Unable to fall asleep and I’m so so tired

Piriton worked for me,I used to take it every night, but now I’m back in a good sleeping pattern I don’t need to take it anymore. Should I start to have sleepless nights again I would take it again.

Im sorry you’re in this state Bonnie as i too am a non sleeper having just spent 5 nights awake and feeling absolutely dreadful. Im on permanent sleeping pills which stopped working so last night took 2 and was away with the fairies.
You could look up CBT, it might help you or meditation or lovely, slow Mozart and quiet various adagios. The did the trick for me last night - good luck. You could ask your GP to send you to a sleep clinic. They’re very good and patient and could help you.

I have found that controlling my breathing and counting back from 100 in 7’s works for me. It also helps when I wake in the early hours worrying about things I have no control over.

My go to solution is Phenegran, available over the counter. Half a 25mg tablet and I know I will sleep without feeling groggy the following day. Have found out from Gransnet, that you can buy them in 10g tablets so I will no longer need to cut them in half!

I don't know what your diet is but I used to have terrible trouble sleeping - even with medication such as Nytol, Kalms and lavender oils on the pillow etc. I also suffer from tinnitus which doesn't help. I've since changed my diet - cut out sugar, red meat and caffeine and eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. I don't know if it's connected but I sleep like a log now for a good 8hrs a night. But a doctor is surely the one to talk to.

I have found the Tesco brand (there are other brands) Sleep Aid tablets very successful in helping me get to sleep and staying asleep. You shouldn't take them all the time but it helps to break the cycle. There are two strengths. I buy the weakest and just half a tablet works for me, if I need it. You take 20 minutes before you want to sleep. It also works if I wake in the night from falling asleep naturally, which is a common occurrence. Others that I have recommended them to also found them helpful.

Bonnybanko

*RosiesMaw up for a pit stop🤣

Quote Bonnybanko Wed 06-Dec-23 06:36:36
Hello everyone thank you so much for replying to my request for advice on this matter. I did fall asleep eventually and woke up quite late 8.30am

I’m confused too Juliet27. !

It’s 2.20am listening to Mozart looking at how to make pasta dishes, chicken tagliatelle comes to mind. Now time to sleep 💤 I’ll be needing a pit stop soon, it’s the flaming stroke that does it. 🥲

*RosiesMaw up for a pit stop🤣

Sorry, I should add - being tired beyond reason also goes with grief x

After my husband died, my sleep was light, easily interrupted then I couldn’t get back to sleep. It’s part of bereavement I believe. I find magnesium helps especially as it prevents night leg cramps. I’d occasionally read for a while, then go back to sleep. It’s possible to listen to relaxation tapes that aid sleep. I think it’s something we do well to accept as part of grief.

You need to re-train your routine Bonnybanko, we are creatures that like habit. Personally I go up at 9, no tv or mobile phone or kindle. I have the radio on low, a talking programme, I put my electric underblanket on a medium setting. Prop myself up with two pillows and I knit, just plain easy and mindless knitting. In about 45 minutes my head starts nodding and it is time for me to sleep. I don`t re-awaken myself with teeth brushing etc

Getting up, also a routine, similar time every day

I wake during the night, eat a small oatcake and turn my radio on very low and on a timer. Next time is always waking-up time

Bonnie all I know is worrying or even thinking about it makes the sleep further away than ever Acceptance in my opinion is the clue
You have to take your mind off sleeping and tell yourself if you don’t sleep it’s absolutely fine The more you fight the sleeplessness the less you will sleep
For years now I ve bunny hopped through the night and totally accept it I don’t worry about it and it’s absolutely fine sometimes I do Wordle at 3 am in the morning sometimes I m playing solitaire, and then I cuddle down and have another couple of hours
Stop thinking about it accept whatever you get and you ll be fine

Are you in USA Bonnybanko as your timing seems different to ours in U.K. hence confusion.

A spray called This works works well for me there’s two different ones, one to help you fall asleep and one to keep you asleep. It’s expensive but mine lasted 6 month.

But you had posted at 6.30!

Juliet27 by the time I did fall asleep I woke at 8am having had about 4 hrs sleep.which was a good sleep for me.

Get Sleepy on YouTube does it for me.

Tisserand aromatherapy range do some lovely pillow sprays like Total De Stress and Sleep Better. I do a couple of sprays around my bed while I am getting undressed and I am in that bed and out like a light 😴😴😴

Avon also do similar.

Could Night Nurse help at all? 💐

I listen to Jason Stephenson Get Back to Sleep Fast on utube. I used to listen to Paul McKenna but that stopped working. I don’t know why Jason works for me but I’ll wake up hours later to the sound of the music playing which kicks in after his sleep talk down. He mentions mental ruminations which is what stops me sleeping: I can’t sleep once I start thinking or worrying about something.

Like Luckygirl3 I use the Inside Timer app sleep meditations. The ones I find most effective on there are by Jennifer Piercy. These are the closest things to magic that I can get to help me sleep!
insighttimer.com/jenniferpiercy/guided-meditations/yoga-nidra-for-sleep

Inside Timer is free and has lots of different meditations; it's worth a try.

I am in the same boat - certainly in the immediate period after my OH's death my mind was in turmoil and it was hard to settle.

What I find now is that, if I am not able to sleep, I bow to the inevitable and go and get myself a hot drink and read for a while.

I also use "Insight Timer" which is an app on my phone where, for free, you can listen to sleep meditations/music. That sometimes helps.

But above all it is mind over matter - I tell myself that it does not in fact matter that much - that I am resting, which is good, and that I can catch up on sleep during the day. Worrying about not being able to sleep is a sure way not to be able to sleep!

I’m rarely in bed before 2am. It doesn’t bother me at all as long as I get 3 or 4 hours sleep.
The only real downsides are that my energy bills are huge during the winter, as I have to override the timer and I fit yet another snack in around midnight. Through the night TV is poor - House Doctor early this morning was from 2002 and so dated.
I’ve just got used to it and agree ‘we’ need less sleep as we age.

No problem falling asleep but remaining asleep is another story.

I subscribe to Calm where I listen to a variety of music, stories etc.

If you have the BBC App on your iPhone you can put on the News or any programme of you choice and at the bottom of the page is the letter Z which means sleep and then a list of times. I click on 2 hours for it to switch off them. I listen through one ear piece.

I sometimes get up and make myself a tea and come back to bed to read my Kindle which you can set with a black background and white words, which my son says won’t affect my sleep.

I think we have to accept that for many of us as we age our sleep patterns change.