Teenager with insomnia?

Question

kay so i'm 16 years old and most of my life i was able to sleep without a problem, but once i turned 14 or 15, one night out of the week i would not be able to sleep until like maybe 3 or 4.

for awhile, it had been completely better, when literally ONE NIGHT, i feel asleep at 1 or 2 just because i was on the phone. so ever since then for about 2 months, i have been not able to sleep until like 3 o'clock on average, but i wake up at 8 in the morning. during the day i'm cranky and tired, but at night i am not able to fall asleep.

i went to my doctor and told her about this problem, and she told me that because i am a teenager, there is really nothing i can do to fix it, and that it is all just hormones. she didnt give me a sleeping pill or anything, just told me to drink tea before going to sleep and not to drink coffee or soda before sleeping, which i never do.

now im worried, because school is starting in a week and im going to be so tired with all my AP classes and waking up really early in the morning. can any of you help me? isnt there just like one magic thing i can do to get a nice, comfortable, satisfying, restful, sleep?

Answer 1

I have problems with sleeping from time to time and one thing that seems to almost always work is taking folic acid. You can buy it in the vitamin section of most stores and just take some a few hours before you go to bed. It is very healthy and you can't take too much. It helped me fall asleep fast and I felt well rested in the morning. Its also naturally found in orange juice, beans and green vegetables. However, I would still take the vitamins since they are great for you to take anyway. This has helped me a lot in college.

I've also heard that calcium is helpful for sleeplessness. When taken with food it supposedly has a sedative effect, and like folic acid, it is very healthy for you as well. Maybe try out one or the other, or even both. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Yeah, i know what you mean. I'm 14(15 in 2 weeks) and can't go to sleep until bout 4 and i get up at about 6 for school.

What i do is listen to some really slow songs untill i fall asleep. It doesn't always work but sometimes it's just what you need.

-Mar

Answer 3

i know how u feel..

but thatz only because I'm really stressed out about school..

but in your case is there anything that your stressed out about??

or something that you keep thinking about??

like you're not ready for school or whatever...

Answer 4

I'm a teen too! I had insomnia...

Here's what I did. I did not take any special pills. I did what your doctor said, but I also started exercising by swimming about 1 hour around 3 o'clock. Do not exercise after 5, I would recommend...

Also do not eat too late, not sure why. Just seems to keep people awake.

I also had a hard time NOT THINKING... I know it sounds weird but my brain wouldn't stop daydreaming, or stressing, or whatever. So, I force myself to keep an empty mind and not to think. Also keep yourself on a schedule. Do nooot sleep in on weekends. You may think you are catching up on missed sleep, but instead you're just confusing your body.

Anyways, exercise, drink no caffeine, don't listen to iPod, don't watch TV... All these things keep your brain buzzing. Nothing after five (for exercise) and nothing after seven for the other things. Thats my rule. Hope this helps... :)

Also, check out this site:

http://www.well.com/~mick/insomnia/