What do you do to improve your sleep?

[WillowTheWhisp]

I notice that I have some nights when my sleep is very disturbed and I wake up still feeling tired. Other mornings I wake up full of the joys of spring and raring to go but then feel drowsy by early evening. I need to stay awake and alert as much as I can especially when I am teaching a class. This next academic year my timetable has changed a lot and I'm in Uni until about 8pm one evening. I'm wondering how on earth I'll be able to cope with that without starting to yawn in class!

I have used lavender oil to help me sleep but still don't seem to get a very efficient reading from fitbit.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been struggling with the same issue lately. I have been having a hard time getting out of bed and I get so sleepy by early evening that I just don't feel like doing anything.

Most of my sleep issues are associated with stress and bad diet. We had to fire somebody at work and I am picking up most of his hours so some days I work 10 hours, getting home at 8pm. This week I also ate very poorly, I had fast food for a several meals and my body was so upset. I'm determined to eat better this week but my stomach still hurts from all the junk I've had recently. I also haven't been exercising as much. All of this makes me feel lethargic and when I do go to sleep I don't wake up feeling rested. 

Is there anything changing in your diet, stress or activity levels? 

[Raviv]

Two things that help me - backing off the carbs after lunch and supplementing with magnesium.

When you have a carb-heavy meal at night, then eventually your blood sugar drops.  And you have to pee.  Both of those will make you wake up in the middle of the night, and you'll generally wake up hungrier anyway.

I found the magnesium part by accident.  I get migraines, and somewhere I read that supplementing with magnesium helped.  I started taking it before I went to bed, and it really did reduce the frequency of my migraines.  I also noticed that I slept well.  On nights I forgot to take it, I didn't sleep as well.  Turns out it relaxes you - not enough to make you drowsy, but enough so that you roll over and think "I'm wide awake - there's no way I'll ever falll asl..." and then you're out like a light.

[CorryLester]

Hi there!

I used to be like you, where I would be restless most of the night and no matter what time I got to bed I still woke up tired. A few things that have helped me are:

- Read for 20 mins, then try to sleep (tires your brain and eyes out)

- Make sure you are in a quiet and dark enviroment

- Try drinking a cup of tea (no sugar) a half an hour before bed

- Take a melatonin suppliment (helps you go into a deeper sleep and stay asleep), its naturally occuring in the brain and is what makes us sleepy so you are just providing the body with a little extra

- AND.. when all else fails try to tire yourself out so much during the day that you fall asleep the second you hit that pillow!

Hope this helps!

[WillowTheWhisp]

Hi Corry. Interesting that you mentioned melatonin as I've been looking into that. My knowledge and understanding of it was limited to the connection with our detection of circadian rhythms and falling asleep. I hadn't considered the aspect of it helping with deeper sleep and less likelyhood of waking during the night. I shall certainly give that more thought.

I do tend to read before going to sleep and find I have no trouble dropping off. It's the patches of restlessness during that night which frustrate me. 

I'm LDS (Mormon) so don't drink tea, and tend to have a glass of water by the bed. If I drink too much of that though I'd be getting up in the night for other reasons!

[SunsetRunner]

Have a look at "blue light effect on sleep".

Here are a couple of educated articles to start:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side

http://authoritynutrition.com/block-blue-light-to-sleep-better/

[gkellyb]

I used to have stomach aches and about 6 months ago I started a much healthier eating program.  It is from the Maximized Living program that my chiropracter promotes.  I quit eating sugar and carbs.  The only carbs I eat are from real food (green apples, berries and veggies).  I use coconut oil, olive oil and butter and only grass fed beef, organic chicken etc.  6 months later and I have no headaches, no brain fog, and feel much better.  (gave up soft drinks too and only use stevia to sweeten).  I have recently been tested and do have some heavy metals in my system (lead) so I will start a detox after the 4th of July.  I did lose about 20 pounds and it was not hard.  I allow myself to cheat when going to social events but very sparingly.

I got my fitbit for Mothers Day and love it.  I average over 10,000 steps but do have to work at it since my job is mostly at a desk.  I use my tredmill before going to work and then it is usually pretty easy.

[EddieDeOro]

Keep a constant bedtime and wake time. Get early morning sun, at least 30 minutes, an hour if possible.  In the evening after sunset stay away from blue lights, which you get from TV's , Cell phones, PC's, etc. Install f.lux on your PC/Tablets/IPAD, use blue blockers if you must look at your phone or PC after sunset. For the last hour before bed, read and relax, meditate if possible. Be in bed by 10pm. The most restorative sleep is between 10pm and 2am.  Try grounding daily. Avoid sugars, dairy and grains if possible. No lights in your room. Absolute darkness. All lights should be red lights or dimmed lights after sunset. Lastly, don't worry about sleep, just let it happen. Best regards.

