Sleep Q&A with Lisa Artis of the The Sleep Charity

My question is when we transition from sleeping next to a partner for 30 years plus - what is the best advise for sleeping alone ? does your body get used to the disturbances and take time to adjust to sleeping on your own ?

What is your best advice for sleeping with chronic arthritis ? I use a support pillow for my knees and sleep on my side, are there any techniques to stop your brain overthinking when trying to drop off ?

Hi, I wake up every night, it can be any time after midnight, and then find it impossible to go back to sleep. Most nights I'm lying in bed so tired I can't keep my eyes open but somehow I still can't sleep. How can I manage to 'switch off' and get some quality sleep?

Why has HRT improved my sleep so much? Will I need to stay on it forever to sleep well?
At the moment if I miss a pill my sleep that night is rubbish again.

I wake up several times feeling hot and then struggle to get back to sleep i dont have the heating on too hot and my pjs and quilts rather thin so not sure what else i could do to help me go back to sleep!

My problem is waking when I need to turn over. Once awake I feel a need to visit the loo.This can happen 3 times a night. It is such a bore, does this come with age, I am over 70?

So many questions for you, Lisa...! These are but a few.

1. We are told that poor sleep is very detrimental to our overall health. If we can't sleep, what are we supposed to do?! Is it really so dreadful for us?

2. I lay in bed and my brain has a scattergun of ideas, each flashing one after the other. It won't turn off.

3. Is reading prior to bed a good or bad thing to do?

4. Is melatonin worth sourcing? It is not recommended here but I have heard good reports of using it.

5. I tried the 'Sleepio' programme but struggled at having to rise from my warm bed and go elsewhere until I felt tired again. I would have been up all night!

6. I would not like to resort to sleeping tablets but are they really the devil's work?

7. I try to go to bed at the same time, following sleep hygiene protocols but to no avail.

These are the first few points that came to mind. Apologies for length of questions.

Hi Lisa I'd love to hear about how important the right temperature is in the room you're sleeping in. I do find that whatever time of year I prefer to have the window open to get some fresh air. It would be good to know what's advisable for the optimum temperature though.

What’s the best way to overcome daytime tiredness without taking a nap which prevents sleep at night starting a viscous cycle?

How am I able to function reasonably well during the day when my sleep is now so poor? I can be awake for hours on end through the night but it’s only after 2 or 3 days of this that I manage a good nights sleep due to accumulated exhaustion!

I agree with Poppyred.

Insomnia is usually a long term problem, so why can’t we take tablets to alleviate it.
Medication is prescribed for most medical issues, so why not sleeping tablets.
I am 76 now, and have to take sleeping tablets on a regular basis. My GP would like me to come of them and I have tried in the past.but not very successfuly.
In a discussion with him two years ago, I said “well, dr. Does it really matter at my age “. And he agreed.
The alternative would be hallucinations and deep depression trying to come of them.

How can I stop waking up "properly" in the night? I appreciate that it's a completely normal thing and that most people do wake up multiple times in a night, but I am at my wit's end.

I wouldn't mind waking up if I could just roll over and go straight back to sleep, but when I wake up I am very "consciously" awake, if you know what I mean? And it can take hours to get back to sleep. Given I wake up every hour or so it makes for a very broken night, and I never feel as if I get any "proper" sleep.

If I get 3 hours in one go I feel as if I've won the lottery, and so much better the next day!

Hello Lisa,
Like many other posters here I tend to fall asleep easily but wake up around 4:30 a.m. and sleep fitfully till 6.30. I now find I feel really tired in the afternoon, and I’m much too young to be taking naps! Do you have any advice for breaking this routine, and tips to get through that sleepy phase? Thanks

I can usually fall asleep ok but it is when I wake for the toilet after a couple of hours, I then find it hard to fall back to sleep. Is there anything that can help falling back to sleep when you have already had a couple of hours sleep.

I seemed to have got into a routine of disturbed, patchy sleep since caring for my husband, who had severe dementia.
He died about a year ago, do you have any suggestions about re establishing a better sleep pattern?

I have never been a 'good' sleeper and after waking in the night - if it's after about 4.30 am - struggle to get back to sleep as my mind is racing. I go to bed at about 11 pm and always get up at about 7.30, so keep regular times, and observe all the no computer rules, avoid alcohol etc. My fitbit tells me that I get about 6 hours of sleep on average every night - though it often thinks I'm asleep when I'm just lying still. Having said that, I don't often feel really tired during the day, so maybe I just don't need a lot of sleep?

Hello Lisa - I am 69 and my sleep can be quite unrefreshing quite often, although generally I manage around 6 hours. I always feel as though I'm short-changed sleepwise! I sleep alone by the way. My question is:

Why is it that some nights I go to bed tired, read for a while till I feel sleepy eyed and then spend the whole night with my brain wide awake, often seeing 0400 am not having slept all ...and eventually getting about an hour or so before I wake again around 0600-0700? This doesn't happen often, maybe once every month or so...but when it does it's really
frustrating. I usually sleep normally the following night.
Thanks

I've have often read that you should sleep in a darkened room with the curtains closed. I do however like to sleep with the curtains open so I wake up naturally when it gets light. Am I wrong to do this?

I struggle both to drop off to sleep and sometimes dropping back off if I wake - advice please

Hi, I have trouble dropping off, once laying there in the quiet dark room , my head starts buzzing, I cannot switch it off, drives me mad, once asleep , apart from regular loo breaks, I stay asleep, but am finding I am not getting up till 10am on average, so half my day is gone!

Hi Lisa
Im 60 and for about 10 years I haven't slept well I dream of a good nights sleep. I fall asleep ok around 11.30 but then around 3am wake and its as if all the lights go on and an alarm sounds then I am wide awake. I have to get up as I would just toss and turn I try to avoid tvs tablets etc and just listen to audio book or music I drink a hot milk and basically wait until about 5am then go back to bed often going back to sleep but my husband always wakes up around 7am so I always up starting my day. I was once pescribed sleeping tablets for a short period but these only made me feel groggy and when I stopped taking them I went back to the same routine so have not used them again. I would really appreciate some advice.

I don't usually have a problem falling asleep, just with staying asleep. Some nights I wake half a dozen times. If I wake after 4am, I can rarely get back to sleep. I am usually in bed by 10pm, and some nights do get 7-8 hours - but it's all in little bits. Never uninterrupted. I am always tired, but can't sleep during the day.

Often I go to sleep then, boom, it’s as if a light has been switched on. I’m wide awake and have only been in bed for less than an hour. Why does this happen? I’m then usually awake tossing and turning for hours. Until I was widowed 9 years ago, I slept like a log but it’s all been down hill from then. If I have a really sleepless night, the next night I sleep well - catch up time ?
I too play the ‘what time is it’ game and am usually bang on!

Some many women have problems getting a good nights sleep after the menopause. Why can’t we take tablets to help? Melatonin is freely available in the US, but not here in the UK?

We are repeatedly told that sleeping tablets are for short term us only, why? If it’s a long term problem?

Hi Lisa
I usually get to sleep but always wake after a couple of hours and that continues through the night until about 4.30 when I stay awake.
This is despite taking phenerghan. When I wake I am more tired than when I went to bed. I can’t sleep during the day and I worry about the effect on my health especially risk of dementia because both parents had it and I am a big forgetful.