# Insomnia cures

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-cures/606383>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 16, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-cures/606383 "2011-12-16T04:57:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-cures/606383/21 "2011-12-17T07:41:36Z")

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> [@biddee](#):
>
> Thanks for the advice - I will definitely try the exercise thing. In the meantime I got some OTC sleeping tabs which will hopefully give me a good night’s sleep tonight.

Those are very likely over priced Diphenhydramine (hydrochloride) , aka Benadryl. You can get the same thing by buying generic Diphenhydramine , a bottle of a hundred should cost about $5.

They do work for many. Mind you, combining them with booze can double the effects so be careful.

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**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-cures/606383/22 "2011-12-17T15:09:54Z")

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Since there were two nearly identical threads on the subject going at the same time, I merged them. Sleep tight!

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**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-cures/606383/23 "2011-12-19T15:21:00Z")

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I’ve had insomnia most of my life. Here are my rules, and when I stick to them, I can go for months without a bout. When I think I have it under control and skip a couple of them, I’m back into a 2-3 week cycle of sleeplessness:

1. No caffeine, ever.
2. Daily exercise- first thing in the morning works for me.
3. My bed is for nothing but sleep and having sex. No reading, watching TV, eating, etc.
4. My room must be cool year-round.
5. Routine is key- I head upstairs, check on the kids, brush teeth, pee, get undressed, get in bed, kiss my wife, turn out the light and roll over.
6. No beer within a couple hours of bedtime- for some reason, as I’ve gotten older, when I drink beer at night I can’t get to sleep. Wine, whiskey, gin or vodka- no issues.
7. Avoid eating within three hours of going to bed, whenever possible. See ‘routine’.

On those nights when I’ve been laying there for 30 minutes and haven’t fallen asleep, I have to get out of bed- doctor’s orders. The longer you lay there, the more stressed you’ll get that you’re not sleeping, and it’s a downward spiral. Change your environment.

I go downstairs, have a glass or two of wine, surf porn, have a good wank, and go back to bed. OK, it may not work for you, but the wine relaxes me and the porn gets the ‘insomnia’ worries out of my head. When I go back upstairs, I’m usually out in about 5 minutes.

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