At what point in your life did you start sleeping badly? ?

When my eldest dd started staying out late! Then a new job and menopause hit. Night anxiety started and to top it all I have a husband who snores! Help!

Since I gave birth to my third child and had post natal depression and hardly slept for months when I was 26. Over the years it has improved. I do enjoy a little ten minute "granny nod" early afternoon, if I am not busy.

Developed illness requiring high dose steroids and the side effects knocked me for six this then followed by forced retirement due to health issues.Apart from the odd stressful time in life never questioned my sleep patterns but now although able to fall asleep wake up numerous times in worry and panic, my mind then takes over and I am unable to switch off.I worry over past things maybe I handled badly, over my son seperated from a nasty controlling wife,house maintenance as we age,finance, death, even our funerals.Lockdown has made things worse.

I’ve struggled at various times in my life, for no particular reason. I can remember my mother worrying about me not getting enough sleep when I was a child, Went through another phase in my mid teens, then was fine right up until my last few years at work, though stress was a factor then. All resolved when I retired, but this past year I’ve suffered again from broken sleep.

I slept well until I had to have a hysterectomy in my early 40's. After a couple of weeks I mentioned it to my GP who said it would be the after effects of the anaesthetic. That was 30 years ago!!!! Never slept well ever since. ?

I put my bad sleeping back to the point which I had children, I don't think my body clock ever got over night feeds, and listening out for their cries.
My 30's seemed to improve - then came the nightclub nights - not mine - theirs
In my 50s the menopause hit me - but I keep on with a smile and a song.

After my hysterectomy. I slept for seven nights in the hospitals then when I got home my sleep pattern went haywire must of been hormones jumping up and down! Never slept well since.

Since the first lockdown actually! It started with once every so often and now once a week I have a bad night!

Esspee

Sleep is one of the things I have always been good at. I hope that never changes.

I should probably have added that I chose not to go through the menopause 30+ years ago when I had a hysterectomy. I have no intention of ever giving up my HRT.

The only time I slept badly was while at University, with noisy hall of residence and worrying about work and finals. No problems now, most of the time.

When my husband died. Pure & simple I woke up to find him dead on the floor so I suppose disturbed sleep is perhaps subconsciously connected to that ?

From when I had children at 23 and pretty much always since
( I’m 67 now ?) , there’s often no particular reason but also many many nights of specifically worrying about children , parents, and grandchildren and the menopause definitely didn’t help. Also when I was very depressed in my 40s didn’t sleep well. Of course the pandemic in the last year ?.

Slept well until I moved from Cornwall to London to help my single daughter with a career, who wanted to have a baby She had a little girl I helped bring her up my DGD is now three. Wouldn't have missed this experience though.

So sorry Marmite. How terribly sad for you. I nursed my husband for a short time but he died when I was out of the room and it was such a shock - 2 years ago now. Hope your sleep improves soon.

I have always slept very well and needed a lot of sleep until lockdown hit last year when I developed insomnia. Returning to the workplace in September through to January cured that! And locking down this time hasn’t seen a recurrence thankfully!

I noticed that my sleeping pattern changed since lockdown, despite having a good bedtime routine.

March 2020- I never had any issues re sleep before then. Could fall asleep on the proverbial washing line, once head hit the pillow that was me- gone for 8 hours. Not any more...

Thank you Herbie x ?
It was 9 years ago so I don’t think a proper sleep pattern will return. I do sleep well when staying with my ACs or if I have visitors.

Many years ago when I was 18 we had to do long spells of night duty (4-5 months) have never slept well since.

When I was fifty and my hormones dropped.

I hardly sleep at all now apart from naps during the day. mostly due to restless leg which started about 10 years ago. Which in turn I think is caused by increasing arthritis in my left hip.
Apart from the last few nights when I had a few days in hospital where the doctor allowed a sleeping pill - Bliss! My regular doctor won't allow them.

I had dreadful nights for many years, and I was diagnosed with sleep apnea at the age of 37. I had gone through many health issues, including diabetes, as a result of this sleep disorder. My pulmonologist suggested me to use CPAP machines to avoid further complications. Now, I'm using CPAP nasal pillows for the past 12 years. It's very comfortable during the night, and I'm getting good and continuous sleep because of it.

Mid thirties when I moved jobs to one with shift work and travel. The changing time zones and strange hours messed up my ability to sleep in a normal circadian rhythm. I was made redundant at the start of the first lockdown and now work normalish hours in a zero hours part-time role, but still haven’t managed get into a good sleeping pattern. I seem to be wide awake around midnight/1am no matter what I do.

Like several others, having children made my sleep pattern very different. I always slept with "one ear open" listening for them, for many years. This started from the first days of bringing the babies home from hospital.

We had two under 2s and our DS was badly asthmatic so that added to the need for vigilance. Having had to call the GP in the middle of the night (those were the days - he came without question) made for extreme caution for several years.

Listening for teenagers coming in late, but safe, getting up early to travel to work, often some distance, my own asthma, all made sleeping nothing like the the wonderful deep sleeps I had as a teenager.

That seemed to instil the pattern for very light sleeping, which has continued to this day. Not helped by arthritic flare ups which do often disturb me with pain.

That aside, I now seem to have a night of two halves, which I understand is historically how humans used to sleep. I go to sleep with no problem, unless I am stressed, but waken between 2am and 3am every night. Quite wakeful for an hour then drift back to doze or sleep, if I'm lucky till somewhere between 5am and 6am.

I seem to average 6 or 7 hours and manage on that, with no daytime naps. I have read that older people don't need as much sleep but have also read that shortage of sleep can be a contributory factor in dementia.

Mine started in my menopause. Then I paid to see a sleep therapist who ‘gave’ me the tools to get off to sleep and stay there.