Do you take any sleep aid, like Melatonin?

Lately I am having trouble sleeping all night. I am a female, 49 years old. I usually go to sleep between 11 and 12, usually closer to 11. I wake up (eyes fly open) around 3 in the morning. I may stay awake until around 6 or 7. That’s the time I should be waking up, but I might try to catch another hour of sleep, then I wake up late for work and groggy.

Maybe one night out of 5 I will sleep all night, which means about 5 or 6 hours of sleep, straight through. 6 hours of sleep is a good night’s sleep, for me.

Even when I sleep all night, I wake up without an alarm clock.

I cut out caffeine after around 12 noon.

Today, I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and deliberately did not go back to sleep because it’s the first day of school for my daughter and I have some important work in the morning, and didn’t want to oversleep. I am sure I’ll feel like crap toward the end of the day.

I have always been against taking medications for sleep and I have a high pain tolerance, so I am really not one to pop pills for anything at all. However, with my sleep difficulties, I am considering something like Melatonin. I don’t want to get addicted, so that’s the main reason I am hesitant.

Do you take anything to help you sleep? Can you discuss it? Can you sleep without it (for example, if you travel and forget to take it with you)?