I have had sleep issues since I was a young child, I take sleeping pills , I take a lot of pills at night, but when it comes down to it, I am just going to do what my psych nurse practitioner told me to do. Last night I slept 2 hours, and took a 2 hour nap earlier.
I used to force myself to stay awake all day so I can sleep for a good 2 hours atnight and toss and turn , get up and down to smoke, and find myself really agitated because I was not falling asleep till 4 or 5am. And then I was awake by 6am when my roomates got up.
My psyche nurse practitioner said give up the fight, find myself something to keep me busy, and when I am tired enough, I will sleep . She said if I am tired at 1pm, go lay down and sleep as long as long as I can. If I am tired again 2 hours later, do the same thing. This is what seems to be working for me. Last nigt I did not fall asleep till almost 4am, and art 6am, I popped awake. I woke feeling like I had slept all night, and finally now it is 8am I am a tiny bit tired. When I feel really tired, I will head for a nap. Following wht she told me to do seems to be working , so that is what I am going to do.
Sounds like you and your psych nurse practitioner have a good plan - sleep is elusive for me too, I take a lot of naps, sometimes they are just mini naps but they seem to help.
Best of luck to you Kitty! 