Watch felching videos while eating marzipan
Pracrice the kama sutra solo
Slit wrists
Fall asleep watchng alley mcbeal

I have had sleeping issues on and of since I was a child. You asked for a serious advice, so here it goes:
Problem with going to sleep or staying asleep is almost always a sympthom of something else. Stress is of course a classic, but depression (even a mild one) is a very strong second. The problem becomes extra annoying when you conclude that the lack of sleep can make you stressed and / or depressed. In other words: it is fine if you choose to get some meds or what not to to cure this short term, but do yourself a favor and (with the risk of some serious gheyness) think about your life and feelings too.

My biggest sleep nemesis has always been caffeine. For the longest time, I was dumb enough to think it didn't affect me. I did other things to try to get to sleep (like sleeping pills). I would be so damn tired when I went to bed, but once I got there my mind would scream along like a fighter jet for hours.

Once I forced myself to stop drinking mountain dew 5 or 6 hours before going to bed, my issues completely cleared up in a matter of days. I would suggest that you can drink caffeine with a "late lunch", but stay the hell away from it during an "early dinner".

One more note - if you like mixed drinks then consider what a Jack & Coke in the evening will do for you. The alcohol will wear off in about an hour. The caffene will take about 5 hours.

I've had horrible insomnia several times in my life (to the point where it made me feel like I was going to go insane). I'm currently getting pretty good sleep and I can attribute it to one thing - cut out ALL caffeine. I'm not 100% off it now but I was for several years. The problem is that the caffeine makes the little bit of sleep that you do get shitty at best. My wife even noticed that when I dropped the caffeine I was much more restful while I was sleeping (no tossing and turning).

On the days that I absolutely cannot go to sleep some hot food or alcohol puts me over the edge where I can get to sleep. After drinking I still wake up tired so I think the quality of the sleep suffers. Anyway, drop the caffeine cold turkey and report back in two weeks. FWIW, my first Mt. Dew in 2 years almost made me pass out.

I do a lot of travel across time zones, and Melatonin is what I use.

I also have use Lunesta on occasion. Lunesta is faster acting, but I worry about getting dependent on it.

My thoughts are that your body is needing/wanting sleep. Something is keeping it from getting it (i.e. caffeine). Taking a pill will only mask the symptom. I dropped off the caffeine when I noticed a co-worker was drinking 3 cups of coffee to stay awake in the morning and then popping pills at night to get some sleep.

When I can't sleep, I just get up and drive to work. Work 8 hours, then go home and sleep 12.

I recently bought a $110 shredded latex pillow.

omg it's the bomb.

welcome to 2008, LOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

This. The wife and I just use regular old generic benedryl though, pink pills, 25mg @ a time, take 2. sleep. Doesn't work for everyone, but its cheap @ like 100 pills for ~$4. Give it a whirl, worst case you've got some antihistamine laying around if it doesn't work... Takes about an hour to kick in for me, wife likes to take it 2 hrs before. You really don't want to take it unless you can get 6 hrs of sleep, because its pretty hard to convince yourself that waking up is worth it earlier than when it wears off :)

Checking in.

I've been off caffeine for awhile. This is a problem that has always plagued me since childhood. I'm having another bad week, 4hrs or so of sleep every night. I have a very physically demanding job so I work super hard in hopes of exhausting myself to get some sleep but it rarely works. I still toss and turn all night then just feel even more exhausted the next day.

I try not to nap during the day but sometimes that is the only sleep I can get so I take it. This is maybe once every two weeks. Reading boring books only puts me to sleep during the day, doesn't work at night most of the time. TV tends to help but by the time I move from the couch to the bed i'm wide awake again. Drinking can put me to sleep but my quality of sleep is poor so I prefer not to go that route. Same goes for any kind of sleep aid. Also, I can take a whole bottle of melatonin and its not going to do anything (exaggerating of course)

Wtf.

finally got some rest last night. :)

Think I found the cause. I have quite a few bug bites, from being outdoors in some wooded areas) that have been itching like crazy. I put some lotion on it and it helped. I also took a benadryl (which knocks me out anyway) to help with the swelling. I might have to repeat tonight, although it seems the bites are going down.

this. and eat a lot of turkey. or take L-tryptophan.

Benadryl is great. But expect to go back to not sleeping for a night or two after taking it for a week or more. Your body (or at least mine) gets addicted to sleep aids pretty quickly.

I can drink a fairly large coffee 30 min before bed and pass out.

Stress is what keeps me up. And usually a coffee will reduce my stress, so I'll drink it, think happy thoughts, and go to bed. Yes I realize that doesn't make sense.

Which is why I really doubt that is your problem.

Double-check your grounds.

Benedryl FTW