Give lucid dreaming a try. I read a few books on the subject. Unfortunately, I could never get it to work. Interesting that you find a seasonal component in your sleep habits, and I suppose it makes sense as noted by one or more of the previous posters. However, my insomnia or fractured sleep normally seems to be situational rather than seasonal.
Last night's story: We were at a party where I ate too much desserts so I thought the sugar content would keep me up. I also had a headache either weather or booster shot related (12 hours earlier) that I wanted to sleep off. So I took a Naproxen for headache and 500 microgram Melatonin plus a Tart Cherry pill for sleep. Boy, did I have bad dreams!! I had 2 separate nightmares, (one murder, one deadly car crash) but I just woke up 9 hours later!!! So was it worthy?? I am well rested, but I could have missed the dreams. Did the headache played a role? Maybe. I still have a mild leftover of it. In the next few days I will repeat the experience without the headache. Generally I don't have a problem falling asleep, it is the length/quality of it, what bothers me. Stay tuned for Pekelo's Melotonin/Tart Cherry adventures!! I will also try them alone...
2nd night on the same combo, no nightmares. (tried to break the 1 mg pill into 1/3rd) 8 hours of sleep. The weather is also cold here now, that helps too. Tart cherry is a fruit, also known as sour, dwarf or Montmorency cherries. You can make pie or soup out of it, or drink it as juice, if you prefer a more natural way of getting it, but the pill/extract form is the most practical. Benefits of tart cherry: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-tart-cherry-juice-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_8 -muscle recovery -sleep aid -rich in nutrients -antioxidants -for gout and arthritis -etc.etc. Edit: I am using Nutricost's 3g 240 pill extracts.
I didn't want to post everyday, but made an interesting discovery. Well, actually two. Last night I took 2 Tart Cherry pills and planned to take no Melatonin. 90 minutes after taking the pills, there was pretty much no effect, thus I took 300 microgram Melatonin. effect as usual came 30 minutes later. No nightmares, 7.5 hours sleep. Because of this, I tend to think the TC pills are probably not needed and the main influence is Melatonin, as it should be. (On Amazon a 260 lbs guy said 4 TC pills knocked him out, just for reference.) Anyhow, from now on I will leave the TC out. Or will I? Yesterday I also started to work out again and was expecting sore muscles from the new movements. Guess what? I have no sore muscles whatsoever! If you look at my previous post, the first on the list of TC benefits is muscle recovery. So Baron maybe interested in trying out TC for workout benefits. "Researchers concluded that cherry juice consumption did improve recovery of isometric muscle strength after an intensive workout. One theory proposed is that the high levels of polyphenols (including flavonoids and anthocyanins) found in tart cherry juice helped lessen the oxidative damage induced by the exercise." https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/1115p8.shtml
Tart cherry helps the body to create melatonin, so they pretty much act the same way. (since I learnt) Anyhow, after a month of experiencing, here is my take away of Melatonin usage: After 3-4 nights of consecutive usage of half a mg (500 microgram) Melatonin, its effect diminishes. Maybe the body start to produce less and more should be taken, I am not sure. But then we get to a vicious cycle of ever increasing dosage. To counteract this, I don't use it everyday, just 3-4 nights per week, every other night. This way I still get the desired effect.