I know that feeling all too well. Nothing worse than lying there fixated on getting to sleep. Have you tried melatonin? Only caveat is be careful mixing supplements, herbs and the like if you are already taking prescription medication for any condition. Years ago I tried one of the newer sleep medications, Sonesta came before the new set of meds. Doc said make sure you are in bed ready to sleep before you take, yada yada. Took pill, sat wide eyed waiting for the long needed sleep, nothing. Too late to take a pm med didn't know if they would react badly. Lesson learned. Exercise plenty and no caffiene late in the day. Too bad I can't always stick to it.

Me, I think I would take next day groggy as opposed to no sleep. Just sayin.

This is one thread I will be following as a total insomniac.

Tylenol makes a product called Simply Sleep that's got 25 mg of Diphenhydramine HCI in it. It's the same med that's in a lot of allergy preparations and cold meds. I can use it and get a good night's sleep and not be groggy at all the next morning. You can buy 100 caps of the Tylenol one for $8 or $10 or just look in the allergy/cold meds and find a generic 25 mg Diphenhydramine for $4 at Target or Walmart. Works the same for me.

I wouldn't take any medication to counter act caffeine. Then you have one ingredient speeding up your heart and another slowing it down. Not a good combination, at the very least it can make you super edgy. The next time, just try some meditating techniques to try to quiet your system down. Sometimes it works and unfortunately sometimes it doesn't.

It's a terrible feeling, isn't it? The only thing I would dare try is lots of water to push it through your system faster. Of course, that brings another problem to deal with - running to the bathroom all night.

Once it's in you, it's in; I did that with green tea recently, ugh.....

I also avoid chocolate after 4 p.m.

Oh, that is a terrible feeling. I try not to drink caffeine after a certain hour (in fact, due to my awful hot flashes these days I'm trying to cut it out *almost* entirely - it's hard to do though), but I find that if I exercise too late in the evenings, while I may fall asleep right away, I almost always wake up shortly after midnight with that wide-awake, jittery feeling. Not good! I tend to agree with others who have said that they wouldn't take any form of medication to try to sleep, though. When I've done that, I've always felt even more wiped out the following day than I would have if I'd just left things alone. I think the combination of the caffeine drug and the knock-you-out drug causes your body to fight itself too much.

I've tried melatonin, but man, that stuff gives me wickedly bad dreams. That's a no-go for me.

As has been said above, I don't think there's a quick and easy solution. You just do it a few times and learn that you simply can't have caffeine after a certain hour. (Sucks getting older, I know.)

A couple of stiff shots? :)

I use a tiny nibble off of a melatonin tablet. Valerian root has also worked well for me in the past. Chamomile or Sleepy Time tea knocks me out (does make ya go, but I drink a lot of fluids during the day).

I second the tea.

Squirrel, I also drink that stuff and am out like a rock.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I did manage to fall asleep around 12:30, primarily due to the utterly BORING late night talk show, and a fat, purring cat on my chest.

I have tried the melatonin before, and it gave me weird dreams too. DH said the same thing. Wonder what that is all about?

Well, I guess I will just have to not have anything caffienated past 3pm!

You can have too much caffeine? What a foreign concept for me. lol! :~D

A snuggle with a fat and purring cat sounds like the most wonderful and bestest sleep aid in the world. I'm glad you got some winks pesky.

Well it *used* to be a warm bath, but after I reached a certain age, that didn't help. I'm *now* an insomiac, so sometimes get up at 5am, and sometimes sleep until 11am, Warm tea 'should' also help, or reading something light~don't get on the computer! ;o)

Valerian gives me weird dreams. Does it not do that to you Squirrel? Quitting caffiene is the best thing I ever did. I feel so much better and my blood pressure, which wasn't high, is back where it should be. I can't urge you enough to consider it if you have any trouble sleeping. I was only having 8 oz of coffee at 7AM in the morning and that was keeping me up. I still don't sleep soundly with decaf??? so I may be more sensitive than some.