I sleep a few hours but why can’t I sleep all night?

What other sleeps aids have you tried, and did you try them in groups or singly? I ask this because melatonin works for a great many people, but like so many of these aids, they should be used sparingly. Only after a rough patch....at least that's how I use melatonin.
I am not experience with Ambien, but when I had some sleep loss after some heart surgery, my GP prescribed 7.5 mg tablets of apo-zopiclone. I was advised by my pharmacist to try half a tablet, but it was whispered. He knew I have sleep apnea and he said we normally go half-dose for apneic patients. That worked so well the first night that I elected to try cutting the half-tablet into a quarter, and that worked reasonably well.
What you should remember, if you learned it once, is that most of these sleep aids are metabolized by the liver inside of several hours, often in only four. So, you won't have much of it left in your system by 0300 in the early morning.
Some people report that they can fall asleep and stay asleep without help, at least for two/three hours. If they awaken, THEN is when they take the melatonin or their other sleep aid, and in the dark and quiet, it often invites another two to five hours, depending. One would not do this if one had mid-morning or earlier appointments and meetings. But on those nights when you have no next-day commitments before noon, or at all, you have the luxury of trying this.
One other caveat, again in case it's news to you, melatonin is one of those 'less is more' drugs. I see pills and gummies marketed with 10 mg. Yikes! The research I have seen suggests that no more than 5 mg should be taken by pretty much everyone. 3 mg is optimal. I try to go two or three nights in between and that seems to work. The other nights I just tough it out.
You will get some more helpful comments from people who have it much more badly than I do...which isn't all that bad.

I don’t have have any magic answers, but I will share what I have discovered so far. I never had any sleep issues until I got post covid syndrome. It’s been chronic since then, though has improved a lot. It’s gradually getting better, even with no treatment.

I was told by doctors that once the sleep pattern of frequent awakenings get engrained, it’s difficult to break the cycle. So, the goal is to break the auto part of our brain that wakes up early.

I found that I awake more if I’m stressed. If I’ve worked out, gone to sleep relaxed, and have no distractions, I will normally now sleep at least 6 hours without waking. Then, I can get back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.

I practically never nap in the day. In fact, I’m never sleepy during the day. My mom naps a lot and wonders why she can’t sleep well at night. I normally get really sleepy by 10:00 p.m. if I do awake, it’s around 3:30 a.m.
I’m trying to address that now.

I’m getting ready to buy some CBD gummies. Anyone tried that?

I take CBD with small amount THC, L-theanine and small amount melatonin in it.
My husband swears by Sleepytime Tea. I believe it’s chamomile.
I try not to use my computer right before bedtime. I do read on my kindle but it isn’t the same light the computers or phones are. I also use the bed just for sleeping. A relaxation audio app or guided meditation might be relaxing. Good luck!!

Regular ambien has a short half life. It’s really only to get you sleeping. For all night control ask your doctor about controlled release ambien (ambien CR) or drugs from the same class with a longer half life such as lunesta. There are generics for both of these medications.

I think melatonin works best when used inconstantly. Such as jet lag, shift workers syndrome, etc.

Certain strains of medical marijuana work well also. The gummy’s have the longest half life (stay in your system the longest).

Older antidepressants, anitryptilline, trazadone can be tried.

There are newer drugs like belsomra, but expensive and haven’t yet been thoroughly tested

I struggled with staying asleep for years. I saw a sleep medicine Dr and then worked with a sleep therapist. There are many different options. The gold standard is CBTi. No meds. Did not work but what finally worked for me (tried too many meds) is a low dose of mirtazapine. I would recommend staying away from benzos.
Good luck!

I've been taking 150mg. of Trazodone for about 10 years with no side effects at all. I sleep between 7-8 hours a night.

Hubs and I both had trouble sleeping for years. He more than I.
Recently we started taking Magnesium Glycinate. We take it at bedtime and when we wake up at 2 or 3 am we take it again. We've been sleeping great for 3 weeks now. We are seniors and read that most seniors are low in magnesium that's why we tried it.
I did Ambien years ago but had memory issues with it.

The trouble with Benzodiazapines is that most are short acting, including Ambien. The longer acting one is generic fluorazepam (sp)...it length of action is usually 7-8 hours. I have spent the last 3 months getting 4 1/2- 5 1/2 hours per nite and am about over it! I would like to see more feed back on Belsamra.... I do know its a newer class of hypnotic and works more on orexin...but I'd appreciated personal experiences with potential side effects that people have experienced.

I’ve suffered with this issue for most of my life. Have tried numerous medications, sleep health classes and many OTC’s with - you named it - herbs. Finally my sleep specialist recommended, rather sheepishly, that I try yet another OTC. But this one has actually been working rather well. I don’t sleep through the night every night, but more than I ever have before. It’s NUMO Sleep gummies. They contain:
L - Theanine, Magnesium Bisglycinate,Valerian Root Extract, Apigenin ( from Chamomile flower extract, L - Omithine Alpha Ketoglutarate, L - Taurine, Bacillus Coagulans. No melatonin. I have no idea why it works, when so many things didn’t - but I’m just thankful that it does. I’ve recommended it to several people and it has helped them too. Good luck!

I’ve been taking magnesium (triple kind) for over a year. I can’t say it’s made a difference. Most of my friends get up during the night at least once. Usually it’s to use the bathroom. (Men and women).