long term effects of insomnia

I feel for you! Insomnia sucks! It is important to remember that your health is not at risk if you do not get 6-8 hours of sleep every day. Different people have different sleep requirements. Some do fine on 4 hours of sleep a night.

How long are you able to sleep?

Have you tried some of these suggestions?
* Avoid caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine before bed
* Don't take daytime naps
* Eat at regular times each day (avoid large meals near bedtime)
* Exercise early in the day
* Get out of bed if you are not asleep after 5-10 minutes and do something else (going to another room may help reduce your anxiety about falling asleep)
* Go to bed at the same time every night
* Keep comfortable sleeping conditions
* Remove the anxiety that comes with trying to sleep by reassuring yourself that you will sleep or by distracting yourself
* Use the bed only for sleep and sex
* Practice evening relaxation routines such as muscle relaxation or meditation

thanks for your advice, I appreciate your help, most of the things you suggest I do anyway, tho I will try cutting out caffine etc in the evenings. It takes me at least an hour to get off to sleep, often longer, with 'stuff' going on in my head and keeps me awake and alert. A friend suffers from tinnitus and has a similar problem, she got a CD called Sleep Easy and swears by it so I might give it a try, it might help relax me and calm my mind. regards, Ann

Do you fall asleep at about the same time every night, no matter what time you go to bed?
Do you usually cannot get to sleep for at least two hours after you've started trying to go to sleep at night?
Are you unlikely to wake within the night sleeping deeply, once you've managed to fall asleep?
Are you catching up on the lack of sleep at weekends, sleeping around 9-12 hours?

You're not alone! Sometimes i get bouts of sleeplessness and i notice it's usually when i'm stressed out about a project or excited about some activity in the day or worried over some personal issues. And yes, i wld then take abt an hour or more b4 finally falling asleep. When that happens 2 nites in a row, i wld just grab a magazine or read a short science article which helps me to focus on smthg else that is monotonous. Usually works for me.