Can’t stay asleep

If I'm desperate I take 500mg of paracetamol which sends me off. Don't do it regularly because it bungs me up and I don't want to get to the point where 500mg is not enough. Also, I put the radio on low which is always set to radio 4, and there are often babbling voices which send me off.

Reading always makes me nod off.a boring book helps better than a thrilling page- turner...??

I’m just the same, Water meadow’ and, as you say, I’m exhausted come the evening. I’ve tried all the suggestions - no coffee or alcohol after 6pm, no electronic items in the bedroom, bath before bed, heavy curtains. Nothing works, and on the occasions I do have a good night’s sleep I’m ecstatic.

I too have suffered with this for years and I find reading wakes me up if it's a good book I don't want to put down. For a couple of years now go to bed to listen to radio 4, usually news/book reading and find I fall asleep and if I wake up it's on to do the same lol

watermeadow, I've found that painkillers before sleep allow me to stay there a little longer. My back injury has woken me after 3 or 4 hours since 2017.

I don't worry too much about it though. I believe that, in the Middle Ages, it was normal to sleep for four hours, then wake and eat, drink, entertain etc. for some time - before retiring for another four hours!

I have the same pattern, watermelon, but dont really see it as a problem. I wake around 2, read the news, do the crossword, then settle down and usually go to sleep till 5 or 6.
When I wake up earlier, I feel really pleased that I have extra time with nothing I ought to be doing, noone wanting anything, and can just read, or do puzzles, or look for a delivery slot and plan my next shop!
I am lucky in that I can catch up in the day if needed.

Glad I'm not the only one!
I have woken up at between 1.30 and 1.45am just about every night since my son was born 34 years ago!
I have managed to train myself to turn over and go back to sleep, but now I wake up round about 4 am!
I now get up, go downstairs and read for a while before going back to bed and back to sleep.
On the odd nights I do actually manage to sleep through, I'm awake at 5.30 - the time I used to have to wake up when I was at work.

I do sympathise as I have had exactly the same problem. So much advice is about getting to sleep but that was never a problem for me. Magnesium supplements are highly recommended but unfortunately didnt make much difference for me. I dont know whether it's an age/ hormonal issue. I remember reading that centuries ago people often used to get up and do chores etc then go back to bed.
I think it all depends what your personal circumstances are.
Until March I was working 12 hour shifts. I had one week working 4 days then 7 off. Before the first shift I would wake up at 3am and feel wide awake. I had to be up at 5.30 so rarely went back to sleep. A very long day indeed! On my days off I think I was aware of using my time to full. I still found I regularly woke up between 2 and 4.
I havent been at work since the end of March and for the first time in years the problem has vastly improved. I'm sure its psychological as theres no pressure to sleep,and if I dont I can catch up in the day. I still wake up at those times but i go back to sleep within minutes and wake up more refreshed.
I know there are lots of theories why it can happen from how your body is functioning at certain times to sleep apnea. There are lots of suggestions for remedies so all you can do is see what helps. I do know that a lot of my friends have experienced the same thing.

I do 478
Breathe in to count of 4
Hold for count of 7
Breathe out to count of 8
Repeat till you
yawn & fall asleep
Works for me xxxx

I know you get to sleep ok but I think that if you can go through some relaxing rituals or routines before bedtime, so you’re basically more relaxed, that when you wake, you may find it easier to get back. The hyper alertness can sometimes relate to the mindset you were in before you went to bed.

If I wake up I go through the alphabet to list Countries, fruits, UK counties, vegetables, girls names, boys names anything really. It usually works but can be counterproductive when you’re racking your brains to think of a county beginning with Q.

Playing soft, chilled music always helps me nod back off again. I’ve downloaded all my favourite songs from over the years on Spotify and it works perfectly.

I have slept badly for about 15 years. If I got 4 hours a night I felt I was doing well. I would fall asleep very easily but only manage to stay asleep for a few hours. This went on for years and years. The harder I tried to get back to sleep the worse it became. I tried every single thing that I could think of. This all changed within the last couple of years when I was told to try a little mantra. This has literally changed my life and is so simple. When I wake now I just repeat quietly in my head ‘don’t think, don’t think’. This is virtually guaranteed to work every night.

I have to take antipsychotics because of mental health problems, they always make me sleep, but sometimes they don't help and I'm wide awake

Like many here I wake up after 2 or 3 hours and that's pretty much it for the next few hours then. It is quite a sudden wake up so it is harder to drift back again. I'm sure it is to do with a dip in BP or heart rate because the readings are so much low than in the day.

Watermeadow I've got the same problem as you since retiring, before I must have been too exhausted, now perhaps I'm not tired enough. And yet I fall asleep in front of the TV, then stay up till after midnight, then ready to sleep only to wake up for the loo at 4 o'clock and stay awake thinking of all problems real or imaginary! I don't worry about it as if I'm tired I can always nap when I want to!

Puzzler61 I only have a 4.5 summer weight duvet on my bed even in winter. Even if it feels cold getting into bed I seem to warm up quickly and often feel too warm.

Maybe I’m just hot stuff ?

I am the opposite.
According to my OH I get 8 hours sleep a day................................... ........and as much as I can manage at night.
He's just envious?.

Grannynw I am very sensitive to being cold or hot and it can affect my night’s sleep. I get hot sweats that wake me and foot cramp if I’m cold.
I have thin nightdresses, longer, warmer nightdresses, and bed socks in winter. I try to match the nightwear to the temperature. I thought I was weird, but it could be connected as I am a good sleeper most of the time.

A sleep expert recommended in an article to think of something boring. Her tip was to imagine doing your weekly shop in your usual supermarket. Think it through, take your time and walk it through your mind. Start by arriving at the door and picking up a trolley, watch the sliding doors as the let you enter, admire the plants and bouquets on display. Tug your mind to really concentrate.

You’ll be so bored you’ll be asleep by the second aisle!

LadyBella

I've got the opposite problem. Go to bed around 11.30pm and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Sleep nearly all night and struggle to get up by 9am and often don't. Feel I'm wasting time though.

Why not go to bed an hour or so sooner, and you might then be ready to get up earlier, providing you can still get off to sleep quickly?

I always get up at least once in the night for the loo, but mostly go back to sleep quite quickly. Just certain nights though, all my worries and meandering thoughts intrude, and I am awake for maybe 3 hours. Hopefully not too often, but when it happens I just accept that is me.

I am a real lark, today awake before 5, lay still until 5.30 then got up. I might be nodding off in my chair at 8 tonight though.Sometimes in bed soon after 9 if I feel weary.

Hi, The this works deep sleep spray works for me too ,quite expensive buts lasts ages. Also if I have a run of bad nights I take half a phenergan tablet for three nights and that seems to reset my sleep pattern. Good luck it’s awful being awake through the night.

I've got the opposite problem. Go to bed around 11.30pm and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Sleep nearly all night and struggle to get up by 9am and often don't. Feel I'm wasting time though.

I usually find having iPlayer Sounds on, very low, helps me to drift off again. Especially if it's something boring and long winded like a party political broadcast.