Insomnia

[MelBay]

For a couple of months now, I have been waking up at 4 a.m., no matter if I go to bed at 9, 10, or midnight (or later). My mind races, and if I lay there long enough (maybe 90 minutes or so) I can usually go back to sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. Thank heaven I work from home so I'm somewhat flexible with my work hours.

DH has been out of town, and the last few nights I have turned on the TV in our room, which made me go back to sleep faster. When he gets back, I'm not going to be able to do this unless I get up and move to another room, and I don't think training my mind/body to do that would be a good thing at this point.

Yes, I've talked to my doctor and she recommended Ambien. Nope, not for me... I used it once years ago and had the most unbelievable nightmares.

Anyone else waking up early? What do you do? Have you been able to "fix" it? Or did you just surrender to being an early bird? 4 is just a wee bit early for me...

 

[Tacoma]

This waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep started hitting me with "mentalpause". I could not function and was desperate. Just before going to my doctor to ask about sleeping pills I mentioned it to a colleague. They suggested that I take a gravol(dramidine in the states?) before bed. It worked great! Even if I woke up I could get back to sleep again quickly. I used it for a couple of months and then just continued to use it sporadically as needed. When I told my doctor even she could not disagree if it worked. I do wake up slightly more groggy but a good night's sleep is priceless. I have told other friends about this and it often works for them as well.

Joan

 

[DeniseM]

I believe it's Dramamine?

My husband and son both take Melatonin - which is more or less a natural supplement- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

 

[Passepartout]

I am frequently (2-3X a week) up about 3a.m.ish for an hour or so. Mind races, room/bed is too warm, nature calls. DW does it from time to time too. Her solution is to turn on the radio. BBC world news or something. It knocks her right out, but might as well be a claxon to me. If I'm lucky, I'll answer nature's call, play a couple of games of Spider, and go back to bed/sleep. If not, the coffee goes on about 6:30 and I'm up. I have tried 3mg of Melatonin. No measurable effect for me.

Jim

 

[heathpack]

I just get up at 4am! Well, 4:30 actually. Usually I am asleep by 9:30 pm, so that is 7 hours sleep which seems to work for me.

Mr. H could sleep 'til noon everyday if that were feasible. Seems like a tremendous waste of time to me! I can get a lot done by the time I leave for work at 7:10am. Most days it is some form of exercise, but that's also a GREAT time to check II inventory....

H

 

[JudyH]

I usually get to bed around 11 weekdays, maybe 12 weekends. Doesn't matter. I wake at 3am nightly no matter what. You can phone me. Some nights I can get back to sleep, some nights I toss around. Benedry, or the compound in it and Dramamine, just make me drowsy all the next day. A very small dose of Xanax helps me fall back asleep faster with no hangover but I don't take it much cause its habit forming. Now I'm on meds for migraines and don't want to mix anything with that. Unfortuneately, it doesn't help me sleep.

The right antihistaminine might help you sleep better.

This has been going on for years. I really feel your pain.

 

[Fern Modena]

I've had a problem with waking up 3-4 hours after I get to sleep for years. I take some meds an hour before bedtime which my friends tell me that any one of them put them "out" but they don't me. So what I do is move to the recliner, and turn on the TV low to music (radio would work as well). It makes my brain hear the music and it puts me out.

Fern

 

[JanT]

For the past several years I have had difficulty staying asleep. Typically not falling asleep but staying asleep. I thought it was just that my body was programmed for this because our dogs would wake me up faithfully every night at 11:00 and 3:00. That probably does come into play but even after they were gone I still was waking up somewhere in the same time range. My mind would race and after a couple of hours I could sleep again for a little while.

I finally went to my doctor and asked for some sleep medication. He gave me Restoril and even taking two tablets per night didn't help. Same thing happened. Then I switch GYNs and she asked me about the Restoril after she reviewed my chart. I told her it didn't help me at all. She nodded and said it wouldn't because my insomnia was most likely being caused by menopause.

