Insomnia (NOT the Faithless song!)

I think insomnia just has to be borne. I see it as part of who I am and a cross to bear. When I'm in the throes of a bad bout, nothing will help. Stressing about my insomnia makes the insomnia worse, so...

I think insomnia hits a fair proportion of women. I always slept well until I hit the menopause, coupled with feeling very hot at night and a mind that cannot switch off in the early hours, it all conspires to keep me awake. I imagine I get a few hours sleep until the tossing and turning starts. Have tried various things such as herbal tablets (Nytol) some product called "Sleepy", I think from Lush, slathered it all over, didn't make any difference, same with a pillow spray called "This Works" it didn't My step daughter, along with some other things, bought be an eye mask, very attractive that it is for Christmas, have worn it since Christmas night, again it hasn't made a lot of difference, well not any really, I have to take it off when I get up to go for a wee, so I tend to leave it off at that point.

Maybe I'll try a weighted blanket in the new year, but as I'm forever tossing off the duvet when I get too hot not sure what affect that will have for me!

Commiserations fellow sleepless GNs.

I've had insomnia for years. Started when married and husbands snoring woke me. Compounded with birth of my daughter and light sleeping due to being woken by a baby.
Insomnia has never really gone away since.

If I'm not stressed or overworked, it isn't unbearable. But the times when I need sleep the most, is when it is usually worst and I get major insomnia. Often, I look a good 10 years older than my age, JUST because I'm haggard, from lack of sleep.

Last night I slept well. The night before, I slept for 3 hours. My insomnia to start with, followed with grandson being awake in the night. Just as he and my daughter were falling back asleep at 5.30am, I had to get up for a cross-country journey.

Still, last night I slept well. Asleep at 9.30. Slept until 6am.

Dear ladies , would you mind reading this and tell me what you think?
5years ago I was diagnosed T2 diabetic. Not terribly so. My blood sugars were 7.6 and the cut off for diabetes is 6.
Anyway within 8 weeks I had reversed my diagnoses and was in the normal range. With a combination of a low carb diet, 16:8 eating and excercise I have managed to keep it that way. But along with it came insomnia. I am often awake 2-3 hours in the night.
This Christmas has been a very quiet on for us. The weather has been awful ,so apart from the odd visit, DH and I have stayed by the fire, reading, watching TV etc. I have also eaten a few things I should not. Cake, trifle, chocolates.And I have had 4 nights complete sleep. 10- 7. Unheard off. Why? Anybody have any ideas?

Can I join the 'club'? My insomnia has been going on for several years. Tried melatonin, which sometimes worked.
Tea and toast and jam at 3am- worked for a while.
Asked the Dr. but he won't prescribe sleeping pills.
Sometimes a couple of paracetamol make me drowsy when I wake at 2am.
For me the worst part is the morbid thoughts that flood my mind in those early morning hours.

My insomnia started about 7 years ago. Menopause related. Possibly.

After years of trying absolutely everything I ended up on sleeping pills

Which work like a dream

But I'd love to be able to sleep without them

I was so tired last night that I was in bed by 10pm instead of my usual midnight. I slept soundly till 2 am then woke as I was too hot. The radio was still on, so I was soon wider awake. I went to the loo then could not settle. At one point I got up and put some cream on a sore place. Wide awake, eventually I went down and made a cup of tea and toast meal times were irregular yesterday which didn’t help, now it is 5.20 and I doubt I will drop off, especially now I have my iPad.
Two positives: DH is away so I am not disturbing him.
I have nothing particular happening today so it doesn’t matter what time I get up, and I can probably have a daytime nap at some point.
But I need to get back to routine. I am not normally a poor sleeper.

Hope that is the solution craftycat Be brilliant if it is.

I made a slope under my fitted sheet last night using 2 pillows under the sheet and one large buckwheat pillow at the top end. I added a thinner pillow by where my hips/knees would go. All this because I am convinced that silent gerd is what wakes me. I want to sleep on my back but that is the worst thing for gerd and side sleeping was hurting my shoulders and waking me

I think I have cracked it, I had no gerd at all, no gerd cough, no wakeefulness, no sore shoulders and the first time in years a smashing night`s sleep apart from a quick loo visit. It will be the pillow slope again tonight and I have ordered a proper slope which will arrive tomorrow, this will go under my fitted sheet with my buckwheat pillow at the high end. I feel so happy that I have at last found a solution to my silent gerd problem. I hope the made slope works, it will be easier to make the bed but the cushions are a fab backup

Right now I feel like a nanny nap because I have been having cherry liquors and a GnT and I have films to watch this evening. I may well indulge

Yescraftyone We are very rural and no street lights so people think if we can't see, we can't hear. Still it is Christmas so they can have that one on me.
Not such a bad night last night. I am awake early as we are going to get the last bits of shopping as early as possible. DH downstairs making tea then it's off.

