Sleep problems again. Not getting sleep even though I really need it. Scared.

[NoraB]

So, I slept better last night but I want to say something in regards to the working thing. I work till midnight and my work is a physical job. So when I come home, I can be worked up but what's the solution there? I guess I could choose to stay up for a bit to wind down but that's just cutting down the amount of time I have to sleep at night. There are things during the day that could wake me if I am trying to sleep in to account for more sleep.

I worked noons. It was a very physical job - a full on cardiovascular workout - until 11pm most nights. So the adrenalin was still pumping round my system when I got in. It took me a few hours to wind down but you're getting in and exercising? What do you expect will happen?

My advice? Get in. Have a light snack (something with Tryptophan in it) dim the lights and read for a while or watch some TV where you can turn your brain off. No horror. No news. No drama. I do watch TV sometimes at night because it helps me, but I wear my 'special' green glasses which block the blue light from my eyes. But I never watch anything that gets the heart rate up, you get me?

And I USED TO drink soda, etc before bedtime. I don't do that anymore. I don't watch TV before bed, I use night mode on my laptop and phone if I truly must use them in the hours before bed. Night mode eliminates the blue light.

Apologies if I read that wrong. I'm still waking up at this time in the morning..

Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours, so if you have a drink of soda (containing caffeine) or one of those energy drinks like loads of us used to drink on noons - at about 8pm - then your body will be trying to metabolise it at 2am. My husband has developed issues around sleep and he's had to cut down on his caffeine and make sure he has his last drink no later than 4pm, or it affects his sleep. Don't just be looking at what you're doing when you get in from work. You have to go back further than that.

I did sleep better last night and even fell asleep fairly early on in the night. I was out for a good 4 hours, woke up to pee, then proceeded to sleep at least 3 more hours.

There you go. Normal sleep pattern!

The problem was the night before last night (Saturday night.) I got home from work shortly after midnight and like I said, my job is a physical job and I walk A LOT. I chose to come home, shower, go to bed. My only other option would be to stay up a bit and then go to bed but it's already late as it is. So this presents an issue for me on how to approach it.

Your body needs to feel sleepy for you to to be be able to go to sleep. It needs to be in parasympathetic mode (rest and digest) If you feel 'wired' or energised then sleep won't happen. That means your body is in sympathetic mode in other words fight or flight - and people generally don't snooze off when they're about to be mullered by an axe murderer? It's simple really..

If you're prepared to put the effort on after a shift at work then you could try doing some yoga or light stretching (nothing cardio) and some deep breathing exercises? ASMR videos can be helpful or if you want to completely emit blue lights - try classical music or sleep sounds on the radio and use a timer.

It doesn't matter if it takes you a couple of hours to wind down. You'll know when your body is ready to sleep. Better to wind down and get some quality sleep than to sit there worrying about not being asleep when you think you should be. That's just asking for sleep issues!

I felt winded/tired from work to the point where I felt it was keeping me from sleeping I feel. I obviously need time to wind down but I mean we could be talking 1-2 hours later. Going to bed at like 1:30 am or 2 am could work but if I don't fall asleep in a timely manner, it could be tough to sleep in because I have to be up to do things during the day.

Yet I keep reading from you that your alertness is fine? So why is this a problem? The only real concern from you - that I can see - is that you have the irrational thought that you won't be able to sleep and will die? And that's just not going to happen..

Also, maybe change the shower to a bath? Showers are great to wake us up in the mornings but not so good at night? A warm bath might be the better option for you?

You're doing a lot of things which are designed to 'wake us up' at the time when your body needs to be winding down. As I said, a few tweaks and you will see a big difference...

[StarsDie]

I went through sleepless nights back in April, with even a bout of what is called "psychomotor agitation" where I was basically awake the entire night pacing back and forth.
It took lots of practice to calm myself down throughout the day to get to a point where I could actually fall asleep at night.

So this video is a 10 minute meditation that I used multiple times a day, and eventually after using it for days on end -- sleep started showing up for me.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZToicYcHIOU

I had to understand that I was tense and anxious throughout the course of the day, and this was leading to sleepless nights for me.
Nowadays I put it on before I go to sleep and it helps. Hopefully it can be of some use for you.

[NoraB]

How's it going Seaster?

Sleeping any better?

I'm currently reading about 'grounding'. Basically get ya shoes and socks off and connect to the earth. Apparently this can improve sleep? So I've just been barefoot in the yard picking up my lurcher's crap.

[Seaster]

I’ve slept better pretty much all week aside from last night. I just had trouble falling asleep due to itchy like feelings and I had a heavy meal few hours prior to bed. I’m not concerned about it because I know the meal is what kept me up mostly. It’s crazy to me that I hadn’t really made any drastic changes but my sleep improved.

I think my mentality is likely the culprit and I had been obsessing over it. I feel more confident now and even if I have a bad night like last night, it’ll be ok. Mostly, I need to post this update because in previous bouts, I never took a note of how my sleep improved and so I had nothing to look back on for hope.

I will say that a good night of sleep is different than others but for me, I’m good if I get 6. Heck, that’s the normal for me. One other thing I discovered is my eye circles never go away despite the improved sleep. I’m thinking allergies for sure on that front. I also continue to take Benedryl and it still does work for me despite the prolonged use. I was gonna stop using it but I saw that it helped me sleep all week so I think it’s okay to use. Plus it helps with allergies.

