rise and shine at the wrong time

So I've been taking OTC sleeping pills and such to get to sleep (I've tried Rx pills too) and I keep waking up at around 3:30-4 every morning without fail. This is getting so annoying as I have problems falling back asleep and usually stay up for at least an hour (sometimes I dont even go back to sleep). Anyone else have this or know what to do? It's getting to be a real bummer cause it's my senior year of college and I need to be well-rested :).

Stress is a big factor in sleep problems.  If you're in your senior year at college and the workload is increasing then you may be waking up because you've got too much on your mind.  Maybe try other ways to get to sleep ....  Physical exercise is a good one, especially if it's in the fresh air and not too close to bed-time.   A healthy diet will help, of course, and there are some foods that can actively help 'de-stress'..... the food suggestions in this 'Depression Relief Diet' are very useful.  Working on relaxation techniques to combat the stress... e.g. taking time out to wind down and smell the roses, is really important.

And then there are practical measures e.g. making sure your bedroom is totally quiet and properly darkened.  The problem with noise is obvious.   Light leaking through thin curtains triggers the 'wake up' signals in the brain.  And how about taking some afternoon naps from time to time to catch up?

Lots to try.... Best of luck

Thank you for the link! I definitely get enough physical activity and eat healthy so it probably is at least stress related and I'm going to start making sure I incorporate some of the foods listed on the Depression Relief Diet. And I would love to be able to take naps but I usually don't have time, sadly. There is also a light which shines in to my apt. window from outside so I need to get rid of that excess light as well.

Thanks again, this was quite helpful!

I have the SAME exact problem. No matter what time I go to bed (10, 11, 1 am, 2 am) I wake up at 4-4:30 am every day. I cannot go back to sleep no matter how hard I try and I end up staying awake until mid afternoon when I crash for at least a hour...

Light does make a difference.  My son's bedroom is on the side of the house that faces East so he gets a lot of sunlight as soon as it's dawn.  The curtains weren't thick enough so I fitted a blackout roller blind to his window and it was amazing how much longer he slept!!  Best of luck

Weird, Happens to me  too and I end up only staring at the wall.