Sleep remedies any tips

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

During menopause I developed terrible sleep habits, barely being asleep for longer than 20 minutes at a time. On a good night I achieved around 3 hours total. I went a bit doolally, and would fall asleep in a instant during the day, the most alarming incident being with a veg knife in my hand, pointing upwards.
That prompted me to do something about it.
I now shower every night, put on a clean nightie, get into a bed with a sheet and cover, with another over my feet if it’s cold. I watch something really boring on TV for a while, whilst dosed with lavender oil. I then lay down and if I don’t immediately fall asleep, in my mind I walk around a known supermarket, doing my groceries. I never get very far! I wake one/two times in the night and have perfected the art not fully waking up. It drives my husband wild as he wakes and lays there tapping his chest, as if that’ll help him get back to sleep.
It’s about convincing yourself the routine works. It does for me.

Presently I’m sleeping in another bed due to my leg being a plaster, now a brace. With a light duvet as sheets won’t work with the bulk on my leg. I still follow the same routine and it does work.

My biggest tip is to accept it and not to worry about it easier said than done I know but the more you worry the worse it will seem once you embrace the fact that you are not going to go through the night with out one or two breaks it becomes better and we are actually programmed to nightly breaks as humans and more so as we get older
I put the radio on low it often lulls me back to sleep otherwise I just totally ignore the fact I can’t sleep and once I do that it seems to automatically happen
I haven’t slept whole nights for years I have at least two breaks which could be half an hour or a couple of hours
Try tapping too

Do we actually need as much sleep as we think we do? I’m sure I’ve read we sleep less as we age? Obviously feeling awful/ill through sleep deprivation isn’t good.
I’m just not tired at night - I generally get plenty of physical and mental exercise, but quite happy to get 5 hours and don’t nap during the day, unless I’ve a cold. Not OP, as there are other problems, but I have friends who are so obsessed by having 8 hours that they’re making themselves ill! BF often goes to bed at 8pm, then next morning tells me she’s been awake half the night, but can’t see that she’d had her 7/8 hours by 4am.

Stick to a sleep schedule. Keep your bedtime and wake time consistent from day to day, including on weekends.
Stay active.
Check your medications.
Avoid or limit naps.

hapiwoman.blogspot.com/2019/01/simple-steps-to-better-nights-rest.html

I take a 10 mg phenerghan at night but I still wake up at least once probably twice during the night and wake completely at 5.
I switch my radio onto r4 for an hour on timer.

You may think this a bit strange but it worked for me. I booked in for a facial and took close notice of what the beautician did. Then, when I could not sleep I visualised once again how she applied the creams, the scents etc. I fall asleep very quickly.

Nothing works every time for me. So it varies.
Meditation, concentrated breathing, going through alphabet naming fruit, countries, etc. Camomile tea, small dose amitriptyline, if all else fails an audio book 😁.
If I am in pain and take painkillers it usually results in better sleep.
A walk in the fresh air helps too.

I also suffer from insomnia and as others have mentioned, audio books work for me. I use earbuds and set the timer for an hour or so. Lately I've been listening to a biography of Frank Sinatra by James Kaplan. Having heard it before, there is no real story line keeping me awake to follow. I find the narrator's voice relaxing and as an added bonus sometimes when I doze off, I dream about Frank.

Breathe in through your nose deeply and count to four, gently blow breath out through your lips to the count of seven. Repeat cycle 10 - 15 times then stop and mouth breathe for a short time. Sleep comes every time for me doing this.

When I had trouble sleeping, which was mainly when I was working, I found that just half an antihistamine helped. Lidl sell them so they're easy to acquire.

A whole tablet was enough to make me zonked the following day! I hope one of the remedies works for you, Sallywally1.

Fleurpepper I know this is against all advice, but the advice didn't work for me 😀 Lying in a dark room in silence, or even with tinkly music, didn't stop my brain racing. I only watch things that I know are gentle and that I don't have to concentrate on. It's just enough to distract me while I do my deep breathing exercises and I'm usually asleep within 30 minutes or so. TV turns itself off.

