Waking up through the night

I have what i call 2 sleeps .
The 1st part is where I wake around 3am, generally awake for a couplenof hours, the 2nd is where I fall back to sleep around 5 to 5.30 and wake about 8ish.
Unless I have to be up and out early this is OK. Obviously it would be great to sleep a straight 8 hours. If I'm really tired I have been known to have a " nanna nap" about 3pm😴😊

I do fall asleep in the afternoon sometimes if I am watching television. If I’m out doing stuff I’m fine.
Last night I slept through!

Tries everything but once I wake usually 3 to 4 am thats it. I tried lying in a darkened room for 3 hours but made no difference but often have to stop myself dropping off of an evening. The most sleep I ever get is 4 hours with a rare 5.

A sleep therapist in one of the papers last weekend recommended getting up at the same time every morning, no matter how late you went to bed, or how little you slept. I am trying this, but I am only 2 days in and on each morning I have been wide awake and bushy tailed half an hour before that. perhaps it will work tomorrow.

Currently I keep my Kindle under my pillow, loaded with familiar and much loved books. Rereading them soon sends me drifting back to sleep.

Chamomile tea puts me back to sleep.

I go through patches when I wake anytime from midnight to 3am and can’t go back to sleep. Unless you have to go to work next day it really doesn’t matter. I don’t worry about it, just catch up with a nap after lunch.

Can you take Jude without checking with Gp in case impact on routine meds

I have started taking Jude capsules and they have helped a lot in reducing night time trips to the loo. I can manage to get up to six hours sleep now, I used to have about 4 visits to the loo during the night which made me feel quite tired most of the time. It takes a little while for them to start working until suddenly you realise you are sleeping for longer and it is quite exciting to look at the clock each morning and find that you have slept for five or six hours.

I am the world's expert on insomnia which got much worse after the menopause. Magnesium did not work for me and my GP said it wouldn't help (perhaps placebo).

If you have periods of insomnia try melatonin (GP's do prescribe it) or you can purchase on the internet.

My GP prescribes me an anti-histamine and I take it with a Kalm. It doesn't cure insomnia but ATM I am getting one decent night's sleep every 3 nights.

Elssssa

Go to the loo. Listen to Harry reading 'Spare'. Sonorous voice. Back to sleep in minutes.

Or view With Love From Meghan, I have yet to see a whole segment as I always fall asleep.

Have you tried going to bed an hour later than you usually do?

I go to bed at 10, read for a few minutes, then hopefully go to sleep before 11 say.

If I tried to stay up later, I would nod off in my chair. That is fatal to getting off to sleep when I do go to bed. Just a few minutes napping keeps me awake for ages when in bed.

I’m shocked if I realise in the morning that I’ve slept the whole night through. It truly hardly ever happens. I’ve been like that the whole of my 77 years.

Wine sends me to sleep,
before my bedtime (that’s why I don’t usually drink it!) It would help if I couldn’t get to sleep though.

Go to the loo. Listen to Harry reading 'Spare'. Sonorous voice. Back to sleep in minutes.

I also wake up around 2 or 3 which I have been putting down to having to drink water not long before going to bed so have to empty the water. Then waking up now around 4, could be myself or traffic going over a bridge.
When this continues for a few days I go to bed earlier. around 21.30

Another reassuring chat amongst friends here. I wake for the bathroom at least twice. 3 am the classic witching hour where any wake hour worries seem so much worse.
I’m good at the old relax every muscle thing, been known to count back from 100.
I find a blanket or throw on the duvet helps me back to sleep . The idea of 6 or 7 hours uninterrupted sleep really is LUXORY

Are you tired during the day, op?

I tend to go through different patterns of sleep. They seem to change every 6 weeks or so.
I am currently in the pattern you describe.

Me too . I just put boom radio on low and wait until I start drifting off again.

wlu7 and luluaugust I think I should phone my surgery.

Me too! I actually think it’s because my body temperature drops so I’ve added a blanket to the end of the bed. I don’t actually feel cold but it’s made a difference.

I too wake up at 3/4 oclock nearly every night. I go to bed between 10-10.30.
It all started when I had a kitten, he’s more settled now.
If something/someone upsets me I lay awake for hours thinking over things!
Also like many others trips to the loo don’t help.
I used to get up at 6am every morning when I worked but now find it difficult to get up before 8.30. Frustrating!!
I’ve never found a solution!!

Same here. I tried magnesium tablets, but they exacerbated my IBS. So I tried a magnesium skin spray (also has camomile and lavender) It’s taken about a month, but I do find it’s helping. I still wake, loo visit usually 🥴. But am able to return to sleep. Or I listen to a podcast, to stop my brain over clocking!

I go through phases of it. To break the phase I take a phenergan tablet. Only need it for the one night and it just breaks the cycle. Still wake up to visit bathroom but get back to sleep very quickly.

Don't be tempted to go to bed earlier to make up for it - that just shifts your whole circadian cycle earlier.

As madeleine45 said, having a notebook by the bed to jot things down does seem to clear any anxious thoughts. I used to do it when I was still working, so that I could be sure not to forget something I'd thought about doing the next day.

Yes, that's exactly when I wake up too, usually to go to the loo, and I've started to listen to the radio now as I'm often awake for a couple of hours. I do gradually drift off again and usually sleep very well for three hours or so.
I think that it makes it worse if you worry about waking, apparently in times past it was normal to wake up in the night, perhaps have a snack, and then go back to bed again.