I woke painfully early today. Insomnia .. have been cursed by this for much of my life. Before I took sleeping tablets it was not uncommon for me to not sleep until dawn. These days it is more waking in the middle of the nite and unable to resleep naturally... or like today waking before 6am. Do any other members suffer this affliction?
I actually think this is pretty common once people get to a certain age. I took melatonin for awhile, It's not habit forming like some other sleep aides. I found when I changed by diet and went to the half caffeine coffee and dropped the sugar, I started falling asleep faster on my own and get a really good nights sleep without taking anything. So maybe, you could try to see if adjusting your diet might help.
Years ago, in my 40's, I had a really bad case of insomnia. I was working a full-time/8-5 job and, after the second night of pretty much no sleep at all, ended up calling in to my supervisor and going to local VA Hospital. The gave me a prescription that really helped me. There are some nights that I'd really like to get more sleep than I do, but I really think it's an "age" and possibly "stress" thing. Neither of us were getting good sleep when we were getting ready to move. Most times, if I take a shower before hitting the pillow, I will go to sleep a lot quicker. Last night was one of my "lacking of sleep" type nights. It's been 10 1/2 years since wife and I have had anyone living above us. We now live on the bottom floor of a 3-story building. Went to bed at 10PM and fell asleep pretty quick, but woke up around 11:30PM from the people living above us making some noise shutting cupboards and walking around. After they stopped, two owls decided to talk to each other for awhile. I finally got to sleep again around 1AM.
I have ceiling fans, but at night, also run an oscillating fan for extra white noise at night because I'm near a fairly busy road. There are also internet sites that play a variety of white noise. I think it was @Bobby Cole who posted this really good one: https://asoftmurmur.com/ You can play it on your phone next to your bed. Has wonderful options and sound control.
I try to avoid lab drugs so I do use more natural sleep aides like meletonin, valerian and passionflower. Half caffeine coffee at dinner may help.. I have already dropped sugar. Thanks for advice.
The only time I have trouble sleeping is if I'm going on a trip or something the next day. Then I'm too excited to sleep.