http://www.charlesgantmd.com/article...-precursor.pdf

Ambien works great for me for sleep. There's tricks to it tho, see my post up a ways from the TBI forum, in Sleep Apnea & Sleep Disorders forum. Mostly it's just that it needs some room in the gut to absorb quickly enough to work; so eat early.

A good self-talk suggestion from my counselor:

Say something rote and boring to yourself. Some ideas are to recite times tables, play a very easy alphabet game (a is for apple, b is for banana, c is for cherry), or anything else that you can occupy your mind with WITHOUT ACTUALLY THINKING.

And here is an option for a homeopathic sleep aid that was recommended to me: http://www.hylands.com/products/calms.php