I slept. Or I've been sleeping.
It may be in thanks to the herbal teas I've been drinking? 
Or perhaps it is related to the decrease in sugar.
Regardless, I am incredibly thankful. 

In terms of my sleep disorder history, I've had trouble for about three years, dating back to February 2016.

Suddenly, I couldn't do it.

The first few times, it was just that it took a while before I finally got into a sleep cycle. Then there was one night where I slept for only two hours. In this case, though, stress was likely the culprit, as I had an interview the next day. Even still, I was shocked. There have been far more nerve wracking moments in my life, such as my first day of high school, moving into my university dorm,.. when I first came to Japan. Stress has not been a stranger to me throughout my life, as is obviously the case for most people, so it was surprising that it actually stopped me from sleeping.

For a couple of months or so, I assumed this was just an isolated event. Then in June, I went one week with only about ten hours of sleep in total. Sleep inducing pills didn't work, getting up and doing something else had no effect, and the stress of not being able to sleep made it even more difficult to relax. This was hell.

Luckily, I have not experienced something like this since. I adjusted my schedule so as to more or less sleep and wake up at the same time everyday (wake up at 8:00 and sleep around 25:00). This has worked for me... but there are still some restless nights a few times a month. I have a stock of melatonin on my shelf, but I only it take when I feel that I absolutely will not fall asleep naturally. Just having it gives me peace of mind, and this may contribute to why I haven't had another sleepless marathon. 

But the fear of not being able to sleep is intense. My dad has been an insomniac ever since I could remember. He sleeps for about four hours and then starts cleaning the house. I don't want to be like that. I'm still experimenting with different methods such as exercise, not eating before bed, reading Japanese books, etc. Sometimes these seem to work. Sometimes they don't. 

All I can do is just keep trying.