Hey Duchess,
Great topic!!! I found the events of my life during my divorce to be extremely traumatizing and virtually stopped sleeping during that time... I've had problems ever since. I would get up and read the Bible most of the night.
I've done tons of experiments and I still don't sleep well but here are some things that I have to work around:
1. I am EXTREMELY sensitive to caffeine and must avoid it most of the time--this includes tea, coffee, soda, and chocolate--or I know I will pay for it later. My body takes a long time to process it so a day of caffeine means about 3 jittery nights. Even decaf will affect me if I have it for a few days in a row.
2. For some reason, I HAVE to go to bed early because I only sleep for 1-3 hours at a time. A typical night for me looks like this: bed at 7... (it also takes me FOREVER to fall asleep but all I can do is lie there or my mind races all the more), sleep til 10, up around 10 and awake until 2, sleep again around 3 until I have to be up at 5 AM. If I try to go to bed later (say 10), all that happens is that I'm up at 3 and stay awake the rest of the night.
3. I have to be careful about eating--sugary things or too much food too late in the day keeps me awake at night later on.
4. Over the counter drugs only make me feel dizzy--they don't help me sleep. Melatonin only works on me for about 3 hours, which is my normal sleeping pattern anyway.
A friend stayed with me for the weekend and I warned her I'd be up at all hours... Fortunately I didn't disturb her, but she did ask if I'd been to the doctor. If I ever get married again... I hope I have an understanding husband (he might forgive me if I'm up in the middle of the night cooking him an amazing lunch.)