Insomnia

[Katieb]

Am fed up with this! All of my life I have slept well, but in more recent months I find I wake in the wee small hours then can't, for love nor money, get back off to sleep! My mind begins to whirr, I toss and turn and end up dog tired in the morning. And here I am...up through the week worrying how tired I will be at work today! Woke at 2 an, relented at 5 and got up as I need to get up at 6 anyway. Any suggestions anyone? Am mightily fed up with this!!!!😡 Katie

 

[Caroline]

It is a pain when you can't go through the night. I find it helps if I get up use the bathroom and have a drink then go back to bed. Do you get too hot or cold in the night? Might pay you to think about the blankets and things you have on your bed. If you are worrying about anything some people find it helps to write it down to get it out of their heads.

I'm sure others will be along soon with other suggestions. I hope you find something that helps.

 

[Ivy]

I go through phases of insomnia and am having one currently. If it's really early like 2am, I find it helps to get up and read or do something and then I might get tired again and want to go back to bed but if its 5am or later I tend to just get up.

 

[wakman]

I am the same always seem to wake up about 3am its nice in some ways at the week end but in a working week not fun. I have though about talking to my DSN

 

[Katieb]

I am the same always seem to wake up about 3am its nice in some ways at the week end but in a working week not fun. I have though about talking to my DSN

I agree! At weekends I turn on the TV then go back to bed when tired again and snooze!🙂 Not so during the week. Sometimes I go downstairs, hot drink, bit of TV etc, but don't like going back to bed as I feel so groggy when it's time to get up 😡 I've tried all the usual advice - warm bath, warm drink, routine, not TV or stimulants such as tea/coffee. I get off ok, just wake up through the night. Then my mind whirrs with thoughts of the day. Not particularly worried about anything - other than lack of sleep that is!!!😱

 

[Newtothis]

I agree! At weekends I turn on the TV then go back to bed when tired again and snooze!🙂 Not so during the week. Sometimes I go downstairs, hot drink, bit of TV etc, but don't like going back to bed as I feel so groggy when it's time to get up 😡 I've tried all the usual advice - warm bath, warm drink, routine, not TV or stimulants such as tea/coffee. I get off ok, just wake up through the night. Then my mind whirrs with thoughts of the day. Not particularly worried about anything - other than lack of sleep that is!!!😱

Hi Katie,

Sometimes stress and anxiety play a large part; although you say your not worrying about anything in particular sometimes its the thoughts in the back of our minds that keep whirring... I hope you can find a happy solution, big hug xxx🙂

 

[Tina63]

I too in recent years have gone through bouts of insomnia and it drives me mad. It is not uncommon of me to come downstairs at 2am and still be wide awake at 5am.

Recently though, due to some personal issues, I have actually been going to bed significantly later than I used to - 1 - 1 1/2 hours later than normal, and guess what? I sleep like a baby. I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment so you would think it would be the opposite.

Try it. Seriously. Maybe I was just never tired enough before, though I have never had trouble going off to sleep but would wake regularly by 2am. I go up so much later now, sleep really soundly, and bizarrely wake up feeling more refreshed that I have done in years! Maybe as we advance in years we don't actually need as much sleep as we used to. I do remember my dear old Gramp going to bed after midnight and getting up before 6 every day.

 

[Katieb]

I too in recent years have gone through bouts of insomnia and it drives me mad. It is not uncommon of me to come downstairs at 2am and still be wide awake at 5am.

Recently though, due to some personal issues, I have actually been going to bed significantly later than I used to - 1 - 1 1/2 hours later than normal, and guess what? I sleep like a baby. I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment so you would think it would be the opposite.

Try it. Seriously. Maybe I was just never tired enough before, though I have never had trouble going off to sleep but would wake regularly by 2am. I go up so much later now, sleep really soundly, and bizarrely wake up feeling more refreshed that I have done in years! Maybe as we advance in years we don't actually need as much sleep as we used to. I do remember my dear old Gramp going to bed after midnight and getting up before 6 every day.

Thanks Tina. I'm going to give it a go - starting tonight! 🙂 Katie

 

[MaryPlain]

Am fed up with this! All of my life I have slept well, but in more recent months I find I wake in the wee small hours then can't, for love nor money, get back off to sleep! My mind begins to whirr, I toss and turn and end up dog tired in the morning. And here I am...up through the week worrying how tired I will be at work today! Woke at 2 an, relented at 5 and got up as I need to get up at 6 anyway. Any suggestions anyone? Am mightily fed up with this!!!!😡 Katie

I was given a couple of useful techniques which helped me with this. One is to keep a pad and pen by the bed so you can write down whatever's occupying your mind. I find this helps if my mind is going over things that I've got to do.

If that doesn't work I get up and read. I was told that the body will get enough sleep so not to worry if I wasn't able to sleep, because worrying about it just makes it worse!

Another similar technique is to spend some time early each evening writing down all the things which are worrying me. Writing them down seems to help in two ways: it gets the worries out in the open where they don't seem as bad, and it seems to let my brain let go of them. It has also suggested solutions to issues that have been troubling me.

 

[robert@fm]

One technique that once worked for me was to listen to some soothing music over headphones, with the volume turned really low. (Usually, part of the point of using cans is that one can pump up the volume without disturbing anyone else.)

The only problem might be if one falls asleep still wearing the cans. 😱 🙂

 

[cazscot]

I can sympathise, in recent months I have been suffering from insomnia a lot (as you can probably tell by the time of this post 🙄). My problem is falling asleep, once asleep I am okay but it's the getting to sleep that's the problem.

Hope managed to get a good nights sleep 🙂

 

[Katieb]

Slept really well last night!🙂 Went to bed later than usual and it really did seem to work! Didn't manage the whole night without waking, but slept better than I have in a while! I think offloading to you lot and sharing the problem must have helped too! It's nice to know others understand.🙂 Katiex

 

[Caroline]

Slept really well last night!🙂 Went to bed later than usual and it really did seem to work! Didn't manage the whole night without waking, but slept better than I have in a while! I think offloading to you lot and sharing the problem must have helped too! It's nice to know others understand.🙂 Katiex

Glad you slept better, sharing is better than keeping ut in.

 

[Tina63]

I woke up in my armchair at 2.10 this morning - oops! So much for staying up later and sleeping more soundly! After waking I thought I had better go and check all the doors, switches, cat etc, and then woke myself right up so struggled to get back to sleep before 3am! Oops!

Message to self - GO TO BED WHEN YOU FEEL YOUR EYES CLOSING!!

Glad my method seems to have helped anyway. Give it a go for a few more nights and see how you go. Glad you had a much better night. It's quite a triumphant feeling if the insomnia has been an ongoing thing for a few nights. Good luck for tonight too.

Tina

 

[Katieb]

I woke up in my armchair at 2.10 this morning - oops! So much for staying up later and sleeping more soundly! After waking I thought I had better go and check all the doors, switches, cat etc, and then woke myself right up so struggled to get back to sleep before 3am! Oops!

Message to self - GO TO BED WHEN YOU FEEL YOUR EYES CLOSING!!

Glad my method seems to have helped anyway. Give it a go for a few more nights and see how you go. Glad you had a much better night. It's quite a triumphant feeling if the insomnia has been an ongoing thing for a few nights. Good luck for tonight too.

Tina

Thanks Tina. Too soon to say if I've found a 'cure' yet, but going to give it a try again tonight. Oh, and putting the eletric blanket on too as it's a bit nippy! Good luck for tonight to you too - Happy sleeping!x