Hetty58

The only time I have any trouble getting to sleep is when I haven't had enough exercise. Two half-hour walks, morning and evening, with the dog is my normal.

She wakes me up, though, after three or four hours at night, to go out - and yes, I have to go with her. Luckily, I only need four or five hours of sleep anyway.

My dog does that. I don’t think she needs to go out, though, and it has just become a habit. I’ve started saying to her ‘lie down’ over and over again and she usually goes back to sleep. Trouble is, once I’m awake I then feel that I need to go to the loo.

Thanks all of you, some lovely messages.

Will see how I get on! Trouble is I wake up several times to wee (seeing urologist) and have just developed arthritis. Last night I woke up with such throbbing pain in one of my hands I was almost in tears. I have some anti inflammatories which help a bit. Am under the orthopaedics for this! Thanks again.

The only time I have any trouble getting to sleep is when I haven't had enough exercise. Two half-hour walks, morning and evening, with the dog is my normal.

She wakes me up, though, after three or four hours at night, to go out - and yes, I have to go with her. Luckily, I only need four or five hours of sleep anyway.

AreWeThereYet

I started doing deep breathing exercises after seeing them on You Tube, and find it really helps to calm me down. I do them after the light is out when I'm still watching TV (with subtitles, no sound) and usually end up asleep quite quickly.

Interesting as the advice is to ensure dark, no screens for at least 30 mins before going to bed. But if it works for you, good.

Sallywally1 ask your GP to refer you to the NHS Sleepstation course. It’s free with a referral but without one you have to pay.
As I lifelong insomniac it helped me a lot.

I started doing deep breathing exercises after seeing them on You Tube, and find it really helps to calm me down. I do them after the light is out when I'm still watching TV (with subtitles, no sound) and usually end up asleep quite quickly.

DP listens to the radio, better than staring at a screen, and I always read a chapter or two of a book until I feel sleepy.

I can recommend meditation.Have been a meditator for years and have slept well since this became a regular habit. There are lots of meditations for sleep and relaxation.

On the odd occasions I don’t sleep I listen to the World Service at Night on R4 which sends me off.

I started having to have background noise at night when I developed pulsative tinnitus. I now listen to a variety of things. I watch The Joy of Painting on BBC catchup. Usually fall asleep in 15 minutes. Or Paul McKennas hypnotism tapes on utube…the one that doesn’t work for me is the sleep one though. My current favourite is Happy Trance. But one that I discovered by accident is Jason Stephensons Deep positively guided sleep meditation on utube.

I can also recommend falling asleep to audiobooks on my phone I get them for free though the borrowbox local library system . You can set it to switch off in however many minutes you like and I never hear it switch off ! Not great for complicated plot lines though. I usually listen to travelogs like bill bryson.

I have always had sleep difficulties, but sleep really well these days, with only occasional problems.

My secret is listening to audio books on my phone. I use earbuds so I don't disturb my husband. When I wake up (sometimes 3 times a night to use the loo!) I simply rewind the story to where I last remember listening to it, and carry on with the story. Invariably I am asleep again before long. I have a selection of much loved stories I listen to, and rotate them, so even when I can't get off to sleep I am not fretting and tossing and turning like I used to. It is important not to choose a book which is very exciting!

Once you can relax and realise that even if you don't get much sleep you will be content, it's amazing how much sleep you will get!

Counting the breathing in and out can also help- as concentrating on the counting stops thoughts beign formulated in your head.

2 acupressure points too- the hollow in the top corner of your palm, between the little finger and ring finger, and yawn deeply.

I'm a bit like Varian, for me I have the television on very low, just enough to have to concentrate.

When I'm at home, it's a dvd of Frasier, the same one every night, 4-6 episodes. If I wake up and realize I've missed one, I find it comforting to know that I Really have been asleep and can do it again. The majority of nights I'm asleep before the end of the dvd, often out cold until the alarm rings.

Good night, 7.5 hours, OK night 6.5-7 hours, bad night 5+ hours. For many years after chemo, I'd have been ecstatic to have had 5 hours.

(World Champion Sleeper until chemo 9 years ago.....)