Sleep problem

I went through a phase like that. It improved gradually. Once I retired I made myself stay up for longer. Now its usually lights out at around 10.30 and sleep till 6.30/7.00ish.

Oh, to have that problem! Seven hours sleep?

(sorry, not helpful I know)

Why do you need to adjust your body clock, watermeadow? Five till nine sounds fine to me. Do you have to be awake later in the evening?

I have a similar pattern but I don't jump up out of bed when I wake I have a book by my side and read for a while. If OH is also awake we take turns to make a cuppa and either chat or watch the news channel for a while.
I do read when I go to bed too till I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

I'm always posting on any thread to do with sleep in the hope someone will wave a magic wand and give me back my sleep. I go to bed between 10.30-11.30. Any earlier and I'd be awake at 2-3 in the morning I'm generally asleep within half an hour but after 5 hours I'm wide awake. By the time it's time for work I'm tired. It never used to be this way. In my younger days I'd struggle to get up and could happily sleep till 10 in the morning given half a chance.

I go to sleep by 9pm at the latest and am up somewhere between 2 and 4am and can sympathise with you watermeadow. I decided that so long as it doesn't affect any one else, it's OK. I have a nap after dinner (sometimes) and usually manage to last until 9pm. Why worry, it is what it is.

Try listening to an audio book. A well narrated story is very relaxing and often sends you back off to sleep. I struggle to fall asleep when I go to bed & find this an excellent solution and prevents anxiety about being awake.

I believe it's a fact that we need less sleep as we get older.
I will often fall asleep in front of the TV in the evening, sometimes through boredom but I never go to bed before 11 pm. I find the process of preparing for bed (tablets, lock up, bathroom) wakes me up. I will then be awake and using my Kindle till maybe 1-2 am. I then sleep until 6ish. Sometimes I will visit the bathroom and can then sleep again until 8.00-8.30 am, not often though. As has been said does it matter if that's how your body clock works? A period of sleep is what matters not the timing of it.
I sympathise with you insomniacs

Why do you want to change, Watermeadow? I often wake at 5.30 and I have my iPad by the bed and look at emails, or, better still, listen to Radio 4X, or Radio 3. Sometimes I go to the theatre and the adrenalin keeps me going that evening and I sleep a bit later the following day.

I try staying up later but like you still wake around 5am I usually have a cuppa and read for a couple of hours and occasionally even drop off for half an hour during the week this isn't an option I have to be up for half 6 for work I do think as we get older we are able to function on less sleep as we use up less energy than than when younger .

If I go to bed after 11.30 I don't get to sleep until 1 or 2am and it's fitful. If I go around 10.30 I get to sleep straight away normally but am awake from about midnight and on and off through the night and never have any more than about 2 hours sleep in one go. I wake anytime from 3.30 am and If I don't wake up til 5 am I think I am lucky, and 6 is even better. I do not need to use the bathroom so that is not the reason. I can't get back to sleep and also don't get to sleep in the day, it just doesn't happen whatever I try.
It's been going on for so long and I can't remember when I last slept through the night. Astonishing I can carry on me this. I used to be surprised at Margaret thatcher only sleeping 4. Hours a night, now wish I could do the same.
I have sleeping pills if I am desperate from the doctor. The over the counter stuff does to help.

The over the counter stuff does not help...

I go to bed around 10pm if really tired I do go earlier and Im always awake around 5 am then I lay listening to the radio until I feel like getting up. I do get nights where I wake around 2-3am and can never get back off to sleep, then I take a one a night nytol and seem to just drift off until around 6am. Ive always been a bad sleeper like my mum and brothere, I am a morning person but not fit enough now to jump out of bed like I used to.

I used to have difficulty in getting to sleep, I found the answer, now that I am retired, I just stay up late, sometimes until midnight or 1am, I now read, then go to bed and sleep ALL night until 8am or even 9am sometimes, it is sheer bliss. My Husband goes to bed earlier, and of course gets up much earlier too, but this suits us both, we both have our"own time" and have a lot of time together,so our body clocks dont need to be syncronised.

