Broken sleep pattern - how to fix it?

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Broken sleep pattern - how to fix it?

25 posts & 21 voices | Started 1 year ago by DickBarton | Latest reply from DickBarton

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DickBarton - Member

For the last 2 and a bit months I've been waking up in the middle of the night at 02:00...and I seem to take about 1hr 30mins before I fall asleep again.

Can't work out why it is 02:00 - this started about a week before my daughter started waking up (teeth coming through and then not well) - for the last almost full week she has slept through the night and not disturbed us...but I seem to now be stuck with this waking up at 02:00.

How do I fix it so that when I go to bed (round about 22:30) I can sleep until 06:30 - up until this broken sleep thing I was knocking that in without any problems at all...can't think of anything to do that makes me sleep all the way through...

I don't drink so it isn't drink-related...

Cheers.

Posted 1 year ago #
Steve-Austin - Member

Avoid caffeine in the evening and drink something like camomile.

I would try staying up till at least midnight for a week, as you might not need 8 hrs a night anymore. i would be really happy with 8 hrs a night(make that 5 hrs!!) As you get older we all need less sleep
Or you could try some herbal sleepers for a week, just long enough to get a pattern back.

Posted 1 year ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

I don't drink so it isn't drink-related...

Start drinking then.

Posted 1 year ago #
DickBarton - Member

If I do drink I don't sleep at all...just doesn't agree with me and I'm up all night (not even due to volume - a single half pint will have me up all night not sleeping).

Cheers for the suggestion Steve_Austin...thing is I'm feeling as though I need some more sleep as I am feeling tired...

Posted 1 year ago #
The Southern Yeti - Member

Stay up later. I'd suggest going to bed at midnight for a while.

(This was recommended on a sleep programme where Dominic Diamond was havin atrocious broken sleep)

Posted 1 year ago #
DickBarton - Member

I'll give that a bash then...cheers.

Posted 1 year ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

I'll give that a bash then...

Giving something a bash may cure your problems

Posted 1 year ago #
Wharfedale - Member

I use these for a couple of nights when it happens to me. None prescription and no side effects i.e. not drowsy the next day.

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Sleepeaze-50mg-Tablets-20-_11575/

Posted 1 year ago #
billyboy - Member

I was thirty years on shift work with increasingly odious shift patterns as the management culture became more and more R Soul...less is more etc. It got so you were constantly drained and didn't know which way up you were. When you got the opportunity to sleep you couldn't. When you needed sleep ....you couldn't.

drink...but you say you can't.

exercise......make sure you are tired when you go to bed (and hydrate)

Posted 1 year ago #
geoffj - Member

Stress, changes at work? Risk of unemployment? All things that can cause this sort of thing. Have a think and see of you can identify any issues and then deal with them where possible.

Posted 1 year ago #
uplink - Member

I suffer with a similar problem on & off

For me, it's simply a case of too much stuff going on work/home etc.
I find I need to finish tasks each day & reduce my workload when I notice it starting

Posted 1 year ago #
martinxyz - Member

Could someone be waking you up without you knowing? Theres a noisy van or truck that picks some worker guy up every other morning around 4am outside the house. He usually puts the foot down a bit too much on the way off and it can wake me up.Ive heard him honk the horn a bit too.

I now use moldex earplugs and sleep like a log.

Posted 1 year ago #
scotabroad - Member

I had a similar problem a few years ago it was cured by a few things.

I counted the amount of coffee I was drinking and it was 8 to 12 cups a day. I reduced that to 3 to 5 and it helped a lot.

I bought a decent pillow, this can make a big difference.

A cool bedroom (temperature that is).

Stopped drinking mid week, but thats not an issue for you.

No snacks after dinner, making sure any food has been well digested before bedtime.

good luck.

Posted 1 year ago #
sockpuppet - Member

a large fraction of difficulty sleeping is caused by anxiety about difficulty sleeping, if you see what i mean.

try not to worry about it.

the trick my wife uses is to resolutely refuse to look at the time if she wakes in the night. try turning the clock round/not checking your phone/whatever. helps avoid the "every night at X time" thing becoming a pattern.

might help.

Posted 1 year ago #
simons_nicolai-uk - Member

I use these for a couple of nights when it happens to me. None prescription and no side effects i.e. not drowsy the next day.

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Sleepeaze-50mg-Tablets-20-_11575/

Same Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride base as Nytol and those make me feel absolutely shitty the next day. I've heard good things about Herbal Nytol but haven't tried them.

When I've had similar I've gone to the doctor and got a 1 week script for proper sleepers.

