During the week, I have to get up at 6:30 am and get my grand daughter on the bus at 7am. Then I drink warm herbal tea or milk and go back to sleep for a while.
Sometimes my cycle goes in 3s and 2s. I sleep for 3 hours, can't go back to sleep, so get up and read or put something in the crock pot, check the Internet, and then in about 2 hours, I can settle down and sleep again. Then I sleep for 3 hours, and then up for two. Eventually, I get 8 to 9 hours.
I do have some ambien, but I won't use that unless I have an appointment in the AM, then I take it to make sure I have a good night's sleep so I am not too sleepy to drive.
I have tried just staying up all night and all day, so I would go to sleep, but I don't. I just tired and grumpy but it doesn't help me go to sleep any better the next night.
My Dr. told me to quit trying. He believes I have a sleep disorder where my circadian rhythms are out of sinc. He told me to just sleep every time I am sleepy and make sure to get at least 8 hours any way I can, including afternoon naps if needed.
I’m a born insomniac, and that sounds very familiar. I’ve been using a combination of Tylenol PM and skullcap, it works pretty well. And has fewer side effects than ambien.