How well do you sleep? Q&A with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

I don't remember having nightmares, anne.
In fact I thought I had managed some decent nights sleep when sis was here, but apparently not.
She was shocked at how terrible I sound, weeping and wailing.
Its no wonder I look like Sid James in the morning!

Its strange that you don't remember because it does sound like nightmares. You must be in a very deep sleep. It must have been scary for your sister!
Here's hoping tonight is a good one ?.

Fingers crossed.
Thank you.

Sage to take down temperature and hot flushes.

Magnesium for restless legs, that's what makes most people wake with a start 1-2 hours into sleep.
Many people don't take enough and then say it doesn't work for them. Try larger a dose. Some health professionals recommend up to 2,500mg per night.

If you have the luxury of not getting up at a certain time each morning, listen to a talking book while awake in the night.

There is usually no need to worry about not sleeping, a certain leading politician once said she never had more than 4 hours sleep a night.

MissAdventure Have you tried hypnotherapy to find out why your subconscious makes you cry out in such distress? It sounds awful.

I've never been 'a good sleeper' but unless lack of sleep actually makes you ill, accepting the pattern and working with it rather than against it is the best plan.

I sleep like a log. Bed at 11, read a little, light off, that's it 'till about 7.
I've followed Dr Chattergee since he first appeared on tv.
I have him to thank for putting me onto a product that more or less 'cured' my IBS.

Not so sure about the Magnesium I believe that as we get older our bodies become depleted so it is OK to take some but large doses can be very harmful. Always talk to your pharmacist about what a safe dose is for you.

I worked the night for years and blame that for my ongoing sleep problems. Getting to sleep is my main issue although I occasionally drop off quickly then wake up around 1am and can't get back to sleep. I've tried everything except proper prescription sleeping pills and nothing really makes a difference.
I was diagnosed recently with diabetes (blood sugar as high as Everest!) and read somewhere that this could have affected my sleep. The recommendation was to take ZMA (zinc, magnesium and Vit B6) before bedtime. I've been taking this for the last few nights now and seem to fall asleep much quicker and for longer. Too early to say if this will answer my problem long term but for now is does seem to be doing the trick!
It's simply a supplement so suitable for most people and definitely worth a try.

Er, should say night shift ... why is there no edit option!!!

Maybe 3 or 4 nights a year when I'm wide awake but I certainly don't fret about it because the rest of the time I get 7/8 hours of good quality sleep where I don't wake up dozy or sluggish.

Rather than lie there wide awake, I get up and make a drink with some Rich Tea biscs and read or do a crossword.
I never slept during long-haul flights but I was never worse off for not doing so and slept normally at my destination.

I understand that as we age our melatonin levels decrease, which can upset our natural body clock rhythm. Is there anything we can do about this?

I fall asleep watching the tv, mostly before 9pm, or even earlier. I wake up about 2.30. Instead of crawling upstairs to bed, I have a drink and sometimes a slice of toast because I have a bad taste in my mouth or feel a headache coming on, sometimes with nausea). I may pick up my ipad for 10 mins that may become hours and end up going to bed about 5 am. If I have to go out I set the alarm, if not I sleep until I wake up - sometimes 8 am sometimes 10 ( depending on if neighbout goes out and bangs the door).
On top of that, to get to sleep I listen to the radio ( World Service). Sometimes I drop off immediately, sometimes I don’t sleep at all until it is time to get up.
Occasionall I don’t go to bed at all, just stay up until the next night - if that happens I don’t really feel tired until about 8pm. I know it’s not good for me and my face looks older because of it. I am 72.
On a general note, O how I wish my doctor looked at the whole body instead of refusing to deal with more than one matter at a time.

I spent many years lying awake resentful and angry next to a snoring husband, when I used to eventually get up and go to the spare room. I finally decided to start by going to bed in the spare room and my sleep was magically better. I felt better, too. OH then became ill with many problems and risk of falls, so I didn't dare sleep properly in case I missed hearing him fall. It took nearly two years after he went into residential care to relax and sleep normally.

