Bad night.....groan!

I put my head on the pillow at about 10 and wake up,ready to jump out of bed, at 5ish. I've never used an alarm clock.
This makes a long day so I often snooze after lunch.
I think sleeping well or badly is mostly habit. If I have a bad night I have a cup of cocoa the next evening so I don't set a pattern of waking in the night.

Ana yep I don't know either. I should have a test night without it - but I like it too much! Plus my feet are beautifully hydrated

Well, made it through lunch and got home safely. I'm now ensconced in corner of sofa. Think it will be early night after dinner!

Some of those herbal potions cooked up in chemist's back rooms 100 years ago are not necessarily pure and wholesome. There was a trend for instance for selling toothpaste and other potions containing radium, soon after it was discovered - before the harmful effects of radiation was discovered.

You can buy the Zambuk with sassafras oil on e-bay (imported from S.A.). Don't understand why it would help you sleep, though, unless it's the smell of camphor!

Unusually for me I had a grotty night - bed at about 10.30 but awake at 1am then couldn't switch off planning what I am going to do with my new gravel garden - haven't a clue what time I eventually went to sleep.

anno not to me it doesn't. It does have a strong herbal smell - it contains eucalyptus oil, camphor, oil of thyme and sassafras (or mine does anyway).

I vaguely remember Zambuk too. My mum used to put it on scraped knees. I've just read the blog and I really want some now!

How do I remember Zambuk? Didn't it smell a bit like Tiger Balm?

Scrap previous - I've decided to go public after all because I found a website with all the necessary info on it.

Here you go:

www.rose-apothecary.co.uk/blog/?p=150

The South African version is stronger than the one I can buy here. Gotta go now and see why sassafras oil is not used in the UK version ... (read the comments).

I remember my grandpa using Zambuk when I was a little girl, he was never without a tin in his pocket for our scratches and insect bites as children.

bellanonna I've sent you a PM.

I don't have a problem getting to sleep but wake after about 2 hours. I find listening to story tapes on the CD player is fairly relaxing and prevents other thoughts intruding. However it needs to be a gentle sort of voice - Bill Bryson reading his own books is great and Alan Bennett. The advantage is that if I fall asleep while the are playing they switch off at the end. I used to listen to world service or Up All Night on radio 5.
I still only have about 5 hours a night but at least I'm relaxed during the wakeful hours.

I have the opposite problem. I sleep too much. I can go to sleep anytime and anywhere. Not napping but real deep sleep that lasts for hours. No matter what time I go to bed I'll be asleep within a couple of minutes and sleep the night through.

I know this might sound like a dream to insomniacs but actually it's as much of a curse as not being able to sleep. I wake up tired no matter how long I've been asleep. I have to fight the urge during the day. Sometimes sleep wins and I sleep around the clock. DH wakes me to drink but I don't really wake up when he does it but it makes sure I don't get dehydrated. To date the longest I've slept is just over 30 hours.

I've spoken to the doctor about this and been checked. There is nothing obviously wrong with me. I just sleep a lot.

Ah no. It's something herbal.

Ether?

grannyknot are you able to say what it is you rub into soles of feet? I'm willing to try anything!

It has been said that kindles, iPads, and even the bright light from clocks and radios can negatively affect our sleep. I don't know if this is so. I have always suffered from poor sleep. The odd nytol often does the trick but makes me feel tired next day. surprisingly the old fashioned warm drink also seems to work for me. I come down about 2, make a decaf milky coffee and an hour later I melt into a lovely sleep. I envy those people who avow that they are asleep the minute their head hits the pillow. Lucky them !

hilda I love catch up sleeps! I don't know whether I could get up at 3 a.m. ...

I mostly sleep like a log. Before I go to sleep, I rub the soles of my feet with a herbal ointment and I am convinced that's why I sleep so deeply. Whether it's the herbal ointment or not, doesn't really matter, it's that I believe it! (or that's what I tell my family when they tease me about it). I love the smell of the ointment anyway

When I first met my husband, he couldn't believe that I would say "I'm going to sleep now" and then do just that within moments. I on the other hand, couldn't understand why someone says that and then doesn't sleep!

I can't sleep with any noise in the bedroom. I have a very small alarm clock with a very loud tick which I have consigned to the bathroom. I go to bed about 7-8pm so that I can get up for work at 3am. This gives me 7-71/2 hours. I find that it usually takes me a good hour and a half ish to get to sleep (I've always been the same). I do not get enough sleep. I go back to bed when I get home from work at 8am. but it isn't the same as having a full night's sleep. I love the weekends, my days off are Sunday and Monday. I catch up with my sleep then!

I rarely get more than 4 hours sleep a night. If I take a Nytol one-a-night tablet I can sometimes get 6 hours at a stretch then I feel human again and ready for anything

I do the same.

like Lilygran and NanaDenise we have Radio4/World Service on quietly all night. The shipping forecast is great for getting me off to sleep, and when I do wake up I find that listening to what is on is less stressful than lying in bed worrying about why I cant get back to sleep. It is comforting to realise that there are millions of people all around the world listening to BBC World Service when you feel like the only person who is stuck awake in bed.

Lilygran - that is just what I do to. Listening to the radio stops those worrying thoughts that seem to go round and round. I also used to get up and do the ironing (I hardly do ironing these days). I also read my Kindle, but that seems to wake me up.

see you at lunch Kitty you will be fabulous