For the third time this week, I have been awake since around 3am. I’m not woken by anything as far as I can tell - all is quiet inside and outside. Thing is, once I’m awake I have to get up - the day starts here. So I make tea, read a book, go online, and generally potter about quietly. Its happening more and more often as I get older (its not just a lockdown thing) Good job I’m an early riser anyway! By 9pm or so, I am tired and a bit grumpy and just want to sleep.
If you have insomnia - what do you do? Try to go back to sleep, or amuse yourself until its a more “normal” rising time?
I have suffered insomnia for the last 3 years. I don’t fight it - I get up when I wake up, make tea, get something to eat if necessary, read the papers, answer emails, work on my photography. When I’m tired at about 8/9 am, I go back to bed and sleep for a further 2/3 hrs.
Interesting, PB…I can never go back to sleep - even if I have stayed up for a bit. I do try it on occasion and if I am successful in napping, I always wake up again feeling yucky and wishing I hadn’t bothered!
You have my sympathy Pixie I go through bouts of insomnia and its no fun is it.
I deal with it my way and it works for me…never put the light on stay in the dark even if you go to the loo don’t put the light on…try relaxing and thinking of your favourite place for me its always a beach but wherever you want…then relax from your toes up thinking of each area of your body right up to the hairs on your head…then slowly take a deep breath and count to ten exhaling…repeat then repeat again but this time count to 15…then snuggle down to sleep I know it sounds complicated but honest it seems to work…I read somewhere that doing this resets your nervous system or something like that…anyway it works for me…sometimes
If all else fails I come to OFF for a while then get up… unless I have my grandson staying then scrub everything I’ve said and I just do as I’m told
Aww thanks, Summer! I do try all the relaxation techniques, and they do help send me off to sleep initially…but not helpful when I wake again, unfortunately. I just feel so…awake and alert. I know back in Victorian days, there used to be coffee shops open and churches, for those that couldn’t sleep. Families used to meet up and do things, then return home and go to sleep for another few hours. It was considered quite normal…this is not my normal though, I want 7 hours!
I usually sleep OK but like most people…I have “those” nights. Can’t turn my brain off. Then, if the temperature is mild or cold, I’ll have a hot milky chocolate. That usually does the trick. If it’s hot I usually turn the air con up full blast and do the same thing.
Ahh, air con…yes, in Summer I could do with that. The fans are just too noisy to switch on at night. I should just get Mr P to waft me with ostrich feathers I think! Also, I don’t know about the hot chocolate at night…I tried it once or twice, but it didn’t make me sleepy. Which is a tad annoying.
I wake up several times a night, often because I need to pee, but I generally get back to sleep quickly. If I don’t, if I toss and turn and get nowhere, even though I’m tired, I just get up and go downstairs for a cuppa. Usually hot milk with honey and nutmeg, or in summer a cup of camomile tea. And a couple of plain biscuits. I’ll spend an hour reading, then back to bed and I usually go out like a light then.
I feel for you Pixie K, it’s damn miserable not being able to sleep.
That’s interesting Sheba, that you feel tired, as if maybe you haven’t slept enough. If I felt like that, I would try harder to fall back asleep, but I just feel so instantly awake. Its like a switch, honestly that’s how I describe it. I did try sleeping tablets actually, from the doctor once, but oh no, never again. They disrupted my whole pattern and I was like a zombie for days.
No, I’m not keen on sleeping pills either Pixie. Yes, it is so frustrating to feel exhausted and yet not be able to sleep. I wish I could just turn off my brain, which goes into overdrive, dragging up all the problems, worries (or more accurately potential, non-existent problems and worries}. That’s what stops me sleeping! So coming downstairs for a cuppa and reading for an hour breaks that cycle usually.
Hi Pixie I have had spells of insomnia throughout my life some caused by my brain refusing to stop thinking, some by a sort of restlessness where I can’t get comfortable.
Throughout my working life my jobs have included having to get up or work through the night which didn’t help to form good sleep patterns.
I have found if I can’t sleep (I have tried all the recommended things for sleep ) the best course of action is to get up and do something that doesn’t require making the brain too alert, ironing/breadmaking/read a boring book, things like that are good then after an hour try again to sleep. That often works. If not I get up and do something else for a while.
Sometimes I manage to get to sleep just before it is time to get up :roll:.
Now some nights my heart misbehaves, I have someone beating drums with force in my chest and that stops me sleeping. Then BBC radio 4 is my friend with world service that has talk programmes through the night ,a good distraction that can help me to drop of to sleep for a while .
Meg, its an awful business getting older isn’t it? Shift patterns attest to that…Mr P worked nights for such a long time, and he suffered terribly trying to regulate his sleep. Also - Radio 4 I adore…I haven’t thought to listen to it at night though…might give it a go now you mentioned it, thanks!
Here’s a weird answer and you’ll probably think I am insane but it sometimes works for me.
I don’t know about anyone else but when I am about to fall asleep, I start to dream, so I might hear voices or see images. You are only aware of this if you wake up again (You know, that annoying moment when you realise you almost fell asleep).
So when I can’t sleep, I imagine the sound of a crowd of people all talking at once, say in a pub for instance. Eventually someone will say something without being generated. It probably won’t make any sense but that’s good; means I am falling asleep. It sometimes takes several goes at it to work.
Another trick someone taught me which does work although I have not used it for a while, is to keep a smooth pebble in you hand. When your mind starts to work overtime, gently caress the pebble in your hand. It brings your mind back to where you are.
My daughter has an Amazon Echo in her little girl’s room, and sets it to play ‘night time music’, which always sends her off to sleep quickly. She has it on very softly and it has such a soothing effect. I’m thinking of getting another one for my bedroom. Anything is worth a try!
I too have spells of not sleeping, it’s gotten a lot worse since these lockdowns as I’m simply not able to live life as I did before, especially swimming. I was at the pool for 7am Mon - Fri and did 50 lengths each time, that is quite a bit of exercise, I used to meet up with friends over in Wick for lunch and a wander round the shops, all using up energy. Then there’s all the things I do round here.
If I wake up I get up and close the bedroom door quietly so I don’t wake himself up as he is up at 6am for work. I often make toast and coffee then go online with my jigsaw and audio book, if it’s the summer I go outside and sit on the bench with my snack, I love to hear the ocean and it sooths me. If it’s near dawn I get dressed, take the dog and camera and head over to the beach for a wander and get some sunrise photos… Like this one… https://i.postimg.cc/J7kf38Pt/30052112-1623265941041880-2134641684312573670-o.jpg
