3am wide awake - why?

[WinWinnieTheWay]

Most nights at around 3am my eyes open and my brain goes into overdrive. Everything suddenly feels very intense and overwhelming. I'm tired, but my mind is mulling over life's current niggles. It will be around 5am when I can go back off.

I share with DH and DD is usually in with us by now, so I can't put the light on and read or listen to an audiobook (I'll get some headphones). We don't have a spare room.

Is this a thing for anyone else? I wondered if it might be to do with the peri menopause. Does anyone have any tips for getting back off to sleep before the thinking starts?

[Powerplant]

I’m up now drinking coffee I think I went to bed too early last night even though I was tired. I find I toss and turn for a bit then get up for a drink, tv or read especially MN😊 then go back to bed. However I’ve just retired and it’s only me and OH so tend not to disturb anyone. Can you get up for an hour to see if that helps?

[garlictwist]

Awake too! Thinking about just getting up and starting the day as I can't go back to sleep. Sigh.

[Travelledtheworld]

Hellooo. Me too. I am a perpetual 3am waker. And often don't go back to sleep until 5am. In the summer I hardly sleep at all.
It's grim.
Having a cup of decaf tea and a bowl of cereal at the moment.

[Aquamarine1029]

Classic symptom of peri, and often one of the first.

[Travelledtheworld]

WinWinnieTheWay you need to sort out your DD. Mine crept in with us every night until he was about 8years old. It didn't help at all.

[Coldcough]

Hi!!!!!

[Coldhandscoldheart]

@Travelledtheworld any strategies? Both mine are in my bed, so I’m on the sofa. I also went to sleep far too early last night, which is why I’m up, but the children in bed thing definitely doesn’t help. Sciatica is playing up too.

[MrsEricBana]

I think peri too 😫

[HeronLanyon]

I am up as I have been every morning at this time for months now. I think with me it started due to stress. Then my day started to shift earlier and earlier.
Lockdown and working from home flexibility and not going out have all resulted in earlier nights.
They Have crept up on me and some day naps etc (!). Overall I am getting plenty of sleep and just much earlier than usual.
When I woke this am at 3.20 I didn’t really have to look at the clock.
Now up for the day. No chance of getting back to sleep.
Gonna have to prioritise getting this back to normal but for now a coffee is pretty damn good.

[Quillink]

I have this too Getting up for the day now.

[WinWinnieTheWay]

Those of you who just get up for the day, will you nap later? Do you get up at this time often? Will you be tired and ratty all day?

[Travelledtheworld]

Coldhands sorry to say I have been a chronic insomniac for at least 20 years.
If no actual underlying health or anxiety issues I can only suggest small practical things like avoiding caffeine, limiting alcohol, fresh air and exercise during the daytime. Practice Relaxation before at bedtime, good routine. Keep a diary of things that went well during the day and have a short to do list for the next day.
Quiet room, dark curtains. All obvious things really.
Headspace App can be very helpful. Nice relaxation techniques and sleep inducing scenarios.
Short term medication is helpful but long term it doesn't work at all. You need a sympathetic GP.
I have tried hypnotherapy and CBT.
Was referred to a mental health support group where some people's lives were shattered by insomnia and it made me realise my own problems were not as bad as they could be.
We did a class relaxation session. People fell asleep on their desks
(college classroom setting). But did it work long Term ? Not for me !

And thanks but F off to the well meaning people who suggest Chamomile Tea.

[Quillink]

I won't be able to nap today and will be exhausted and ratty. It's horrible. I usually get a second wind in the evening, which is annoying.

[Travelledtheworld]

@WinWinnieTheWay I will have a short 10-20 min nap if I get the opportunity. I am not really a ratty person but will be apathetic and struggle to do or complete simple tasks.

What I really want is someone to tell me WHY I wake persistently at 3.20am.
I think it's just the way my brain is wired.

[Travelledtheworld]

Quillink me too. On my knees all day until 8pm when PING I feel wide awake !

[Quillink]

So nice to find other people who get it awake on this thread

[Travelledtheworld]

@Quillink YES ! Mumsnet makes the world seem less lonely.
I am on holiday out in rural Norfolk and it's DARK out there right now. No one around except some cows.

[HeronLanyon]

Main effect for me has been less resilience than normal when dealing with challenging stuff (not day to day hum drum stuff). Less able to deal with pressure. Noticeably linked to my changing sleep pattern. Like my ‘coping’ battery is very low.
Not day to day ‘tired’ but I think overall deep down I’m ‘exhausted’.
It’s hard to isolate this from all the other crap and chaos we’ve all been facing over the last year (and more, and coming up) and I think many have been feeling similar without any sleep-connected reason ?

[Fannybawz]

I’m fretting about coronavirus
Have just done my online shopping

[Quillink]

I'm fretting about things I have no control over too, Fanny. It's exhausting.

Rural Norfolk sounds lovely, if not restful Travelledtheworld!

[Bupkis]

Have a hot, refluxy, ill boy propped up on me...head is whirring with worry and general annoyance at everything.

[Inkpaperstars]

I am squashed and listening to DP snoring, mentally overwhelmed and wishing I could put on an audio book music to try and distract myself but don't want to wake him. Every so often I have a drink/trip to loo that is meant to be followed by finally sleeping but then happens again..

[Inkpaperstars]

Hope your little boy feels better soon Bupkis

[Imissmoominmama]

I have been bathed in sweat since about 2:30. I got up and took my temperature- it was 35.4. I have a headache and I’m working at 9. There is nothing wrong with me, but my mind is pretending there is... and I have had the same earworm for weeks. Arrrgh!

[Coldhandscoldheart]

I managed to go off again for a bit.
At the risk of catching it, @Imissmoominmama what’s your earworm?
Have you tried listening to it all the way through then following it with something else ?