Insomnia thread

[conaero]

Ok, not one for off topic threads but this insomnia thing is getting silly now.

My mother in law said to me that she suffers the same problem when she got over 50.

So, how many others are struggling with this and what are you doing to try and rectify it?

Me, I start drifting off early about 9:30, then bedtime at 10:30, I sort of come round eventually going off only to wake at 3am…watch the clock for an hour then get up, watch telly for an hour then back off to sleep around 5am…having to wake at 7am feeling totally knackered.

It’s been going on for about 4 years now and I really need to do something about it.

Am I alone?

 

[Kiwibrit]

No..I’m similar. Wife reckons I have sleep apnea.

My saving grace is I’m now retired so 99.9% of the time, it doesn’t matter. Still bloody annoying though.

 

[allandwf]

I find a couple of bottles of red helps immensely! More seriously, I'm normally up around eight, retire around eleven, any earlier I get aches from hip region which I hate to admit is probably old age.

 

[Guy]

Have you tried breaking the cycle with assistance from something like Nytol. I used to struggle, mainly through jet lag but a few nights with assistance helped me back into the routine. Worked for me and perhaps worth a try Matt.

 

[Nibby]

Me, I start drifting off early about 9:30, then bedtime at 10:30, I sort of come round eventually going off only to wake at 3am…
Am I alone?

Ditto
Check posting time of this reply.
Drop off early, wake up very early. If I leave it late going to bed I worry I will still wake up in the middle of the night with even less sleep.

 

[CatmanV2]

Similar. Although I don't get up at 0300. Don't normally get back to sleep for 20-30 minutes. And then the bloody cat will want to go out.

No answers yet

C

 

[Swedish Paul]

Just in case you do, then don’t drink alcohol. And try not to drink after 7.00. A quick nope to the loo before you nod off and maybe you may sleep through.

 

[CatmanV2]

Been thinking that I need to try and do something. I'm waiting for some blood tests to come back cos there's a couple of other things going on that I want to rule out.

One thing I would say from all I've read:
Couple of bottles of red makes you think you sleep well, but doesn't really. And personally I feel like death the following morning

Don't watch TV or look at screens especially iff you wake up. Blue light is really bad for your sleep cycle.

I may be investing in a sleep tracker as the one I have is rubbish. Plenty of exercise and make sure you're not carrying any extra weight as that can lead to sleep apnea

I think this thread might have legs. Cocoa, anyone?
C

 

[RoaryRati]

Supposedly being out in the morning light is good - kicks some rythm into action - I'm trying it and it seems to help. A friend gave up with her sleep tracker as it made her really anxious about it all - I use Mr RR's old apple watch and the results are interesting but I don't worry about them.

 

[Doohickey]

Similar. Although I don't get up at 0300. Don't normally get back to sleep for 20-30 minutes. And then the bloody cat will want to go out.

No answers yet

C

Get rid of the cat?

 

[doodlebug]

It's exactly the same for me. Has been happening now for around ten years. This probably explains why I'm always falling asleep on the SM tours, obviously excessive alcohol consumption on tour has nothing to do with it.

Currently being made worse by the first time I have ever had jet lag from returning home from NZ yesterday.

 

[CatmanV2]

Supposedly being out in the morning light is good - kicks some rythm into action - I'm trying it and it seems to help. A friend gave up with her sleep tracker as it made her really anxious about it all - I use Mr RR's old apple watch and the results are interesting but I don't worry about them.

Yes, daylight is really meant to help

C

 

[MarkMas]

Well I slept surprisingly well last night after spending 5 hours wrestling with Maserati mechanicals - maybe you should try that.

 

[MarkMas]

But seriously...

Your local NHS sleep clinic will rig you up with a sleep test kit to see if you have apnoea or some other condition.

Some people take melatonin - not sure how that works, but it was transformational for a nephew of mine, who went from disruptive and crazy to attentive and successful in about three weeks.

Waking up in the middle of the night, and napping in the day, is quite normal, it seems (read Pepys diaries) - it was the industrial revolution that locked us into 8 hours off 16 hours on. So, maybe a short afternoon nap, counterintuitively, to make the sleep deficit seem less of a drama. And go to bed when sleepy, not at a set time, even if you wake up later. (But having said that, some people swear by a strict bedtime and wake up routine.) And if you wake up in the middle of the night it is not 'insomnia' but a normal thing that you can choose to enjoy, if you are getting sleep at other times.

Otherwise it is the usual stuff:
No TV or other screens for the two hours before you plan to go to sleep. And if you wake up in the middle of the night. Books, Audiobooks, Music, LEGO?
No alcohol (!!!)
Milky drinks at bedtime are a real thing - apparently the calcium does something.
Think happy thoughts.

 

[Simon1963]

I’ve suffered with this for 3 years. A year of working night shifts seems to of been the trigger. I’ve tried the herbal remedy things and they didn’t do anything for me. I usually go to bed about 10 read until I feel drowsy and then sleep until between 00.30 and 2.30. Awake for a couple of hours and then doze until 6 ish. If I go to bed later it doesn’t make any difference. Get up feeling ok but then feel like sh1t by early afternoon.

 

[sionie1]

I had it for 18 months during a particularly stressful time at work. What finally helped was a mixture, most of which is above. No screens at least an hour before bed, and not in the bedroom. No caffeine after 1400 - that cheeky afternoon espresso is rattling around your system a good few hours later, and cut out the booze completely. Brisk 20mins walk in the evening and some deep breathing exercises from a friend who does yoga and mindfulness. No one thing made a huge difference, but together they combined and worked well. I also stopped looking at my work phone after 1800 so my mind wasn’t racing trying to preempt issues, probably a bit harder when the business is your own though.

 

[Guy]

Of course an outsider might suggest that the simple fact of owning a Maserati is plenty of cause for insomnia, just saying!

 

[CatmanV2]

Some people take melatonin

Used it extensively for jet lag, it was great. Hasn't helped with this

Milky drinks at bedtime are a real thing - apparently the calcium does something.

Tryptophan I recall.

C

 

[Swedish Paul]

One other thing I do, which seems to work, is a T-shirt over your eyes whether laying on you side or your back. I got into this habit after working nights years ago and it works for me.

 

[MarkMas]

Used it extensively for jet lag, it was great. Hasn't helped with this



Tryptophan I recall.

C

Not much love for Tryptophan here:

Tryptophan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Clinical Practice Guideline for the Pharmacologic Treatment of Chronic Insomnia in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline

The purpose of this guideline is to establish clinical practice recommendations for the pharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia in adults, when such treatment is clinically indicated. Unlike previous meta-analyses, which focused on broad classes of ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov