I can't sleep either. I occasionally take a pill to help me sleep.

it is hard for me to sleep too. I know i dont want to sleep because i do not know what terrible dreams i will have if i do...

i couldn't have explained it better myself. it's a combonation of things for me, but i think my reason for it is that in the middle of the night you're the only one awake, no responisibilities, endless privacy, and i know that as soon as i fall asleep it's mere hours before another day of anxiety and pressure

It is 0630 now and I haven't been able to sleep yet. I don't want to go down the xanax path as I drank a lot tonight but I am beat now. None of my usual tricks have worked so I have done so ebay xmas shopping which I think has just made me a little more down. I wish I had the answer.

thanks guys. a thought just hit me. maybe i really hate waking up?

Yes I do hate to wake up but I also hate the dreams.the ability to live it over and over and even add things you don't need added.

I have the same troubles. I avoid going to bed. It's really stupid as I'm fifty and a student and I really need to be alert and sharp.

But once my head hits the pillow my mind just gets racing and racing. Not on bad topics, all the time. I'll have "flashbacks" and loop sometimes, but they don't conciously horrify me. But to my body it is another matter. My heart races and I actually start to have whole body twitches, like mini-spasms.

For the sake of my blood pressure I've cut out salt. I've stopped drinking my beloved coffee this week. Still, it happens. I don't want to go to be because I fear I will have one of those nights where the anxiety spins and spins and spins.

I take an Ambien once in a while. Or an Ativan, which is like a milder Xanax. Sometimes I have a glass of wine, but I'm so sensitive, that makes me headachy.

Today I went for a long walk in the woods. I listened one of the lectures from my entomology class as I hiked along. iPods and iTalks are wonderful gadgets. When I was revved up, I was studying, as I started to chill out, I just relaxed.

The woods up here are lovely now. The canopy has thinned so more light hits the forest floor. The leaves are yellow and orange and red. It's bright in the woods. It just rained here after a dry spell. I started pulling apart logs looking for fungus beetles. Found none, but saw a wondrous array of fungus. Marvelous little sculptures of all kinds. Peeling off the bark, I found one log was covered with bright blue fungus. I mean that crappy fake raspberry candy color blue. And then I found this huge shelf fungi that looked like hunks of pumpkin rind. Pretty amazing.

But did I walk enough to make me sleep tonight? I do not know.

My problem is the dreams. I sometimes HATE going to bed because I know what I'm going to go through once I finally go to sleep.

I can't remember not having sleep issues. Most of the time I fear the dreams. Sometimes I just have thoughts go round and round for hours. Last night I just couldn't fall asleep I was up till 3am

i appreciate all of your replies. I have to say that it just makes me angry. sleep deprivation is just one of many issues that are all rooted at my abuse. It's over now, but it seems as though i continue to be victimized while my abuser gets to on and live his life. on the bright side, i'm actually sleepy right now. lets see how it goes tonight

I can't sleep without the distraction of the television - it stays on all night. If it goes off for some reason I wake up - turn it back on and go back to sleep. When my husband was alive I did not need the distraction - but since he died - I guess it was the depression that was came on me at night that created the need for distraction - so...that's how I sleep.

Ok that wasn't very well said - "I guess it was the depression that come on me at night" is what I meant