Trouble Sleeping

Several years ago I went through a bought of insomnia that lasted nearly a year. I could fall asleep easily but could only sleep two to three hours a night. I took Tylenol PM every night, sometimes multiple times per night, but it never helped. After about a year, I suddenly started sleeping again. For the past couple of months I have started waking up more at night. I have been tired all of the time and it didn't seem to matter how early I went to bed. I wasn't sure why this was until Tuesday night.

About three months ago, I started setting my alarm for 4:50 so I could be outside running by 5 am. This would give me a good hour to workout before waking up the kids and getting ready for work. A couple of months ago, I started waking up around 4:30 so I started getting up then. I was fine until I got to work and then it would hit me. Tuesday morning, after being off work on Monday and not really doing anything, I had the hardest time keeping my eyes open when driving to work. It scared me so bad that I cranked up the air conditioner, sat up straighter, and slowed way down. My sister was killed eight years ago last Sunday in a car accident caused when she fell asleep after her night shift. I made it to work without incident but found myself falling asleep at my desk. I asked my co-worker to get me a Diet Coke when he went to the store because I couldn't stay awake. I did not go to school Tuesday night because I was so tired and had a horrible headache. That night I went to bed at 9:30 and decided to check the clock everytime I woke up to see how much sleep I was really getting. This is what I found:

10:45 got up to use the restroom
12:25 rolled over and looked at the clock
1:03 looked at the clock
1:48 got up to get a drink
2:30 looked at the clock
3:06 looked at the clock
3:39 looked at the clock
3:55 looked at the clock
4:00 looked at the clock
4:10 looked at the clock and groaned
4:16 looked at the clock and stiffled a scream
4:26 looked at the clock
4:48 looked at the clock
4:52 looked at the clock
5:03 got out of bed and went running in the park

I knew that I had been waking up a lot but I usually didn't look at the clock. I also knew I would start waking up for good around 4 am but would lay in bed until 4:30. Tuesday night I realized just how bad it was. I took Tylenol PM last night and actually slept. I woke up at 4:30 but was still tired so I went back to sleep until 5:30. This meant that I did not get my workout today and since it is a school night, most likely won't get it. But I knew I needed the sleep.

I am not sure what is causing this. I very rarely drink caffiene but lately I have been drinking coffee in the mornings to wake up. I don't eat dinner late and rarely have sweets. If I do have something sweet is at least two hours before I go to bed. I drink a lot of water but it is not an urge to use the restroom that wakes me up most of the time. Does anyone have suggestions that may help? I really don't want to take medication to sleep.