# How long does it take you to fall asleep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802 "2018-11-19T16:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/41 "2018-11-20T01:52:49Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#): > > I have ADHD, and take a lot of meds. Could that be why I have trouble sleeping? I also have ADHD and take no meds. I take between 5 and 95 minutes to fall asleep. Most people with ADHD have sleep issues, usually insomnia and/or restless leg syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/42 "2018-11-20T02:37:33Z")
I usually go to bed to read at about 9:00 to 9:30 and put the book down and turn out the light about a half-hour later. Sleep follows in less than five minutes. If I feel really tired and don’t read, I still nod right off. My problem is if I awaken within about two hours of my normal 5:00-5:30 wake time. If I have to use the bathroom at, say 2:00 or earlier, there is no problem and I quickly fall back to sleep. Any time after 3:00 that I awaken, it’s likely that I will not go back to sleep and will get up before 4:00 and make coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/43 "2018-11-20T03:18:26Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > When first going to bed, I can generally get to sleep within a few minutes’ time. > > If I wake up in the middle of the night for a bathroom visit, getting back to sleep in a timely fashion is hit or miss. If it’s a good night, I can be back to sleep in a few minutes; as I get older, it might take an hour or more. > > If I get to an hour of lying awake, I’ll get up and go surf the web for 30 minutes or so, and then try again. Sometimes that helps, but sometimes I’m awake for another hour before I can fall asleep again. Sucks. This, this, this…and it’s so fucking annoying. I get up for work every morning at 4:30, so typically if I do manage to fall back alseep, it’s not long before the alarm goes off. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/44 "2018-11-20T04:53:04Z")
\*\*How long does it take you to fall asleep? \*\* Every night, I hope it takes the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/45 "2018-11-20T05:58:44Z")
melatonin should be taken 3-4 hours before bedtime. I always thought melatonin did do anything. BTW, this comes from my daughter’s pediatric sleep doctor. (My daughter is on the autism spectrum and ~5% of those folks have serious sleep issues. For example, un medicated my daughter will go to sleep anywhere between 8pm and midnight, wake up 2-6 times per week for 2-4 hours, but with clonidine goes to sleep within an hour of dosing and wakes up between 6 and 8am). sleep trick 2. At least for me, half an ambien puts me to sleep half as long. Minimum dose is 14/ or 1/3 a 10 mg pill. So, a quarter pill reserved for waking up in the middle of the night to facilitate going back to sleep. Sleep challenge. I work for a Chinese company and often have evening calls. It usually take 2+ hours after a call to sleep, no matter how late the call. Kinda sucks. Me, I’ve discovered that melatonin, if taken a couple hours before bedtime helps me sleep. I also listen to boring podcasts without ads that drone on and on. And I take that 1/4 ambien if it is 4:00am and I feel pretty awake. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/46 "2018-11-20T12:46:05Z")
Melatonin takes about an hour to kick in for me; if I take it at 8:30, I’ll be asleep between 9:30 and 10. Whether or not I stay asleep is another issue. I keep a book under my pillow if I wake up, read for an hour or so and maybe go back to sleep with the light on (and wake up long enough to turn it off later). If I wake up any time after 4:30 on a morning when I have to go in to work, I know I probably won’t be able to get back to sleep before I have to get up at 5:40. On other days, I will try to and may get another hour or so of sleep in. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/47 "2018-11-20T16:09:10Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am usually out in about 20-30 mins from when I go to bed. I can sleep when I want to. The important thing for me is finding the correct ingredients for proper sleep hygiene. For me the room needs to be dark, quiet, and cool, and the covers/blankets cannot be tucked-in. I also need space to roll from side-to-side (I am a side-sleeper), a thin pillow for my head, and I need a 2nd pillow (my wife calls the ‘hug’ pillow) to rest my arm. Everyone is different - you may require some light, white noise, and a different temperature from me, a fatter pillow, etc. If you are having trouble falling asleep, try adjusting one thing in your environment at a time until you find what works. Also, no caffeine after noon. I was just thinking about this. I don’t have the same requirements as you, but I do have bedroom requirements. I said to my husband the