Lack of sleep

Hi Shamma , This is so my problem and runs in my family. We had a thread going about sleeping pills in September. Maybe have a read and see if there's anything there that you can take on board (link below). There's much discussion about prescription meds, but also natural or things you can get over the counter, like Valerian. I also use Phenergan which is what is in Somminex, vs Nytol which is weak. But buying Phenergan is cheaper and you get 56 tablets of the 25mg. Try not to be tempted by Night Nurse, as the decongestant ingredients also in it can have bad effects if taken long term.

www.gransnet.com/forums/health/1229917-Sleeping-pill-any-advice-please?pg=1

alternativeageing Thanks for posting about Melatonin. I stock up when I visit the US, but didn't realise I could buy online here as I know it's not available OTC. I didn't mention it in the September thread as I didn't know you could get it online for UK delivery. Cheers for that!

I have been told about a lamp programmed to gradually reduce light emission, which is supposed to help with falling asleep.
It can also turn on again in the morning, gradually giving out increasing light levels which helps some people to wake on dark mornings.

Have suffered from insomnia since I was a child. It's horrible, nothing worse than dragging yourself through the day after only a couple of hours sleep.
I discovered a few years ago that the tablets I take for Hayfever helped hugely with getting me off to sleep, so I use those a lot and I have some stronger sleeping tablets for emergencies. Sometimes, however, nothing helps.
I try to keep to a set routine as much as I can, as late nights are fatal and not too much to drink after about 6pm or I'm up wanting the loo, then can't drop off again.
You have my sympathy although seems like there are a lot of us suffering. Xx

It could well be that you are suffering from sleep Apnoea. Have you discussed that possibility with your doctor.

Paul McKenna "I can make you sleep" might help. Sorry to hear you are suffering like this.

I buy lots of Dormidina over the counter in Spain, friends and family stock me up too! In France I think it's Dornomyl, and my friend brings me tablets from Walmart or Walgreens or both in the US. I take one or other about twice a week and they do help. Could easily become addictive though. I don't find sleepease from boots help at all.

Using the alphabet, run through girls' names, then boys'. Sometimes I run through my list of old lovers . . . always fall fast asleep as I'm doing that!

I can identify with the impact this has, I suffered from a dreadful lack of sleep as a result of a very stressful job and then latterly the break up of my son's marriage.

The latter causing far greater impact than the former. I have been taking Magnesium Relax. See this link www.philrichardsperformance.co.uk/index.php/magnesium-relax.html and it has helped me enormously. I did the thing of the radio or tv and although the radio helped it didn't make me feel at all relaxed. The magnesium certainly has had a very beneficial effect and I have been taking it for several months now. The product needs to be high quality and not bought from a high street chemist, herbal/health shop, as the contents are combined with lesser ingredients. I have used this brand exclusively, which ironically was recommended by my health and fitness expert son.......

It takes a couple of weeks to kick in, is not cheap but the results are very good in my experience. I would strongly urge anyone with sleep problems to try it. It has lessened the tendancy towards panic attacks also, which can overcome you in the dead of night when sleep evades you and your mind goes into overdrive. Advice is to check with GP first , but unless there is a medical reason, i.e. Conflict with existing meds, don't be put off by anyone pooh poohing it as a stupid idea. I am so glad I have got some relief from the horrible endless nights awake.

It hasn't solved the devastation of my son's marriage breakdown but it has helped my health.

I have taken two capsules about an hour befor bedtime.

Hope this helps.

I am a sufferer too. I have tried all the OTC remedies, avoiding caffeine after 4pm and as little as possible before that, reading, relaxation techniques, exercise, hypnosis and sleep apps. Nothing has worked for me so I now just accept it knowing that I can function pretty well the next day (luckily I don't work now but I was working with this problem previously). We have some worries which of course escalate in the middle of the night and I wish I had a brain switch! I can offer no suggestions I'm afraid but it sometimes helps to know you are not as alone with this problem as you feel at 4am!

I often suffer this too although last night I slept very well. Sometimes I get up lots of times for the loo but that's possibly related to my blood sugar levels. I need to be mindful of what I eat after 6pm. I only have caffeine at breakfast. I do find any hypnosis MP3 is really good for relaxing completely and drifting off to sleep. I must say though, I give my husband strict instructions not to come into the room whilst I'm listening or I cannot relax into it. There are many available online. Good luck, insomnia is truly miserable.

Poor you, Shamna. I get this in bouts so what it must be like all the time . Very debilitating. Echo what others have said. No caffeine after two pm. Just a thought, if you work from home are you getting enough fresh air?
Do make sure you have a good walk in the day. Went to a sleep yoga day recently. If you have restless legs, magnesium can help. Also I was so aware after that day about sleep problems,I coukdn't sleep. I found the Pukka night time teabag they had give us very soothing and dropped off soon after.

Has anyone tried Pukka Night time tea? I find that a mug of this about 20 minutes ahead of when I want to settle down, helps enormously. I use it less now as it has liquorice extract which loweres BP and mine is already on the low side, as I have to take beta blockers for atrial fibrillation. But in times past Pukka Night time was my 'go to' drink every night - have recommended it to many people who have had excellent results. The taste does take some getting used to, not unpleasant,at all, but quite 'different'. The teas are available through the website or in most supermarkets...

www.pukkaherbs.com

Hope that this is helpful.

I have periods of sleeping badly and I take something called Quiet Life, obtainable on line. It was recommmended to me years ago,and I find that two three tablets before bed work well for me. Hope you manage to sort this out as there's nothing more wretched than insomnia.