She did some routine blood tests just because I was a new patient and turns out my progesterone was non-existant. So, she prescribed progesterone and said it should do the trick. Guess what? It didn't, so she upped the dosage and has me taking melatonine as well. I take 6 mgs of melatonine at bedtime along with my progesterone. It helps but I still wake up - just not as fully awake and I am able to go directly back to sleep. I'd love to sleep all night, all the way through but I don't think that is going to happen. But, I at least don't lay there with my mind racing for hours at a time.

Man, I love getting older - NOT!!!!

Passepartout - my doc said you can take up to 12 milligrams of melatonine without any problem. You might try upping your dose to see if it helps.

 

[klpca]

My sleep issue is a bit different - I can't fall asleep. Mostly because my mind is racing. I have finally found an awesome solution (only took 50 years).

I love to listen to audiobooks on my ipod. Now I start a book, set the sleep timer for 15 or 30 minutes, and put my ear buds in. I sleep on my side so I only use one ear bud. Since I am listening to the book my mind can't think of other things and next thing I know it's time to wake up.

I have tried this a few times when I wake in the middle of the night and it has worked well. I think that I have conditioned myself to sleep this way because I was able to sleep on a plane recently using the same method. Perhaps this will help you too.

 

[rapmarks]

I have been up for hours. sleeping meds give me nightmares, drugs i have to take interfere with sleep. i got a really good trade on RCi because i was wide awake two nights in a row.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I do have sleep issues. I sleep better if I have been very active with physical activity during the day. I find eating a small snack (cereal with milk) helps. I am very sensitive to heat and cold in the bedroom. And I keep my alarm clock set for 5:45AM for every morning, even on vacations.

 

[Carta]

For years i could fall asleep w/ no problem. But after 2 hours, I'd be wide awake..then turn on tv..BIG mistake..I'd watch all the infomercials and buy, buy, buy.. 99% of the stuff i didn't need..

I figured it's time to see my dr. He prescribed Restoril... I've been using it for years.. I don't get 8 hrs. of sleep; but my credit card statement has diminished greatly... Now i can take more vacations... (yeah right)

pss.. I think the technical term is called: OLD AGE..........heh heh heh

 

[JanT]

Well ya gotta love grabbing those great trades! I've been up early the last few mornings as well but with no luck in grabbing the week I need.

I have been up for hours. sleeping meds give me nightmares, drugs i have to take interfere with sleep. i got a really good trade on RCi because i was wide awake two nights in a row.

 

[ada903]

I have had trouble with sleeping all my life, and it has gotten worse in the past two years because of stress and too much work. I tried lunesta, melatonin, natural pills, etc. Most medication gives me vivid nightmares, and makes me feel a sort of dependency I dislike. Especially trying to give up the medication after a while, my body would refuse going to sleep when trying to give it up.

Some of the insomnia is caused by aging and hormonal changes, but a good amount is caused by stress, which we sometimes do not acknowledge at a conscious level. I try to do something that puts my mind to peace before I go to sleep, like reading a few pages from a spiritual book that reminds me all the financial and material stress of our daily lives is dust in the wind compared to our bigger purpose.

On the bright side, waking up at 3 am to catch those bulk deposits early is a blessing

 

[Lee B]

I agree with tiring the body so it won't fight sleepy mind. I found that bedtime omega 3 helped. Mine is flax seed oil, but fish oil should work too.

I also use radio. It has to be a little bit interesting or it will annoy, but not so interesting to keep me awake. One night I slept with the TV on and dreamed of getting rich .

 

[nazclk]

Sleep

Sorry folks I take Ambien and it works like a charm.

 

[jlr10]

Getting older is a pain...

When I wake up and can't sleep I grab my Ipod and listen to music. I found that listening to my "Pachebel's Forever by the Sea" CD works. It combines the Cannon in D with the sound of waves crashing. It always puts me out before the first track is done. The other night, just before dropping off, I noticed that when listening to this my breathing slowed down and matched the strum of the cello. Not sure that is what is making me go to sleep, but I don't care, since it works.

 

[PigsDad]

Sorry folks I take Ambien and it works like a charm.

