Sleeping problem – waking early (was started by stress)

Last year I had a really stressful job that in the end led to me not sleeping much at all. I have changed job and the new job is great with no stress at all.

I am nearly 4 months into the new job and my sleep has still not returned to normal.

The specific problem that I have is that I get to sleep fine and sleep well but wake early typically around 5am giving me 2 hours less than I need, going to be early just seems to bring the point I wake up forward. As a result of being tired my immune system has been the worst I can ever remember (its normally really good and I rarely get ill). I have pretty much been ill since new year with the odd few days in between.

I eat a healthy diet, I get out on my bike 2 to 3 times a week.

I sleep in a dark bedroom without a TV, never use my phone in bed. Don’t even read in bed only go there to sleep.

Any advice to anything to try and reset my body clock greatly received.

Cheer Bigsurfer.

I’m a 5am riser too so this is of interest. Nothing seems to break it, going to bed at different times, more exercise, less exercise, booze, no booze. 5am and my brain switches on.

5 am? That’s a bloomin’ lie-in in my book!! Try catnapping every 2 hours and then bursting into tears every flippin’ hour cos I’m so damned tired and stressed.

hi – early riser here as well, but I think it’s ingrained/inherited with me, my parents were early birds and woke me up early, and I always lived MILES from school so even as a nipper/teen I had to get up early, then I was a Commuter…… I’ve NEVER been able to reset my body clock (however I am light impacted – sleep longer in winter but in a tent I can be awake at 4am in summer…. that is bloody irritating), however what I found helped a lot was as I did sport on weekends (usually fairly early am) I could have a 2hr post hockey/biking/football etc mid day/afternoon nap – this at least helped me stay out later with mates who can sleep in till 10am….

Do you normally set an alarm clock to get up OP?
If I do I can gaurantee waking up before the damn thing…..so when I used to work and have to be up I purchased an alarm clock with two alarms to allow you to dose safely through the first one thinking sod it then get your ass out of bed on the second alarm ten minutes later 😆
My other observation/thought would be based on your immune system being low, highly stressful previous job, waking up could be hormone linked issue connected to an underlying/ undiagnosed disease ( blood sugar naturally drops to low levels, or should do 3-4am)……any family history of diabetes? You only develop the peeling at night issue when it’s starting to get out of control.
My advice is pop to doctors, get a blood test/well being check done then once you know you’re not I’ll and it’s in your head you can tackle the relaxation side of sleeping.
I’m no doctor or medically qualified unlike some on here that are but am a diabetic who used to have a shocking lifestyle and lack of sleep…..now happily retired and waking up when my body wants me to! 🙂

The specific problem that I have is that I get to sleep fine and sleep well but wake early typically around 5am

I suffered from sleep problems for over a decade and although there has been a huge improvement in recent years, I too rarely sleep past 5am. I never set an alarm because I wake up so regularly at that time!

5am is fine if you’re getting good quality sleep, but as soon as you have a few rough nights, it takes its toll.

Have you tried an extended period of getting to be an hour or two earlier (if this is possible?). That didn’t work for me, but seems it would be the easiest solution if you can train yourself to sleep earlier.

Will go and get checked by my GP to be on the safe side.

treat the 5am wake up as official get up time then bag yourself a 2 hour lie in.

Thats what I do!

I also wake up 5mins before any alarm set!

I wake up at 0500, the cat makes sure of that. I decided to make a virtue out of a problem, and go for a run, watch a show I have recorded, do something fun with the time you have.

(but easy for me to say – I fall asleep at 21.30 no problem)

May be removing all electronic devices from the room so no mobile, landline, Kindle, tablet etc.

Try 6 years of 5 hours sleep and get back to me. At the moment it is more like 3 and that is with taking medication that sedates me.

If you have all the basics down pat (sleep hygiene et) then it’s worth looking at more unconventional solutions.

Meditation, yoga, relaxation/hypnosis tapes all can help, as can certain supplements.

Sleeping pills can be helpful in the short term for helping to adjust sleeping patterns, but it’s really a crude solution and not something for chronic insomnia (I’ve taken pretty much every sleeping pill known to man)

Best bet would be to try something like melatonin and get on the app store and download some sleep apps as a first step.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/melatonin-overview

May be removing all electronic devices from the room so no mobile, landline, Kindle, tablet etc.

I do exactly the same and have done for the last 40 yrs! I occasionally doze off again but rarely. A few years ago I just used it as an opportunity to get out for a morning run but thats difficult now and most of my running is done later in the day.
I have also tried a number of things but I dont worry about it much and get some (quiet) jobs done around the house, have a read etc.
Downside is I am tired by about 9pm 🙁

what is it about 5am?

I wake almost every day at that time too

I’m exhausted

i wake up at 5am sometimes.

after I’ve had a piss I’m back to the land of nodd till 8-9am :-p

what is it about 5am

Its nearly dawn. Which is probably a clue to part of the issue.

Blackout blinds and a good bed help. Quiet central heating also helps. Making sure you don’t check you phone if you wake in the night. Sex also helps, although that’s obviously difficult if your married.

What time do you go to sleep? I go generally at 10-10.30am and wake at 6. Sometimes its 4.45am. In the lighter months I’ll just get up and RIDE my road bike or if raining just lie in for an hour playing on my phone. I’ll also try bothering hora junior to get up as I’m bored (supposed to be the other way round?).

What time is your last tea or cofee of the day?

What time do you stop exercise by and do you eat sugar late?

Also- you are probably in a pattern….routine now. It IS your routine.

if you’re getting up to the loo probably worth the visit to the doc

What are you like with drink too? Drink can easily give you bad nights sleep.

