Most people have had the odd sleepless night. The feeling of tiredness washing across the senses, without sleep taking control. The grittiness that comes with opening the eyes at half three and not being able to return to the world of slumber. Or the rolling, kicking, turning just to get comfortable. When a night is too hot, too cold, too light, too dark, too loud or too quiet. Sweaty feet or cold shoulders. Mind racing about the frustrations of today or the anticipations of tomorrow. And, eventually, that feeling of exhaustion as you plead with the night to allow a few hours, or moments of all encompassing, resting sleep.

Unsurprisingly, not a shift goes by when someone asks me about sleeping tablets. "I just haven't been sleeping well", they say, "and I, well, I just want something to knock me out."

Of course, there's no chance of getting benzos or other hard sleeping tablets; the limit in pharmacy is a few sedating antihistamines. And, yeah, quite a few people like to chow them down. If it's essential, I usually go for the smallest pack size of an agent that'll work.

I don't like recommending 'sleepers', because for most patients it's overkill. The key, I reckon, is a good sleep routine. Plus, making any tablet part of your sleep habit unnecessarily is likely to be, well, habit forming, right?

If you're a glasses-wearer, it's pretty simple; you take off your glasses and you can't see. You're used to not seeing a) when you're sleeping or b) at night. So your brain twigs that it's sleep time and off you go to the land of nod.

Clearly, the not seeing equals sleeping is a tad idealistic. I've heard of several effective techniques, on top of the good old routine that is (roughly); close curtains, pyjamas on, wash face, brush teeth, snuggle down, fall asleep.

An oldie (+/- goodie) is a warm glass of milk. Not so hot if you're lactose intolerant though. I'm not massive on late night milk, myself. I much prefer the quiet, relaxing music, with a bit of a beat to it. A few examples of bad would be; Nirvana, AC/DC and The Rolling Stones. A few ideal examples would include Moby, Coldplay, Enya and The Postal Service.

Obviously you're not trying to blast your ears off, just loud enough that there's something to hum too if you need and a enough base to sense. The same as for wee puppies when you use an alarm clock to emulate the mother's heart beat. That kind of thing.

But, most importantly, if you're not getting good, regular sleep then see your doctor about it. It compromises your ability to work or learn and it's generally bad for your health. And because feeling exhausted, sleepy and frazzled, as a part of a regular day, well, it sucks. Time for bed.