Get a prescription for Sonata/Zapelon, it’s basically 4 hour Ambien and made for people who wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep.
It’s a life saver for me.

50 mg of trazodone and one Costco "Sleep-Aid" pill. (Costco's version of Unisom)

I usually start w the melatonin. If I am still awake after an hour or more, I pop half of a Benadryl. That usually does the trick. Occasionally I will need to pop the 2nd half of the Benadryl but that is usually a result of being impatient after being awake.

There are still a night here or there that I am awake after the melatonin and a full Benadryl. That is when I move to the couch and the switch of my positioning seems to help.

I listen to audiobooks and set the timer for 15-30 minutes. My biggest problem was that my brain would start working at 3:00 in the morning, and focusing on the book turns it off.

same op same. I think about all my problems for two + hours wide awake. I'm thinking you must be in your 40's. This is a total thing.

Drinking...a lot a lotta drinking...

I’m the op of this thread from two months ago. I was sleeping well for a few weeks and now I’m in a bad cycle again! I have to talk to my GP.

In my experience, the best remedy for insomnia is to get more sleep.

OP sometimes just telling yourself calmly that it’s fine. When you wake up at 3 tell yourself laying here relaxing, focus on breath, is still giving my body a good rest. Also second trazodone.

Also try keeping a sleep journal. Spicy food, caffeine after 9 am, eating a late dinner, yoga, weight lifting all impact my sleep (obv some bad and some good)

Op here…thank you all for the great ideas. I slept well last night and didn’t do anything different, it’s so interesting how the brain works. I will look into some of your suggestions. I don’t know why, but I’m nervous about new meds and things like gummies. I should probably talk to my doctor. All the sleep meds I’ve tried in the past have been over the counter.

43 yo woman here. My 3-4 am wakings started in my 40s. When I wake too early it is sometimes due to either too much stress during the day, so my body doesn’t wind down and I wake up with racing heart. It also happens if I am too hot. Cranking the a/c really helps but my family doesn’t want me to do that. I also strongly suspect blood sugar is a contributor—I am a healthy weight but have a predisposition to insulin resistance. If I take a long walk after dinner and don’t eat anything afterward I sleep like a baby. My worst sleep is after a high carb dinner like pasta.

I’ve had amazing success with a weighted blanket.

I keep a script for Lunesta, and my ‘rule’ is that I use it on the third night after 2 bad nights. This keeps my body/mind from getting stuck in a pattern of insomnia, and also helps with the mental anxiety that comes with multiple bad nights.
I also am very careful to practice good sleep hygiene, which I know you said you do, too. Sometimes I feel myself getting a little sloppy and have to go back to being anal about it.
Insomnia sucks.

PS I am not bipolar! The drug Seroquel is approved for that but I take it “off label” for sleep. For context, Ambien does nothing for me.