Any other insomniacs?   Come forth below...

Was 2am too early or too late?  

I always plan to go to bed at 1am but it's about that time that I discover a Great New Thing to do that keeps me up till 3am and beyond. Then I curse the Great New Thing in the morning when it dawns on me that yet again, I have not had nearly enough sleep. 

Up until about 6 months ago for years I could NOT get to sleep until 5-6 am at the earliest and because of my poor health if I don't get 8-10 hours of sleep I feel like I'm dying. It was horrible because I had so much that NEEDED to get done during daylight hours. After a forced a bunch of issues and a few issues self resolved I'm now up at 8-9 in the morning and usually zonked out by 1 am. 

Insomnia is hell when you've got stuff to do. Glad at least that one nightmare is over.

Insomnia..nope. I loves me kip. Bed by 11, up at 7.

One thing I simply cannot do anymore is to have an unbroken night's sleep.

Something always wakes me up - bladder, thirst, sweats, sometimes 3/4/5 times a night.

By the time the alarm goes off I'm exhausted

Yet - on the weekend I'll wake at 6:30 with no alarm and feel fresh as a daisy.

Bloody psychosomatics!!!

Hey, Jonesey... have you tried some of the herbal sleep aid mixtures? I used to use one years ago that had valerian root, St. John's wort and some other crap in it. Not as powerful as a chemical sleeping aid but it helped. Also vitamin D supplements can make a pretty big difference especially if you don't get a lot of sun... and seeing as how you are a computer dude in "sunny" England I'm going to venture a guess that you don't. You could also try light therapy. To me that light stuff sounds all hocus pocusy but apparently all the studies point to it being beneficial. Cheers.

Valerian works but it sometimes gives me a headache in the morning. I have found melatonin to be more effective. There is also a natural supplement called GABA which is good at stopping the mind from racing when you're trying to get to sleep. 

Never tried melatonin but heard it works great.

I just remembered a messed up dream I had last night. I was stuck unable to move on a matress in some dingy room and people were outside the door trying to get in to mess me up. I tried to yell out for help but could only get out a groaning "hwww... hmmmuuu". I think I might have actually been saying that out loud in reality. eep. Gotta calm down. Past week has been hard. 

I wouldn't wish consciousness on anyone.  It's while sleeping that my mind is finally free of the monotony, drudgery, open apologies, and utter horror of consciousness.  I say, "Let it run free!  Maybe this time, it will escape and we'll never have to go through that nonsense again!"