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by pacoverdi 1411 days ago
Got very bad sleep and tried lots of stuff for many years with varying results.

Ditching alcohol is definitely a good idea. At least don't drink too much and too soon before sleep (e.g. lunch is ok)

Eat lightly in the evening, avoiding fatty/hard to digest stuff (meat, cheese...). Preferably long before sleep.

For me, caffeine has an adverse effect even at very low doses in the morning. Looks like the effect lasts several days. I need to stop caffeine for 1-2 weeks before I notice a real improvement. This means I often give up and start having coffee again.

Exercise is also weird: running generally makes me sleep badly, probably because too intense on a cardio level. Biking seems better but I don't like/do it much. Swimming works wonders for me (but needs to be intense enough to feel tired)

Watching TV before bed not a good idea. Avoid thrillers/violent stuff and reduce the brightness of your screen. The default settings are often very bright.

Tried a lot of supplements but not sure anything really helped. Maybe magnesium did, for a while. Some plant based supplements were awful for me (ashwaganda, etcholtzia, rhodiola, and others) I now avoid them all. Herbal tea makes me wanna pee in the middle of the night.