Let me know how you get on Chewbacca?

You can pay for extras in the app, but I have never felt the need, as there is so much free stuff on there.

I am starting to spray again with magnesium oil. I can tell I need it because it makes my skin prickle.

Insomnia is so common, lots of people. 3am is likely to be low blood sugar for me hence the oatcake knocks me out again. I read today that a tsp of raw honey before bed helps but I am not about to try that. I have a choice, eat early=no gerd and I sleep until 3 and am coping with that

BB pretty inconsiderate visitors next door to you

1. 30 this morning. Next door visitors saying goodbye and beeping the car horn. I did drop of at one point only to have DH sit up with the iPad to track DS's flight progress. So an early cup of tea and another day had begun

craftyone
I didn't try it last night, as the DGC were sleeping over. I plan to take the radio up to my room later today though, tune it in to a suitable station then switch it on in the night if I need to, which will depend what sort of insomnia I have.
Sometimes my insomnia is caused by my brain just refusing to switch off, no matter what relaxation techniques I try, and that's when I think the radio could really help I will. No point if I get restless legs at the same time, though.
If it works, I will let you know

Think I'll try the Rain Rain app Doodledog. I've tried most of the MSNR apps but, frankly, they just irritate me with their whispering. It's not unusual for me to get up at 03.00 and go down to the kitchen and make a milky drink but, when I've got to be up for work the next morning, it leaves me wrecked.

You all have my sympathy. I too am insomniac, and it’s horrible. I don’t think I have got to sleep before 3.30 am for a week or so, and I really can’t feel festive when I am so tired.

I often go to a spare room when it’s bad, so as not to disturb my husband (or listen to his snoring), but my daughter is here now for Christmas and my son arrives tomorrow, so that’s more difficult. At least in my own space I can watch tv or get up without disturbing anyone, and knowing I can’t will make me worse.

One thing I do that helps is listen to Rain Rain. It is a free app that simulates thunderstorms or rain of a variety of different kinds. I play it through a speaker, and it makes me feel lovely and cozy when it sounds like it’s raining outside. It’s worth a try for anyone who’s tried everything else.

Happy Christmas to the Koala Gang! Sleep tight.

I hate the night, wake several times, nothing can distract my thoughts which I can surpress in the day time.

I remember my youngest, at about eight years old, saying she couldn't fall asleep easily. Her explanation:

'The thing is, I'm a thinking girl. When I try to sleep, I try to stop thinking, but I'm still thinking - about stopping thinking!'

She assumed that the rest of us just 'switched off'!

8 hours again last night but as usual that 3am wake, I sometimes think I will never get back to sleep but I do and I did again. I have LBC on because that is talking without music. My brain tries hard to hear what they say and that is what I want because I have a very busy brain, always thinking and radio stops it whizzing

Any luck mamacaz? Try the oatcake, avena sativa, good for sleep

Ear plugs, and a black eye mask. Blocks out everything!
Cuddly teddy with soft velvety paws is nice as my husband is not a cuddler.
Never ever look what the time is. If wakeful longer than normal I get up have as small decaff tea drunk outside looking at the stars , get cold, go and get back into bed , mask and earplugs and straight back to sleep usually.

craftyone
You know, you might have just said something that might help me. It never crossed my mind to put the radio on in the night (for fear of disturbing OH), but while reading your post it suddenly occurred to me that it's highly unlikely that he would be able to hear it these days as long as it wasn't loud.
I am going to try that. Even if it doesn't send me to sleep, it might distract my thoughts from restless legs - sometimes when I am lying there awake, I only have to think those words to trigger it!

I've now been 8 years without a decent sleep. I have an excellent bedtime routine; dogs out for a piddle at 10, loo, read for 30-45 minutes, another trip to the loo then lights out. Then I lie there, wide awake. If I sleep by 2 it's a good night, 3 is ok, 4 I start to think I'm not going to sleep at all and my worst nights are when I see 5am come round. It's awful to be in bed for over 6 hours without shutting your eyes. Maybe once or twice a year a get a good night's sleep, it's like a miracle. My eyes look haggard

I can really sympathise, GagaJo.

Insomnia is bad enough when there is no obvious cause, but I have told my OH no end of times that if he disturbs me once am dropping off, I might not get to sleep for hours, if at all.
Does it stop him? No!
It's happened several times this week. Last night, I was dropping off when he suddenly asked if there was a noise coming from next door. There wasn't, all was quiet. What makes it worse is that his hearing is so poor once he is lying down that unless I shout, he thinks I haven't answered, so by the time we had established that there really was no noise (it must have been his tinnitus), I was wide awake again.

I get too hot in bed, so I can't imagine wearing socks and having a weighted blanket.

I have to hang my bum out the bed as it is!