Help with staying asleep??

[dave_in_ni]

I've had problems with sleep ever since my teens (40 now) I can not remember the last time I slept all night. My sleep is light, broken, tossing and turning, waking 3-4 times per night. I be grateful when it gets to a reasonable time where I can just get up. The result of all this is fatigue, lower energy in the gym, lower testosterone etc.

I will fall over to sleep quickly the issue is not staying asleep and when I diet it seems to fcuk up even the falling asleep part.

I've done all the sleep hygiene tips, dark room, cool room, regular bedtime, bath before bed, salts etc, but all these things focus on mainly falling asleep not staying asleep.

Over the years I have tried.

[list]
[*] Herbal tablets
[*] Valerian
[*] Meditation
[*] Medication
[*] Magnesium
[*] CBD
[*]
[/list]

The worst has been been over the counter medication, these leave a horrible hangover but again everything is focused on falling asleep not staying asleep.

[AmandaGeorge]

What do you do immediately before you get into bed?  Are you using your computer or mobile phone or even watching TV in the evening before you head to bed, like me?  If you are, make use of the nightlight feature on your computer to significantly reduce the amount of light that's coming out of the screen for a couple of hours before bedtime and if possible, turn your mobile phone off for an hour or so before you go to bed too. 

Experiment with things that make you tired... I do sit-ups, leg raises and planks, then listen to the radio and read a gentle magasine for half an hour or so, which works 97% of the time for me.  Give each new thing you try a week or so of attempts every night before you reject the idea completely.

I've found that walking our dog twice during the day wipes me out and keeps me asleep for longer too... is there anything like that you could try too?

Ideally there should be no technology use at all for at least 2 hours before bedtime, but I realise we don't live in an ideal world  😉

Also, try to stay awake during the day, no matter how little sleep you got, otherwise you won't feel tired enough to sleep that night and the troubles will start again - BTDT myself  😉

What sort of things do you do at the gym and when do you go - morning?  Afternoon?  Evening?  How do you feel (other than totally wiped out) when you've finished your gym session?  Do you feel tired or wide awake?  If it makes you feel sleepy, is there any way you can go to the gym just before they close?  If you feel wide awake, maybe you could try going as soon as they open for the day?

Take things gradually and only change one thing at a time for a week or more at any time  🙂

[dave_in_ni]

This is the issue, I'm already doing all that lol.  I use the blue light filter on the computer and phone.  No naps during the day etc.  As for working out, I lift weights after work 5 days per week, I work in manual labour so am on my feet 90% of the day clocking up over 15k steps at work alone.  So I am very active.  I fall into bed knackered and am sleeping usually within 15 mins and that takes us back to where I am at now.  

In bed 8.30pm I'll wake usually around 11, 1 and then usually every hour after 1am, from 1 am on its very light sleep like I am hardly sleeping at all. the best sleep is from 8.30 - 11pm

[AmandaGeorge]

What is your caffeine consumption like?  Not only tea and coffee, but cola's etc too?  Maybe try drinking just plain water after lunch every day to see if that helps you to sleep better or if, like my hubby, you *have* to drink tea and coffee 'cos it's who you are, try decaf tea and coffee?  Just to see if it works for you as well as it does for my hubby?  If you drink hot drinks in the evening, maybe try hot/drinking chocolate or warm milk or even thick, creamy soup?  Experiment and see what works for you  🙂

What do you do when you wake up at 11pm and 1am?  Do you just lay in bed tossing and turning and getting frustrated or do you do something during those times?  When you wake up at 1am, maybe try making yourself a warm drink to see if that helps?

[dave_in_ni]

Don't touch caffeine or cola lol. I'm not trying to be awkward here btw
either lol but I think I have tried all the bog standard things.

When I wake at 11 or so I will usually fall over again fairly quickly, the
1 am thing can be more troublesome, sometimes I will fall over fairly
quickly other times I just lay there and meditate, focusing on the breath,
I'll usually slip and in out of sleep, as I say I do thing until I can get
up, I get up at 5am anyway for work.

[AmandaGeorge]

Is there any food or drink that you find soothing that you could try having each time you wake up after 1am?  How warm or cold is your bedroom?  Do you sleep alone or with a partner?  Is there any way you can do something like sit-ups or jogging on the spot or going up and down stairs several times to hopefully wear your body out a bit more?  Might be worth asking to be tested for sleep apnea too just in case you are woken up by stopping breathing like my husband was before he was diagnosed.

[AmandaGeorge]

The hubby has just said that the blue light filter that you use is different to the night light thingamejig - you can adjust how much darker your screen gets and what time it starts and stops... I've got mine going from 7pm to 7.30am and it really helps my body to start shutting down... if you use Windows 10 it's in the settings (cog) bit, then System, then it's right at the top... it really helps my body and mind to start winding down and getting ready for bed at 9pm-ish!  As you want to be asleep by 8.30pm, maybe set yours to go from 6pm to 5am or something like that?  It's not an instant fix, but if you're patient for a few days then hopefully that'll help you too?!

[Decaf2]

Good Morning Dave_in_ni: Have you tried a sleeping mask. I sleep with one on. My guilty habit is reading an ebook on my Amazon Fire Tablet. It allows your mind to rest and be in a state to get ready to sleep. when I can't read anymore I can just add the bookmarker and close the cover on my tablet. Or if you are up like me now I like listening to house music before going to bed. Or play Mahjong on my tablet before going to bed. If you don't have a sleeping mask you can use a clean unused dark-colored like Navy-Brown-Black-Dark Green or Red washcloth. What you doing is blocking out the light in the bedroom. It works. I never use sleep aids in medicine, they don't work on me. Another trick is turning on your fan just listening to the fan which blocks the noise. It keeps the room cool and helps you sleep. Or listing to Pink noise or  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Al8valACfA- It's soothing listening to the waves. This might work for you, I still prefer house music. Well, it was nice chatting with you Dave, I hope this helps you. Decaf 2 

[WavyDavey]

Doing a bunch of cardio can help. Some people do better with doing it at night, others in the morning. If you wear yourself out enough, it can help with sleep.

Since this has been a long-time issue, getting a sleep study done might help if you haven't had one already.