[NoraB]

I’ve slept better pretty much all week aside from last night. I just had trouble falling asleep due to itchy like feelings and I had a heavy meal few hours prior to bed. I’m not concerned about it because I know the meal is what kept me up mostly. It’s crazy to me that I hadn’t really made any drastic changes but my sleep improved.

I think my mentality is likely the culprit and I had been obsessing over it. I feel more confident now and even if I have a bad night like last night, it’ll be ok. Mostly, I need to post this update because in previous bouts, I never took a note of how my sleep improved and so I had nothing to look back on for hope.

You've basically answered yourself. There has been a drastic change; your thoughts!

You've stopped obsessing and you've slept better. Simples!

[Seaster]

Yeah, it's been better but the last few nights have been frustrating. Although, the last few nights are mainly from certain circumstances keeping me up at night.

Saturday night? I had a heavy dinner a few hours before bed. Plus, I had the urge to rub my stomach because it felt nice I guess? It was weird. I did sleep that night but it didn't happen till after 4 am.

Sunday night? I had a random case of frequent urination that kept me from sleeping because it was so frequent. It's something that randomly happens to me some nights and then on others, it's non existent. It's not even a problem during the day at all. I don't really know when I fell asleep or how much I really got. I don't really feel too energized today and I'm really bummed out that I didn't get enough sleep to feel good to enjoy my off day from work. Plus, my dog gets all scared when it storms and so when it stormed this morning, I couldn't sleep in because of that. Sucks. I tried to sleep in but it was no use. I was up for the day my body said.

Am I worried about it like I was before? No but it's frustrating after having almost a whole week of good sleep. Hopefully the frequent urination won't happen again. It's really weird. It doesn't happen when it becomes night time. It happens like 10 minutes after taking the Benedryls. idk if it's a side effect from that but it's so strange that the urination thing is random. Some nights I'll get it, most others I won't. When it does happen, it'll keep me from sleeping. It goes away after a while but ugh.

[NoraB]

Saturday night? I had a heavy dinner a few hours before bed. Plus, I had the urge to rub my stomach because it felt nice I guess? It was weird. I did sleep that night but it didn't happen till after 4 am.

Sunday night? I had a random case of frequent urination that kept me from sleeping because it was so frequent.

Generally fight or flight (anxiety) or simulants..

Plus, my dog gets all scared when it storms and so when it stormed this morning, I couldn't sleep in because of that. Sucks.

I'm a human barometer when it comes to storms. Many people are. It could be that you're sensitive to the electromagnetic energy? I get migraines etc

Am I worried about it like I was before? No but it's frustrating after having almost a whole week of good sleep.

Focus on is the fact that you've had a WEEK of good sleep!

It happens like 10 minutes after taking the Benedryls. idk if it's a side effect from that but it's so strange that the urination thing is random.

People who have known urinary issues are supposed to consult their GP before taking this stuff so I'd imagine that it affects/stimulates the bladder in some way?

Why are you using the Benadryl still?

If this urinary issue is non-existent during the day and sporadic during the night - I'd say this is anxiety or if it only happens when you take the Benadryl - and within 10 mins as you say - then it's obviously that, so if you want this problem to go away - stop taking the Benadryl.

[Seaster]

I took Benedryl all last week and it was part of why I had the good weeks sleep. I did not have any frequent urination last week until the past few nights. Unfortunately, I'm back to sleeping poorly but I don't want to go back to harping on if I slept or how much. I will say that the frequent urination kept me up last night again and any sleep I did get happened around after 3 am.

I had a heavy feeling come over my body and I guess I was out till around 5:30 or so. I then had a sleep/wake cycle up till 7:30. I tried to sleep more but it just wasn't happening so I got up. The weird part of laying there was I still had the cold heavy feeling. It just made me feel like maybe I didn't sleep or something because I never felt that before.

As for the Benedryl, I'm not sure if it's what is causing the frequent urination. Because I took it last week too and didn't have that symptom. Also, I had taken other medicines and sometimes had the urination too.

I have been taking 3 Benedryl pills the past few nights so maybe going to a normal dose of 2 would be better. I don't want to start getting anxiety about sleeping at night again but I fear it's starting again, due to the frequent urination thing. I might have slept a lot better if I wasn't having to constantly pee for 2-3 hours on end. All I have to go on is after 3 am, things went blank and it was like 5:30 am. Legs feel kinda weak or achy but not sure that's a indicator of bad sleep or not. Sighs...

[Seaster]

Update: I mostly felt fine today (Tuesday) but around 6 pm, a throbbing like headache came on subtly. It eases up at times but is pretty bad other times. I will be taking Aleve PMs tonight for the headache and to help with sleep. I’m close to being off work. I plan to get home, eat a small meal, and take the Aleve PM.

I’m kind of scared because I’m forced to go to bed later because of work. If the frequent urination happens again tonight, I might not sleep due to not having a ton of time to get in sleep. I have from 1 am to 7:30 am to get sleep. If not, daylight is there and the dog might prevent me from sleeping in. Sighs…

[NoraB]

I have been taking 3 Benedryl pills the past few nights so maybe going to a normal dose of 2 would be better.

Why are you taking more medication than is stated? That's a seriously bad idea Seaster!

How often do you take the Naproxen? (Aleve) as this drug is known to cause anxiety and a symptom of anxiety is increased urination.