What works for me is - in no particular order - Audiobooks, telling myself (in my head) the story of favourite books I love and know well,relaxation or hypnotherapy cds ( Paul McKenna does one and you can get sleep in headphones),not dozing in the chair in the evenings ( having a hobby like knitting, crochet or sewing helps here ), just accepting that I don't sleep like I used to and not stressing over it. If you work, then not stressing is difficult, I know. I think we can get into a habit with sleep as with anything else. I also think that amending the diet as suggested above and taking a good walk helps. I hope you can get the better of it - it sounds as though you are in a real spiral with it.
For all those who can get off to sleep but regularly wake -
if you live alone have you considered sleep apnoea? Do you know if you snore and this wakes you? Your doctor can arrange a hospital investigation if this might be an issue. You just sleep there and are observed. Sorry if I'm going over things you know about. Here's to quiet minds and sleep filled nights for us all.

I do sympathise with you Shanma. I have had sleep problems all my life as far back as I can remember. Unfortunately I have no solutions for you, I have tried everything including sessions with a consultant at a sleep clinic. Lack of sleep got worse the older I got and trying to do a job when I hadn't slept for several days on end was a nightmare. I'm now retired and the long nights with trying to fill my days is hard plus I'm very irritable.

I have the radio on or a podcast during the night which helps to wile away the long nights but the usual presenter has moved on and now all they talk about is Brexit!

Sorry I cannot help you.

I used to lie awake for nights, but that was mainly due to the medication I have to take.
Shanma, recently I found if I eat a lot not long before I go to bed does affect my sleep.
Not many of us can just fall asleep like we used to do when a child. So what I do is just think of one object and keep my mind on the object, it nearly always gets me to sleep and,as people have mentioned, after a few hhours, if you haven't, don't just lie there, read a bit.

Just another suggestion, have you tried playing one of the tapes for sleep insomonia? Like a bird singing

Me too, its universal isn't it?
I agree with all the things others have said and would add that what has helped me enormously is to expect it, and then when I am laying either listening to the podcast or what ever on the radio is not to stress about how little sleep I am going to get.
Then somehow I am relaxed and likely to at least be more rested, sometimes even nodding off again

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea some years ago, and am sure that is what is causing my sleepless nights. I too often get up to make a cup of tea in the early hours of the morning, then go back to bed. Unfortunately this means that I get up late, the cause of much hilarity in my family, but honestly on the occasions when I didn't sleep in, I am absolutely useless for the whole day.
I have Zimovane (zoplicone), but rarely take it, as I know it can become addictive. I have no answer truthfully, as wht works for one will not for another, but the relaxing of the muscles in the body in slow order does work, as does counting backwards from 100.
Sorry not to have been more help.

I think worrying is your problem not sleeping.
I have no problem sleeping,( although I used to) as I now have done/ do the following. I bought a digital radio and using ear plugs, ( if I wake in the night I put the earphones in the radio is rechargable and stays under my pillow) and listen to radio four extra. Or I listen to it before going to sleep and it sends me to sleep. It is full of stories/humour/ plays. IF awakened they send me back to sleep in minutes.
I have also stopped worrying about not sleeping/ sleeping. If I do have a bad night I take a nap at four in the afternoon for 10 mins. It can be in the car or wherever.

I have invested in a Apple iPad and I download podcasts, Desert Island Discs etc and listen to them. If I go abroad, I check there is internet access and listen to the radio through BBC radio iplayer. TV BBC I player does not work abroad but I download BBC programmes before I go. I can watch them in bed, through ear phones without disturbing my husband.

Don't go to bed to early and take lots of Physical exercises. I am a OAP and can walk ten miles easily on the flat, six miles with climbing. Exercise tires you out.
Resolve to think ' my life is short' and try and stop sweating the small stuff.
As the buddists say YOU DIE IF YOU WORRY AND YOU DIE IF YOU DON'T WORRY....so stop fretting.

It's hellish I know only too well. One night a week I take two zopiclone sleeping pills to give me some sleep, other nights I lie till four a. M.!

This may seem weird, but I can't sleep if I'm in pitch darkness. Always had a problem sleeping, until I went in hospital for a couple of weeks, and the lights were left on dimly all night - slept like a baby. Tried it when I got home - result .... guess I must have been scared of the dark for all those years!!!

Try Lavender Oil on your pillow

This has worked for me, and it's to do with making sure thoughts are unrelated. You choose a letter, then think of the first object that comes into your head beginning with that letter, then another unrelated one, e.g.: L. Lemon lilo, lozenge, letter and so on. The theory is that because these thoughts are unrelated, i.e. you aren't going over concerns or unpleasant thoughts, you will drop off. Another method that sometimes works for me is telling myself stories where I am the heroine: I've been Che Guevara's girlfriend, a heroine of the French Resistance, a governess in 1920s New Zealand etc. Good luck

Maybe first of all - stop worrying about not sleeping - its ok not to sleep - its ok not to sleep. Trust your body. It's doing what it needs to be doing.

With regard to your mind - it sounds like you are churning things over and over - have you tried mediation? To retrain your brain? To enjoy the letting go of worries - which are all just fabrications of our thoughts. How often does a worry actually come true? How often does a worry stop something happening or not?

If you have trouble with meditation - try counting backwards from 50 and every time you find yourself thinking about something instead of the counting just start again - and again - and again - you can do this - if you want to - but also its ok too if you don't want to. Its time to enjoy your life, to relax in the wonder of being alive and being able to move, being able to feel the luxury of your body laying in the deep softness of your bed.

Maybe find 'music' that has 'binaural beats' which can relax and quiet your mind - they are a little odd but very effective - listen with earphones though to get the full effect. Take small steps to practice finding your peace. Wishing you joyous discoveries Shanma. :D

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgwd_3k3pOw