I had a tough time sleeping last year, mainly caused by anxiety about work, and the onset of mild asthma which caused me to wheeze as I fell asleep. The wheezin

I had a tough time sleeping last year, mainly caused by anxiety about work, and the onset of mild asthma which caused me to wheeze as I fell asleep. The wheezing would wake me up, and the anxiety would keep me awake. Incidentally, it took me four doctors to get this point across: I told them my son has asthma, so does my mother, and I have hay-fever, so maybe I had asthma too? Finally, sure enough, it was diagnosed and I was given an inhaler which fixes the symptoms. My point being - whatever your doctor says, (s)he could be wrong, and your problem might lie elsewhere. Anyway, during the three months or so of bad sleep, I often went for several days (the record being from Thursday until Sunday, ie 4 nights) without sleeping. That puts you in a strange state of mind, believe me. My first, regular doctor told me that I shouldn't worry about the sleep, since after a night I'd be so tired I could sleep through anything. Riiiight. Another doctor finally gave me sleeping pills, which were great - she even said she used them herself quite often. The only problem was getting off the pills after a few weeks, since they're addictive and coming off them causes anxiety and sleeplessness, which seems a bit circular and counter-productive... Anyway, the lessons learned, the hard way: * Doctors are fallible and overworked, just like everyone else. * Alcohol is not the answer. I tried. Sleeping alcohol off is not the same as a good night's sleep, and you'll damage yourself in other ways by over-imbibing. * Tea is better than coffee. I have one strong, tasty cup of real coffee per day (in the morning) then drink tea. I know many non-Brits complain that tea is a watery, flavourless drink, so I would refer you to George Orwell, who knew a thing or two about making a tasty cuppa: http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm * If you are anxious about work, relationships, money, your big project, whatever - deal with that. It's quite possibly the true cause of whatever's troubling you. Find ways to relax, especially socialising, exercising, etc. * Work out for half an hour each day. I do this and the endorphine rush is fantastic. I don't even work out particularly hard - I'm sweaty but not nauseous by the time I've finished. You'll look better, feel better, and probably sleep better too. I use a rower and a bike machine, so I can watch a DVD or listen to music if it gets boring. * Most of the crap about relaxation exercises ("tense up your toes, then relax, tense up your legs and relax", etc) is just that - utter crap which probably won't help at all. HTH. Don't just think about the immediate problem. Look for underlying causes and try your best to deal with those. And good luck.