Bargaining With Morpheus

I have this problem. It's pretty much my usual problem, but tonight it has a few interesting complications. Here are the particulars:

1. Although I had a brief nap a few hours ago, I remain in severe need of sleep.
2. In stark contrast to, say, ten o'clock this morning at my desk at work, I am not remotely sleepy.
3. I have a personal rule that unless technology makes it impossible, I always blog before going to bed for the night, even if that means staying up late, waiting for inspiration to hit.
4. Yes, I know that isn't good for my health.
5. When I go to bed and I'm not sleepy, I tend to lie awake for 45 minutes or longer, and then get up for a while before successfully going back to bed and sleeping.
6. If I go to bed with some bit of writing pending, I inevitably lie awake, writing it in my head, sometimes repeating the same bit over and over. Best to just get up and write it down, once.
7. When I tried to take that nap earlier, I woke John with my coughing, and he ultimately lost a couple hours of sleep. (My lungs still haven't cleared from my cold of over two months ago.) I therefore feel obligated to sleep on the couch tonight to avoid disturbing John again.

This whole sleep thing has gotten worse in recent months, not because I'm staying up later (I'm not), or even because I have to get up earlier; but because I literally can't get to sleep half the time when I go to bed. For years I've taken Benedryl as a combination allergy remedy and sleep aid, but two pills are no longer sufficient to enable me to sleep. I'm only sleepy in the daytime, which is clearly the opposite of helpful. I can't go see a doctor about it, because I currently have no health insurance. So I struggle with cold caffeine by day, hot baths and distractions by night.

I used to take melatonin years ago to help regulate my sleep cycle, but it never seemed to help. I'm obviously going to have to do more than something superficial like that. I just clicked on a link with lots of stuff on the importance of sleep and how to achieve it; tomorrow I'll look into it in more depth. But for tonight, I think I'll settle for bath and bed, even if bed is the green couch in the den. Please, please, please, please please let me sleep!

Karen