What do you do when Insomnia hits?

[US81]

Thought of a good one that I've always done on the road.  Put something monotone like American Pickers on TV and put the TV in sleep mode.  I do that to listen to something relaxing when neighbors or people in hotels are causing a ruckus....plus cranking the TV up gives them a taste of their own medicine going back the other way.

I have had to sleep during the daytime in hotels and such, where you can be at the mercy of the local basic cable. If TV is the only available source for noise to "drown out" road noise and rowdy people noise and such, I submit Animal Planet and Cartoon Network as common channels that have the least volume variation between their programming and the commercials.  (Not at all what I would recommend when you have better options, but sometimes you have very little with which to "make do.")

[kkt]

Watch TV, usually fall asleep.  If I watch a DVD I own, it doesn't even matter because I remember the plot.

Lie in as comfortable position as possible and concentrate on relaxing one part of the body at a time.

Quick shower, just rinse and out.  This is the best way when the trouble is it's too hot.

[signalman]

I just had a battle with insomnia on Sunday night.  I got up to use the bathroom then I couldn't fall back asleep.  After trying for nearly an hour I said "screw it."  I just got up, made coffee and caught up on some of the TV shows I had recorded on DVR and hadn't gotten around to watching.

[triplemultiplex]

I cannot fall asleep with a television flickering in the room and human voices coming out of it. I'm somewhat jealous of those who are able to do that.

[adventurernumber1]

I have insomnia way more than I used to. And the reason is because this past year, my eighth grade year (I call it the "Slack" year bc my grades were the worst ever and I always goofed off instead of studying or getting my rest). Nowadays as a new freshman in high school, school has become a major focus point, far more than it was this past year)..well anyways, so this past year, my eighth grade year, especially at the end of the year, I had gotten in a terrible habit of staying up on my phone for hours after being tucked into bed, sometimes almost the whole night. I'd be on Google Maps, Minecraft PE, YouTube, you name it. I would always be insanely tired at school and sometimes even fall asleep. Nowadays it's hard to go to sleep at 10 or 11 many nights bc of the bad scheduele I got on. So many nights I find myself with some pretty bad insomnia. Ironically, last night I had pounds of homework to do and I drifted off at about 12 and woke up at 6, with not even half of it done. I spent time today before school, during lunch, and after school fixing up that mess to avoid getting some nasty 0s. 

[kkt]

After one bad night, I make sure of getting exercise the next day and then go to bed at my regular time (not extra early).

[JMoses24]

I'm a chronic insomniac.

The thing I typically go to to help me are MidNites tablets. (In fact, I just downed 2.) They can be taken anytime, including if you wake up in the middle of the night, and I find they're effective. 

[Zeffy]

Similar question: How do you cope with the AWFUL feeling after staying up the entire night? It's such a bad feeling, and the worst part is at night I question being able to go to sleep thanks to what happened the night before. Luckily though, the past nights haven't been terrible to me.

[Pete from Boston]

Similar question: How do you cope with the AWFUL feeling after staying up the entire night? It's such a bad feeling, and the worst part is at night I question being able to go to sleep thanks to what happened the night before. Luckily though, the past nights haven't been terrible to me.

In another thread you mentioned drinking a lot of soda for the caffeine.  Many people I know don't even drink coffee after mid-afternoon because the lingering effect of the caffeine keeps them awake at night.  Have you considered cutting out the caffeine altogether to see it helps?

There's no good answer to your question.  Stay hydrated, take naps, and otherwise keep moving as much as you can.  Don't sit in front of the TV or computer.  Your body's not supposed to go without recuperation time so it feels bad.  You have to allow it what it needs. 

[Zeffy]

Soda doesn't seem to affect it. I've had days where I've drank no caffeine at all and I can't fall asleep. I don't know what the hell my body's problem is when it comes to sleeping. I honestly think it's my hyperactive bouncing-thoughts-as-I-close-my-eyes mind that does me in. Usually I can tame it by imagining a dream world (I.E. a story that I evolve every night), but all it takes is ONE errant thought that wants to persist and it's game over for me. Sometimes I can overcome it, other times...