How long do you have to lie awake before you can go to sleep?

[Tresbn00]

I have never had a proble with falling asleep. My problem generally lies with not having enough time to sleep.  I work, sometimes, over seventy hours a week at one job, thirty to fourty hours at another, have two kids that have driving needs and daddy-time needs and like to work out every once and a while.  This leaves me about five hours of sleep time per night and I try to sneak a ten minute nap in between jobs which is all it takes (sometimes) to revive and come back strong.  Because it has been a way of life for about four years I no longer harbor animosity or hatred for my alarm clock!  When I do have lulls that allow me to sleep longer I still wake up after only eight hours of sleep and often feel more tired than when I had had only five hours.

[de3ik]

I used to fall asleep very fast. Now it can take longer than an hour or more at times. I hate that and especially when I need to get some rest. I heard somewhere that falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow can indicate that you are more fatigued overall than you need to be, but I'd rather have that than the way it is now for me. Unless I'm extremely exhausted it always takes me longer than normal it seems to get to sleep.

[mstevenson2]

sometimes hours

[loulizlee]

Sometimes it takes me over an hour.  My husband can be asleep in less than five minutes. 

[alaskakaren]

I usually fall almost right to sleep...if I don't it's because I'm upset about something and I usually get up and try again in a little while.  I hope everyone gets a good nights sleep!

[CharmedPhoenix]

I used to always be out as soon as my head hit the pillow, but in recent years that's undergone changes.  My anxiety level is sometimes too high and I have trouble turning my mind off so I take two drops of the Bach flower remedy White Oak.  Recently I've had a few bouts of insomnia, most uncharacteristic for me.  Most nights these days I read until I realize I'm falling asleep.

[Phx0808]

I used to be 2 or 3 hours. Now I play a DVD or a recrded TV show I have seen many times before, and I am out in 15-20 minutes. I have the Tv on a 30 minute sleep time so it shuts off automatically.

[jowbow]

about 20 min, but I am up in 3 to 4 hour to go to the bathroom then right back to bed.

[lynnc35]

I cannot go to sleep until I am dead tired, so if I lay there, I will be there for hours.

[dauna]

If I am really tired I'll be out in ten minutes or so.  Sometimes I get up to go to the bathroom and then can't go back to sleep--bad news when you wake at 3:30 and get up at six.  If I'm lucky and still sleepy enough, though, I'll go right back to sleep.

[Timberlan127]

I used to be able to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But the older I get the more trouble I have getting to sleep.  Then I tend to wake up at the slightest sound. When that happens I can't get back to sleep.  I've tried all kinds of things to try and help the problem but nothing seems to work.

[bremer51]

About two minutes.  But I often awaken in the middle of the night and lay there for an hour or two.  Very frustrating.

[darkxtsuna]

Around 2-3 hours for me 

[tashamjoy]

hours i start thinking of something about school work homework other stuff or i am wide awake so cant sleep or im soooo tired i cant keep my eyes open but still cant sleep!!! Probably once a month i actually fall asleep quickly i just cant sleep tried everything from medicine to warm baths the best thing for me is fighting sleep as long as i can tell i am soooo sleepy but bad thing about that is i have to wait a long time and end up with about 5 hours of sleep =(