I know for a fact that I'm not the only person on Mene who suffers from this particular problem. That being said, how many of you frequently flirt with sleep, only to find that it's not meant to be? How many of you spend time staring at the wall, or the ceiling, or counting sheep, or glaring at a bottle of melatonin? Are you in camp 'has trouble falling asleep' or camp 'has trouble staying asleep?'

Here's a better question: What, if anything, helps you sleep?

I find that, while I generally have trouble sleeping, the whole process is made a bit easier if I have a window cracked open. Double points if it's raining. Being out in direct sunlight for long periods of time also tends to drain me something fierce, which helps (even if it doesn't entirely solve the problem overall). It's a pity that I don't care to spend long periods of time in the sun...

I've heard good things about melatonin. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. Tried it during college for a few weeks (took a capsule an hour or two before bed), upped the dosage when it wasn't doing the trick, and finally abandoned it to look for other solutions. The goal here, of course, being to avoid the use of sleeping pills (I don't really relish the idea of becoming dependent on something like that).

Post insomnia stories and sleep strategies/aids below.