I find no support whatsoever online for what I'm about to write, but here goes. I've attended to sleep hygiene--no coffee after 1 pm, turn the phone and computer screens to nonblue light after 5 or 6 pm, a glass of milk or sour cherry juice before going to bed, and a cup of valerian tea by the bed to drink when I awaken, as I invariably do, in the middle of the night. (I fall asleep routinely after strenuous exercise during the day, but haven't tried that just before bedtime to see if that would work.)
All these things have helped--maybe the valerian tea most dramatically.
But here's the weird thing. I normally eat breakfast at 6 am (2-3 hrs after I've awoken for the day), lunch at 10-noon (sometimes a second lunch around 1 or 2 if the first is early and light), and dinner from 3-5 pm. I go to bed around 7 to 8 pm. About a week ago, circumstances forced me to eat a moderate dinner around 7 pm and immediately go to bed. I slept great!! The first segment was 5 good hrs, and the second was 2.5 hrs. I've eaten something, not much, just before bed each day since, and I've been sleeping better.
At this point, I don't have enough data points to find even a correlation, let alone a causal relationship. But I'm going to continue this practice and see how it goes and thought I'd offer it for whatever, if anything, that it's worth!!
Peace.
thanks ! it is helpful to learn others experience. i have always been a night person. i can sleep well in daylight. i thought i might sleep well i China, but wow the nightmares were intense there.
i often wonder about what can interfere with sleep that is not commonly discussed. like dreams, bad dreams, intense dreams. or Spirits , maybe something less known. maybe just some people become easy to wake up.
so i will try valerian tea with a snack.