Struggling to Sleep: Need Advice

It's never the same thing that works every night, but I do always need black out curtains and a brown noise sound playing and I need to put my phone on do not disturb and detox mode so that I mentally check off from using it. I also have a weighted blanket that I use sometimes, and I recently found a specific sleep meditation that helps my body and mind calm (the one I use is in the practice of "yoga nidra" -- kind of like a body scan). As far as supplements, melatonin on its own has never helped me. I got super familiar with the sleep aid isle of the drug store, tried a variety of things, and paid attention to the ingredients in things that worked vs. didn't work. I kept finding 'l-theanine' in the ones that worked, as well as "ashwagandha" in a couple, so I started just buying those supplements seperately at a grocery store near me that has them. Now I usually only take these when I'm over-stressed or having panic or anxiety attacks, just because that is what they both help best with. If I've been stressed or restless all day or close to bed, I'll take these before I lay down. I also started getting a sleep tincture from the same grocery store (Fresh Thyme) that has valerian root, hops, skullcap, passion flower, chamomile, and California poppy in it, and it is by far my favorite thing to take to help me sleep. It helps the most consistently. I take it in some tea, and sometimes take kava (also in tincture form) with it. I've also started taking CBN (a cannabinoid) at times, which at first had a physical effect on me like nothing else -- very noticeably making my body heavier and slower -- but it hasn't been feeling effective lately.

Try the combo one with one half of tablet is fast release and the second half is slow release It knocks you out then keeps you asleep Also vitamin B in the morning gives energy naturally and helps you metabolize melatonin naturally

I got an eye mask and it has worked serious wonders. I do also sleep with a stuffed animal, even though I'm an adult sleeping in the same bed as my husband because it's soothing. I used to live near a train as a child so I listen to distant train noises on Spotify. I use a weighted blanket as well, I like my room to be as cold as possible so I make sure the temperature is set to 66 at night. Too hot and it's near impossible for me to sleep.

listening to frequencies, eye mask, noise machine, weighted blanket and a heater are all things that help me sleep. i used to get rly bad insomnia and sleep paralysis which was honestly the worst thing i’ve ever had to deal with in my daily life. but out of all those things the thing that helped the most was seroquel.

Suggestions you might consider, or might have already considered, include reducing the caffeine you've take, double checking the side effects of any prescriptions or supplements you take. For instance things with b vitamins tend to make it harder to sleep at night. So if you take anything like that, you might want to switch around and take it early in the morning when you first get up or whatever. You could try exercising before bed, or calming down with a nice hot bath or warm shower, or reading, or something like that. Melatonin never worked for me, so I finally had to get on a prescription sleep aid. I'm on Seroquel right now, and it works pretty well, but I just have a personal issue where I kind of adjust to medication pretty quickly and then the dosage has to go up. And when I say pretty quickly, I mean every 6 months or more, which probably isn't all that quick, but whatever. Lol if this really is a long-lasting problem, talk to your doctor about it.

I've been told to make a wind down/bedtime routine and practice it to make it a habit may help. Other things i've been told are to have little to no technology interaction about an hour before bed, phone screens an tvs etc. keep our brain active and mind awake; if you have dimmer lights use them to make rooms darker when it's night time and preparing for bed; if feel like been laying in bed awhile and struggling to sleep is to get out of bed and out of bedroom to read or some other relaxing form of activity than try to sleep again, this helps prevent associating sleeplessness with your bed; warm showers; hot/warm milky drinks; avoid napping after 6pm as will reduce our tiredness build up; try to not consume caffeine after 5-6pm to help prevent it keeping you awake. I personally like to listen to sleep mediation, do breathing exercises, music or sound tracks when falling asleep (I use balance, they are currently offering a 1 year free promo) and using a manta sound sleep mask. . I hope some of these may help.