How did you sleep last night? Did you sleep like a baby or, were you tossing and turning, frustrated that you could not fall or stay asleep? I have not always been a bad sleeper but it seems that I have to have absolutely nothing on my mind to disturb my slumbers, and how many of us ever have that luxury in today’s hectic world?

Normal sleep has three parts. The first is quiet sleep, Then comes REM (rapid eye movement sleep) in the second part when dreaming normally occurs. It is the third part that I have found most interesting consisting of short periods of waking for 1-2 minutes. These periods of waking, occur about once every two hours through the night. In an undisturbed normal night sleep you would not remember the short periods of wakefulness unless they go over 2 minutes, or you are distracted when these periods then become longer and will be remembered.

Animals deprived of sleep for long periods lose the ability to retain heat and die. But can people get by with an hour or two less every night?
A very small number of people appear to need four hours of sleep or less a night (Margaret Thatcher was one). The purpose of sleep is shrouded in mystery and paradox: For example, if sleep is physically restorative, why do the inactive need as much as the hyper active? If the primary benefit of sleep is to the brain, as most scientists believe, why do dimwits need it as much as rocket scientists? Some experts have speculated that sleep may be an evolutionary mechanism to conserve energy. Human volunteers restricted to four hours of sleep a night showed hormonal changes of pre-diabetes and the idea that insufficient sleep may be partly behind the obesity epidemic is being explored.
Psychophysiologist Jim Horne at Loughborough University has found he can train people to sleep less without negative effects by gradually reducing the amount they sleep -- 20 minutes less every three to four nights -- apparently forcing the volunteers to sleep more "efficiently." Try this to find your optimal sleep requirement. Restricting sleep among some people with depression has also been found to lift their moods.

As a first step, checking your general health is important, amongst other things thyroid problems and clinical depression can cause sleep problems.

Try not to sleep during the day, go to bed only when very tired and get up at the same time every day. To sleep in, a cool quiet relaxing bedroom with dark curtains works best. For further information contact the Sleep Council in the UK on 01756 791098, or for the insomnia helpline call 0208 9949874 and to all of you – sweet dreams!

I have always had trouble sleeping. I don't think I have had an uninterrupted night for years! I have tried all the over the counter medicines like Nytol and although they do work I don't think they do for long as I find after a few days I am back to square one. I think the thing that I would say is don't fight it. Getting worked up about the fact that you are lying awake when others are asleep will just make things worse. I find that if I just start thinking about nice things, or have the radio on down low, I will eventually drift off. My problem is not getting to sleep, it is staying asleep and there is nothing worse than waking up thinking it must be nearly morning and finding you have only been asleep for a couple of hours! Now that I work from home I do find it not as stressful to be awake, I used to commute and the thought of facing a long train journey (usually standing) a fight through London, a busy working day then the fight to get home made me very anxious about not getting sleep and having to face all that on a couple of hours shut eye! I know its hard, but try to let if go, accept you are awake and think about something else, it works for me!

I have been taking a product called Nytol for sleeplessness. It does work but it does make me feel groggy and a bit under par in the mornings for a while. The trouble comes when I try to stop them after a few days. I have real trouble sleeping for several nights to the point that I have sometimes gone back to them just to get a good night. I am surprised that an over the counter medication should have this effect, does anyone know why?