Posted 1 year ago #
TurnerGuy - Member

I was recommeded Sominex - doesn't help you get to sleep in the first place but helps you get back to sleep in you wake up.

I have been using only 1/4 of a tablet as that seems to work and you don't feel bad in the morning.

I will also read a techy book last thing in bed - if reading about WCF or similair doesn't knock me out within a few pages then I know there is something else wrong...

Posted 1 year ago #
mountaincarrot - Member

Lots of daylight in the daytime. Proper outdoor stuff, no glasses/windows or perspex in between. & Don't use a computer in the evening.

Posted 1 year ago #
Keva - Member

I never sleep continuously throughout the night, haven't done for years, always wake up at least once or twice. I don't know why people worry about it, it's no big deal.

Kev

Posted 1 year ago #
toab - Member

Another thing that can help fix a pattern is to set a time for going to bed and a time for getting up and absolutely stick to them. Don't lie in bed reading before going to sleep and don't lie in in the mornings. The idea is that eventually your brain gets the message that this is when you go to sleep, and this is when you get up, but you have to stick to it rigidly, no matter how sleepy you feel.

Posted 1 year ago #
GlitterGary - Member

I'm the same as Kev, I must sleep all the way throught the night maybe once or twice a year. No real problem at all.

Oh, and I watched a film once where someone kept waking at the same time every night - it was the first sign of posession by the Devil!

Posted 1 year ago #
Flaperon - Member

Turn the clock so you can't see it. Have a warm bath about an hour and a half before bed.

There is a more drastic method that works, but requires a few days off and commitment from you. Eat nothing from breakfast time on day 1. No coffee, just water. Try to go to sleep at a normal time that day but don't be bothered if you can't sleep. Get up at 7am (don't sleep in if you do drop off) and have a decent breakfast of porridge or something.

This will more or less reset your body clock, and you should sleep that night. Circadian rhythms are very susceptible to food; you shouldn't snack in the evening.

I work absolutely appalling shift patterns (4 early, 3 off, 4 late, 3 off etc) and this works for me. Normal methods only allow you to adjust your "bioclock" by about 1.5 hours per day.

Posted 1 year ago #
DaRC_L - Member

I tend to use these two techniques when I'm woken up and have difficulty getting back to sleep:

# Deep breathing. Close your eyes—and try taking deep, slow breaths—making each breath even deeper than the last.
# Progressive muscle relaxation. Starting at your toes, tense all the muscles as tightly as you can, then completely relax. Work your way up from your feet to the top of your head.

Posted 1 year ago #
coffeeking - Member

I've never been able to sleep properly. Since I was in single figures I've laid awake each night staring at the ceiling, bored to tears. Tried music, TV, reading, you name it. Nothing seems to work until about 2-3am I fall asleep naturally. I struggle to wake before 12 too, as in I can "wake", go downstairs and turn off alarms, then go back to bed without realising I've done it, and I can do that 10 times. Doesn't matter if I've stayed up for 36 hours either, I can't get to sleep at "normal" times.

The only thing I've found that's able to alter this is either phenargen (sedative) OTC or melatonin (small dose, <1mg) (unlicensed, health shops). With either of these I can be asleep by 11 whether I like it or not. Do that for a week or so and I seem to reset into a normal sleep mode until the next disturbance like a long weekend.

Posted 1 year ago #
Woody - Member

Useful tips above but I think trying to get 8 hours a night may be at the root of your problem. IIRC a recent study showed that the average requirement for sleep and health maintenance was around 7 hours. I actually feel rubbish if I sleep for more than 8 hours.

Until recently I worked (new job in a week so no more nights:) some truly awful (12 hour) shift patterns, the worst being -
Sunday 0630-1830
Monday off
Tuesday 1830-1630
Wed off
Thur off
Fri/Sat/Sun 1830-0630
Mon off
Tue/Wed/Thu 1830-0630

If that doesn't completely screw up your sleep pattern (it's 5 complete sleep reversals in 8 days) then nothing will.

The only tip I can give is to only go to bed when you are tired but still get up at the same time. If you have 6 hours sleep and it's not enough for you, you will feel tired at 2200 the next night and hopefully be able to sleep right through and break the pattern.

Posted 1 year ago #
DickBarton - Member

I'm not looking for 8 hours sleep...just looking to get a sleep that is uninterrupted so I don't feel so rough when I wake up in the morning...I'm more than happy to accept that some folk need a lot of sleep and other need hardly any sleep I think I used to get about 8 hours and I always woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go...now I'm waking up and crawling to the shower...not ideal...

Posted 1 year ago #

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