Effects of long term poor sleep

[sleepless65]

Does anyone sleep poorly, for years I have not had a decent night sleep. I am so tired when I go to bed that I zonk out but wake up a few hours later then throughout night. I think I am never getting into a really deep sleep. worse I will check clock say at 6.00am and then dose on and wake feeling exhausted This has been going on for years, does anyone else have these sort of issues and wonder if this might explain some of my malaise ??

[Catkins]

I've not been a great sleeper for a long time. It's worse the more anxious I get. Like you I usually don't have a problem getting to sleep, but then I'm awake a few hours later.

[Scissel]

I certainly have trouble sleeping - it takes a toll over the long term. I hope you will find a way to get better control of you sleep issues.

[NoraB]

Does anyone sleep poorly, for years I have not had a decent night sleep. I am so tired when I go to bed that I zonk out but wake up a few hours later then throughout night. I think I am never getting into a really deep sleep. worse I will check clock say at 6.00am and then dose on and wake feeling exhausted This has been going on for years, does anyone else have these sort of issues and wonder if this might explain some of my malaise ??

You're obsessed with sleep, and that in itself will keep the insomnia going. It's called 'anticipatory anxiety' - as in worrying about not going to sleep (or waking up in the night) which in itself reinforces feelings of dread and preoccupation with sleep...

Anxiety means that we don't spend as much time in deep sleep. We tend to be in REM a lot where we dream and if you're anything like me, your dreams will be like all action movies - sometimes a bit of horror thrown in - because of all the intrusive thoughts that swill through my brain throughout the day. I've had some terrible nightmares (are there any other kind?) where there have been headless horses, or I'm dying, or someone else is dying. I got to the point where I dreaded night-time because I knew I would have these horrible dreams, and of course, I was always going to have them because I was already telling myself it would happen, so my brain obliged...

When you have insomnia or not enough deep sleep - you will feel crap. But the same applies when people have too much sleep..

Another thing, when you do wake up at 6am - get up. Don't go back to sleep. Worse thing you can do. Get up, get on with your day and you will probably find that you do sleep longer the next night. Your body will take what it needs, and we actually get more sleep than we think we do!

If you're making the comparison of how you used to sleep, then don't. Sleep changes with age and we have to change our expectations along with it..

Another thing... don't keep a clock by your bedside. If you wake up one morning at 1am, the brain will remember because you will think 'Oh my God, it's only 1am, I'm never going to be able to go back to sleep!' The brain will remember and wake you the next night at 1am and you will reinforce the response with your own thoughts. If you can't see the time, you can break that habit - that's what I did, and it worked.

When you do wake up, you say to yourself, 'This is ok. I will go back to sleep soon, but it doesn't matter if I don't because I know I will be Ok'.

Meanwhile I will do some relaxation work'..

I do visualisation where I go to my favourite beach in Wales or I revisit my childhood home - going through each room in detail - trying to remember everything as it was - ornaments, wallpaper, carpets etc. I've yet to do the whole house before I go back to sleep. It works because I loved that house and I have happy memories of it. There's no point thinking of things which will trigger anxiety - obviously.

If you can't get back to sleep because you feel o 'energised' (that'll be the adrenalin) then it's best to get up and go and do something to burn it off. I've paced round my living room before now but I usually do some light cleaning - anything to burn off some energy and then sleep will come..

Go through your sleep routine and fine tune it as much as you can. Keep electronics away from your bed and don't use them before bed. Make the room as dark as is possible etc...

Bottom line: anxious thoughts throughout the day does not make for a pleasant night's sleep. Your brain will be recycling all those thoughts, images and input during sleep, as it's designed to do. Also, the stress hormones will be swilling around your system - making deep and restful sleep impossible. Makes sense, right?

I hope this all makes sense to you..

[sleepless65]

Yes it does make sense especially the "anticipatory" aspect, thank you for replying. I do have a lot of bad habits, compounded by living alone, that are probably making matters worse and will need to address these too.