Cant get back to sleep

[cocopops]

Hi All I am having a problem, where I wake up during the night to go to toliet and when I get back to bed my mind starts racing and thinking and preparing stuff for the next day etc...stuff that can wait until Im awake, therefore it takes me a good hour or two to get back to sleep. I am not depressed or anything but my mind just becomes active and prevents me from returning back to sleep! any suggestions anyone!

[888sally888]

I try my very hardest to stay awake and find I drop off!! Other option - have sex!!

[shylock73]

Don`t drink anything after 9pm, and then only a small cup of chocolate type of drink with an asprin. If you are male and over 40 do you need to go to the loo more than once during the night? If so see your GP a.s.a.p.

[Jillius]

Lie right on the very edge of the bed.........you'll soon drop off lol

[SKA]

my mum once said to me if I cant go to sleep go for a little walk outside, but I think thats mad i'm not going out in my pjs so i just go stand in the backgarden- dunno if this'll help you though

[HJT40]

When you wake do you really need to go to the loo or is it a habit to wake at the same time and you assume this is what you need?

I was waking at 4 in the morning and going, but one morning I decided not to go, rolled over and went to sleep. I was fine, didn't really need to go.

Or try writing a list of what you need to do the next day before you go to bed so if it crosses your mind you can banish your thoughts knowing that its all written down.

[Bewlay Bros]

I have never had trouble sleeping but when I need to get off fast I always use this tried and tested method. It works even better in the cold winter months.

Just lay there and imagine you are lying naked on a slab of ice in the middle of the North Pole.

You are allowed only 20 individual items of clothing from your own wardrobe.

Now imagine putting them on whilst slowly warming up.

You are only allowed twenty remember. So double socks and double gloves is already 8 gone.

By the time you get to twenty items you should be warm and tired.

It also stops the mind thinking about anything else. After a few times you will know what items you choose so it will train your mind to be prepared for sleep after you have selected.

It may sound silly but it does work, honest.

[joannie10]

similar to as SKA says they say you should not just lie there as it will become harder to sleep - dont necessarily go outside perhaps go to the living room and read for 10 minutes. Also if things are on your mind - keep a pad beside bed and quickly jot them down and seemingly this kinda takes things off your mind for this time. Sorry not tried and tested or anything, just ideas I have read about. Good luck.

[nutgoneflake]

Or if all else fails, and you want to try a herbal remedy, get some Passiflora tincture (liquid) NOT tablets. 5 or 6 drops on your tongue (tastes awful!) will be absorbed almost instantly, no waiting to digest a tablet or drinking any water!! The one I always swear by is FSC - try a health food store. Don't get palmed off with anything rubbish, watered-down and worthless from Holland & Barrett....go for the good stuff. A little bottle is usually around �6 and will last you ages.

It will help you to calm your racing mind and sleep naturally, with no grogginess in the morning xx

[mandimoo]

i cant get back to sleep if i dont go to the loo (whether i really need it or not). id agree with the pad by the bed, it shifts the thoughts from your head to the pad. bewlay bros im gonna try that north pole thing cos i have terrible trouble sleeping.

[cocopops]

Thanks for all your responses!
To HJT40 - yes i do really need to go loo, as that the reason I wake up.

To Shylock73 - thanks, and I am a female.

Bewlay Bros - thanks I will try this.

nutgoneflake - thanks, i will try and get some of these drops

Thank you everyone else for your ideas

[jedimistress]

Joannies "writing it down" method works for me when things are particularily bad.