To answer a few of the questions. I don’t drink tea or coffee or any other form of caffeine drink, I haven’t drunk alcohol since new year. I am normally in bed by 10 or at the latest 10.30. I don’t need to get up to pee in the night. I am pretty sure it is just a routine but I have tried everything I can think to break the routine.

10 till 5 is a pretty good night’s sleep IMO

It’s about what time I go to bed and get up, embrace the wonderful early mornings

You’re worried about waking at 5?

Haaaaaahaaaahaaaaa oops sorry for laughing. I wake at 2, 3, 4 and 5 and often get up at 5 because my brain feels so odd lying in that I think I’m going to suffer some kind of intra-cerebral vascular event. In fact there’s evidence that lying in bed too long increases the risk of a stroke.

As long as you get to bed early, stop worrying about it. As you age you need less and less sleep so for most people the fantasy of seven hours of uninterrupted sleep remains a fantasy.

Ok I’m feeling it a bit from work at the moment. I’m currently waking up at 5 most mornings but have got back to sleep every time so far in this batch of things being a bit rubbish

Things that help me. My life is pretty easy so these might not be possible for you

I need to zone out at some point every evening before bedtime. Best is reading until I feel more relaxed and then a breath meditation for 15 minutes ish

Use this to learn to meditate

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/podcasts/mindfulness-10-minute/

When i wake up if I think I’m not going to get back to sleep I listen to this podcast and it helps. Even if your awake I always feel better

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/podcasts/progressive-relaxation-sleep/

I’ll then focus back on me breathing

Best of luck

When you wake at 5am, what do you do following waking? Maybe thats the behaviour you need to change.

Go to bed 11.00pm most nights, wake up on occasions, headphones on, listen to R4 Extra or World Service, wake up 5.00am listen to R5, at 6.00am listen to R4, at 7.00am get up.Have been following this pattern for years.

I have to admit I’m the same OP alarm is set for 5.45am but I ALWAYS am awake by 5am does my head in but I just does off then wake up at the alarm.

I used to have a job when I was literally up at the crack of dawn (feeding live stock) 4am – 4.30am in the summer was common I’ve always seemed to get up early 🙄
If I ever have a lie in I’ve got to get out of bed by 9am otherwise I get terrible back ache 😕

Badllama

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I wake up at 2.30am every morning without fail. Have done for years. I think its linked to somebody trying to break into my house at about the same time in the morning many years ago. I’ve found the best way to deal with it is to not get stressed about being awake but to focus on the fact that I’m in a nice warm bed with hours to go until I have to be up properly. If you don’t get worked up about being awake earlier than you need to be you tend to drift off back to sleep. Lie there wondering why you’re awake and getting worked up about it and the last thing you’ll be able to do is get back to sleep.

I’ve been known to prowl around the house, make sure all is well, get back into bed and be asleep again within half an hour.

It’s human nature to have two sleeps. Folk used to get up, have a meal, read a book, have sex etc (not necessarily all on the same night) and go back to sleep.

It’s human nature to have two sleeps. Folk used to get up, have a meal, read a book, have sex etc (not necessarily all on the same night) and go back to sleep.

I did look into that a little while ago and it does make sense. I sometimes read for a bit and then get back off to bed. It never seems to affect me the following day. I think I’m more of a night person as early mornings are just painful and I could quite happily stay up all night even after a long day at work.

I once woke up 8:30am coming from 10pm sleep straight , was the best feeling of my life since I was a little kid… I would never forget about that day it happen 3 yrs ago…

4:30am waker here by the way 6days a week but its ok because I need to go to work

As above, I wake about 3am every morning, without fail. Then nap. Have done for 20 years, I never, ever feel really awake. When I was younger, I would go 2-3 days without sleeping. Absolutely manic I was. Big bike ride, out on the ale, spend 4 hours programming, work, then go to bed. 3 hours later, back on it again.

Hope this helps.

Been having nightmares and punching things like my lamp off my sideboard recently before waking up in full fight/flight mode, so I can understand.

In fact there’s evidence that lying in bed too long increases the risk of a stroke.

I can say for certain that if I wake up at 4 (which I do most days) then there’s a good chance of at least one cocoa stroke

Scotroutes – seconded. Many “primitive” people take their sleep in two bits, the Tiv people of Nigeria don’t even talk about sleep, they have different words for the first sleep and the second sleep. In between they get up, wander around, have a wazz, chat, whatever.

Kindle paper White is ideal wake of enjoying being awake at night without disturbing your partner

With hora on this one. 90% of a good night’s sleep is a really comfortable bed. I recommend a pocket-spring mattress. I have a “Hypnos” which is about as comfortable as it gets. Pay attention to the amount of covering you use as well, you don’t want to be too hot (or too cold). I like to sleep with the window ajar to prevent the room getting stuffy. In the winter, I’ll use a king-size 13.5 tog duvet on a double-sized mattress. If it’s really cold, I put a king-size duvet cover ON TOP, with a bed sheet underneath the duvet. Also, a thin quilt under a mattress cover, beneath the bottom sheet. Shed layers as the year progresses…

Try to avoid stimulating entertainment before bedtime, nothing that makes your brain work hard. Have a small cup of camomile tea with honey as early in the evening as you can.

To switch off any “ear worm” that may be present, quietly repeat the word “the” at random intervals to yourself. Count backwards as slowly as you can from 999 whilst focusing down and to the middle distance with eyes closed. Relax your facial muscles. Put your mind in your body and relax the body muscles into the mattress.

The final resort on top of all this is popping a couple of ibuprofen to relax.

Make sure that’s only a temporary tactic, though, until you start to sleep without it again.

I was bought this book – teaches you meditation type relaxation techniques. Works really well.

And also, of course – don’t be such a MCWCB. 😉