Broken sleep

I imagine going under with anaesthetic works a treat

It's reassuring to know I'm not alone with 'sleep problems'. Thank you all for your advice. I am managing Acid reflux with Omeprazole, Gaviscon Advanced, raised bed head on blocks, wedge pillow , acid free diet, no food or drink 3 hours before bed. I do get hungry sometimes before bed and the porridge suggestion sounds good.!

Feelingmyage, I do agree with you about porridge in the late evening, and also about giving up coffee. I take coffee now as a special treat and only when I need a lift for some special reason.

I have the top of my bed raised on breeze blocks that i found in the garden, This is to guard against reflux.

I should have said the pillow goes under the mattress and raises it gently. I also use a normal pillow. I notice that some people are addressing the sleep issue without taking into account the reflux. Sitting/sleeping at a higher angle will help. Also not eating or drinking for at least two hours before lying down.

I was recommended by the practice nurse to buy a “wedge shaped pillow for acid reflux”. I bought one from Amazon, not cheap but very helpful. Also I don’t eat anything Acidic after 6 pm. If I am peckish I have a very small portion of thick porridge about 8 ish in the evening. This is because my baby suffered very badly from reflux and the health visitor suggested porridge as his last meal before bed and combined with gaviscon it worked. It largely works for me too! I’d have tried anything. The other thing I have had to do is give up coffee altogether and only drink my tea weak.

Had sleep problems for YEARS, so much sympathy.

A few suggestions. The first is to work out what suits your body clock and stick to it. I start to get ready for bed at 9.00pm, usually hit the duvet by 9.30, and read for about 45 minutes. Then I’m out cold and most nights don’t wake up until around 6.30am.

When I went along with husband’s preferred schedule (time shifted at least 2 - 3 hours later) I never slept properly. Granted I have the luxury of my own room . . .

Always have a window open, and make sure I’m not cold.

The other thing is taking a supplement called Montmorency Cherry. If you are into supplements I am sure you can do your own research and find a good quality one.

Lots of good suggestions here, hope you can find a few things which help you. Being sleep deprived is a killer - no wonder it has been used as a form of torture.

I don't think drinking tea in the night if you can't sleep is a good idea as it contains caffeine which wakes you up!

I quite agree and you can add in nursing homes. They are trained to make sure pills are taken (and not saved for later) and detailed records kept of all. I think I lead too sedentary a life now and not helped by covid boredom. I often have a wakeful few hours but manage another block of sleep if have a breakfast c 6 am. This is fine as long as no early morning appointments etc.

Vintagegirl my late mother-in-law was pressured into taking a sleeping tablet while in hospital although she really didn't want to. She woke up groggy and disorientated, needing the loo and stumbled into the side of another bed in the ward, waking the occupant who had just managed to fall asleep after a heart attack. Not good for either patient! I can't help thinking that 'something to help you sleep' is really to help the night staff to have a quiet shift.

Just a note of caution on Phenergan type of medication.... It can have the opposite effect so not soporific but hyper. I was warned of same 30 yrs ago by a neurologist when I spoke to him of giving some pheneragan syrup for my 2 yrs son on a long night flight. Said child never slept more than 10 hours in 24 since birth. Now I have tried Nytol and I have same problem with it. Also I worry about the 'groggy' effect and danger of falls if getting up in night and then there is problem of having to drive on waking not feeling up for it.

Susan1608.. thanks for the info on space masks, as a chronic migraine sufferer, I will look at the link you kindly provided.
For those not able to sleep due to acid reflux, try (ACV) Apple Cider Vinegar with The Mother. Cheaply available at Aldi or cheaper still at Home Bargains.
Recipe I use-

In as large a mug as you have, or make up a jug to divide over a couple of mugs.
Two Tablespoons of ACV, then add One half Teaspoon of Organic Bicarb.
Wait til it finishes (good couple of minutes) fizzing.
Then add cold water to roughly a third up the large mug or jug.
Then add boiling water, this should make whole drink hot, but not have to wait ages to be drinkable.
Also, if you add raw organic (I like half a teaspoon) honey to taste, putting it in only boiling water will negate the healing properties of the honey.
Please use the best honey you can afford, I get mine from The Raw Honey Shop (online).
I drink the above first thing in the morning, (after I brush my teeth to save risk of the acid of the vinegar damaging teeth), on an EMPTY stomach....
I find doing this every single day, prevents reflux.
If however I get an occasional flare up after eating something hard to digest, I make up another mug, and the relief is bliss.
Incidentally, when I started this regime seven years ago (was previously prescribed Omeprezole and sucked on Gaviscon-both of which have undesirable side effects) I lost at least one and a half stone in weight!
It took a while to get used to the taste, but, my goodness, the benefits I’ve gained make me forever grateful. To safely prevent acid and to throw away the Omeprazole and Gaviscon, was and still is, a gift.
I hope it works for any of you that needs it.
Good luck ?

