Interrupted Sleep

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Alright fellow nerds... Give me advice! When I was in HS my mom slept terribly, she would wake up several times per night. I never understood why she was so frustrated, until now it's happening to me (isn't that always the way?).

Before I left for Hawaii I was having trouble fallin asleep (took me 1-2 hours). After awhile, I had that problem plus would wake up once in the night. Almost always exactly at 2am.

After Hawaii, after getting back to being able to fall asleep at a reasonable time, now I'm waking up 3-4 times a night. Every 1-2 hours. I have tried melatonin. And I'm trying to time my meals so I eat at the same time every day. But not sure what else to do. I have a feeling this is somewhat a cortisol issue, but not exactly sure how to get my body on track.

I haven't been taking naps because I felt that would make it worse.

Suggestions anyone? I feel like an exhausted parent of a newborn, minus the newborn.

[Unda]

have you tried changing your workout times so you're tired before bed? And cutting out electronic devices an hour or so before bed?

[Strawberry Squatcake]

I don't consistenly workout at the same time. Sometimes it's before work. Sometimes it's early evening after work. And my one-time weekly bootcamp is later in the evening. The workout time doesn't seem to make it better or worse. And I am exhausted by the time I go to bed.

As for electronics, I have also had a terrible time falling asleep if I'm not watching TV (Netflix or sound machine on my iPad). But I have tried reading a book an hour before bed. As well as hot baths. I live alone, so the house is definitely quiet. So I do struggle with this. If I don't use the iPad, it takes even longer to fall asleep. I know none of that is good - but until I can sleep through the night I have trouble not using the crutch, or I'd be unbearable at work. And that's not really fair to my coworkers.

[Oogiem]

I wake up at a minimum once a night and sometimes more often. Once a night is a get up to go pee and that's probably never going to change so I try to minimize the extra wake ups.

Key factors for me, I absolutely STOP all emissive display reading or work a minimum of 1 hour before bed time. That means no computer, no iPhone, no iPad, no TV AT ALL. Non-emissive displays like my kindle e-ink display are fine. In fact, I do much better if the last thing before I start getting ready for bed is reading on my kindle for about an hour. Bonus is I am currently 55 books done for 2012, well on my way to exceed my goal of 64 books finished this year. I make sure there are no nightlights upstairs, we don't have curtains on the windows so the moon can be an issue but that's ok with me. I also make sure I have had plenty of water during the day, if I am dehydrated when I go to bed I wake up a lot more than if I am well hydrated but I also try not to drink much after about 7pm or dinner to avoid any more trips to the bathroom.

[Kewilson]

General protips....

1) If you can't get to sleep then get out of bed and do something else, then go back to bed.

2) Wear an eye mask and maybe earplugs.

3) Before you go to bed (by, say, a couple hours), dial back your exposure to artificial light. If you like candles, this is a good opportunity to use one.

4) Try reading before you go to bed.

5) Avoid carbs before bed.

[pixieopower]

I had to reset my circadian rhythm and did some of these suggustions :

http://180degreehealth.com/2010/09/resetting-your-circadian-clock

I have also heard taking B vitamins will help with sleep but I don't know much about that.

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Thanks everyone! I'll try to cut out the iPadding. Sounds like that's consistent. And probably an issue.

I want to be a morning workout person. I do about 2 am workouts a week. It's hard to drag myself out of bed early when I've slept terribly and have no after-work plans. But maybe I need to!

I've heard b5 is good. And also magnesium allegedly helps relax you (which I take b/c of deficiencies from sweating it out). So I'll try b5 too!

Thanks again for the advice!

[ThePuma]

I also have a hard time falling asleep, and then staying asleep. I use lavender oil in a bath, and that makes me super drowsy. I also have lavender spray that I put on my pillows. It definitely helps me.