Same here -- I use Ambien on an occasional basis (a 30-tab prescription lasts me 5-6 months). Sometimes taking a whole tab causing grogginess the next day, especially mid-morning, but I have found that if I take 1/2 tab and ibuprophen on the nights that I need it, that works just as well and I don't have issues the next day.

Kurt

 

[Glynda]

Xanax

I used to fall asleep mid-sentence upon my head hitting the pillow and wake to the alarm clock. Then I hit a certain age and couldn't go to sleep and when I did I woke up in the wee hours and couldn't go back to sleep. Xanax is my sleeping pill now. I go to sleep within 10 minutes and if I wake up, I go right back to sleep.

 

[Pat H]

Are you menopausal? I very seldom have trouble sleeping. When I reached peri/menopause, I had no trouble falling asleep but would wake up and not be able to go back to sleep. I started taking HRT and what a world of difference. No problems except the occasional stress related ones. I have tried stopping the HRT and within a few days the sleep problems surface again along with a few other annoying maladies.

 

[AgelessTravel]

This waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep started hitting me with "mentalpause". I could not function and was desperate. Just before going to my doctor to ask about sleeping pills I mentioned it to a colleague. They suggested that I take a gravol(dramidine in the states?) before bed. It worked great! Even if I woke up I could get back to sleep again quickly. I used it for a couple of months and then just continued to use it sporadically as needed. When I told my doctor even she could not disagree if it worked. I do wake up slightly more groggy but a good night's sleep is priceless. I have told other friends about this and it often works for them as well.

Joan

I have used Gravol also, works great. I do feel a little groggy in the morning. I've also tried Melatonin, it doesn't seem to work for me.

 

[falmouth3]

I guess I'm not unique. I often have problems falling asleep and then staying asleep. Sometimes I use anti-histamine, every now and then I try a high alcohol drink. They say not to use alcohol, because it disrupts sleep, but if I can't sleep at all, I'm better off with a stiff drink knocking me out for a while.

Often I turn on the TV to the "Create" channel. I turn it on low and set the TV timer to shut off the TV. Because Create often has sewing, painting, or cooking programs, there aren't a lot of bright flashes as scenes change, not loud noises, and usually soft voices. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Dori]

I often have trouble going to sleep. I think I have RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome). After lying in bed for an hour or so, thrashing my legs around and flip-flopping from side to side, I get up and read. Sometimes I have some yogurt. I figure the calcium can't hurt! I know there is medication for RLS, but the side effects are so scary, that I'd rather not take it at all.

I'll go for weeks on end with no problems, and then have "episodes" every other night for about a week.

Dori

 

[zcrider]

Diphenhydramine HCI 25mg

I have had the same sleep problems for years now. Both middle of the night staying asleep and sometimes falling asleep. I too have nightmares with Prescription sleeping pills, anxiety pills worked much better but gave me terrible acid reflux. Finally have discovered through trial and error that the Wal-Mart Equate brand "Nighttime Sleep Aid" two little blue pills work great and are cheap too! I buy the bottle of 100 pills for about $4. Two before bed makes me fall and stay asleep with no side effects. I try to go 2-3 nights a week without them for two reasons 1) so I don't get dependant on them and 2) I find my sleep problems often are caused by allergy problems and/or the allergy medication I take, so when I don't have allergies I sometime don't even need them.

 

[MelBay]

Are you menopasual?

PatH, I began menopause at a VERY early age (in my early 30's) and 20 years later I'm still battling it. Sometimes worse than others. I got worried about the long term use of HRT and am now on a "more natural" HRT which is formulated according to my blood work. I've been using it for years with great results, but I did speak with my doctor about my sleep issues and we're going to do another round of blood work. There are SO many things that can cause insomnia, and if you do too many things at once, it's hard to tell what, if anything, is working.

A friend is letting me borrow her Phillips Energy Light. I took a little online quiz and it made suggestions on when & how to use it for early waking. It's worth a shot...

I'm going to get some dramamine too, just for really bad nights.

While I didn't get any sure fire solutions for my problems, it's good to know I'm in such great company.