>>60479642I tried to find an old post from when I last did this tl;dr, but couldn't find it. I need to start work soon but I'll try to highlight some stuff. A lot of this will come off as "you need natural sleep" which I realize may sound like hippie cliche bullshit but seriously:
No sleep aid, with the exception of melatonin, is safe to take long term. Not only will they stop making you sleepy, but over time if you continue to increase the amount of the sleep aid you're taking (IE unisome, alcohol, etc) it will actually start to have the OPPOSITE effect and keep you awake, making it harder to go to sleep and stay asleep. Even marijuana if you massively overdue it will actually keep you awake.
Your body has a natural sleep cycle, and produces melatonin to make yourself sleepy when it's time to go to bed. Taking a SMALL melanonin supplement, <5g about 30 minutes to an hour before your intended bedtime can help reinforce and get back on a healthy sleep schedule.
Until you can sleep regularly through the night, avoid taking daytime naps as this will make it harder to get back on a normal schedule. Stop drinking before bed, cut out all sleep medication that isn't melatonin. Make sure you're not taking anything that has caffeine in it at least 4 hours before bedtime, and be weary that sometimes caffeine can be found in things you don't expect (like candies or drinks, coffee flavored treats, etc).
Good luck Anon. I know from firsthand experience how miserable insomnia can be. Another thing, contradictory to almost everything else I've said here, is to try not and overthink it. Follow what I've said above, and after you take that melatonin try not to think much about going to sleep. Just relax and do whatever you want, let yourself naturally wind down.