[SunsetRunner]

Look up the studies on "Blue Light" ...

[WillowTheWhisp]

Thank you everyone for all the great suggestions about going to sleep - I have no problems there. Falling asleep is easy. It's staying asleep I haave problems with. I just seem to wake a lot during the night, so I'm thinking I don't really get into a deep sleep.

Finding some early morning sun is quite a challenge. I live in Lancashire. Most mornings are dull and rainy, dull and windy or just plain dull. 

[EddieDeOro]

Buy some Dual Action Melatonin 3mg and take it about 45 minutes before bedtime. Have you tried magnesium glycinate 400 mg about an hour before bedtime? Most individuals are deficient in magnesium. As we get older we produce less melatonin and sleep less because of that. The Mag will calm the nerves. I would take both. Sleep well.

[WillowTheWhisp]

D'oh! That's another thing about getting older - I have a memory like a seive! I was going to look into melatonin when I was in town today and totally forgot all about it.

[SaffireNinja]

How many miligrams do you take for magnesium? I've heard it can work, of course it all depends on how your brain reacts, and I've been wanting to try it. In the past year my migraines have calmed down to really bad headaches, very bad trigger signs but no migraine, and the occassional one that keeps me up. If it helps with sleep then I really don't mind trying it.

[Raviv]

I usually take about 400-500 mg of magnesium oxide right before bedtime.  But no one has ever accused me of being neurotypical, so your results may vary.

If you take too little, nothing noticeable happens.  If you take too much, you get the runs.  So it's easy to just back off the dosage if you notice that.  At that dosage for me, it means I have an easy poop in the morning, but not anything negative.  But you might have to play around with it to see what works for you.

Also, people have found that different types of magnesium work differently for them.  Most common is magnesium oxide, and many people say it doesn't work as well for them.  Magnesium citrate is the preferred choice for people who notice a difference, and it's supposed to absorb better than oxide.  Personally, magnesium oxide (the cheap stuff) works best for me, but again - I'm weird.

[sugarmagnolia]

Before I purchased my Fitbit tracker, I found myself exhausted throughout the day as if I had no sleep at all. This was happening repeatedly even though I was making sure to allow eight hours of sleep each night.

When I purchased the Fitbit, I found that although I was in bed for eight hours I was so restless I was only getting three to five hours of actual sleep each night; even though, like you, I had no trouble falling asleep initially. I should mention that I have long and very full work days with a long-distance commute each way so my mind is often on overdrive. 

I decided to make a change to my evening ritual. I no longer watched TV or engaged in any other mental stimulation 30 minutes to an hour before bed. I learned some deep breathing techniques to relax and quiet my mind. I even took hot baths a couple of nights right before bed. I found I needed to have greater separation and distinction between my active working/thinking day and relaxed time for sleep. This worked for me within a week. By maintaining the new ritual I have been getting restful sleep every night. I hope this helps. 🙂 

[romachel]

Melatonine can work wonders. You may have to experiment with it a few times though. For me, I have to take it about an hour before I want to fall asleep. By the time I am ready to go to bed, it has started to kick in 🙂 

[WillowTheWhisp]

Well things are looking a lot better. I didn't wake up once last night. The little patch of blue after the red this morning is me thinking about getting up after the alarm went off.

[EddieDeOro]

Hi Willow, Great news! What do you attribute your good night of sleep to?

Also, if you don't need an alarm do use it. If it's for work well I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. If you are sleeping through the alarm that means you aren't getting the sleep your body needs. I have yet to have a night when I sleep through out the night without waking up.

Your efficiency is great 99 percent. How did you feel after that night of sleep?  The only thing I noticed is that you took quite a while to fall asleep. It takes me about 10 to 15 minutes.

I have low cortisol levels which probably affect my waking up early on a daily basis.

Regards

[SaffireNinja]

I switched the sleep mode from normal to sensitive. That was when I got results thst made sense. My actual sleep times varied from 2 to 4 hours over a 6 to 8 hour period. The times I've been restless topped at 13 once but in the past couple of days have gotten up to 21. I think part of it might have to deal with stress from work on the past couple of weeks but even on my days off it shows almost no difference. I did find a doctor that I've heard good things about so hopefully she will help me solve my restlessness. The main reason why I got the fitbit was for the sleep tracking. I just wish I could see my results all in one page instead of having to see them one at a time

[EddieDeOro]

Saffire, have you had a sleep study done? If not, you might want to get one done. Best regards.