Argh. Lack of sleep is known to lead to double posting.
When ever I have a problem sleeping, I do stream-of-consciousness writing. I get my pad and pen and write down whatever the hell comes into my head. Often, if something is bothering me, it come up then and I will write about it further.
By writing down the random thoughts, it keeps them from swirling around in head. Like opening a valve and letting them spill out.
The writing takes 20-30 minutes usually. Then I feel tired and can sleep.
I have heard that reading in bed is very very bad if you are having trouble sleeping. Your brain becomes accoumsted to this ritual, and doesn’t want to sleep in bed, it wants to read! However, I still read a few pages here and there right before going to sleep.
I have had trouble getting to sleep off and on my whole life, I think it could be genetic…my grandmother doesn’t go to sleep before midnight, but seems to get up around 5AM every day. Er…I digress.
As spooje stated, my problem is often the things that are going on in my life that I need to take care of, from random errands to things that could become dire emergencies in the next few days. I, as a writer (so this may not work for you), find that if I shut out everything in my mind, except one specific thought (ie, where did Character X come from? Why is he/she behaving this way?), not only do I relax and fall asleep more quickly, but the next morning I usually have a pretty good idea about said character, etc.
If you aren’t a writer, something else should suffice. Say…how would you like to decorate a certain room? Something that works your creative muscles and leaves the humdrum of regular business concerns to the back of your mind, where they belong!
Ah, imagery…I have also had luck with the relaxing every part of your body, starting with your toes, moving up your body, so that you feel as if you are completely weightless, or alternately, so heavy that you can’t move.
~J
For fourteen years I have taken three xanax, two dyserels (sleep meds – not sure hot to spell it), two prozac and one Wellbuterin.
But I don’t have any responsibilities and can sleep whenever I want.
The only thing that I can think of to add to everyone’s lists is to continually refocus your mind of the thought of black velvet. Let that be all you can see and feel in your mind. If your thoughts drift away, that’s natural. But just gently shift them back to the black velvet.
Did you mention sleep clinics on your list?
Years ago, I had an aquarium in the living room of an apartment I used to live in. I would lay oin the couch with the TV off, no music, not reading, just listening to the hum of the filter and the gentle splashing of the water. I was usually asleep within 10 minutes, even if I wasn’t necessarily tired. It was just very relaxing.
Zoe, I did have a sleep study, if that’s what you mean. The doctor recommended therapy and I did have therapy for insomnia for about 2 mos., and mostly learned the relaxation techniques like focusing on different parts of the body, etc. It works fine when my mind isn’t particularly active, which is, like a couple days a month…
But, an update, I stayed up until 2:30 last night, and spent the time working on programming my client’s system, so I was productive. I went to bed and don’t remember any lead time falling asleep. I awoke at 8:00 (when my hubby got up), and tried to go back to sleep 'cause I was very groggy, but couldn’t, so I got up. I felt okay throughout the day.
It’s 12:45 now, so maybe I’m on to something. Though my digestion was terrible today and that’s usually how it is when I’m sleep-deprived. So I’ll have to take it day by day.
veerAnd I’m happy I was out late tonight, because I saw a beautiful moonrise and took a drive down Sheridan, took some lovely (at least I hope they come out that way) pics of the large moon beside the Baha’i House of Worship.
I think the little monster is on to something, and to think you were there all the time 
I’ll talk to you about the diabetic cat next.
Thanks you guys. I really like hearing your stories, even if I’ve tried what you suggest because it makes me feel not like such a freak!!
I have always had this, and now my son does. Can’t fall asleep at bedtime, but once asleep, we stay asleep pretty well.
I have a trick that sometimes works, and I will be happy to pass it along. I crank the air conditioner and a fan, then lie down on top of the covers for around 20 minutes, until I get good and cold. Then I snuggle into the covers (warmed by my lying on top of them) and I can fall asleep.
Trick #2, which my husband doesn’t understand: I work nights. By the time I get home after the first night, having been up for 26 hours or more, with maybe a 1/2-hour nap but usually not, I totally crash. Best sleep EVER. Just delicious.
By the way, I have heard that exercise during the day makes your body tired enough to fall asleep at night. Do you find that you sleep better on your exercise days? Do you sleep less?
As an aside, I have been told by a sleep specialist that I may have a 25- or 26-hour day. This was proved to be correct when I started working nights, 11p-7a Sun-Thurs nights. I would fall asleep Monday am at 8, Tuesday at around 10, Wednesday at 12, and so on. This was when I was single and could sleep whenever I wished, and it was very interesting. Now that I have a family, I don’t have the freedom to sleep as I wish anymore…but if you can keep a schedule like this, you might try it for a while and see what happens.
Good Luck and Good Night!