other day, “Heaven help me if I ever have to sleep somewhere else. I’d have to have a U-Haul to bring all of my sleeping necessities”. The bedroom must be cool. If I get hot, I want to be able to stick an arm or leg out from under the covers until it gets too cold. In the summer, a window fan is a must. In the winter a fan on the dresser is aimed at me. The fans are used for both the cooling factor and the white noise factor. I have an extra blanket on top of my comforter because I like the extra weight (I want to try one of those weighted blankets someday). The covers are pulled up past my chin, sometimes over my head. I have a My Pillow that I love. I have room darkening shades. I have a small diffuser with lavender oil running all night. My door is closed. No night lights. My husband and I sleep in separate rooms because he snores terribly. So, for me anyway, it’s all in creating a “nest” for yourself. I look forward to going to bed because it’s so cozy. But like I said in my earlier post, there are always those nights when my brain is spinning and it doesn’t matter that I’m in my cozy nest. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/48 "2018-11-20T16:20:59Z")
> [@CastletonSnob](#): > > I have ADHD, and take a lot of meds. Could that be why I have trouble sleeping? Both my kids have taken ADHD. They are generally amphetamines, so are stimulants. If you take them too late in the day they can definitely interfere with sleep. In fact that’s one reason my kids don’t like taking them (they also interfere with appetite). ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/49 "2018-11-20T17:10:38Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > “Heaven help me if I ever have to sleep somewhere else. I’d have to have a U-Haul to bring all of my sleeping necessities”. That’s funny, and I feel much the same way. It’s a real challenge when sleeping in a friend’s or relative’s guest room that may have minimal bedding, or they like the house warm and stuffy, no white noise, lots of light “bleeding” in. Makes for a tough night. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/50 "2018-11-20T17:14:54Z")
sorry, wrong thread ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/51 "2018-11-20T17:28:54Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > My problem is if I awaken within about two hours of my normal 5:00-5:30 wake time. If I have to use the bathroom at, say 2:00 or earlier, there is no problem and I quickly fall back to sleep. Any time after 3:00 that I awaken, it’s likely that I will not go back to sleep and will get up before 4:00 and make coffee. I’ve had chronic middle-of-the-night insomnia for many years now. I often wake up at 4:30 and have trouble going back to sleep. I used to think I didn’t go back to sleep, but eventually I figured out I was actually dozing in-and-out. The conscious part of my brain would “pause” when I dozed and then “resume” when I came out of it, so it felt like it was awake the whole time. It didn’t perceive the pause. In addition, I don’t think the brain is very good at judging time when sleepy. You may feel like you’ve been awake forever, but it might just be a few minutes. Now I just lie there and relax so I can doze on-and-off when I wake at 4:30. I generally feel well rested when I eventually get up even if it felt like I was awake the whole time. One way I figured this out is because I would listen to shows to help me fall back asleep. Sometimes I would realize I missed a huge part of the plot. It was like someone fast-forwarded the show. Once I realized that, I stopped listening to shows that had plots or audio with linear structure (like songs) so I wouldn’t catch on when I dozed. I started instead listening to things like yoga workouts, since I don’t catch on if I miss part of the audio when I’m dozing. So for anyone who wakes and has trouble falling back to sleep, I would recommend just trying to lie there and relax until it’s time to wake up normally. Realize that you probably aren’t awake as long as you may think. If you have trouble turning off your brain, listen to something which is fluid and unstructured so your conscious brain won’t realize when it missed part of the audio. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802/52 "2018-11-20T19:53:09Z")
It usually takes me 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep. I pop two generic Benadryls as I get into bed and then check out Instagram until I know sleep is in the offing. For some reason, finding videos of fancy desserts being put together makes me drowsy the quickest. Perhaps ten or fifteen minutes worth. It’s then I know I can turn out the light and drift right off. But I generally check out my regular feed before looking for those. The Big Crow is another of those who falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-you-to-fall-asleep/824802.md?page=2)