I've had many problems with the sleep/awake syndrome over many years, and the one thing I have found that helps is melatonin. Normally this is a naturally produced hormone that brings on sleepiness in the evening. Synthetic melatonin can be prescribed for jet lag, and there is evidence it is useful for older people who have sleep problems. Taken over a period of several nights, it can re-adjust the circadian rhythm which is upset by jet lag, thus enabling sleep to come more easily. I've had Circadin tablets on prescription, and it can be purchased online from a reputable pharmacy online also. Look for the green symbols which indicate the website is approved by the Medical Council.

Try Dr fox online pharmacy or pharmacy2u. I don't take this medication continuously but it can be very helpful.

I'm with Diddy1, I rarely go to bed before midnight & then read for a while, sometimes I will wake with book in hand & glasses on!!!

Some nights I sleep through till 6/7, other nights I can be up several times for the loo. . Last night I didn't go to bed until 1 & slept through till 5.30, back to bed & slept until 9.30. Can't remember last time that happened but it is Sunday so why not

I don't let it worry me, if I wake early & can't get back to sleep I put radio on & pick my book up - soon sends me off again!!!! Also I try not to sleep during the day but occasionally I sit on the settee, get comfortable with tv on & will drift off for about 30/40 mins

Going to bed early wouldn't work for me as I'd be awake 5/6 & have to get up (I hate laying in bed when I could be doing things)

Am I the only one who is sleeping more as a result of retirement? I love to wake at 8am (or whenever) and snuggle under the duvet, relishing the fact that I'm not at work. DH gets up up first and brings me a cuppa, but we don't rush, unless the day's agenda requires this. We go to bed later now, but not that late (very rarely after 11.) Perhaps I'm one of the few? Or does anyone else feel the same?

sounds just like me Diddy1 if I went to bed earlier I wouldn't get to sleep

I am the other way round, if I go to bed late I just lay there awake for hours. Strange isn't it how different we all are. Zzzzzzzzzz

Me, I go out like a light.
But DH had insomnia for years, then someone asked him if he had a cup of tea before bed. Well he always has a cup of tea at bedtime, and he was advised to switch to decaf tea.
Would you believe such a simple remedy actually does work! We were astounded but it's absolutely true. How many people take sleeping tablets when this tip might just do the trick. Please post on here if you try this and it helps you. It must be horrible to have insomnia.

Oh how I would love to have a full 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a nice early start to the day and time to myself before the rest of the world wakes up. Can't see the problem, - it would be a solution to me

Try magnesium tablets, i never had problems sleeping (much to the annoyance of my DH) i used to put my head on the pillow close my eyes and went out for the count, then i had a hyterectomy and everything went haywire, i tossed and turned for hours ( much to the annoyance of my DH!) started taking magnesium every day and now back to normal, in fact last night i slept for 11 and a half hours.( much to the annoy.............. you get the picture

So long as I get 6 hours sleep, I'm fine. Less than that begins to be a problem. BUT my other half needs at least 10 hours a night. When I was at work I was a daytime person out of necessity. Now I'm retired, I'm an owl. I love it when everyone has gone to bed and it's quiet. I'm more likely to go to sleep at 4am and wake about 10-11am. Admittedly on the odd occasion when I have to be up early I can feel tired but that's not very often. Unless your sleep pattern leaves you feeling tired all the time, does it matter when you sleep, so long as you do?

Several people asked why it matters?
Starting every day at 4 or 5 o'clock means hours of darkness and trying to be quiet before anyone else gets up. I can't stay in bed once I've woken, the loo is downstairs and after going down I and the animals are wide awake. I then want meals very early, lunch at 11 and dinner at 5.
It's just a nuisance! I might try melatonin to reset my internal clock.