Now I am usually OK except on days when I have to get up early to look after DGS, when although I know my alarm will wake me up, I find I can't sleep through. I awaken after a few hours and then every half hour. It doesn't happen if I don't have to be up before 7.00. I get cross with myself but I can't seem to stop this pattern.

Like others, I feel less alert after a broken night, so I would love to be able to relax and trust the alarm.

Nightmares wake me up..im sometimes exhausted my heart racing like Ive been running and running, the dreams nightmares are too awful to write down even, it can be months before I forget about them
Also I think once awake we worry for England!! its quiet no one to disturb me so I worry then I make more worries come moning Im tired., I do get to lie in some mornings but dont go back to sleep.

I have found magnesium useful, also passion flower and valerian. The latter two in various guises from Holland and Barrett or Amazon. This last year I've been taking melatonin, apparently we make less of it as we get older. I have 5g tablets and take a half. You have to experiment with the amount that is tight for you so as not to feel dopey the next day. Research has shown no I'll effects.

I meant mg of course, not grams! I was out at a film last night and suddenly remembered what I'd posted! Surprised I haven't been picked up!

Here's a link to a page of information about melatonin : www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-940/melatonin

Food and drink at any time during the evening never used to bother me.
Now any thing seems to take a long time to digest.
I never really noticed this change coming on but is a bit of a problem now when socializing with friends and family

Ok ... do all the recommended stuff: no caffeine after noon; don’t eat beyond 7pm; warm bath; cool, well-ventilated bedroom; no iPhone/iPad in bedroom ... but i suffer from ‘restless legs’. I become uncomfortable and no amount of repositioning; yoga breathing etc helps - it can last for hours. I have tried using magnesium oil spray but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen every night but often enough to be debilitating. Any help?

My daughter suffers from sleep paralysis and it’s getting worse. Should she go to GP and what can they offer her?

I think that the older you are, the less sleep one seems to get.
I am lucky to get around five or six hours a night, even with a sleeping tablet.
Any less than that, then I’m like a zombie the following day.
My poor son who is 48 is also suffering from insomnia and trying CBT. So, it’s not just us oldies. It’s a very common occurrence.
Mostly caused by stress, I imagine.
Be interesting to read Dr, Chattergee’s book and get his views on the subject.

I would like to ask Dr Chatterjee whether he has any good strategies for getting back off to sleep if you wake in the night, for the toilet or whatever.

I used to find going through the alphabet naming things from a certain category - countries, girls’ names, etc - worked like a charm, but my body’s got wise to that now!

I have to read to get to sleep usually. I then sleep well until about 3pm when I wake & again have to read to get back off again- usually about an hour to 90 minutes.
I find.that when I wake up I start worrying about anything & everything- honestly sometimes I wonder in the morning what on earth was I worrying about THAT for! At 3am though it seemed so serious - which is why I read.
I do wish I could break this habit.

notentirelyallhere rather than take melatonin orally you could try light therapy.

The Lumie Bodyclock Alarm mimics dawn & dusk to stimulate the body to produce melatonin. My daughter's life has been transformed by her Lumie. Over the last few years since using the Lumie she has gone from being virtually housebound with ME & a Non 24 sleep wake cycle to working 25 hours a week.

I made an interesting discovery last week , occasionally I have two kiwi fruits mid evening, and found that I slept much better, I looked up kiwi fruit on google, and found that they are a source of serotonin, and thus enable sleep !

I am a chronic insomniac and have tried everything over the years including being referred to a sleep consultant. Nothing has worked so I recently tried Sleep Restriction through the Sleep Station. I understand the theory of it, ie it can 'reboot' your system. I almost collapsed with the lack of sleep (8 hours in 5 days) so am afraid I have stopped it and returned to trying to manage the insomnia. I have Mirtazapine that I can take as and when I need to, 4mg will give me a good night but I can't take them every night as my body gets used to them. Reading these poste makes me realise that there are a lot of poor sleepers out there.

Hi, I have breakthrough pain at night, caused by OA at C4/5, which is causing severe headaches which wake me. We, my doctor & I have tried just about everything but I am still disturbed at variances of 3 - 6 a.m. I am currently taking a cocktail of amytriptyline, paracetamol; and pregabaline. Please HELP!