Night waking problems

[pas74]

Any tips on how to stay asleep. I'm having huge problems.

I go to sleep no problem but can only manage 3 - 4 hours before I wake up. Can't think why. No dreams, no noise to disturb me, no call of nature. I just wake up. Then of course stupid thoughts kick in and I know that's the end of my sleep for the night.

So tired. Have stopped setting an alarm anymore as that's a joke. Tried this sleep hygiene thing but that's not working. How does everyone else cope.

[jackieann3]

Hello there I'm laying here with the same problem been like it for ages it drives me mad I go to sleep no problem but sometimes it's only for an hour and I'm awake then off and on all night just can't stop brain from working then tired all the next day it's a vicious circle , I don't know the answer except tablets but I won't take them , have you got any tips I can try I bought the rescue remedies for night time but didn't help .

[pas74]

Jackieann - I have to get up and go downstairs. Make a warm drink eg milk with honey, a red bush tea something without caffeine and a couple of biscuits. I reckon if I make toast the brain might think it's breakfast time.

I wrap myself in a duvet, which just happens to be permanently parked on the sofa, and read.

This morning after a while I did go back to bed and slept until eight. Good job the boss is on holiday as I will be late today. :blush:

[MrAndy]

Try magnesium tablets just before bed for a good nights sleep,it worked for me

[pas74]

Try magnesium tablets just before bed for a good nights sleep,it worked for me

Thanks for the tip. I am now armed with supplies :)

[jackieann3]

Will try that thanks .

[pas74]

Had the best night's sleep for ages. Surely can't work after one tablet can it? Or is it all in the mind? Anyway, even after waking in the early hours soon managed to get back to sleep.

Thanks Andy. Huge top tip :D

[MrAndy]

magnesium has a calming effect and should work straight away,dont take to much it will give you the runs :D

[jackieann3]

Does anybody know if magnesium is safe and ok to take with other medications ?

[NorthernGeek]

I often have horrible problems sleeping too & found that for me one of the biggest issues was sound, or rather the lack of it.

As long as my hearing has something to focus on, I can usually manage to get to sleep without being assaulted by racing negative thoughts, but trying to get to sleep in absolute silence is almost impossible as my head rapidly becomes too 'noisy'.

I bought myself an alarm clock with a built in MP3 player & downloaded various 'white noise' tracks from the internet that are interesting enough to hold my attention, but restful enough to allow me to sleep. Don't laugh, but I eventually found a very geeky 'Star Trek' inspired track called 'Cryostasis Chamber' works best for me (it's just lots of whooshing sounds & random bleeps) & I leave it playing all night long.

When even that doesn't work, I just leave BBC News24 on in the background, provided there havent been any disasters or sad events.

Hope this helps.

[PanchoGoz]

It can become a fear habit to wake up in the night. You go to bed fearing and expecting to wake up so you do. The magensium may have worked or you may have broken the cycle of fear by expecting to have a good night sleep, so you did. If you went to bed each night not caring about how well you might sleep you may find it improves.
It's often down to low serotonin levels. It's not qite understood why depression makes you wake up super early but I think it's reasonable to accept that depression is just another manifestation of fear and we keep waking up as our body thinks we are in danger and keeps us on high alert. Don't teach your body it is ok to do this by making a routine of getting up in the night. It's better to lie there and philosophically say "I will lie here awake all night then". You will soon tire.