I find it easier to sleep sort of sitting up, with a pile of pillows.

If I really find it impossible to get to sleep or back to sleep then I get up and have some toast or bread and butter and a glass of milk. It usually works but fatal for the waistline.
Otherwise if I 've had a lot of sleepless nights I'll have Boots Sleepeezee ,herbal Nytol or Night nurse, but none of these work for more that a couple of nights. Try a lower dose if possible.
I'm sleeping a bit better now the nights are getting colder.

GretianGirl my ideas were just suggestions that have helped me and could help others. I do appreciate insomniacs such as yourself find it far harder to get a proper night’s sleep.

Because a close relative of mine has clinical depression from time to time and this badly affects his sleep. I have researched ways to improve his sleep pattern. He has found a weighted blanket has helped him.

7 years ago a nutritionist recommended going gluten free to improve my (very broken) sleep. I don't know why it should work but it has. I now get 7-8 hours sleep most nights.

I usually go straight to sleep (after reading for a while) then often wake up after an hour or two and think it's time to get up. After that I sleep very fitfully. I've tried all the advice given by experts but still do not sleep through the night.

Yes, I read that in the old days people got up in the middle of the night.

I've often wondered about Spain. How do the Spanish get all the sleep they need when they are often out and about after midnight?

NanKate.
If only it was that simple.
Unfortunately, for insomniacs like me, nothing works, except maybe a sleeping tablet.

And as for chamomile tea. ‘Useless.’.
If I thought a lavender spray on my pillow would help me sleep, I would be buying it by the bucketload.

Sweet dreams all

I use Phenergen when I have a spell of insomnia. Usually gives me a decent night's sleep. I dont know why but Chemists can get a bit funny if you say it's to aid sleep so if I do get the third degree I say it's for hay-fever.

Obviously I don't know what you take for the reflux/hernia but my daughter's sleep and life has been changed for the better by Gavescon Advance.

Maybe we shouldn't assume that a full night's sleep is 'normal'. I'm actually surprised that people can sleep uninterruptedly for a whole night, as I hardly ever have, and am amazed on the very odd occasion when do. I never have as an adult, though can't remember about childhood. Like others, I occasionally take something to help me get to sleep, though I'm trying to stop that, and I also have similar routines to the ones mentioned. I have various fantasies that I work through, never getting to the end before falling asleep.

Sorry but I am the opposite, I could sleep for Britain, I usually go to bed at 10 and sleep to 7.30 or 8.00 sometimes getting up for the loo. I have always been the same, even as a kid. I don't tend to watch much TV spend most of my evenings reading. So not much screen time if that helps.

I take night nurse if I become desperate but what usually works a treat is listening to ‘classical calm’ on Spotify. I have never heard it all as I fall asleep long before the end!!. By the way, I have had sleep problems for years!

Due to my medication I have to drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day alongside my other teas etc, therefore my night time routine is usually go to bed put TV on with a timer and try a radio station (World Service is pretty good) and turn the screen off. If I sleep, an hour later I get up to use the loo and again an hour after that. Then I may get anything between 2 and 4 hours sleep This obviously varies. I have tried everything. My latest is to spray my pillow with a sleep aid spray, (which is helping) I am going to try Montmorency Cherry capsules next as I used to take them before my illness along with Asphalia, a herbal remedy. I find the more I think about it the more I do not sleep and my brain will think about silly things. If I have had a run of bad nights I will snooze in the afternoon.
Night Nurse is good to aid sleep, but I am not sure I can take that.

Flutey I have had just this annoying sleep pattern for months now - waking fully alert after about three or four hours sleep, when the edge has been taken off tiredness and it is so hard to drift away again. I found the best method was to clench every muscle and then relax slowly from head to toe. Once relaxed, breathe deeply in and out and imagine yourself sinking into the mattress - you may be surprised at how much more you can relax when you think you can relax no further. This has helped me to get back to sleep after a short time, and I am pleased because for the last two nights I have slept through until about seven thirty.